rahmann statik @ rgb

Rahmaan Statik • Creative Liberation

Creative Liberation is the 2011 collection of paintings by Rahmaan Statik on display from November 11 to December 11 2011 at the RGB Lounge. The Creative Liberation exhibition is a depiction of what happens when artist produce art for personal practice, with no intention of gaining personal commerce.  (Yet every painting on display is to gain personal profits.) This body of work challenges common ideas of social constructs, and stereo types. The motive behind this work is to inspire people to produce art that can save the world, challenge governments, and to liberate artistic oppressed people. The function of this solo exhibition is to promote the public taking control of there visual reality and to deregulate all zoning laws against any form of public art in public space. To have Creative Liberation is to end all censorship on all forms of art and return creative control back to the artist. Opening reception Friday 11 November 7 pm to 11 pm.


Creative Liberation Rahmaan Statik solo show info www.statikone.net or text 773 454 0233

RGB Lounge is a gallery/event space, design/production house and artist's cooperative located at 

1420 N. Milwaukee Av. Chicago, IL 60622

poem one • back 2 basics @ rgb

The RGB Lounge is excited by the opportunity to exhibit the work of legendary graffiti artist and couture jewelry designer Poem One.

Poem One cut his teeth and honed his skills in the tumultuous late 70's of New York City. A time when writers of all races and economic backgrounds joined together to carve their own niches into what was to become a flourishing and timeless culture.  The fledging graffiti movement was in full swing, and he began, as most, just throwing his name up around the neighborhood. Seeing the subway cars rolling by, one after another, covered end to end by continuous  masterpiece gave him the calling to the trains. "What you saw was raw and in your face,"  Poem reminisces, "it was the true essence of what graf stood for then, and very much, stands for to this day." 

His work has been featured in numerous publications including the Source, The Washinton Post, and The New York Post,  as well as numerous books and magazines that followed the world of graffiti. The turning point in his career was his inclusion in Martha Cooper's Subway Art.  Dude is on the cover of one of the most recognized anthology of graffiti art ever published! Poem also sites the FX Cru documentary video as having the greatest influence on his worldwide fan base, "I was finally able to show who I was, what I stood for and that I was a grafitti artist who remained true to his roots."

Having the opportunity to travel internationally as a sponsored artist and the occasion to paint in front of hundreds people, Poem is considered a professional artist of the highest level  by colleagues and appreciators worldwide.

Poem currently resides in New York, where he continues to develop his style as a painter and craftsmen, as well as administrate his business as designer of his own line of urban couture jewelry. http://www.poemecouturejewelry.com/

His work will be available at the RGB Lounge through Sept. 1st with an opening reception on Aug. 4th from 7 to 11pm. RGB Lounge is a gallery/event space, production/design house and artist cooperative located at 1420 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, Il 60622

stef sola • out of darkness @ rgb

The RGB Lounge is pleased to present Stef Sola • Out of Darkness-- a solo exhibition of Chicago based graffiti artist Stef Skills. Stef is one of the most established female graffiti artists in the Chicago scene today and in this, her very first solo show, she features new works in a series that interprets the graffiti experience in an indoor setting, while exploring the context of gender through figurative outlines and aerosol tags. The divinity of the creative process is represented by using symbols of sacred geometry and the goddess emerging from her primordial state. Graffiti often executed in the darkness lights up urban landscapes, nurturing areas of neglect and decay with handwritten signs of life, hence Out of Darkeness. This process is reflected using acrylic and aerosol on wood and canvas.

Stef Skills was born in 1971 in Brunswick, Maine. Her mother is of Costa Rican descent and her father a U.S. Navy pilot. The experience of moving frequently, a fundamental requirement of a military family, coupled with growing up in a household of boys (four brothers) seasoned Stef  for her eventual involvement in the typically male dominated arena of graffiti and urban art. The re-acclimation to new surroundings and social circumstance lent her ample opportunity to develop her art and letter styles, while impressing new teachers with her impeccable handwriting.  After establishing roots in Florida, she was awarded a summer residency at Parsons School in New York City, which left her longing for big city life. She relocated to Chicago in 1990 and quickly infiltrated the boy's club of the Chicago graffiti scene,  becoming a prolific member of the Hash Crew. She later established all female crews with ONI29 and ESA.

In 1995 she enrolled at Columbia College and studied multi-media art and sound egineering. She has been a curator and exhibitor in several international showcases and is currently an administrator of several high caliber mural productions, as well as,  art instructor to children of all ages. Stef has recently embraced her brother crews XMEN and K.A.O.S., inc., and is a mother of two boys.

Opening reception- Thursday • July 21 • 7 to 11pm at the RGB Lounge • 1420 N Milwaukee Ave. • Chicago, Il • 60622. the RGB Lounge is a gallery/event space, design/production house and artist's cooperative. Hours are 12 pm to 8 pm, Monday through Saturday.

www.rgblounge.com

www.threeheartsclub.com

ennis martin • into the next dimension

Ennis Martin • Into the Next Dimension continues at the RGB Lounge through June 23rd. The vast majority of this body of work was created in the RGB space, with the specific intention of this show and is based on Ennis'  forthcoming graphic novel entitled The Black Book Chronicles-- "a children's book for adults" which combines elements of the ominous and the innocent. 

The Chronicles' story line begins in a post-apocalyptic earth, in which aliens have returned to re-create our world with little reference of the previous. The only record they have are torn and tattered pieces of Charles Darwin's The Origin of the Species. The aliens commence to experiment with concepts of how they perceive life should be. Beginning with aquatic life, they fashion jellyfish, squid and whales, the later they have termed Darwins, in reference to The Origin of the Species. These original creations are metamorphic beings that can walk on land, as well as, swim the waters.  

In time, the aliens became familiar with the theory of evolution, yet are still taxed by it's application. They create a prototype of the human being they designate "Afterman", an androidish, bio-mechancal representation of how they envision humankind. Later evolutionary examinations result in a next generation of humanoids known as "Submarine Man," yet perfection of the species still eludes them. 

Meanwhile, an underlying story line unfolds. There are remnants of the old Earth that begin to rebuild themselves. Those remnants are machines. Piloted by seemingly innocuous creatures such as bunny rabbits and teddy bears, these "Mechs" as they are coined, provide tension to the story line by violently opposing the new creation brought on by the struggling aliens. 

Contrast and conflict from almost the beginning of new live provide the unavoidable balance that has always accompanied the paradoxical nature of our existence-- the ominous and the innocent. 

Into the Next Dimension also represents the process of taking Ennis' art from the canvas into a three dimensional form. We would like thank him for allowing a small team of talented installation artists to replicate his art into that third dimension. Artists Kelsey Sementa and Shea Cahill and RGB staffers Nic Sementa and Stuart Hall have collaborated to bring a few of Mr. Martin's works into the next dimension. Kelsey worked diligently on replicating the ever present Jellies and Shea did a masterful job of recreating "Teddy Mech," while Nic and Stuart labored together on "Submarine Man." We hope that we have served your art justly.

This show also highlighted the combined talents and efforts of the entire RGB family-- co-ops and staff. Hard work and dedication to a single goal results in the attainment of that goal. A job well done by all. 

The RGB Lounge and Black Book Chronicles are pleased to present Ennis Martin • Into the Next Dimension. Showing until June 23rd. Closing reception Thursday, 6/23, 7 to 11pm. RGB Lounge • Art Gallery/Event Space • Design/ Production House • Artists Co-op • 1420 N. Milwuakee Av. • Chicago, Il • 60622 • Hours Mon thru Sat 12 to 8 pm 


Photography by Ray Distor

ennis martin • into the next dimension

Black Book Chronicles and the RGB Lounge are pleased to present Ennis Martin Into the Next Dimension. 

May 26 to June 23 • Opening reception May 26 • 7pm to 11pm

As RGB Lounge's very first co-op member, Mr. Martin has diligently honed his craft into a body of work specifically intentioned for this show. His art and his work ethic are the embodiment of the RGB co-op spirit.-- given the proper facilities and resources an artist is enabled to take their art into the next dimension.

Martin is a Chicago based painter whose primary medium are acrylic paints. His creations are elaborate humanistic, androidish underwater creatures accomplished with bold colors and minute details. 

As an illustrator for the fashion company, Bear.illa, he conceptualized and produced numerous designs in accordance with that company's artistic combination of Chicago culture and community. 

Ennis is a native of Chicago and has been a participant in the Chicago art world for over 20 years.

The RGB Lounge is an art gallery/event space, design/production house and artists' co-operative located at 1420 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622 

Hours of operation Mo-Sa 12 to 8

http://www.rgblounge.com/home/

kiwon choi • price list

kiwon choi, un dame noir dans la rgb. this is a selection of miss choi' s work from the recent les dames noire at the rgb lounge. please contact stuart s2e@rgblounge.com

Cosmic Garden

vinyl, plastic bids, acrylic and LED lights 
please inquire

Social Sheredding 12'' x 16"

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Self portraits (RGB and Dark) 16" x 20" 

oil on canvas 
$1300.00 set of four

Alma Wieser 12" x 16" 

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Self portrait 16" x 20" 

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Alma in Back of Heaven 12" x 16" 

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Self Portrait (live painting in the dark) 16" x 20" 

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Hoyon Sun 12" x 16" 

oil on canvas 
$500.00

Her Communication for Crowning Glory 16" x 40" 

water color on paper 
$150.00

Live Paintings Les Dames Noire 8" x 24" 

acrylic on canvas 
$900.00 set of 6 

$150.00 per piece