As you all know, Revok was arrested and convicted for 180 days a while ago. Fortunately he was released three days ago and told us his side of the story.
You guys probably know that I'm a big fan of graffiti, always happy to find some color in the streets. I still can understand, when home owners aren't so happy when someone writes on their walls and they have to pay for the removal. However, charging one of the greatest graffiti artists for painting murals with the property owners consent is just ridiculous! This is a clear attack against the art itself and has nothing to do with vandalism!
Here's Revok's blog post:
-After 44 days and 24,000$ of debt I am finally out of jail… Thank you soo very much to all of you people who showed your support with drawings, paintings, etc. It means a great deal to me that there are people out there that actually give a shit. ...
LOS ANGELES—To the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Revok is a renowned artist whose bright, sprawling work is worthy of display in its latest exhibit. To the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Revok is Jason Williams, also known as inmate No. 2714221. Last month, Mr. Williams was sentenced to 180 days in county jail as a result of a probation violation from a graffiti incident, just days after the opening of a major museum exhibit dedicated to "street art" that features his work. Unable to post his $320,000 bail, Mr. Williams sat in jail for four days before the sentencing. It may be illegal on the street, but inside the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, a new exhibit celebrates the history of graffiti, featuring work by artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey. WSJ's Tammy Audi reports. Law-enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting graffiti artists with harsher sentences than ever, pushing for felony charges, real prison time and restitution payments as they seek to wipe graffiti from the streets. At the same time, the art world and corporations are embracing the form like never before. "You can make a case that graffiti and street art is the most influential art movement since the great innovations of the '60s," says Jeffrey Deitch, director of the L.A. museum, known as MOCA. "Before this show, no American museum had ever done an ambitious historical exhibition."...Work by artists Revok and Rime is part of an exhibition at MOCA in Los Angeles. The artist known as Revok is in an L.A. jail on charges related to a graffiti incident.
On May 15th, the Pasadena Museum of California Art opens their doors to Street Cred, an exhibition celebrating the art of graffiti, be it in it’s basic form or as a formative tool in the current career and work of fine artists. Interestingly enough, the showing was conceived of before the current Art in the Streets exhibition but was scheduled further in the future and also includes some of the artists from the MOCA. With what looks to be mainly in-state artists, the list includes Michael Alvarez, ANGST, AXIS, Chaz Bojórquez, CODAK, CRAOLA, DASH 2000, Ekundayo, EYEONE, HASTE, Paul SKEPT Kanemitsu, Alex Kizu, KOFIE, MAN ONE, MEAR ONE, Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez, Jose Lopez, Erick Montenegro, Nicnak, PUSH, RISK, Jeff Soto, Evan Skrederstu, REVOK, SABER, SHANDU, Jesse Simon, SINER, ZES, and as you can see above – RETNA. The street calligraphist has starting painting one of the walls of the museum and AM was on hand to capture some snapshots for you courtesy of Brandon Shigeta....
