Las Vegas Weekly

Urban kings

The talents behind the city’s outdoor aerosol-art gallery see it as a way to save kids from the streets by redefining what “art” is

“Freelance art ninja” Gear Boxxx_Rox.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

If you want to build an urban art core, containing stylized murals painted by a tiger-print mohawk-sporting graffiti artist and curated by a local hip-hop activist, then this is the block. Cloistered away from heavy traffic, aerosol artists from across the country marked the area near the Arts Factory—bordered by South First Street, Coolidge Avenue, South Casino Center Drive and Boulder Avenue. The mostly boarded-up block scratched by sagebrush, where the homeless chill in the shade reading thriller novels, is wrapped in eye-popping designs and vibrant script—indecipherable to those who aren’t down with the scene. But you will stop to look.

On a recent Monday afternoon, Hollywood-based artist Gear Boxxx_Rox, 30, was transforming a front corner of the Arts Factory, 107 E. Charleston Blvd., from drab red cinder block and stucco into a dark neo-tech scenario, or “imagine bio gears meets sci-fi light surrealism.” His gear-turning postmodern mural made the Arts Factory look like the cover of an Ayn Rand novel. This irony should be apparent to anyone who has ever been inside. This is no cold mass-production factory. The 32,000-square-foot building houses 25 art-related tenants, including 16 independent art galleries.

Gear Boxxx’s mural, before the Main Street intersection and near the 206 bus stop, was at the perfect location for gawkers. They ambled over and listened to the artists wax about being misunderstood by the government, the public, other artists. Motorists slowed at the light and then craned their necks up at the scene. Gear Boxxx’s airless sprayer hissed, adding a different tone to the symphony of traffic on Charleston Boulevard.

“This is our resurgence,” said Ras.One, a 30-year-old Las Vegas native. He stepped away from the Arts Factory about two years ago, following artistic differences with the traditional painters inside Downtown’s main gallery hub, but was back to curate the outdoor aerosol-art gallery. (Like many aerosol artists, Ras only uses his real name when it’s time to cut the check.)

Arts Factory owner Wes Myles believed some teens could be turned from delinquency using art. His buildings on this block could attract the interest of kids who want to do more with a spray can. Over the years Myles has geared the mural art to a higher caliber.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

Gallery curator and aerosol artist Ras.One.

In Ras’ words—kings. Enthroned on the street. They’re up late body-spraying naked babes in strip clubs. They belong to diverse crews with rockabillies, gangsters, skaters, punk rockers, hip-hop musicians, surfers, stoners, goths, hipsters, art students and hombres. Names written on cinder block, stucco and concrete.

Downtown has been touched by many “kings,” said Markus Tracy, Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs cultural activities specialist. That includes artist Robert Beckmann with his work at the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum in 1989. The 2005 centennial celebration mural project created about 180 murals throughout the valley, including some that incorporated graffiti art.

“We live in a young city; it’s only 104 years old,” Tracy said. “Murals bring a sense of history. And they give a community a sense of ownership. It’s a precursor to developing and starting an artists’ district.”

And gang graffiti is not what aerosol artists do, said Gear Boxxx, who was commissioned by Myles for his mural. Territory is irrelevant to the artist.

“Because of the sheer size of what we do, it’s so big we’re performance artists, we’re entertainers,” he said. “Graffiti, that’s the name that umbrellas many things, from scribe onto a one-color scratch tag on an ATM to full-color productions. It’s creative. It’s destructive. It’s many facets in between. It’s malleable. It’s open-source. As far as who does graf, what is a graf artist? It has no one face.”

You couldn’t help but look twice at Gear Boxxx on the street, or 20 feet above the ground on a scissor lift with a spray gun. This “freelance art ninja” has a bleach-blond mohawk with black stripes tattooed down his scalp. He wore low-hanging paint-splattered jeans and skater shoes. As the day got hotter he took off his shirt—fully revealing the sleeve tattoos he designed himself. He has a throaty laugh, like a SoCal surfer dude. Over 20 hours, Gear Boxxx used 175 cans of spray paint in six shades of gray to create the large-scale gears for the Arts Factory motif.

This was a bit of urban culture that hadn’t been seen much in Vegas, the artists said. And passersby were awed.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

Gallery curator and aerosol artist Ras.One wants to open up the experience to kids.

“Good work! I want to increase your paychecks!” yelled Anthony Daniel, a self-described artist and professional gambler who was hoofing it down Charleston that afternoon.

Aerosol artists such as Gear Boxxx are making $5,000 to $10,000 on large pieces, said Ras, who assisted on the Arts Factory project. People honor these murals, the same people who hate graffiti, he said.

“In Vegas, we are front-runners in the culture,” Ras said. “We not only have had traffic jams [in front of walls they’ve worked on], but people are like, ‘What the hell!’ They’re so taken aback because they have never seen anything in Vegas on this scale, let alone the amount of talent. People have come up to me umpteen times and said, ‘You know I hate that shit [pointing to graffiti tags across the street].’ But they’ll say, ‘What you guys are doing is dope!’”

But Ras was careful not to distance aerosol art too far from the street—where teens write on fences, derelict buildings and in storm drains, all illegally.

“That’s where we came up from,” Ras said. “And we have professionals, kings, who still go out there as midnight marauders.”

He meant professional artists who take it to a public space for the attention and the thrill. He knows many who do this, but he declined to share names—even monikers. In this culture, it is not wise to call out anyone, even if the guerrilla art is worthy of attention. It could put that artist in front of the law, and Ras up against the guy’s crew.

Ras talked about his friends with the respect most would reserve for religious leaders. And perhaps this is the new faith for orphans, street teens and loners.

“I’d love to see the block become a mural hub,” said artist Jerry Misko. He and about 20 assistants painted the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on the First Street side of the Mission building for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition community mural project. The show featuring the mural aired May 10 on ABC.

“I’d love to see more businesses open up there that are art-related,” Misko said. “It’s not the safest neighborhood to work in—I wouldn’t want to be there after dark. But it’d be nice to see those rundown buildings turned into something nicer.”

Some Arts Factory gallery owners are eager for an exterior transformation.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

A portion of the outdoor aerosol-art gallery.

“I know this giant wall is going to get great attention for our arts district, which is what all the murals are doing,” said Alexander Huerta, artist and studio owner. “They’re letting people know there are artists here in Vegas, and art is alive. And we are ready to share it with the world.”

And Ras wants to take it one step further this summer with plans to open the Pop 2 Cultural Arts Center at 1017 S. First St. The center would sell discount art supplies and host affordable youth art classes. Ras wants to teach Las Vegas’ street kids that they too can create beauty with an edge—legally.

“It will allow young people to be exposed to other artists who are doing it professionally, like tattoo artists, graphic designers and graf artists,” said Las Vegas artist Iceberg Slick. “We need that, especially in a place like Las Vegas, which is not exactly built for children.”

Gang-banging teens will learn how to stretch a canvas and build a portfolio—prepping them for graphic-arts careers. Slick plans to teach a class on creative expressionism for black and Latino families. Ras believes those with the background and knowledge of the streets will be more effective in mentoring teens than cops or lawyers.

Myles said the area is constantly evolving. He estimated hundreds of artists have created murals in the area since 1996. Many past murals have been buffed out. Others came down with buildings. Myles sees the area as constantly evolving.

“The Arts Factory has been the nucleus for the creation of the 18b Las Vegas arts district,” he said. “It’s the nucleus for First Friday, based on the energy we put out there. I keep trying to keep it all together. Each person brings their own energy to it.”