Prints for sale from The Weird's Detroit Group Show

The Weird from Germany were recently in Detroit doing murals throughout Eastern Market and the Packard Plant. They currently have prints available from their 'Detroit - 2013' show. Click on the link below to see how to purchase some very cool art.

Detroit Group Show by The Weird

Another masterpiece in the 'Cut'...

This is a great piece. It is in the Dequindre Cut close to Jefferson on the south side of the path. I looked for a signature or tag and I can't find one. I don't think it's fel3000ft...but not sure.

Peace...

This was taken at the Packard Plant on Concord and East Grand Boulevard in Detroit. 

While I was taking this picture...my car was being broken into.  How ironic...and I spend my time supporting the city and trying to get people to give Detroit a chance. I'll keep trying and won't let this phase me too much. 

Supporting the arts in Michigan...Artserve

This organization is doing great things to support the arts in Michigan. Artserve covers all mediums and lets you know what's going on in the art world. Check out their new website...

Artserve on the web

...or keep up to date with them on their Facebook site...

Artserve on Facebook

Inner State Gallery Show...

Inner State Gallery Presents Camilo Pardo’s “Zero Gravity”

Artists reception Friday July 26th from 7-10p

Click here for more information on the event and about the artist

fel3000ft...

A graffiti artist who has spent the last 29 years painting in Detroit returned to the area of a former abandoned railroad line this month for the first time in a decade with his paint cans.

The difference between then and now: He was invited this time.

Fel3000ft, as he's known professionally, completed a piece Tuesday that is reminiscent of Detroit in what is now home to the Dequindre Cut Greenway.

"It's quite an honor to be asked to be here," said Fel3000ft, who picked up his first paint can at age 11. "And it's quite an honor for me to do this for the city."

Graffiti art is part of what makes Detroit unique, said Marc Pasco, a spokesman for the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, which is responsible for maintenance of the Dequindre Cut Greenway.

The graffiti along the greenway -- a recreational path used by walkers, runners and bicyclists -- incorporates the look and feel of the city, Pasco said.

"I don't think there is any denying that some of these graffiti artists are very talented at what they do," he said.

Graffiti artists including Fel3000ft and another known as Malt were asked to produce the pieces painted this month in the Dequindre Cut -- adding to the movement of legal graffiti art in metro Detroit.

"More of this art (is) being done above ground instead of underground," said Jesse Cory, co-founder of gallery 323East in Royal Oak.

Though illegal graffiti is still a part of Detroit, the amount of legal graffiti work has exploded in the last 10 years, Cory said. Many artists come to Detroit from around the world to be part of it.

There is strict code, Fel3000ft said, including no painting on thriving businesses, religious buildings or occupied homes.

"There is a different set of rules to this than there is to just being somebody who ruins people's property," he said, stressing that what graffiti artists do is different from gang graffiti.

At 40, Fel3000ft is one of the oldest members of the area's graffiti art community. His name was once Fel, but he got into an argument with another artist who went by the same name.

He said he argued he had the name first and told the other artist that if he didn't change his name, that artist would know what it was like to fall 3,000 feet.

"I liked it so much, I kept it," he said.

Fel3000ft is now considered a Detroit legend and teacher by others in the community. "He's sort of considered like the godfather of Detroit graffiti," said Mike Han, founder of Street Culture Mash.

Han's company hires people to do graffiti work, and Fel3000ft -- who said he only paints legally now -- was the first person to get the call for the job at the Dequindre Cut. The Cut is a below-street-level path that runs parallel to St. Aubin Street, between Gratiot Avenue and Atwater, near the RiverWalk.

Fel3000ft came up with the idea for the piece, which has a spaceship theme, after watching a documentary on how stars are formed. He said it reminded him of Detroit. "A star is born through immense pressure, and we have had our fair share," he wrote next to the piece. "That beacon of light you see in the dark is our fair city rising from the night sky."

The self-taught graffiti artist, who also works as a tattoo artist, brought more than 100 cans of spray paint, ladders and music that helps him loosen up. He spent four days at the underpass off Gratiot near St. Aubin -- sometimes painting from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

"To do this was important," he said. "I've been an advocate for trying to bring back the city through the arts."

Many of the pieces are never touched by others. The reason: It's considered disrespectful to mark or tag a piece if you can't do it better yourself.

"If you can't do anything just as good or better, then you better leave it alone because the rest of the guys in the graffiti community are going to frown upon it," Fel3000ft said.

His unnamed piece joins Malt's work. Malt also used to paint in the area back when it was overgrown, home to wild dogs and abandoned cars. "It was a totally different world down here years ago," he said

Other graffiti commissioned when the greenway opened in 2009 lines parts of the path, as well as some that has been illegally painted in the area.

Detroiters James Tolbert, 63, and Ricky Kochom, 53, ride bicycles two to three times a week on the 1.35-mile path and said they enjoy seeing the work, as long as it isn't profane.

"I like the graffiti. It gives it character," Tolbert said.

"Some of it's a shame they do it here instead of in a gallery," Kochom said.

Fel3000ft said he has watched people's mind-set about graffiti -- considered by many to be vandalism -- change over the years. "They're starting to realize that it's a valid art form," he said.

By Elisha Anderson
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Graffiti Wars...

Here is a link to the full 49 minute video about the Graffiti war between Robbo and Banksy. It explains how it started and what the status is right now...worth the watch.

watch Graffiti Wars video

Welcome to Eastern Market...

Eastern Market has a new welcome mural thanks to The Weird Crew from Germany. Nice job guys! The mural is located on Gratiot and can be seen going Nothbound (coming from downtown Detroit) on your right hand side just before turning left onto Russell Street.

Banksy in Detroit...

International Graffiti artist Banksy was in Detroit a couple of years ago, and did this mural on a wall at the Packard Plant...a favorite spot for taggers in the city. The mural was discovered and a local art studio took immediate action.The 555 Studios located on West Vernor in SW Detroit cut out the 1500 pound mural with mason saws and took the art to their location, sparking quite a controversy. With the destruction of the Packard Plant imminent, the piece was saved and will not go the route of so much else in the city and be destroyed.


Here's a link to the story published in the Detroit Free Press in 2010...

More Weird Crew...

More murals by The Weird Crew around Eastern Market...

Located on Russell Street in the heart of Eastern Market...

 Sketching out and visualizing the next project...

Taking a day off riding around Greek town...

A couple blocks off Russell Street...

The Weird Crew visits Detroit...

The Weird Crew is a group of artists from Germany that do murals and other forms of graphic art all over the world. They recently came to Detroit and did several murals in Eastern Market off Gratiot near downtown. There are at least 4 new murals...

Snax...

I ran into Snax at the Packard plant last Sunday getting ready to do a new tag. Here's a before and after...it was finished on Monday when I went back.

Welcome to Detroit Graffiti Art...

Welcome to my new blog at bloodspot.com. I will be posting new and interesting tags and murals from around the city. Some are done by individual artists and some are done by world renowned street artists. I have a lot of pics of tags in and around the old Packard Plant off E. Grand Blvd. and various other factories up and down the Detroit river.I will also highlight local galleries in the area that are promoting the new interest in the arts in Detroit, and the shows that they put on at their galleries around the city. Also check out the supplier links that will be posted for supplies specific to these arts. Enjoy!