THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

AEST’s graffiti interest started in a somewhat generic, funny way as he explains with a southern drawl, “Mang, I remember when I was a kid, I used to get my haircut at this barber shop and there was this hip hop, skyline, b-boy character thing they had going on. I never knew who did it, but that was some of the first graffiti I ever saw in person, (laughs) typical skyline hip-hop thing. Other than that, Thrasher magazine. You would always catch graffiti in the background of the skate photos.”

Thrasher magazine. You would always catch graffiti in the background of the skate photos.

AEST has been busy at graffiti since 1994. He got his start in Richmond, Virginia, a relatively small scene compared to the rest of the country, but definitely a scene that pumps out a ton of talent. Writers like ELK, SIGH, PENIS, LYES, and a slew of others, many of whom are members of DOS “Dirty Ol’ South.” “Richmond’s cool, Mang. It’s a small scene that’s definitely not as crazy as places like Chicago. I think the first piece popped up in Richmond in like ’84 or ’86, and it was pretty dead after that until the early 90’s. It doesn’t have as much history as other scenes, but I love it, because that’s where I came from.”

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AEST is the type of writer whose level of talent allows him not to be married to one particular style; the type of writer who takes his surroundings into account when painting. “If I am painting a train line spot, highway, or a freight, then I am going to do some simple legible stuff, but if it’s a wall somewhere where you can take the time to check it out, then I will flex something more complex.” Like many of his other DOS brethren, AEST isn’t much for words and doesn’t have any poetic reasons for painting graffiti. They do it because they are passionate about it. When asked how he would define his style, he said, “It’s a little bit classical I hope, maybe not too crazy, a touch of flair I hope.” And he burst into laughter as he said the word flair. “Shit, man, I don’t know, I just write graffiti.”

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

For the past 25 years Derek Riggs has supplied us with countless images of the most well know monster in heavy metal history, Eddie Maiden. Eddie has transformed Iron Maiden into a merchandising giant. The attraction to Eddie is as strong today as it was with his first appearance in 1979. Riggs is opinionated, upfront, and out to impress no one. We linked up with him to talk about art, religion, politics and of course Eddie. Enjoy.

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Iron Maiden’s management came across a painting of yours that featured a character called Electric Matthew. Electric Matthew would later be transformed into Eddie Maiden. Obviously the original Electric Matthew wasn’t designed specifically for Iron Maiden. What was your initial inspiration for the character you were creating?

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The original picture was inspired by a photo of a dead soldier’s skull that I found in TIME magazine when I was about 15. I used it in a photo-montage, stuck it to the front of a folder and covered it in plastic. Years later I found it and decided to use it for the basis for a picture. It was the late 1970’s and Punk rock was big in England. I thought that maybe some punk band might be able to use it.

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What was the creation process like when doing the Iron Maiden album covers? Did you have free reign on the designs or did most of that come from the band?

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Most of the time almost nothing came from the band. I would get a title or the title and a direction to go in and then I would send a sketch to the manager Rod Smallwood. We would talk over the idea and decide if Rod felt it needed anything. Quite often he would just say go ahead and I would get on with the job. For example, the brief I got for Somewhere in Time was, “We want a city like the one in Blade Runner,” and the rest was left pretty much up to me. The look of Eddie was my invention, as was the content of the city. Steve came to me near the end of the work and asked if I could include some little details, like the names of his previous bands.

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Of all the Iron Maiden covers you created, which one is your favorite?

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Somewhere in Time, because of the detail. I like detail. Clairvoyant and Can I Play with Madness because they are so ape shit, and Stranger in a Strange Land because it looks like Clint Eastwood.

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For the 80’s, some of the album covers were very over the top. The Sanctuary single’s sleeve had a picture of Eddie with a knife in his hand, standing over the dead body of Margaret Thatcher who had just been caught tearing down an Iron Maiden poster. Did you come under attack for that and did you have any issues with doing a cover with that kind of imagery?

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How does military grade nerve gas get out of a secure facility? From that time on my experiences with the medical profession indicated to me that my health has been monitored by someone other than the local doctor.

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We are sponsoring a show at Flatcolor Gallery in Seattle. If you are in town stop by to check it out. They will be giving out free copies of The Art of Storytelling Magazine to the first 50 attendees. The posse hooked up a nice show, Chip, Bigfoot and El Kamino. Check back next week for photos.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE ART OF STORYTELLING MAGAZINE ISSUE #1.

Okay, so I moved to New York City when I was eighteen having grown up and spent my real formative years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I started my life in San Francisco, California and spent my first four years in the Los Angeles area. When I was seventeen I managed to graduate high school. I got out a year early and used the year between seventeen and eighteen to plan and fantasize and get the dream together that I could take with me to New York City. By the time I moved to New York I set up some jobs, internships, and some other opportunities. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, maybe I thought I would go to college. Within those few months all my plans and my sort of initial infrastructure I tried to lay out for myself fell through or I quit at basically.

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“I was singing that and the Bill Gates looking guy said, “and I think it’s going to be a long long time till you ever play in this venue… get the fuck out!” He was serious and that’s when the tears welled up in my eyes and I lost it.”

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Michael J. Dalton II

BUILDING VIOLENCE

JUNE 30, 2010- AUGUST 4, 2010

OPENING RECEPTION:

JULY 2^ND, 2010 5PM-9PM

The 3rd Street Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of photographer Michael J. Dalton II.

A select group of photographs and found objects from Dalton’s on-going body of work, Building Violence will be on display that provides us with examples of his landscapes, architecture and portraiture work. Dalton’s images uniquely portray a topographical documentary of the industrial northeast in constant flux.

By photographing creation and creator, destruction and destroyer, Building Violence examines the topographic effects of commerce, urban planning, gentrification, eminent domain and the result of man’s ability to totally affect the landscape as he sees fit.

This project directs the viewer’s attention to an overdeveloped industrialized and sometimes toxic part of a specifically American landscape. Coping with the cycles of demand, production and modernization, the landscape is caught in a violent destruction and construction process.

However, Building Violence seems to lack a formal critique on modern building practices as its author removes himself and allows for a more democratic way of seeing how the landscape evolves in all its subtle absurdity. With a stronger attention to formal elements and utilizing before-and-after comparisons, images like, “Tree Brace” soften the violence of the project as a whole, downplaying it as a critique.

Dalton also turns his lens towards the people who are involved in the building and destroying process. By creating portraits that mimic some of the structures found in Building Violence he acknowledges the human hand involved in physically creating and destroying, as well as the people who are influential in the changes that occur around the Northeast.

The found objects exhibited are items Dalton had encountered while working on some of the same construction sites he photographs. They serve as physical evidence along with the use of his 8×10 camera and personally printing on 30×40” chromogenic photographic paper mounted on plexi-glass.

The Industrial and commercial landscape that are shown in Building Violence are captured in moments of upheaval in both creation and destruction. Sometimes this change is caught in a standstill and is left to decay among the asphalt, concrete and steel, only to be overgrown by weeds. It is up to the hands of humanity to decide how The Northeast will appear—and it is up to the viewer to decide whether the evolution of the land is beneficial to its community or destructive in nature.

Michael J. Dalton II graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a BFA in photography and has been shown in galleries in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. Dalton currently lives in Brooklyn NY and works as a Construction laborer in NYC.