Pow Wow Hawaii 2016
Pow Wow Hawaii 2016 lived up to its name. Over 30 murals were completed over the span of two weeks including works by OG Legend Risk and new school visual god 1010. The field this year was diverse including works from over 15 countries including Brazil, locals from Hawaii, and even a Japanese contingent.
One of trends of 2016 will be calligraphy street art spawning from the Middle East protests of 2014/2015. Arabic, Sanskrit, and other languages have started to be introduced in the street art community. This style which focuses on letter and form is one of the best styles we have seen in a while. Rocko from NYC and Defer in Los Angeles seem to be the standard bearers for this new style. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Defer in Hawaii.
Defer2k at work for Pow Wow Hawaii 2016 – Photo Graff Tours
Bicicleta Sem Freio at work for Pow Wow Hawaii 2016 – Photo Graff Tours 2016
The Biggest surprise of Pow Wow Hawaii!! was probably a guest appearance by 1010. Known for his larger than life colorful pits, 1010 makes walls look like they are host to many black holes. He almost creates an illusion that you can walk straight through the wall and right into the building hosting the artwork. In 2016, 1010 is set to be part of Armory work in NYC including showing new work at the Paper Art Fair.
Big shout out to our new friend Sket One who delivered tons of stickers to us to give out on all of our tours during March. Sket is OG from LA and his love of Sriracha is second to none. His new mural for Pow Wow Hawaii exploded onto the scene.
Sket One at Work for Pow Wow Hawaii 2016
The two best activities during Pow Wow was the artist talk with Hueman, who also got married during Pow Wow, and the 1xRun print show showcasing over 50 new works by the Pow Wow artists and more. We were lucky enough to buy a Hebru Brantley piece during the show. His cartoonesk characters were a highlight of this year’s festival and we know that he has been seen hanging with the one and only Swiss Beats for his new Dean Collection.
Hebru Brantley at work for Pow Wow Hawaii 2016
OG Risk using his now iconic sprayer technique created this Hawaii inspired wall for Pow Wow Entitled “Aloha” with the help of some friends from LA. Although the wall got off to some bumpy start (the sprayers didn’t work the first day) this is definitely an instant classic.
Risk at work on his giant wall for Pow Wow 2016