Out of Context: Bringing Uptown to Downtown

Seemingly cryptic, a faint and ill-defined figure jets out of the night shadows and crosses the steel tracks gleaming in the moonlight. Pausing for a moment to survey the surroundings and gain a sense of the imminent environment, the figure suddenly ducks down as a security guard patrols nearby. Safe once again, the figure takes off a backpack and spills out several cans of spray paint from within.

Almost immediately, this artist of the night begins to create a complex impression on the side of a freight car. Trains are blank canvases for this urban dweller whose images become vibrant as the sun rises. This artist is adept to working in the dark; crawling out of the woodwork to bring colour to the city landscape when the sun goes down. Anonymity is essential to avoid confrontations with the “man”, therefore this creative consciousness uses pseudonyms to gain notoriety in the underground.

Orchestrated with panache, the piece is nearing completion in this dark corner of the train yard. The figure, efficiently adding the final touches, will receive full gratification tomorrow when the light of day reveals the true impact of the painting. And just as quickly as he appeared to throw his artwork up, this craftsman has vanished once again into the night.

Enter “Out of Context 2: Bringing Uptown to Downtown”, a silent auction of artwork by graffiti artists from across Canada being presented by Circa and VisualOrgasm.com.

The organizer of the event, who chooses to remain as anonymous as the artists he promotes, is the mastermind behind VisualOrgasm.com, a website devoted to displaying the works of graffiti artists.

He says the idea of the auction, now in its second year, is to shed some positive light on graffiti culture and provide a portal for many artists who would not otherwise have a venue to showcase their creations.

“Calgary needs to see the positive aspect of graffiti,” he said in spite of the negative image it often connotes. “It is going to be a laidback atmosphere where people with an interest in graffiti can mix together.”

The organizer said there are no restrictions on the various mediums of artwork being displayed. He said he expects 50 to 55 pieces including paintings, sketches and murals. Roughly half of the artists showing their crafts will be from Calgary.

“This event brings a lot more exposure to the graf scene,” he said. “Especially in Calgary where it is not as appreciated as in other Canadian cities.”

He said Calgary has a long way to go in order to be on par with cities like Vancouver and Montreal, which host regular graffiti expositions.

“It’s pretty sad,” he said alluding to the state of the graf scene in Calgary and the fact that the city is quick to rid the concrete jungle of it. “As a result, Calgary only has a handful of murals.”

“The crackdown on graffiti in Calgary seems to have grown in the last few years,” he said. “But the reality is that the overall war on graffiti is futile.”

He has seen this firsthand running VisualOrgasm. The website, which has been actively providing graffiti artists’ exposure for seven years, is now an essential online community for artists to learn what’s happening in other scenes across the country.

“When I started out, I knew I wanted to do something with all the graffiti photos I had been taking while traveling across Canada,” he said. “I didn’t ever think the site would become what it is today.”

The site features photos of the works of artists from Vancouver to Halifax and all places in between, and also includes a range of information on the artform.

“And, my own perverted mind came up with the name,” he added.

The auction organizer said that artists are only required to pay a nominal fee to have their pieces displayed in the show. He said some artists last year walked away with up to $600 from hawking their art at the show.

Out of Context 2: Bringing Uptown to Downtown is going to be held April 23 from 7 to 11 pm at the Circa showroom which is located at 536 9th Ave. SE.

This article originally appeared in the Reflector