Harman Projects is pleased to present Collective Murmurs, a solo exhibition by iconic graffiti artist and Juxtapoz x Superflat exhibiting artist, GATS. This will be the artist's first solo presentation with the gallery.
Like ancient pictographs adorning rock walls, GATS' work find's itself gracing man-made walls all over the world to the wonder of passersby who look upon these mysterious faces much like we look back at the many works by the anonymous artists of prehistoric times. Known for his ever-changing mask symbol, GATS (Graffiti Against The System) is fascinated with pairing the old with the new. The mask itself, feels less akin to contemporary graffiti than it does ethnographic art and when painted on antique objects found by the artist, the resulting work feels as if it has been transformed into cultural artifacts.
Of several works painted on found objects, the three Back and Forth pieces are particularly suited as art objects. Not only are these works highly transpositional with the paintings wrapping in 360 degrees, but they are painted on antique paint sprayers. The use of this specific object references the artist's use of aerosol spray paint in a subtle yet poignant way. Without the advent of the spray can, graffiti would never have been able to take off not only in regards to it's global popularity but also in terms of the complexity of artistic expression achieved.
Age of Mammals #7 (pictured above) is part of a series of ink drawings on paper created using tools the artist crafted from found objects. While the drawing implements are not exhibited, they are very much a piece of the final works of art as their construction informed the line quality, gesture and imperfections in the ink work.
