"One Love" by Hektad
The streets of New York is basically the art gallery for the people, and if you keep your eyes open you will start to see the signature of artists all over this concrete jungle eventually making them notorious. A tricky part of becoming a fan of street artists is that you can't take the wall they created a masterpiece on with you. (If you have tried this, please hit me up because this is a story I would love to hear all about it.) Street art fans the new age of opportunity is upon us because if you are up on game you can get your very own piece of the streets when these prolific artists show in galleries. To all of you who want to argue the movement of street art to galleries as a non-authentic migration, I will say this: 1. People gotta eat dummy. 2. This is not the article where we are going to talk about that so... sit down.
Nonetheless, I will ease the irritation of the "keep it real" club and say that this article is about street artists putting on their own show and not relying on established galleries to show case their work. Enter the "One Love" art show presented by none other than the king of hearts himself, HEKTAD. The weekend pop-up show took over a vacant store front in SOHO and featured art from Adam Dare, Jas of Chicago, Kwue Molly, and Savior Elmundo. They literally filled the place with their signature work and even did some on the wall, which again, don't try to steal, or do, and hit me up.
I was super excited to see a great turn out on Friday by other artists and fans alike. The vibe was on point with Dj Plus of (Kingmakers) spinning and everyone Siphoning off of box wine. See folks, if drinking wine out of a box isn't keeping if real, I don't know what is. The event was hosted by SHIF.T whose motto is "Party With A Purpose."
You should know:
SHIF.T is a movement supporting and uniting the worlds of holistic wellness, science, innovation and philanthropy through multiple creative containers. The goal for SHIF.T, is to seamlessly show the inter-connectivity of sometimes contradicting worlds. Through integrative, interactive and expansive experiences, we strive to plant seeds of love, consciousness, truth and information. By strategically transforming our space, we are able to promote healing and consciousness without compromising the element of quality, performance and entertainment. Art has always been and will continue to be therapy for the artist, consumer and spectator alike, making it an integral part of most SHIF.T experiences.
I was in complete awe of the work being displayed and of course felt like this was my opportunity to walk away with a piece of the streets myself. Being a long time Hektad fan I decided that one was going home with me that night. Since most of the artists came sans price list you had to speak to them directly to figure out how much coin you needed to throw down. Yes, it's fucking odd to do this, especially if your budget is limited. Flip side though, you get to have a one-on-one connection with the artists when discussing the pieces you want to have, which makes the transaction personal, and the art you walk away with that more meaningful. Plus they drop some knowledge on you that you wouldn't get without speaking with them.
Unfortunately the show was only for the weekend so if you missed it then this post only makes you jealous rather than intrigued to run out and see it. It's really your own fault tho because I was posting non-stop for you to go and see it! Keep up on game CMB followers! Don't worry, because I have nothing but love for you I will always post on the IG of the cool shit you should check out, and I encourage you to follow these artists so you don't have to wait for me.
We took some dope ass 360 shots of the space so make sure you get over to our CMB FB page to see all them, There's even one that I call, "Can you spot Hektad".
