S.A.G.E. COLLECTIVE

The faces behind the collective...

Big Blue

Press for the BIG BLUE Mural...LANK above holding the original outline for the wall
www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/11/art_lover_and_landlord_work_to_1.html


SAGE Collective paid a visit to Newark Ave. in Jersey City this last weekend and left behind a life size 90 ft. blue whale.  Many thanks to Dylan Evans and the Jersey City Mural Arts Program for having us out!  Big props to Lanky Lank for cutting a stencil that size!  Thanks to the community for showing us love all weekend long!  Hope to see more murals going up in the area soon, if anyone has a location they think would work please hit us up.  Below is a video and some flicks from the weekend.  Enjoy.  one love - LUV1

THE CITY IS KASSO's CANVAS

Here is some recent press I received for the mural work around the city of Trenton, NJ:

www.mercerspace.com/article/83741-city+kasso039s+canvas

peace.

RIP Raritan River Art Walk

I recently heard the news that the Raritan River Art Walk caught the buff because the city of New Brunswick is no longer supporting Albus Cavus's project there. Very sad indeed. It got me looking thru my flickr set reminicing.  Here's a slideshow of some of my favorite flicks I took there over the years. If you like the work, remember all this is now buffed out thanks to the city New Brunswick, let them know how you feel about it, SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS

Below is an example of the SAGE works done there...  Many of these walls below were still running, until the buff I'm assuming.  Still haven't made my way over to see for myself.  When I do...:) it won't be sad, just a new begining!

"Highland Sentinel"

The sound of rattling paint cans invaded the pastoral landscape of Hopewell, New Jersey this past weekend as S.A.G.E. Collective completed a commission for The Highland Design Farm. Artist/designer Sean Mannix commissioned "Highland Sentinel" after seeing KASSO and LUV 1 working on the "Buddah Barn" just down the road from his converted farm. Formerly a working chicken farm, the buildings have been converted into a collection of artist studio spaces and we were asked to work on the large exterior wall of what was once a two story chicken coup.

Inspired by an old drawing of Sean's and his beautifully machined designs we put together loose plans for an abstracted face amongst a background of gears and wires. The painting took place during the Hopewell Tour Des Arts, a two day open studio tour in and around Hopewell Township. Mother Nature cooperated by providing two amazing days for painting (not a cloud or drop of rain in sight) and once we rescued KASSO from the wilderness on Saturday morning we got to work laying out the wall.

DELVE handled the nose, mouth & chin while KASSO scaled the ladder to lay out the eyes, forehead and abstract designs to the right of the head. LUV 1 went to work on a background of stained glass, abstract shapes & wires while Lank brought large gears from the background to the foreground and filled the deep space with an amalgamation of smaller gears. The two day process was a true collaborative effort, bouncing ideas around and amassing the artwork in a freeform and organic way, resulting in an amazing production.

The visitors to the farm, most having never seen a mural put together quite this way, enjoyed the show and were full of questions that we were happy to answer. Special thanks have to go to Sean and his family for providing unparalleled hospitality and fully supporting our vision for the wall. Check out the photos and enjoy video!

-Lank

Ackryte - Realize EP

My man Ackryte's album drops today,  check it out the cover features mine and Delve's section of the abstract wall painted at Terracycle Inc. Ack's beats are classic chopped up chilled out funky soulfull hip hop...don't sleep.  Here's a flick of the whole wall...LUV1

Portrait of Aliscia "Lizzie" Ball...Trenton, NJ 2010

This is the 6th wall in the CITY OF ANGELS series. The portrait is dedicated to the memory of Alisica Ball, who's parents, Melinda and Jim Gallo, started a wish fund sponsored by ONE SIMLPE WISH www.onesimplewish.org/ in her name to foster creative projects and programing for foster, impoverished and at-risk children and their families.

I had the privlege of working with Melinda and Jim as an art instructor for "Lizzie's Art Spark" a 10 week art program where I worked with inner city middle school students and taught foundations of art. It was a honor to work with the Gallo's and ONE SIMPLE WISH and hopefully many more projects will bloosom from this program and the spirit behind it!

For more info of about Aliscia "Lizzie" Ball and "lizzie's wish", visit this link:
www.onesimplewish.org/lissieswishshop

video of the production of Lizzie's mural: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=542024362506

peace.

Will Kasso

SAGE at the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ

sushi!, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

Delve, Kasso, and Luv...SAGE Collective at the Somerset Art Association, http://www.somersetart.org/ soon to be renamed the Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ. We painted 5 8ftx4ft wood panels that will be turned into a makeshift wall this week for display outside the gallery for the next three months. If you're in the area, go check it out!

dylan

 Painted this on the wall where Delve and I had done the Easter collab in Flemington, NJ.  The owners of the garage it's on the back of asked me to "keep it down", that they were getting complaints that it looked too much like "graffiti" lol.... Which is hilarious to me because I get a lot of talk from the graf community about not being "graf" enough.  Saw this quote on the net from Bob Dylan, which is perfectly what I wanted to say to both sides and all viewers..."All I can do is be who I am, whoever that is"  Throughout my life the man has constantly provided me with that kind of exact sentiment of my own emotions.  thanks Bob!
-LUV1

SAGE in Long Branch with Decoy

Chester Community and Youth Center

Many thanks to Paul Downie for having us out and the city of Chester for showin' us massive love

Buddha Barn

Buddha Barn, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

check the new video. photos by Andrea Ytkin. music by Sev Static...

Hopewell Barn

hopewell barn, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

Kasso and Luv, barn painting in Hopewell, NJ. Thanks to Andrea and Tom for having us out, letting us bring our fams and letting 'em swim n hang. Good times, even in 105 degree heat!

Pedagogue of Young Gods

About five years ago, KASSO and I collaborated on a small production to honor Saul Williams, a brilliant contemporary poet. We recently decided that it was time to do it again - bigger and better! In keeping with the intentions of the first mural to both honor Saul and get his message out to the people, we chose an excerpt from his song "Pedagogue of Young Gods" that resonated with us and, we hope, all those who see the wall, either in person in Trenton, NJ, or online: "An education is the only thing given that cannot be taken. Learn to think for yourself, analyze the forsaken." I painted these words into the colorful clouds from LUV1's sunset. (The sunset in the figure's chest is an allusion to a line from another one of Saul's pieces entitled "Seaweed".) But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As for the mural production process, I believe it was LUV1's idea for us to shake things up a little bit. Therefore, I was to do the portrait rather than LUV1 or KASSO, who usually do the figurative work. I selected a handful of photos from the Saul Williams Flickr pool and, with input from the crew, chose this picture by Riny, who graciously gave me permission to use it as a reference and supplied me with a beautiful high resolution file to work from. Since the whole mural is about Saul, I wanted his portrait in the center of the wall, high up to preserve the literal and metaphorical point of view of the audience looking up at him. KASSO did the wing on Saul's back in a continuation of his City of Angels project. LUV1 and AJA wove their intricate designs together to flow into and form the body of the poet. LANK really tied the wall together by forming the moon, sprinkling in the stars, and stenciling in the SAGE logo. As we completed the mural, Trenton-based poet Raul Cortes (POLO) contributed his reading of "Pedagogue of Young Gods" [check it out in the awesome video LUV1 put together] to our effort of honoring Saul and his words. Finally, Ricardo Barros generously photographed and assembled the composite image of the mural you see above.

On behalf of the S.A.G.E. Collective, I would like to thank Saul Williams for the poetry, music, example, and inspiration he gives us. I'd also like to thank Riny for the spectacular original photograph, POLO for the wonderful reading, and Ricardo for the beautiful picture of our wall.

Peace,

-DELVE

Blacklight Show Part 2 in Philly

Jerzey Fresh Graffiti Jam Aug 14th

"Secret Garden"

This was the seconded mural produced for KIDS R FIRST Pre-School and the 4th in the "City of Angels" series. LUV-ONE and myself was blessed with a near perfect day to paint and as usual, the staff at the pre-school were more than supportive and encouraging. This time around, photographer, Jesse P. Brittel documented our process with exquisite photographs that capture our most candid moments as we produced our mural. Some of the pre-schoolers even got involved; as they helped LUV spray on some stenciled patterns onto the wall. We wrapped up the day feeling very proud of our end product. A truly awesome time with this production.

Last, but not least, our mural was once again blessed with the words of poet Raul Cortes(POLO):

"Character-injection is the only way the orb will glow
Money is makin' sure children can't afford to grow
So lets not have the curtains close before the show
May God lead, God-speed & open ways when doors are closed & course is slow"

Peace.
Will Kasso

UV/ Blacklight Art Show flicks...

slideshow flicks by Ricardo Barros the night before the opening

see more pics of the models painted live at the opener here

Thanks to Leon Rainbow for puttin together a great show and to all the Albus Cavus members who participated and came out to support! To Alicia for facepainting! Kortez for rockin' the ecclectic 1's n 2's.

Go see the show! It's up until early July...

UV/ Blacklight Art Show

Lil' Angel's Garden

This mural was produced by myself and LUV-ONE for KIDS R FIRST Pre-School www.kidsrfirstpreschool.com/index.htm. It is also the 3rd mural in the CITY OF ANGELS Mural series. This one was a lot of fun to produce! Our only obstacle was working around the pre-existing flower beds that surrounded the wall.

We began like we do all our walls; freestyling and flowing off of one another. The staff of the pre-school were the utmost supportive and gave us complete creative freedom.

The image pictured on the right is a portrait of LUV-ONE's wife as a child and the figure on the left is a portrait of my daughter when she was 6 months. As usual, our wall was blessed with the poetry of Raul Cortes, Jr.(POLO), who wrote a beautiful passage that sums up the entire mural.

Special thanks goes out to Andrea and the entire KIDS R FIRST staff for their hospitality and support of this project and our friend GENT www.youtube.com/user/gentrifried who documented the entire mural process from start to finish.

peace.
-Will Kasso

UV show in the works

uv teaser, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

yesterday SAGE and Albus Cavus got our flowessence on!

spent the day workin on the blacklight show with Rain, Kasso, Lank, Uhm, Mike Ciccotello, Aja, Jim Hancock, JOSL, and Kamel. it's going to be a dope show! everyone really brought out the talent. blacklight art, dj's, drinks, painted models, come out to Artworks in Trenton June 4th.

Happy Little Trees

Spring Jam 2k10, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

LUV, LANK and DELVE reppin SAGE @ the Spring Jam 2k10 in New Brunswick, NJ. check the flickr (follow the link when u click the flick) and see some other pictures. was a difficult stitch this one, we were under the stairs and in a corner. prime spot to be seen, bad spot to flick. some of the close ups provide better accuracy on details. fun day! good times! bob friggin ross, big ups to LANK for the 6 ft stencil and trees throughout, and to Delve for coming funky and crispy like you knew he would! 1 - LUV1

Blacklight Art Show in Trenton

Graffiti Heaven

Graffiti Heaven, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

S.A.G.E Collective and VS CREW

This is the second wall in the CITY OF ANGELS series entitled, GRAFFITI HEAVEN...a collaboration between S.A.G.E Collective and VS Crew. It was only right to do this wall at Terracycle Warhouse www.terracycle.net/ which is a landmark within the east coast graffiti scene. RAIN and DEMER of VS Crew held down the lettering duties while myself and LUV-ONE rocked portraits and background. Delve produced his usual abstract flare while Lank Williams Jr. produced some stencil angels based off of Michelangelo sculptures.

Other than the intense heat, we all had a great time painting. Special thanks to Ricardo Barros www.ricardobarros.com for the photo documentation of this production and Raul Cortes, Jr. for his words of inspiration which grace our wall.

peace
-Will Kasso

NJTL Fundraiser

Last night had a blast with my wifey, Kasso, and his girl at the NJTL Fundraiser at the Westin in Princeton. Open bar was in full effect! as was big ticket catering and all that. Our mural was on everything! Thanks to Rob from NJTL for giving us the opportunity to help out. Got to meet the kid I painted, Zahir, and flick him in front of his portrait. Even got puzzles of the mural to give to our kids. It's going to be an annual thing, so look forward to more projects with the tennis folks.

-LUV1

tell lies vision

SAGE art was on the tv a couple times in the last week on two very different shows. On the History Channel's "Gangland" was a feature on Trenton's Bloods and one clip at 6:12 had a guy walking past the Duke. On NJN news our art was the backdrop for a press conferance NJTL had for an initiative to get Trenton kids healthier. here's a link to that, the story starts around 14:15.

SAGE for NJTL

SAGE Collective's Arthur Ashe Mural from luv1 on Vimeo.

OK, finally can post this up. This mural was created in December by Luv and Kasso for NJTL a non prof in Trenton that teaches tennis and life skills to inner city kids. We created it for their annual fundraiser, which is coming up on 4/30th in Princeton. The image was used for the save the dates, tickets, will be on display at the event and raffled off, also they created puzzles out of it! Talk about putting it to use. Thanks to Rob for getting at us and askin us to do it! The video was featured on Oink Ink's youtube for a bit as well...enjoy

City of Angels vol.1

SAGE Collective - City of Angels vol. 1, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

This wall was personal to me...been meaning to do it for some time now. The images are of my late aunt and cousins...the one on the left is deceased as well. I had in mind for years to do a tribute wall for them. My aunt was one of my biggest supporter and my cousin was like a brother to me. She past in 04 from liver failure and breast cancer...and he died in 1992 due to drowning. My cousin LaQuinta, who is pictured on the far right, supplied the photo refs and even helped out somewhat in the production.I had originally only planned to do this one wall as a tribute, but then it hit me. Why not paint images of angels all around the city! So this wall is the start of a city wide project. The goal is to paint 12 angel themed murals around the city this spring and summer. 3 in each ward. Each mural will accompanied by a poem from Trenton's own Raul Cortes, Jr....aka...POLO. Its gonna be a interesting feet to accomplish, but im determined. One down...11 to go.

-Will Kasso

Easter Wall

easter wall, originally uploaded by el U Vee 1.

Hello friends,

Happy Easter, if applicable, otherwise happy almost officially spring! Writing you to share a new mural by SAGE Collective artists Delve and Luv1 in Flemington, NJ. We took advantage of the gorgeous day and painted a beautifully balanced colorful abstract aerosol wall. Check out the flick and time lapse. As always, feel free to share and let it shine.

Many thanks!

Peace,
Luv1

SAGE and NJTL featured in Mercer Business Magazine...