Kofie
In the early stages of graffiti’s development, letters were broken down into their physical components. It wasn’t so much about their semantic meaning but more about what shapes could be created from these elements when legibility was not a factor. Tonight, Yves LaRoche Gallery in Montreal is opening a group show that explores the relationship between abstract art and graffiti. Co-curated by artist Patrick “RESO” Jungfleisch and Louis-Nicholas Coupal, “From Lines into Abstraction” features artists whose styles range from abstraction to pop art to figurative painting, including Augustine Kofie, El Mac, Greg Lamarche, POSE, RESO and many others.
Artists were invited to reflect upon the value of abstract art in graffiti, Louis-Nicholas Coupal told Hi-Fructose. For instance, El Mac, who is known for his large-scale portraits, created a purely abstract piece for the show — definitely a step out of his comfort zone. “From Lines into Abstraction” will be on view September 12 through October 11. Take a look at our sneak peek of the show below.
El Mac, photo by Jose Enrique Montes Hernandez
POSE
Yes2
RESO
123Klan’s studio
Dem333
Victor Reyes
Sen2