Graff and Street Art folks like to talk about going out and “bombing”, borrowing a military metaphor to apply to covering large areas of walls with paint or wheatpasted paper to major effect. From Red Hook, Brooklyn, Juxtapoz profiles an emerging new kind of bomber that knocks down the walls, explodes your expectations, blast the foundations of what we have become comfortable believing about ourselves and the world.  Unlike the cynical campaigns of fear that propel one toward mindless conformity however, this bombing encourages you to tap into the primal, the creatively expansive, the free-thinking self.  To paraphrase the artist, it’s about tolerance versus stupidity.

Duke Riley is many things; American fine artist, performance artist, tattoo artist, painter, sculptor, historian; RISD and Pratt grad, explorer, fine chef, gracious host, “son of a b*tch”. And to borrow from the street, this guy is a bomber – the new breed that we have been witnessing sprouting from the art communities and collectives re-invigorating Brooklyn since the mid-1990s. Curious, confident, and inventive; this is the gritty urban soil it grows in.

Contributing editor and videographer for Juxtapoz, Alexander Klein produced this three part profile of Duke Riley that itself is compelling and smart. We look forward to more insight like this from Juxtapoz.

Part 1

In Part 1, Duke takes a Revolutionary War-era submarine and swims it up to the Queen Mary 2.

Part 2

In Part 2, Duke organizes a full 5-Borough water invasion battle.

Part 3

Finally in Part 3, Duke goes train-hopping from New York City to Ohio.

All images are stills from the videos and © of Juxtapoz

238

138

45