Phetus
Encyclopedia
Phetus is a New York graffiti
artist
and designer
based on Long Island
, NY. He has been creating graffiti
under his Phat Phace logo since 1988, opened the first graffiti boutique on Long Island, and is one of the founders of creative multimedia studio Elite Gudz
.
In 2002 Phetus opened up Concrete Vibes in Mineola. Following the path of stores in New York like The Scrapyard, the store was the first on Long Island to sell graffiti supplies like aerosol paint and markers, independent designer clothing, designer toys and other lifestyle products. Monthly art shows were also held at the store, and the store held a book signing for Cope2
. The store eventually relocated to Freeport, and expanded to include a recording studio. Artists such as Poe Rilla, Cuban Link, and other 3.2.6. Muzik and 3.2.6. Latino artists recorded there in the mid 2000's.
Between the operational years of Concrete Vibes Mineola and Concrete Vibes Freeport, Phetus worked with Seen and set up an office in the back of Tattoo Seen. From Seen's shop, and with Planet6, Phetus worked on the Phony Baloney designer toy line. He would also team up with Terminal Press to create the Phony-Baloney comic.
Phetus brought his artistic perspective to Elite Gudz in 2008. Since joining up with Elite Gudz, Phetus has exhibited in multiple shows and helped create the iOS app Graffiti Spray Can, which topped over 5 million downloads in early 2011. In the Graffiti Spray Can PRO & Graffiti Spray Can HD Applications, he has his very own artist pack. The artist pack included his graffiti centric hip-hop single, "We Bomb," featuring rapper Poe Rilla.
and djent
versions. The term "bomb" in the graffiti community commonly refers to the graffiti practice of marking up a series of surfaces in one area. The track was featured in the Graffiti Spray Can PRO and Graffiti Spray Can HD applications by Elite Gudz
.
The video for the song, produced by Picture Perfect, was filmed on location at several famous NYC graffiti landmarks including 5 Pointz in Queens, Keith Haring
's Crack is Wack wall in Harlem, Cope2
's wall at Boon Ave. in the Bronx, and the American Trash bar. The "We Bomb" EP, released on picture disc vinyl, featured several remixes, including dubstep
and djent
versions.
is a comic series by graffiti
artist Phetus and the Elite Gudz team. The series is built on the idea that art progresses with and chronicles human history, and "the graffiti
movement is the artistic embodiment of current times." The series' main protagonist is The Wall Lord, a graffiti artist who writes messages of hope and defiance against a repressive government. On January 7, 2010, Phetus and street art
ist Such painted a mural image of The Wall Lord on a subway car installation outside of Tuff City Tattoos in Bronx. NY Phetus was also joined by Cope2
, T-Kid, Ban2, Indie and Cheez who came through to destroy the piece once it was completed as a tribute to the real life actions that go on within the graffiti subculture. A billboard-sized mural for Concrete Immortalz was created by Phetus and Such across a block-long industrial complex at 5 Pointz in Long Island City.
In Fall 2010, Phetus presented Hank Steinbrenner with a Phetus Exclusive on the field of Yankee Stadium. The Hanks Yank’s jersey featured a Yankees logo, freshly spray-painted with stylized drip markings.
In 2008, Phetus became the driving force behind Elite Gudz and now produces clothing on a larger scale. He currently has two clothing lines, monthly limited Phetus Exclusives packages and the Career Criminal line of apparel.
At Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, fashion magazine Vevant.com commissioned Phetus to transform their Fashion Week booth into an art gallery. Phetus created original art installations for each day of the 8 day event in themes relating to the world of fashion and current events.
In June 2010. Phetus painted a mural for KarmaLoop TV across three walls while simultaneously hand screening a run of T-shirts, both featuring his "Phat Phace" logo and "Phe-Gnome" character, plundering a village as it burns to the ground.
In December 2008, Phetus' Goons & Bots characters debuted at East West in Westbury, NY. The collection of characters from Goons & Bots can be found in some of Phetus' mural work. Some of the collection was also featured at Fangoria Presents: Night of the Living Decks in 2009. Two skate decks painted with goons and bots, respectively, were featured as part of a group art show of coffin-shaped skate boards. Goons & Bots were also featured on the first cube at Toy Qube’s “In Your Phace” show. Wooden and neon versions of Phetus' Phat Phaces were on display along with canvases, skate decks and a 7 foot tall rotating cube featuring the characters.They were also featured in the Cubez event at New York Comic Con 2010. Since then, Goons & Bots have been in their own iOS applications.
In 2009 Phetus & Elite Gudz artist Mr. Den contributed to the Topps Star Wars Galaxy
5 trading card set. The cards sold out. In 2010, original sketch cards from Elite Gudz artists were displayed and auctioned at the 1st Annual 2nd Ave. Trading Card Convention and Swap Meet.
In May 2010 Phetus, along with Elite Gudz
artists Mr. Den and Narek Gevorgian, exhibited original artwork at “Power Arts for Power Ups - Mr.Power Custom Show” , featuring Mr. Den's "The Bull of Minos Devours Mr. Powers" custom sculpture. On the same day the artists also exhibited at “Thought Processor: The NYC Series.", featuring custom paper toys accompanied by paintings by all three Elite Gudz artists. The designs were also available online for download after the show so fans could make their own figures out of the same pieces featured in the gallery.
In Nov. 2010 it was announced that The Art Hustle will profile Phetus in its upcoming series. The Art Hustle series of trading cards profile artists with backgrounds in street art, illustration, aerosol art and more.
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
based on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, NY. He has been creating graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
under his Phat Phace logo since 1988, opened the first graffiti boutique on Long Island, and is one of the founders of creative multimedia studio Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz is an independent game and creative studio based in New York, NY. They are best known for their top-downloaded iPhone app, Graffiti Spray Can, and the top rated & top download Xbox Indies title Techno Kitten Adventure...
.
History
Growing up on Long Island in the 80's, Phetus was around other writers and came up alongside trailblazers in the hip-hop scene. Acts like De La Sol and Rakim were recording on Long Island around the time Phetus emerged on the scene, painting and tagging blocks away from recording studios in Hempstead and Freeport. Through his painting, bombing, and meeting musicians, he gained the attention of artists like Public Enemy. When Flavor Flav opened a barber shop in Freeport, Long Island he recruited Phetus to do airbrushing on shirts, jackets and other apparel. Flavor Flav wore an airbrushed piece by Phetus on the Arsenio Hall show in an episode entirely dedicated to the controversy of Public Enemy. In the episode, Flavor Flav stands up from Arsenio's couch to show off the airbrushed outfit, saying "This guy in there his name is Victor he made the shirt here for me. We also do airbrushing inside the shop." Phetus would eventually go on to paint the backdrop for Public Enemy's performance with U2 at the "Stop Sellafield" concert. Phetus' work can also be seen in the official video for "Tap the Bottle (Twist the Cap)" by Young Black Teenagers. Phetus did all the graffiti on the set of the video; a large-scale phat phace can be seen behind the group. Throughout the 90's and early 2000's, Phetus continued to create custom clothing pieces for hip-hop artists and other clients.In 2002 Phetus opened up Concrete Vibes in Mineola. Following the path of stores in New York like The Scrapyard, the store was the first on Long Island to sell graffiti supplies like aerosol paint and markers, independent designer clothing, designer toys and other lifestyle products. Monthly art shows were also held at the store, and the store held a book signing for Cope2
Cope2
Fernando Carlo is a graffiti artist from the South Bronx, New York. He has been writing graffiti since 1978-79, and has gained international credit for his work. Though he is now known worldwide, he didn't receive recognition in the mainstream graffiti world until the mid-1990s.Cope2's cousin...
. The store eventually relocated to Freeport, and expanded to include a recording studio. Artists such as Poe Rilla, Cuban Link, and other 3.2.6. Muzik and 3.2.6. Latino artists recorded there in the mid 2000's.
Between the operational years of Concrete Vibes Mineola and Concrete Vibes Freeport, Phetus worked with Seen and set up an office in the back of Tattoo Seen. From Seen's shop, and with Planet6, Phetus worked on the Phony Baloney designer toy line. He would also team up with Terminal Press to create the Phony-Baloney comic.
Phetus brought his artistic perspective to Elite Gudz in 2008. Since joining up with Elite Gudz, Phetus has exhibited in multiple shows and helped create the iOS app Graffiti Spray Can, which topped over 5 million downloads in early 2011. In the Graffiti Spray Can PRO & Graffiti Spray Can HD Applications, he has his very own artist pack. The artist pack included his graffiti centric hip-hop single, "We Bomb," featuring rapper Poe Rilla.
"We Bomb" EP
IOn May 24, 2011 Phetus released "We Bomb," a hip-hop single with a graffiti centric theme. The track featured Poe Rilla and was produced by Beat Butcha. The video for "We Bomb" was produced by Picture Perfect and features well known graffiti locations throughout New York City. The "We Bomb" EP also featured several remixes, including dubstepDubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and djent
Djent
Djent is a heavy metal music subgenre that emerged as a spin-off from progressive metal. Coined by the band Meshuggah, it was popularized through the internet by Periphery, specifically guitarist Misha Mansoor. The word "djent" is an onomatopoeia for a heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar chord...
versions. The term "bomb" in the graffiti community commonly refers to the graffiti practice of marking up a series of surfaces in one area. The track was featured in the Graffiti Spray Can PRO and Graffiti Spray Can HD applications by Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz is an independent game and creative studio based in New York, NY. They are best known for their top-downloaded iPhone app, Graffiti Spray Can, and the top rated & top download Xbox Indies title Techno Kitten Adventure...
.
The video for the song, produced by Picture Perfect, was filmed on location at several famous NYC graffiti landmarks including 5 Pointz in Queens, Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
's Crack is Wack wall in Harlem, Cope2
Cope2
Fernando Carlo is a graffiti artist from the South Bronx, New York. He has been writing graffiti since 1978-79, and has gained international credit for his work. Though he is now known worldwide, he didn't receive recognition in the mainstream graffiti world until the mid-1990s.Cope2's cousin...
's wall at Boon Ave. in the Bronx, and the American Trash bar. The "We Bomb" EP, released on picture disc vinyl, featured several remixes, including dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and djent
Djent
Djent is a heavy metal music subgenre that emerged as a spin-off from progressive metal. Coined by the band Meshuggah, it was popularized through the internet by Periphery, specifically guitarist Misha Mansoor. The word "djent" is an onomatopoeia for a heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar chord...
versions.
Concrete Immortalz
Concrete ImmortalzConcrete Immortalz
Concrete Immortalz is an ongoing comic series by graffiti artist Phetus and the Elite Gudz team. It is the first mainstream comic series to feature a graffiti artist as the main protagonist.- Overview :...
is a comic series by graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
artist Phetus and the Elite Gudz team. The series is built on the idea that art progresses with and chronicles human history, and "the graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
movement is the artistic embodiment of current times." The series' main protagonist is The Wall Lord, a graffiti artist who writes messages of hope and defiance against a repressive government. On January 7, 2010, Phetus and street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
ist Such painted a mural image of The Wall Lord on a subway car installation outside of Tuff City Tattoos in Bronx. NY Phetus was also joined by Cope2
Cope2
Fernando Carlo is a graffiti artist from the South Bronx, New York. He has been writing graffiti since 1978-79, and has gained international credit for his work. Though he is now known worldwide, he didn't receive recognition in the mainstream graffiti world until the mid-1990s.Cope2's cousin...
, T-Kid, Ban2, Indie and Cheez who came through to destroy the piece once it was completed as a tribute to the real life actions that go on within the graffiti subculture. A billboard-sized mural for Concrete Immortalz was created by Phetus and Such across a block-long industrial complex at 5 Pointz in Long Island City.
Phetus Exclusives
Phetus Exclusives began as high-end, one-off shirts for celebrities. Graffiti was once known as the visual component of hip-hop. Artists would often paint or exhibit work while DJ’s, MC’s and dancers performed. Continuing this long-standing relationship between graffiti and hip hop, Phetus moved his designs to clothing for musicians. Ludacris’ wardrobe from his Chicken and Beer album and tour, and a number of outfits from LL Cool J’s Exit 13 tour were made by Phetus.In Fall 2010, Phetus presented Hank Steinbrenner with a Phetus Exclusive on the field of Yankee Stadium. The Hanks Yank’s jersey featured a Yankees logo, freshly spray-painted with stylized drip markings.
In 2008, Phetus became the driving force behind Elite Gudz and now produces clothing on a larger scale. He currently has two clothing lines, monthly limited Phetus Exclusives packages and the Career Criminal line of apparel.
At Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, fashion magazine Vevant.com commissioned Phetus to transform their Fashion Week booth into an art gallery. Phetus created original art installations for each day of the 8 day event in themes relating to the world of fashion and current events.
In June 2010. Phetus painted a mural for KarmaLoop TV across three walls while simultaneously hand screening a run of T-shirts, both featuring his "Phat Phace" logo and "Phe-Gnome" character, plundering a village as it burns to the ground.
Exhibit History
Phetus was a part of the "Green Umbrellas for a Green Cause" campaign with Starbucks. The campaign included custom umbrellas designed by American artists and celebrities. The umbrellas were then auctioned off, with the proceeds donated to Global Green USA.In December 2008, Phetus' Goons & Bots characters debuted at East West in Westbury, NY. The collection of characters from Goons & Bots can be found in some of Phetus' mural work. Some of the collection was also featured at Fangoria Presents: Night of the Living Decks in 2009. Two skate decks painted with goons and bots, respectively, were featured as part of a group art show of coffin-shaped skate boards. Goons & Bots were also featured on the first cube at Toy Qube’s “In Your Phace” show. Wooden and neon versions of Phetus' Phat Phaces were on display along with canvases, skate decks and a 7 foot tall rotating cube featuring the characters.They were also featured in the Cubez event at New York Comic Con 2010. Since then, Goons & Bots have been in their own iOS applications.
In 2009 Phetus & Elite Gudz artist Mr. Den contributed to the Topps Star Wars Galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy may mean:* Star Wars Galaxies, a Star Wars themed MMORPG platform for Microsoft Windows* Star Wars galaxy, the fictional galaxy where the setting of the Star Wars saga occurs...
5 trading card set. The cards sold out. In 2010, original sketch cards from Elite Gudz artists were displayed and auctioned at the 1st Annual 2nd Ave. Trading Card Convention and Swap Meet.
In May 2010 Phetus, along with Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz
Elite Gudz is an independent game and creative studio based in New York, NY. They are best known for their top-downloaded iPhone app, Graffiti Spray Can, and the top rated & top download Xbox Indies title Techno Kitten Adventure...
artists Mr. Den and Narek Gevorgian, exhibited original artwork at “Power Arts for Power Ups - Mr.Power Custom Show” , featuring Mr. Den's "The Bull of Minos Devours Mr. Powers" custom sculpture. On the same day the artists also exhibited at “Thought Processor: The NYC Series.", featuring custom paper toys accompanied by paintings by all three Elite Gudz artists. The designs were also available online for download after the show so fans could make their own figures out of the same pieces featured in the gallery.
In Nov. 2010 it was announced that The Art Hustle will profile Phetus in its upcoming series. The Art Hustle series of trading cards profile artists with backgrounds in street art, illustration, aerosol art and more.