This past Friday night, with hubby and child, I attended an art reception at Gallery 219, put on by SAGE Coalition, for the artist Lank, aka Jonathan Conner. Lanktrospective! All I have to say is, awesome! The music was pumping, the crowd was buzzing and there was an all around good vibe in this gallery space on an unsuspecting street. Before even entering the gallery, you know you're entering a whole new world where the arts dominate. Bringing street art inside. Love it!
Jon is a friend of ours that we have known for the past few years and watching his work develop has been inspiring. He currently teaches at Monmouth University and Mercer County Community College. He also maintains a blog, where you can see some of his other work, http://www.jonathanconner.com/. He works mainly in stenciling, which if you are into the street art scene, then you may be familiar with some artist who stencil, such as Banksy, Gilf! , and Joe Iurato.
The show was mainly a collection of work Lank has developed through out the past few years. What I enjoyed about Lanks work was that I felt like I was peeking in on a brief history of his family time line. These pictures appear as ghost like images that have come back to visit distant loved ones for one last pose.
The rest of the show consisted of a collage of commissioned work he has created. Lank has also been a part of performance art shows where he has created his work live. Watching Lank at work can be a bit intense. While these pieces of work look like they were done with ease, there is quite a bit of work that goes into getting these complete. The images are intricately cut and applied in layers. It takes patience, commitment, and focus to get it done. In some of his pieces he includes a patterned background which adds depth and makes the focal point pop even more.
I find stenciling to be very inspirational. I’ve dabbled in the stencil world a bit myself, and the results can be quite satisfying. A lot of work, but very much worth it. What I love about stencil art is the simplicity it offers in the design scheme. Usually there is a limited color palette which can create a dramatic look. The lines are clean and the statement is to the point. I also think that incorporating this type of art into your space can be great and easily personalized.
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