What's it like being a graffiti artist in Miami? "Sometimes it gets wild."
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Courtesy: AES (The Miracle Ghost)
Miami graffiti artist AES (The Miracle Ghost) says his new exhibit, "Partners in Crime," is a tribute to friendships forged through illicit graffiti adventures.
Why it matters: When your art breaks the law, every day brings risk, but AES says he's less concerned about encountering the police than other people.
What they're saying: AES, known for his signature ghost character, says "anything can happen" when he goes out to paint at night.
- In Miami, he says, he's had someone point a gun at him before, though he thinks they were just joking.
- "How you respond to that will determine if you go to the next spot or you get a bullet in the leg or something."
He usually paints by himself, but he sometimes has non-artist friends ask if they can tag along and be his lookout.
- "When you take them out, they don't wanna go out again," he says, laughing.
- "Sometimes it gets wild. A lot of things happen on the street when people are sleeping."
The big picture: As both a graffiti writer and a university-trained studio artist, AES has one foot in the underground and the other in the contemporary art space. (He shields his identity from the public eye).
Flashback: The Venezuela native has been doing graffiti for 20 years and moved to Miami in 2010 to go to school. (He has a master of fine arts from the Miami International University of Art & Design and a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Miami.)
- When he realized he couldn't make graffiti his career, he started making contemporary art from his love of graffiti.
- "I had to put it into balance," he says. "I want to do graffiti so much and I want to make art and make a living."
If you go: "Partners in Crime" is a weeklong exhibit that debuts Saturday (6-11pm) at Central Command Gallery in Allapattah, 1798 NW 20th St.
- The exhibit will feature paintings, mixed-media pieces and sculpture, along with film, music and community programming.
- It will conclude Aug. 1 with a community B-Boy Jam breakdancing competition co-hosted by Chop 'em Down Films.