SYMPOSIUM HAVANA, MIAMI, BROOKLYN @ 17 FROST ART SPACE

Absinthe Tattoo from Alex Itin on Vimeo.

From July 6th to July 8th, 2012 I participated in the symposium Havana, Miami, Brooklyn: A Convergence of Art and Music* held at 17 Frost Art Space, Brooklyn, New York. The symposium hosted an exchange of knowledge in a cross discipline and multicultural context between me, Cuban American singer and songwriter Roberto Poveda, young American vanguard musician Lenna Pierce and Brooklyn based street artists Poster Boy, Alex Itin, Jason Mamarella (aka D.W. Krsna) and Choice Royce Bannon.

 Poster Boy, Alex Itin, Lopez Ramos, Jason Mamarella, Javier Hernandez-Miyares and Choice Royce

During the event I shared my experiences in Havana as an artist who was part of the 80s Generation, known for its reflection on social and political issues, and correlated my art practice during those early years with my current work, focused on issues concerning the social and cultural context am immersed in today. Then the young street artists discussed their experiences and creative methods, which led to the creation of a collaborative work in which each artist add his ideas and personal strokes in completion of an initial thread somehow similar to the way Hip Hop lyrics are constructed. I specially had a very interesting exchange of ideas with Poster Boy on the world of commercial advertisement which we both use as a subject matter of our works, approaching it from our personal perspective -his being a bit more hands on.

 Poster Boy and Lopez Ramos discussing ideas

Participating of this symposium allowed me to interact with and learn from artists practicing within different disciplines and cultural backgrounds, who are immersed in one of the most vibrant art scenes in the world (New York City). This one was definitively a highly valuable experience and a good opportunity to learn not only street art techniques but to get close to an artistic expression motivated by concepts and ethics quite different from the mainstream art, mostly conditioned by sales success as ruled by the old art market laws.

* Thanks to the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and Tigertail Productions for their support through the Artist Access Grant.

 Choice Royce

Alex Itin

 Poster Boy

 Lenna Pierce performing between two artworks from the Wonder Banners Suite

 Roberto Poveda and his band performing at the 17 Frost Black Box stage

 Poster Boy

Alex Itin

Zipperhead Animation Beta 2.0 from Alex Itin on Vimeo.