ESPO (artist)
Encyclopedia
Stephen J. Powers is a New York City artist who at one time wrote graffiti in Philadelphia and New York under the name ESPO ("Exterior Surface Painting Outreach").
neighborhood; he graduated from Robert E. Lamberton High School
in 1987 and took classes at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and the University of the Arts
. In 1994, he moved to New York with fellow writer and designer Ari Forman, in order to expand the reach of On the Go magazine.
. The protest was against Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's attempt to shut down the controversial art show "Sensation
" at the Brooklyn Museum. Powers noted that the arrest was politically motivated. A New York Times editorial criticized the Giuliani administration for its secrecy in the case, but dismissed Powers as "a noodge and self-promoter, one of those deliberately annoying characters whom most of us could do without." The Village Voice sympathized with ESPO’s plight saying “it's truly scary to think that if you invite people to throw artificial dung at a portrait of the mayor—especially one that resembles the infamous Madonna, packing them in at the Brooklyn Museum—the police will raid your apartment. And if they spot a set of brass knuckles hanging on the kitchen wall, they will bust you for possessing a weapon.” However, the author was also critical of Power’s graffiti status, describing him as an egotistical, careerist "celebrity offender"; the author writes, "in the graffiti world...many consider Powers a media-fed simulation of the Real Thing."
Powers was charged with six counts of criminal mischief and he eventually accepted a plea bargain and performed five days of community service.
Gallery. In 2003, Powers designed the artwork for Tommy Guerrero
's third studio album Soul Food Taqueria
. In 2005 he curated "The Dreamland Artists Club", a project in which professional artists helped Coney Island merchants by repainting their signs. Powers first solo museum exhibition was in the fall of 2007, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts which showed much of the work he had been working on at his Coney Island sign shop.
The show attracted attention in New York and Philly and in the beginning of December ESPO graced the cover of the art magazine Juxtapoz, where they wrote that, “In 10 years time, Stephen “Espo” Powers’ name will reside next to Crumb, Robert Williams, Basquiat, McGee
and Warhol as those who truly changed the way art is defined and displayed. As 2007 comes to a close, we couldn’t think of a better artist to honor.”
In 2008 he returned to Coney Island to create the Waterboarding Thrill Ride, a waterboarding themed installation meant to draw attention to America's policy on torture.
Powers was a Fulbright scholar in 2007. He used the grant to create murals in Dublin and Belfast's Shankhill area, with the assistance of local teenagers. His work in Belfast was inspired by the area's political murals
; Powers told the New York Times that he was "taking the form of the murals, which are insanely powerful for all the wrong reasons, and trying to retain some of the power and use it in a really good way.”
Power’s most recent project is a mural project in Philadelphia about the complexities and rewards of relationships, titled A Love Letter for You. ESPO and his crew painted more than 50 murals along the elevated train along Market Street in West Philly. The project, sponsored by a $260,000 grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, and produced by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, has generated positive reviews from both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The accompanying book A Love Letter for You, shot by photographers Adam Wallacavage and Zoe Strauss
, was published by [www.freenewsprojects.com Free News Projects] Press and is now available. It is distributed by DAP in New York City.
Powers is also the author of a book on graffiti's history, The Art of Getting Over, published by St. Martin's Press
in 1999, as well as the graphic novel, First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, Villard Press, 2005.
ESPO’s exploits as a graffiti writer in the late 90s and his transition into a studio artist are documented in the book Graffiti Lives, by Baruch College Assistant Professor Gregory Snyder.
Background
Powers is from Philadelphia's OverbrookOverbrook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Overbrook is a neighborhood northwest of West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The area contains an assortment of housing from large, old homes to row homes to 3-4 story apartment buildings.-Physical setting:...
neighborhood; he graduated from Robert E. Lamberton High School
Robert E. Lamberton High School
Robert E. Lamberton High School is an American high school located in the Overbrook Park section of Philadelphia. Lamberton HS has 350 students...
in 1987 and took classes at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and the University of the Arts
University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
The University of the Arts is one of the United States' oldest universities dedicated to the arts. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia...
. In 1994, he moved to New York with fellow writer and designer Ari Forman, in order to expand the reach of On the Go magazine.
Graffiti
He was most well known during the late 1990s for his conceptual pieces as well as his role as the editor and publisher of On the Go Magazine. ESPO's work often blurred the lines between illegal and legal. For example, pieces like "Greetings from ESPOLand" utilized the style of the Asbury Park Billboards and appeared to be a legitimate billboard. On January 4, 1997 ESPO began his most ambitious non-commissioned art. He painted on storefront grates in Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, TriBeCa and the South Bronx, covering the entire grate with white or silver paint and then using black to make each grate into a letter in his name. Powers painted in daylight, wearing street clothes; he told the New York Times in 1999 that when passersby asked what he was doing he would tell them, "I'm with Exterior Surface Painting Outreach, and I'm cleaning up this gate"; the official-sounding name, and clever acronym was enough to ward most people off. Powers targeted shops that appeared to be out of business and grates that were already heavily vandalized. He described his graffiti as a public service, and by 1999 said that he had painted around 70 grates.Arrest
In December 1999 Powers was arrested at his home for graffiti vandalism after he had participated in a protest conceived by multimedia artist Joey SkaggsJoey Skaggs
Joey Skaggs is an American prankster who has organized numerous successful media pranks, hoaxes, and other presentations. He is considered one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming. Skaggs used Kim Yung Soo, Joe Bones, Joseph Bonuso, Giuseppe Scaggioli, Dr. Joseph Gregor,...
. The protest was against Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's attempt to shut down the controversial art show "Sensation
Sensation exhibition
Sensation was an exhibition of the collection of contemporary art owned by Charles Saatchi, including many works by Young British Artists, which first took place 18 September – 28 December 1997 at the Royal Academy of Art in London and later toured to Berlin and New York...
" at the Brooklyn Museum. Powers noted that the arrest was politically motivated. A New York Times editorial criticized the Giuliani administration for its secrecy in the case, but dismissed Powers as "a noodge and self-promoter, one of those deliberately annoying characters whom most of us could do without." The Village Voice sympathized with ESPO’s plight saying “it's truly scary to think that if you invite people to throw artificial dung at a portrait of the mayor—especially one that resembles the infamous Madonna, packing them in at the Brooklyn Museum—the police will raid your apartment. And if they spot a set of brass knuckles hanging on the kitchen wall, they will bust you for possessing a weapon.” However, the author was also critical of Power’s graffiti status, describing him as an egotistical, careerist "celebrity offender"; the author writes, "in the graffiti world...many consider Powers a media-fed simulation of the Real Thing."
Powers was charged with six counts of criminal mischief and he eventually accepted a plea bargain and performed five days of community service.
Artist
In 2000 Powers gave up graffiti to become a full-time studio artist. His work has been shown at the prestigious Venice and Liverpool Biennials, as well as numerous shows at New York City's DeitchDeitch Projects
Deitch Projects was a contemporary art gallery in New York City founded by Jeffrey Deitch.-History:Since opening with a performance by Vanessa Beecroft in February 1996, the gallery has presented nearly one hundred and eighteen solo exhibitions and projects, ten thematic exhibitions, and a few...
Gallery. In 2003, Powers designed the artwork for Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero is an American skateboarder and musician. As a teen, he was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's professional skateboarding team that was successful during the 1980s...
's third studio album Soul Food Taqueria
Soul Food Taqueria
Soul Food Taqueria is the third studio album by former professional skateboarder and Quannum Projects-member Tommy Guerrero, released April 8, 2003 on Mo' Wax Records in the United States and April 14, 2003 in the United Kingdom through the same label. The album was also released on April 26 of...
. In 2005 he curated "The Dreamland Artists Club", a project in which professional artists helped Coney Island merchants by repainting their signs. Powers first solo museum exhibition was in the fall of 2007, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts which showed much of the work he had been working on at his Coney Island sign shop.
The show attracted attention in New York and Philly and in the beginning of December ESPO graced the cover of the art magazine Juxtapoz, where they wrote that, “In 10 years time, Stephen “Espo” Powers’ name will reside next to Crumb, Robert Williams, Basquiat, McGee
Barry McGee
Barry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
and Warhol as those who truly changed the way art is defined and displayed. As 2007 comes to a close, we couldn’t think of a better artist to honor.”
Powers was a Fulbright scholar in 2007. He used the grant to create murals in Dublin and Belfast's Shankhill area, with the assistance of local teenagers. His work in Belfast was inspired by the area's political murals
Northern Irish murals
Murals in Northern Ireland have become symbols of Northern Ireland, depicting the region's past and present political and religious divisions.Northern Ireland contains arguably the most famous political murals. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s...
; Powers told the New York Times that he was "taking the form of the murals, which are insanely powerful for all the wrong reasons, and trying to retain some of the power and use it in a really good way.”
Power’s most recent project is a mural project in Philadelphia about the complexities and rewards of relationships, titled A Love Letter for You. ESPO and his crew painted more than 50 murals along the elevated train along Market Street in West Philly. The project, sponsored by a $260,000 grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, and produced by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, has generated positive reviews from both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The accompanying book A Love Letter for You, shot by photographers Adam Wallacavage and Zoe Strauss
Zoe Strauss
-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Strauss was given a camera for her 30th birthday and started taking pictures of life in the city’s marginal neighborhoods. She is a photo-based installation artist who uses Philadelphia as a primary setting and subject for her work...
, was published by [www.freenewsprojects.com Free News Projects] Press and is now available. It is distributed by DAP in New York City.
Powers is also the author of a book on graffiti's history, The Art of Getting Over, published by St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
in 1999, as well as the graphic novel, First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, Villard Press, 2005.
ESPO’s exploits as a graffiti writer in the late 90s and his transition into a studio artist are documented in the book Graffiti Lives, by Baruch College Assistant Professor Gregory Snyder.
External links
- Steve Powers' homepage
- Steve Powers at A.L.I.C.E., Brussels, Belgium
- XLR8R magazine article about Dreamland Artist Club