Category Archives: kasso

City of Dreams Mural

Published in aerosol, aerosol art, kasso, leon rainbow, will kasso on December 21, 2016

Taking Back Trenton from Cynthia Groya on Vimeo.

: Mural Workshop

: Mural Workshop

: Mural Workshop

: Base coat and sketch

: Work in Progress

: Work in Progress

: Work in Progress. Photo by Sherry Rubel

: Finished Mural

: City of Dreams Quote by Skoe. Photo by Sherry Rubel

SAGE Coalition is the heart and soul of the capitol city of Trenton, NJ’s arts community. With its recent mural production, “City of Dreams”, it further reiterate that sentiment.

Sponsored by the ETC (East Trenton Collaborative) and designed by William Kasso, the idea came about while discussing different visions for a youth themed mural. Kasso, who has a long storied history in the production of youth murals, brought up the idea of a kid blowing bubbles over a city landscape. He then enlisted his longtime friend and frequent collaborator, Leon Rainbow, to co-produce.

Leon Rainbow drafted up an abstract surreal background, full of bright yellow, oranges and reds, along with a festive cityscape to balance out Kasso’s massive image of S.A.G.E. member, Rocky Kelly’s daughter, Dreamy.

The bubbles were created with the help of children during a after school art workshop sponsored by the East Trenton Collaborative and Habitat for Humanity. Kasso, Rainbow and Earlie Harrell lead a workshop of roughly 20 students to create dramatic images of bubbles with blue hues and abstract patterns.

The bubbles were installed within the mural using a high density adhesive called Nova Gel. Once the bubbles were placed, Rainbow finished off the background while Kasso continued to work of the image of Dreamy, which stretched from the top of the wall down. The entire figure measured about 25 ft once completed.

The two artist worked in unison while Cynthia Groya, a Harvard University undergrad, documented the process.

Rocky Kelly, S.A.G.E. holistic health guru, wrote the passage to sum up the vision behind the mural, which reads: “In the City of Dreams, a dream can be fulfilled as easy as a child blowing a bubble. It is the power of your intent that will determine how big or small your dreams become”.

The entire production took 4 days; capped off by Earlie Harrell…aka…Messiah, slapping on a few layers of clear coat to seal the wall.

Leon Rainbow and William Kasso. Many call them the dynamic duo of the Trenton Art scene. Each artist has created more works of public art in the capital city than any other artist before or since. Its a pleasure to watch these two artist work their magic…especially in a city like Trenton, NJ; a city struggling to regain its former identity of prosperity and glory.

“Trenton makes the world takes”. That statement is world renown..and so are its artists. The City of Dreams is not only a beautiful piece of public art, but also a vision of what could be.

S.A.G.E Coalition Inc.

MLK Memorial Wall 2016

Published in aerosol art, kasso, leon rainbow, MLK Memorial Wall on December 21, 2016

: Work in Progress

: Mlk Quote

: Live the Dream

: Completed MLK Memorial Wall

Original Wall from 2005

: Original Collaboration 2005

: Original Collaboration 2005

: Original Collaboration 2005

The year was 2005. Leon Rainbow and William Kasso, two local artists, collaborated on their first mural together. At the time, each artist was only acquainted for a short period; less than a year, and each of their names was beginning to rise in the local art scene. The idea came up to produce this mural while brainstorming different opportunities to evolve their work, while watching graffiti bombing videos at Kasso’s apartment. The opportunity to work together on a groundbreaking project like this was tremindous. That project was the Martin Luther King Memorial Mural.

The original mural, which was created in the 1970s by an unknown artist, was falling apart. It was simple in execution; red brushed block letters with a white background. The two artist designed the new mural with the intention on focusing on MLKs image and message.

Original wall by unknown artist

The two worked for hours…12 to be exact..in 115 degree heat. They battled a swam of bees…and a rain storm. But alas, after a full day of trails and tribulations, the wall was complete. It was met with great fanfare and press coverage. The mural put the two graffiti artist in the local limelight and got the kind of attention that most in the graffiti scene would cloak themselves from…it made there faces known.

Since ’05, many murals and projects from each passed. In the fall of 2016, the two artist, now season wall art veterans and each with international recognition, decided to redo the MLK wall, which fell to years of decay and neglect. With proceeds raised from a Go Fund Me campaign, the two artist set out to update this iconic mural yet again.

Leon focus was the background imagery and quote, while Kasso focus was on the portrait. The quote:

“When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love”. This quote in particular was chosen due to its promotion of standing together in the face of evil and wickedness.”

“Its a great quote, especially in the way it promotes a healthy way of solving conflicts”, say Leon Rainbow.

Leon chose a bright red font for the quote that was balanced out by a baby blue colored sky and titanium white fluffy clouds. Kasso’s portrait centered the wall with a straight forward rendering of Dr. King, while in giant bold white and red letters, the word DREAM stretched across the right half of the mural.

This was a quick production…taking all of two days to produce. During their time working on the mural, the two artists shared tons of laughs and good vibes, no different than 11 years prior. The community response was at first, not so pleasant…mainly because they thought the artists were removing the previous work out of disrespect. Once the community dialogued with Kasso and Rainbow, did their collective fears began to ease.

The work ethic of these two artists and the energy it takes to constantly answer the call to create these masterworks is phenomenal. The neighborhood and city of Trenton owes a huge debit of gratitude to these gentlemen. Art is life and its consistently provides an outlet to many who otherwise have no voice. Its the missing positive link in a chain forged out of hopelessness. Art matters. Trenton matters. Art is the message…and S.A.G.E. Coalition is the method.

-Earlie Harrell, Director of Urban Affairs, S.A.G.E. Coalition Inc.

Art @ the Parks

Published in events, kasso, leon rainbow, murals, street art, trenton on October 7, 2016

I love public parks. They stand at the intersection of so many lives and types of people, and they’re free to everyone, for any wholesome activity. Wholesome activities like building a giant paint-spewing, spiral-making, kid’s shoes ruining pendulum for all to swing around and enjoy! This October, “Pendulum @ the Park” will be a Pendulum-Painting tour, hitting 5 public parks throughout the city, each one being a pop-up art making workshop. Here are the dates and times (weather permitting):

Wednesday, Oct 12th, 1pm-6pm in Roberto Clemente park (map)
Thursday, Oct 13th, 1pm-6pm in Franklin Park (map)
Friday, Oct 14th, 1pm-6pm in Greg Grant Park (map)
Friday, Oct 20th, 1pm-6pm in Martin Luther King Park (map)
Sunday, Oct. 23rd, 1pm-6pm in Lipinski Park (map)

In other parky business, we’re raising some money to re-paint the Martin Luther King Mural in MLK Park, on Brunswick Ave. Check out the GoFundMe and donate if you feel inclined. This could be part of the Pendy @ the Park tour, with Kasso and Leon painting while we swing the pendulum.. wouldn’t that be great?

Finally, Wills and his Bike Polo gang have taken over Lipinski park, and they’re hosting the 2nd Annual Fall F**king Classic, a prestigious tournament open to all polo-ers, on Sunday Oct. 23rd beginning at 9:00 am. Of course we’ll have the pendulum out there as part of the tour.

Black Collar Collab

Published in black collar biz, forever black, garden variety, hip hop, kasso, lank, live painting, underground hiphop on February 22, 2012

Saturday February 18th was a big day in Trenton Hip Hop with the release party for FOREVER BLACK (available on itunes), the dope new album from Black Collar Biz. S.A.G.E. Collective and Black Collar go back like Snapbacks and Starter jackets, so you know we’d be in the building. LUV 1 blessed the walls with some really nice pieces and KASSO, not only rocked the album art and postcard illustration, but came thru to Live paint and he asked me (LANK) to join in. For an event such as this, the only move was to knock out some portraits of the man himself, so I got to cutting up an image of Collar on the mic and placed them either side of KASSO’s portrait. Went with one white and one red (shout out to LUV1 for the idea to do the angel/devil theme) and added text for some background texture.

All the artists, poets and MC’s were great, Collar rocked it, and everybody had a great time. Cop the album and come thru next weekend for Garden Variety at the Trenton Atelier on the 25th to see what real hip hop looks like!

-LANK

Good Collar/Bad Collar – LANK & KASSO

Thursday Throwback: Inc Magazine

Published in graffiti, inc magazine, kasso, luv1, vs crew, world trade center on December 23, 2011

Way before there ever was a SAGE, back in 10/07, I got a call from RAIN to paint with the VS Crew at the World Trade Center in Inc. Magazine’s Headquarters. My can controll was admitedly not on point at this point, but the magazine folks loved it! I had a great time, getting my pizza and beer on with the Viciousez. This was my first time painting indoors with spray paint and I learned a valueable lesson that night…use a resperator! I think I bought one the next day lol. You can even see me stumble getting off the ladder in the video below, I was dizzy and all messed up by the time I left. Another thing I remember is security was unbelieveable in that place. It was by far the most heavily secure place I have ever been in.

*Ironic interesting fact, I got that call to paint, I believe, because a member of VS, now member of SAGE, PLAN aka DELVE, couldn’t make it.

here’s a snippet of mine…

KASSO in progess…

and a video RAS made, for TerraCycle (who hooked us up with the gig. Thanks Tom!)

One Love,
LUV1

Thursday Throwback

Published in graffiti, jos l, kasso, luv one, nj on November 17, 2011

LUV1 and KASSO with JOS L

S.A.G.E. COLLECTIVE at GARDEN SK8 PARK!

Published in black collar biz, delve, garden sk8, kasso, lank, manny d, trenton, veneomous2000 on October 31, 2011

DELVE

LANK

WILL KASSO

DELVE, LANK, and KASSO each contributed to the relief efforts at GARDEN SK8 park in Pinebrook, NJ. The park was serverly damaged during Hurricane Irene, leaving the park submerged in 3+ feet of water. Artists from all over the country donated their time and creativity to re-produce artwork within the park…culminating into what is the largest indoor graffiti instillation in the country!

On Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011(originally 0ct.29th but cancelled do to less than ideal weather conditions). GARDEN SK8 will reopen its doors to celebrate its recent makeover in what is shaping up to be one of the livest art parties of the year! With performances by MANNY D, VENEOMOUS 2000 and DJ PRIORITY, ANIMAL CRACKAS and Trenton, NJ’s own BLACK COLLAR BIZ, its sure to be a great time!. The show kicks off at 6pm-12am.

Black Collar Biz

Venomous2000 & DJ Priority

Animal Crackas

MANNY D

Highland Sfumato

Published in aja, davinci, delve, graffiti, highland design farm, highland sfumato, hopewell, kasso, lank, luv1, murals, newjersey, sage collective, street art on October 17, 2011

On the weekend of Oct 8th and 9th, 2011, SAGE collective was invited back to the Highland Design Farm to produce another massive mural project as part of the Hopewell Tour Des Arts. Last year, our combined efforts resulted in the HIGHLAND SENTINEL, which was the first mural of its kind in the Hopewell, NJ area.

This year we had to spread out and work in sections. Unlike the HIGHLAND SENTINEL, where we all worked in close proximity, this project had us in different locations to start, so we had to jump around a bit. We also had more square footage to cover with this project, but at least this year, unlike last year, majority of the work was done on the ground and not on ladders, so that in itself was a blessing.

LUV1 kicked things off with a murky background primed into the first section of wall. He then rendered a few crystals and gems busting out of the far right corner. The gems then spilled into his trademark Celtic knots with earth tone loops and swirls. KASSO came in and added a few mid tone geometric shapes that balanced out the composition which then flowed into DELVE’s hollow straight letter spelling out his name. From there, LANK stenciled in an owl which help carry the far left corner, along with KASSOs abstract colorful shapes that morphed into robotic bird. Between the bird and the owl lay an image of an fetus, which represented the patron, Sean Mannex, in saying that the Design Farm is his “baby”. It was also a nod to Leonardo da Vinci; being that one of his famous images is one of a dissected fetus from his sketch journals.

Turning the corner, LANK painted an image of a welder forging a massive abstract image of twisted colorful shapes painted by KASSO, which flowed into LUV1’s energetic black, white and grey composition that framed a pre-standing wooden structure of the Chinese alphabet layered in gold. This was then book ended by LANK’s stencil images of two lions….which gave the impression that they where guarding a secret gate or passageway of some sort.

DELVE began his section with his usual abstract minimalist approach. Working with a muted color palette, his shapes start in a circular graphic manner, then stretching out into KASSO’s portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. KASSO chose the reference of da Vinci from a drawing the renaissance master did of himself at the twilight of his years. Like DELVE, KASSO decided to run with a limited palette, but incorporated a few pop colors to break things up. LANK dropped his lion statue stencil next to the portrait and also nuts and bolts stencils around DELVE’s graphic shapes. The nuts and bolts are elements from last years mural, which tied in both murals with a similar theme.

LUV ONE flowed off the portrait and was inspired to paint a hand with a glass of Absinthe…implying that da Vinci is drinking the controversial cocktail. Along the other side of the structure, AJA worked her contribution; an abstract mesh of subdued colors in a swirl of galactic splendor. LANK capped off the section with a stencil of a compass anagram which spelled out all of our names.

After two exhausting but fun days of work, the hardest part was finding a title for the mural. With the underlying theme centered around da Vinci, we decided to go along with title “Highland Sfumato”. “Sfumato” being a renaissance term meaning, in part, “areas blending into one another”. Our goal with this project, as with all of our projects, was to keep everything well integrated. No one person can claim an entire wall. Each member of SAGE has a piece of every wall…from a small corner to a huge section. It was truly a collaborative effort.

Special thanks goes out to the Highland Design Farm for having us out yet again and for the unprecedented hospitality. Also a big thanks to “Liquitex Artist Materials” for the donation of FREESTYLE brushes used during the production of this project.

S.A.G.E. Collective

CCA’s Anti Gala

Published in blacklight art, bodypainting, cca, gallery, graffiti, kasso, lank, leon rainbow, live painting, luv one, luv1, mural, nj, sage collective on September 25, 2011

S.A.G.E. Collective was in the house at The Center for Contemporary Art’s Anti Gala on 9/24/2011 doing live mural painting and bodypainting with Leon Rainbow and hula hooping by Andrea Gianchiglia. Check out the fun video below shot by Jolene and edited by me. Was a total blast being there, thanks to Ellen and everyone from the CCA http://ccabedminster.org/ for having us out!