RISK (graffiti artist)

RISK (born Kelly Graval), also known as RISKY, is a Los Angeles-based graffiti writer and contemporary artist often credited as a founder of the West Coast graffiti scene.[1][2] In the 1980s, he was one of the first graffiti writers in Southern California to paint freight trains, and he pioneered writing on "heavens", or freeway overpasses.[3][4] He took his graffiti into the gallery with the launch of the Third Rail series of art shows, and later created a line of graffiti-inspired clothing.[5] In 2017, RISK was knighted by the Medici Family.[6]

Early history

Born to a Jewish family and raised in Louisiana, Graval moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1983 where he enrolled at University High School on the city's west side.[7] The artist then attended the University of Southern California, School of Fine Arts on a full scholarship.[8] Graval did commercial work as well, working for corporate clients including Budweiser and Playboy, and in 1987, he spray-painted the set for Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" music video.[9][10][11]

Graffiti

RISK started spray painting train yards and freeway overpasses throughout Los Angeles in the early 1980s, when graffiti marking making on the West Coast was in its infancy.[8] His moniker, RISK, is both a reference to the rebellious energy of graffiti culture, but also to the board-game.[8] RISK's style of lettering incorporates the flow of Wild Style, but showcases the artist's interest in balance and legibility.[9][12]

Murals

To support a project called ART History, RISK, alongside other renowned graffiti artists, painted the abandoned Miami Marine Stadium to raise money for the stadium's restoration.[1] In 2019, Risk painted the largest public mural in Canada, at the disused St. Joseph's Health Centre site of Health Sciences North in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, as part of the city's Up Here Festival.[13] That same year, RISK collaborated with MEAR ONE to paint a mural inspired by Art Nouveau artist, Alphonse Mucha at the Mayfair Hotel in Los Angeles.[14] In 2023, RISK painted murals on the exterior walls of the Museum of Graffiti in Austin, Texas.[15][16]

Fine Art and Sculpture

Starting in 2010, RISK began to utilize found objects in his work, including license plates, car hoods and scrap metal.[9]

Metallic Tissue, 2014

For this series, RISK collected thousands of empty aerosol cans that he had used over years of art-making and flattened them to create his own innovative canvases.[8]

Face Your Fears, 2018

As an homage to Damien Hirst's infamous sculpture of a dead Tiger shark encased in formaldehyde, RISK created a 300-pound metal shark fashioned from license plates from all 50 states in the United States.[17] A former surfer, RISK also intended the subject matter to reference his fear of encountering sharks in the ocean and the material choice of license plates to allude to the police as urban predators. Face Your Fears collides the artist's personal biography with a salient reference to one of the most controversial sculptures in art history.

Exhibitions

RISK's work on canvas was featured in the benchmark 2011 "Art in the Streets" street art exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, curated by Jeffrey Deitch.[18] In 2018, his sculptures and graffiti tags were featured in "Beyond the Streets," a traveling exhibition of urban art curated by Roger Gastman.[19][20] In 2019, several of his pieces were included in an exhibition at the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks.[21]

Clothing

RISK has collaborated with fashion brands, such as Citizens of Humanity and Yoggx, to create clothing with his signature graffiti aesthetic.[22][23]

Publications
  • Gastman, Roger. "Freight Train Graffiti." New York: Abrams, 2006.
  • Alva, Robert. "The History of Los Angeles Graffiti Art." Alva & Reiling Publications, 2005.
  • Grody, Steve. "Graffiti L.A." New York: Abrams, 2006.

References
  1. "From painting overpasses to stadiums, a graffiti artist on his evolving art form". PBS NewsHour. 2014-07-18. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  2. Rosa, Amanda (February 15, 2023). "Art Wynwood returns for the first time since pandemic. Here's what you need to know". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 25, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "New Shul to honor graffiti artist, Canyon club owner at event". Thousand Oaks Acorn -. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  4. "Risk – Wide Open Walls". www.wideopenwalls.com. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  5. Gural, Natasha. "Contemporary Art Mastery And Alt Rock Royalty Collide At RISK's Inimitable California Compound, A Singular Homage To Andy Warhol's Factory". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  6. "HOME". Mysite. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  7. "RISK, Legendary L.A. Street Artist, Laments What He Sees As L.A. City Crackdown in Shadow of MOCA's 'Art in the Streets' Show".
  8. Chen, Min (2023-02-09). "'An Addiction I Could Never Shake': Street Art Pioneer Risk on How He Brought Graffiti From the Street to the Gallery". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  9. Finkel, Jori (2011-04-10). "Risk, more of L.A.'s street art pioneers paint a colorful history". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  10. "Risky Business: The Pioneering SoCal Art of RISK, TAZ, and Estevan Oriol". FLOOD. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  11. Treaster, Joseph B. (2020-01-29). "The Super Bowl Is the Biggest Art Show in Miami Right Now". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  12. "Graffiti Legend RISK To Release 350 Page Book with 1XRUN". www.widewalls.ch. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  13. Martha Dillman, "Muralist RISK transforms old Sudbury hospital into a work of art". CBC News Sudbury, August 31, 2019.
  14. Musbach, Julie. "Kelly 'Risk' Graval & Mear One Paint The Maiden Of The Mayfair Mural In Los Angeles". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  15. "Museum Of Graffiti Announces Austin Pop-Up With New Exhibit". KXAN Austin. 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  16. "Museum of Graffiti paints Austin for the 50th anniversary of hip hop - CultureMap Austin". austin.culturemap.com. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  17. Gural, Natasha. "RISK's Colossal Shark Charges Auction World, Challenges Art History, With Stupendous Display At Phillips". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  18. "MOCA's 'Art in the Streets' exhibition brings unwanted neighborhood effect: graffiti vandalism". Los Angeles Times. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  19. "'Beyond the Streets' art exhibition extends its L.A. run". Los Angeles Times. 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  20. "RISK Recreates His Venice Pavilion Work for "Beyond The Streets"". COOL HUNTING®. 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  21. "ON EXHIBIT | Influential graffiti artist Kelly "RISK" Graval at CMATO". VC Reporter | Times Media Group - News, Culture, Arts and Opinion. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  22. Bokhowa, Nada (September 29, 2016). "Art Meets Fashion: Citizens of Humanity Collaborates with RISK". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved April 25, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. Asch, Andrew (August 29, 2019). "Risk x Yoggx Clothing Collab Drops at In Heroes We Trust". www.apparelnews.net. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
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