COPE "Untitled" Trains of Thought
Cope – "Untitled” Trains of Thought. 2008. Acrylic/paint markers and ink over Giclee train on art paper. Size approx 36″ × 9″.
COPE2’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and auctions throughout the United States and abroad, including the Guernsey and the Philip De Pury & Company auctions, the McCaig Welles Gallery, The Showroom Gallery and The Bronx Museum of Arts in New York City; the Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles; the Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco; the Defiance Gallery in Chicago; the Skalitzers Gallery in Berlin; The Gallizia Collection in Paris; the Artdrenaline Gallery in Den Haag, Holland and The Federation Atrium Square Gallery in Sydney, Australia.Cope2 was born and raised in the South Bronx, New York City, in 1968. He is a self taught artist who is a celebrated figure for over 30 years in the graffiti art culture. One of New York City’s most prolific graffiti artists, he began tagging his name in 1978. He developed his style in the subways and streets of the Bronx throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s achieving international recognition for his distinctive style.
In recent years Cope2 has been commissioned by Time Magazine and designed a set of sneakers for Converse and a full collection for Adidas. He has worked with Steiner Sports collaborating with the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter producing graffiti on memorabilia. His work has even crossed into the virtual realm with appearances in video games such as Mark Eckos: Getting up and Rockstar Games: Grand Theft Auto IV.
Today, you can catch Cope2 in the studio painting, bringing his raw energy into abstract masterpieces, intertwined with his trademark bubble letters and tags on canvases. He has also delved into curating successful group exhibitions. Cope2 crosses between art world, mainstream and street culture alike.
Graffiti on trains has always been a controversial medium, and this has certainly been one of the reasons that has made the form controversial and has brought such popularity to the movement.Although there have been many arguments about graffiti on trains,
the train has been the medium of choice for the ‘Graffiti Writer’. It is something that has been a vital part of the New York transit history,
that often is spoke about by many of those who have had the experience to witness the works displayed on the subway system of New York.
"Trains of Thought" has re- captured the true attitude of graffiti once again, by placing original art form on trains!
An archival pigment print of a railcar placed on acid free museum quality paper was distributed out to numerous artists. Each artist then creates an original artistic rendition of whatever it is their ‘thoughts’ would take them.
These ‘train cars’ are beautifully adorned with mixed mediums and have been creatively hand embellished by the most talented New York Graffiti masters of yesterday and today.
