Here are some pictures from Shok-1 and Bates who recently painted new walls in Ravenna Italy as part of the Rigenerarte Festival. Looking over the pictures from the event, it seemed to by a nice jam. We were impressed with the walls painted by all the artists in the event but we wanted to focus on Shok-1 and Bates in this feature. Shock-1 continues to create some of the amazing walls conceptually sound and executed with precision. Shok-1’s work is very distinguishable. His signature organic style xray inverted colors with contrasting palettes, simple yet powerful. Shok-1 has been a consistent force in Europe for decades now. His work has been able to evolve and push forward, yet still keep the classic origins. This is one of the reasons I relate to artists such as Shok-1 and Bates that keep the roots alive in their work, yet remain relevant in today’s scene of street art. Style is a lost art at times, there are some amazing artists painting festivals all over the world. Rarely are you able to get that same feeling you got looking at graffiti when you first started from most other artists. The Style factor is something that today’s artists lose track of. That leads me to Bates who is a Legend with a capital L in graffiti, but for some odd reason this current street scene doesn’t know where or how to categorize these artists. Bates has influenced generations now and his work is stronger than ever, yet you rarely see him included in festivals like this. Graffiti might be a buzzword and an accepted art form but I still think Legends like Bates need to be out there painting 5 story walls decorating city centers. Great job to this festival for getting some great artists together and bringing some real graffiti to the walls. Hopefully we will see more artists like Bates and Shok-1 as part of future festivals. Pictures courtesy of Shok-1, Luca Moretti, and Extralad
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