OPENING (Part 2): Jesse Edwards – Dialogue of the Streets at Klughaus Gallery

“I painted this marijuana plant from life. On the west coast, the laws regarding medical marijuana use are very liberal and one can easily apply for an application. Growing up my whole life, this was a forbidden fruit, so suddenly having an opportunity to cultivate marijuana was very interesting. This is the first marijuana plant I have ever grown. I believe the strain is Grandma Kush. It is lit from above with a high pressure sodium light. I included a small piece candle and some nutrients on top of a copper table.”

“These guns were given to me by my father. Pretty much, all I ever got from him was these two guns and a belt buckle… Thanks Dad!”

We first reached out to Jesse Edwards at the end of last year to see if he was interested in doing our first show of 2012 at Klughaus Gallery.  Despite some of the past stories and articles about him (and his older brother,) he was actually very humble and positive on the phone.  It turned out that we had some mutual friends in New York/Seattle and he was immediately on board and excited to make this one of his best shows yet.  Within a few hours of accepting our invitation, he already returned the favor by flooding our inbox with leads to several aerosol art jobs in New York.  We ended up completing most of those aerosol commissionswithin the same week and right away, we knew that Jesse was going to be a very reliable artist to work with!

Working with Jesse over the last few weeks in New York, we were quickly exposed to his strong work ethic.  Anything that we asked of him was done immediately without any complaints.  He doesn’t drink or do drugs anymore, so any free time that he’s had since he’s been out here has been spent painting non-stop.  Jesse is also a guy that can get things done on the spot by being resourceful with his environment and coming up with ideas on the fly.  That definitive quality shows through his artwork, both in the streets and in his gallery work.  I have nothing but respect for Jesse and I think that he is a perfect example of someone who is able to channel the so-called “negative” energy of their past into something much more positive in their life through art.

<< READ PART 1 OF JESSE EDWARDS OPENING RECAP

Upcoming: Jesse Edwards will be contributing to a new exhibit, “Universe of Desire” at the Museum of Sex in New York City.  The show runs from February 9th through November 4, 2012.

Links to other reviews of the Dialogue of the Streets show:

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