November Episode featuring

@byrobbell and @richardbcolon

NOV Artists

@whopainteddat

@reesamade

@rebelandfox

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone.

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Punches & Popcorn

Punches & Popcorn: The masters of Couch Potato style Mike Huntone, Jason Bills, and Dr. Dominic D’Amore take a deep dive into the best and worst of martial arts films. https://punches-and-popcorn.captivate.fm/

I'm excited.

I'm back.

He's back.

It's been, what, two.

Two months?

Three months.

And Rob's been holding it down.

Appreciate you, Rob.

Hey, as always, this is not why.

We brought you on the team.

Yes, it is.

Okay.

Completely why you brought him on, but it's all right.

It's really not.

Quaj sends his love in regards to the team here today.

What up?

What up, Q?

What up, Q?

He's probably watching live at home, chilling what's going on.

Watching kids.

That's what he's doing.

Probably.

Probably.

That's true.

You're not wrong.

But, yeah, no, we're excited.

We got a November crew.

We're doing things different this time around.

We're actually gonna be talking to our artists after the receptions, and I feel like it's a.

It's a fresh experience.

We actually did that last month.

Yeah.

Where we were able to actually, you know, kind of recollect and, you know, decompress what happened during that night.

Yeah.

Try and get a better vibe of, you know, how they felt it went, what they got from it.

And basically, I think this is the route we're gonna go moving forward.

I think it's.

It.

It's something that we never did, and I think it's smart to do it that way.

I think it increases the shelf life of the show, too.

Getting it out after the show, encouraging people to still go.

Yeah, for sure.

Cause the work is up all month.

Right.

So if you weren't able to go on Friday, like me, I wasn't there on Friday.

I had my own show.

Talk about your show real quick.

No, no, no.

We not doing that.

Not here.

It ain't about me.

It ain't about me.

I got a show at Flower City.

That's it.

I encourage everybody to go check the show out.

It's still up through the month of November.

Definitely.

Amazing show.

Yeah.

No, we support all people that are part of the behind the glass family, not even just a curator.

So whenever there's a solo show going on for our former artists or current artists, we always want to put that out there so that people can go support them.

So, yeah, definitely go out to Flower City Art center, check out Rob's installation.

It's a beautiful, very touching display of community within a family, and it's really great.

Love documented.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Also got important announcement.

Two announcements.

Best at Rochester.

If you need a great reason to choose the best gallery, it's right here, right now.

If you see what we're doing, because we're the only gallery in Rochester that is up for Best of Rochester that actually has a podcast where we.

Where we actually talk to the artists.

We actually figure out, you know, how they got to where they're at, where they're at in life.

And we don't repeat the same artists every month.

Nope.

You know, we keep it fresh every month.

And there's nothing against Roko Artisan Works and the Memorial Art Gallery.

Yeah.

But legit, it's a team of three.

Myself, Rob Bell, and Kwaj versus man, those are legit museums, I gotta say.

You know.

Yeah, it's a.

It's a bit daunting, you know, going up against.

Going up against some of the biggest, most notable, you know, galleries in town.

But that's the community that's been built is right this.

And, you know, you know, to get it up front, like, hey, also, go vote for the things you care about, for sure.

Care about a restaurant, go vote for it.

If you care about photography, vote for one of the guys.

You know, vote for Richard, vote for Q, vote for somebody in that category.

Vote for.

Vote for Magnus for best artist for sure.

You know, vote for Bossy Roc, one of the Lunchadore podcast network shows that's up for best podcast.

You know, go out and just vote about things that you care about because, yes, it's a popularity contest, but it feels great when you get recognized for doing the work of creating something you're proud of.

And I know as, like, you know, the.

The.

The third and a half member of the crew is.

I know I'm proud of what's been created here for sure.

And being a small part of that feels like we've done something that matters.

And I'm really excited to see where, you know, where BTG is going and where we're going to evolve over the next year.

Yeah.

And I think it's.

It's crazy because I was just talking to you about how the.

How the.

Like you said, it's a popularity contest.

Yeah, but.

And like, you was like, man, no offense to such and such and such and such, but when.

If you're trying to project something differently, and I feel like what you guys are trying to do is kind of try to.

Like you said, you know, your thing is community over competition.

Correct.

So I think that the gallery itself has a, Like I explained to you, has a hierarchy system wrapped inside of it that can kind of make a cast or class system within artists, whatever.

Like, whatever community that you in, whether small city, big city, whatever.

Yeah, I think the hierarchy system is the kind of detriment to becoming an artist or wanting to be an artist or what it means to be an artist.

You know what I'm saying?

So I think it is really cool that you guys are doing this.

Like, not just show and tell, but show who you are as well.

Definitely.

It's a vote.

It's a vote not just for the gallery.

It's a vote for the people.

The three artists we got sitting here right now for the alumni, for the artists that we will have is.

Is creating visibility for people for sure.

And I think also just to add real quick before we take our.

Our little break to talk to three of our artists, it's amazing to know that this gallery has been in existence for two years.

And during the two years that we've been in existence, you know, each year we were nominated for Best Gallery in Rochester.

And that says a lot.

So, yeah, to make a long story short, go out there and vote.

Vote for Quaje Donnell for Best Photographer.

And we'll be right back with our three artists for November.

All right, we're back and we're going to talk to our first artist.

We got Rashad.

We got who painted that.

That goes by got who painted that in here.

Who painted that.

Can you tell us a little bit about the reason behind the name?

You have to.

If that's something that Monica, you want to stay, you know.

So my buddy Corbin, he owns Frank's Chop Shop.

Gotcha Capacity Worldwide.

And I always did art, like my whole life and shit like that.

But Corbin, we had linked up and I was selling vintage and stuff, and he was like, yo, you do art, right?

I'm like, yeah, he like, do a sign for me for the.

For the building, right?

So I do a sign for him.

And after I did that, I'm like, hey, yeah, let me.

Cuz I was kind of like, not kind.

I was in the streets and doing other things.

Okay?

So he like, you should get back into this art, man.

You should get back into this art.

So he's like, you should.

You got to make a separate Instagram, though, from like, your main account.

Because, like, what you do on your main account is like, you got to separate that from that.

So I'm like, damn, like, think of a name.

Think of a name.

I'm like, who painted that?

Like any.

Most people who consume art, whether it's visually or buying art or whatever the case may be, the first thing, whenever you see some art that is very intriguing to you, you say is who painted that?

Yeah.

So and me being Kind of like.

It's not kind of being a street artist.

You know, you have a kind of stay out the.

Stay out the light kind of thing, right?

So I thought that who painted that was really interesting and captivating.

So I was like, let me go with that.

When did you start creating?

What's the story behind.

Has it always been painting or.

I've always been.

First it was illustrating and drawing like most kids, I guess.

Well, not most kids, but I'm drawing Dragon Ball Z characters and all, like, you know, like FUBU and Nike cymbals and doing all the, you know, that kind of shit.

But since a kid, man, like, my earliest memory was with.

Drawing is like, real, real, real, real young, real young, bro.

So drawing and art has been with me my whole life.

But it kind of evolved.

Like, I was.

I always wanted to be a cartoonist, so that's why I had to stick with the illustrating and all that.

Then I went to MCC for a year for Fine Arts.

That didn't really work out because, you know, being a delinquent and being in the streets and not really focused on art like that.

And then I started learning about.

I had learned Kerry James Marshall, and I seen his paintings and stuff like that, and I was like, oh, let me try some painting.

And then.

Well, as a kid, I always knew about Basquiat and.

But his painting style is just so elementary that it doesn't kind of.

It's just freestyle kind of painting or whatever.

But Kerry James Marshall is kind of real, like, serious, like, you know what I mean?

So that was so intriguing to me that I was like, let me get this painting going.

And then after the painting, I was like, let me get this graffiti and spray paint.

Because I feel that it's essential for every artist to have.

I call it a Batman utility belt.

So you should be able to.

If you are in the world of commissions, you should be able to catch any job if you're an artist, because you got the graffiti, you got the oil, you got the canvas, you got the airbrush, you got the illustration.

So if you can learn and have a Batman utility belt, I think your success in your expression and the visual, the consumers consuming it, I think you.

It would be very broad for you.

What got you into, like, gallery work?

Like actually submitting stuff to galleries and whatnot, Like Corbin.

Corbin.

So what was your first gallery piece?

My first gallery piece and show was.

It's actually called the Duop, and I had shown it at Frank's for Thanks.

To the Streets one.

No, no, it was, you Know Shula.

Yep.

It was one of her.

Her and Matt had did like a.

Ah, yes, the Halloween one.

Yeah, that was my first show.

I put over there too.

Yeah, I remember.

And I had shown a piece there.

It was actually like really big.

It was really.

Probably like the size of that window type shit.

And yeah, that was my first time showing.

It was crazy because I had like.

I told you, I've been doing art for so long and kind of like showing art versus just like doing it for fun.

It kind of was just real, like different for me, you know what I'm saying?

Like, the whole, like I was telling you, the whole gallery aspect, to me, I don't.

I try to avoid dominance hierarchies and any kind of like systems, that kind of place, popularity kind of thing.

Even though, like I told you, I still feel like Kobe, like, I see Reese or I see fucking Rebel, I see they art and I'm like, oh, they dropped 50.

I gotta drop 50.

You know what I'm saying?

So it's like I want to be inefficient from the floor too.

Like Kobe was.

You know what I'm saying?

So it's like, try to.

I. I understand the gallery aspect, but at the same time, I want to like, change it.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

We always say that in this space that we have for photography and art.

Yeah.

Everybody can eat, everybody can contribute and do their own things in their own space.

And that's the important part that we try and, you know, implement that.

That's why we say community over competition.

The community aspect means that people can still do what they need to do in their individual pockets.

There's nobody stepping on each other's toes.

Like I was telling you.

Makes everybody better.

Yeah, yeah.

Thing, right?

Yeah, yeah.

But like I was telling before, I love that slogan community over competition.

But at the same time, I love seeing Rebel and Reese drop 50 and I'm like, I want to drop 52.

So it.

I think what you guys is that that model, that slogan is powerful because when you put the community in front of the competition, you make sure that if you dropping 50 and you dropping 50, that it's a friendly competition.

It's also not a I'm at.

I'm at behind the glass and you're not.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Kind of thing.

So, yeah, it's like, damn.

Like, I see what they did.

Now it's time for me to step my game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Go Kobe.

You know, go Alan.

I feel like it's less I love.

What they did, but let me step my.

Yeah.

And I think I.

The thing I like to probably put it towards in terms of metaphorically speaking, you know, it's less of a NBA team, but more of a dream team.

Yeah.

You know, like a team USA where you know, there's a one off show where everybody did their own thing in their own little pockets in their own teams and then they all come together and they just come out and just show out facts, facts.

You know, it's even better.

But to go back to your question about the gallery.

Yeah.

Showing made me appreciate and have a better understanding of the community.

Yeah.

I mean like, sure.

Even though it did kind of feel like it does sometimes feel like a popularity contest.

Depending on what.

If you're at maybe if you're at Rocco, the vibe may feel different.

If you're at Frank's Divide may feel different.

If you're at behind the Glass, the vibe may feel different.

But it's all about, I guess, your intent going into it.

You know what I'm saying?

For sure.

Well, how did it feel when you started to see people react to your work?

Because I think that's the biggest thing between when you at home passionate, creating and then showing.

It's just like, okay, did my intent hit yo.

So it's crazy that you mentioned that because at you guys show Reese her mother.

Can I, Can I?

Yeah, of course.

Shout out mom.

Yeah, shout out Reese's mom.

So I had did a piece reflecting the times that we all going through right now.

We may not be going through it personally, but we know somebody that we may be 6 degrees separated from somebody that is facing some type of cutoff from EBT or DSS or cash vouchers and all that type of stuff.

So I had did a piece, I'm kind of getting talking about it, but I did a piece on that and I had used lakeith Stanfield, I mean not lakeith Stanfield, Lorenz Tate from Dead Presidents and Vivica Fox, her character Frankie from Set it Off.

And I had did the scenes where they were like robbing the bank.

But I had put the EBT car over the top of the front and her mom had told me had came up to me and she got real emotional.

Like she cried and she like she really cried and told me how it like how first she didn't know how like it kind of opened her minds to how the younger generation, how we are seeing like what we all kind of are going through.

And then just the expression itself was so raw.

For her, it made her feel.

And I was.

It made me feel so proud because I was emotional when I was painting it.

You know what I'm saying?

I was like, yo, I hope my thing is, like, my intent that I put into it is like.

Like, Corbin always talked to me about just catching a cell.

Catching a cell.

I'm like, bro, no, my intent with this is, like, making somebody feel like, resonating like that right there.

That.

That interaction right there, that is the one that tells me like, yo, bro, like, no, what you're doing is more powerful than, like, currency or, like capitalism or a gallery or.

You know what I mean?

Well, and then.

And then a piece like that, too, like, when we're talking about something that is so.

So, you know, of the moment.

Right.

And so important.

Yeah, but you don't know who's.

You don't know who's had to go through that.

Exactly.

You don't know because it's like.

It's a different.

Like you've gone through your path.

Like, hey, we were on that when I was a kid, too.

Yeah, yeah, we were on, you know, Wick and EBT and that stuff when I was a kid, you know, back.

Back in the 80s, like, that's.

That's where we were.

We went bankrupt.

We did all that stuff.

Yeah.

And everybody's coming from their perspective and seeing that, because you might not see that in the person that's in front of that.

Exactly.

But they know.

Exactly.

They know what they've been through, and that might hit the right person.

Exactly.

To feel seen in a way that's hard.

Where somebody else might not see you that way.

They see you the way you are now versus, oh, this is where we came from, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And.

And.

And to share the experience with, like, to understand that, like, it kind of.

That.

That experience let me know that, oh, what I'm going through is not just what I feel or what I see on TV or what me and my family or my 6 degree separated people are going through.

There's people literally way outside of me that can.

That have a connection to me.

And we had this connection through this expression that I had that we all are having.

Like.

So, yeah, bro, that piece is so powerful.

Me, Rich, and Q was talking about it all weekend.

He was talking about it in my show, like.

And I think bringing in the 90s movie references, anybody who grew up with those films in that era, it connects automatically.

And it does something where it takes it beyond just a statement, but just that connectivity of pop culture.

Politically, what's going on?

I mean, you just brought it full circle with that.

Like, I always.

Always being a black artist, because I'm a black artist first.

And I understood that those pop cultural references resonate differently with the black and brown community, for sure.

So, like, even when people outside of the black and brown community, when they watch Dead Presidents, like, there's this dude on YouTube, this white guy, and his dad, he plays his dad, like, Biggie Smalls records or something, he'll play him, like, suicidal thoughts, and his dad will start, like, crying because he's like.

So he's like, outside of this community, and he'll be.

Biggie is like a door let into the community.

Like, oh, shit.

Like, I didn't know that.

That's.

Yeah, okay.

You know what I mean?

So that's why I love using those kind of references.

Because, like, my mom came and I had told her, like, yo, Frankie, the character, Frankie, I look at her like, you.

Like, when I watched this movie as a kid, I'm like, damn.

She's like, my mom, like, you know what I mean?

So I love.

I always go.

And even.

Even outside of just the black and brown community, I use Ronald Reagan on the other.

I mean, Richard Nixon on the other one, because I feel like when you're.

If you're.

If you're making an.

If you're having an expression through art, you have the nostalgia that your community has.

But then we all have pop culture references that we all share together for sure.

You know what I mean?

Definitely.

Yeah, man.

And it's crazy because it's.

There's a reason why when Rob and I and Kwaje came together and we're like, these people are going to be able to make a large impact during this time when we bring them all together and why.

We decided to, you know, hold some of you guys back to say, okay, no, we're gonna have them for this show.

Yeah.

And there's a reason why.

And what we have on display right now at the gallery is adamant, and it's testament to that.

We appreciate you and we appreciate you being part of the gallery.

Appreciate you guys appreciate Rebel, Appreciate Reese.

I appreciate you guys.

Heavy, man.

No, we're gonna.

We're gonna.

We're gonna keep it rolling and go right down the line right now, and we'll go right to Rebel.

How are you, my friend?

Good.

How are you?

Pretty good.

You want to go by your.

Your Instagram handle?

What do you want to do?

If you want to.

All right.

Rebel Land Fox, Right?

What's the.

What's the meaning behind that, my friend?

So it's similar to like, like Post Malone with like the name generator.

That's so true.

He did do that.

Yeah, I told you, I forget that.

So there's like really no, like thought behind it.

It was kind of just pick something that was available.

Right.

I didn't want to do what a lot of people do, which is just take their name, put it in there.

Okay.

And that was pretty much it.

Yeah.

Awesome.

All right, so what, what got you into, you know, what you do right now?

Talk about your medium real quick and what people are going to be looking forward to seeing when they go down there.

Yeah.

So right now I'm just working on acrylic when I was little, sketched a lot when I was a little kid.

About a year ago, just started painting.

Which is still wild.

So crazy.

Listen, we don't believe you.

I can show you the first contrast.

Remember I asked you, I'm like, bro, so you meant like you, you've been doing this whole life, but you just started taking it seriously here.

You're like, no, like serious, like a year.

Yeah, one of my, yeah, one of my posts is like from roughly a year ago.

Yeah.

Started doing portraiture.

What was the first one?

The first, first one that I actually took ser was a portrait of Walton Goggins.

Oh, wow.

So, yeah, like I, I was like, to your point, picking something that I have I feel strongly about, you know, like character actors or whatever.

You just turned 50 today or something like that.

Oh, yeah.

I thought you meant me.

It's funny you mentioned him because just today they were talking about Argo, about him, you know, and all the things he's done in the past.

Who is Walter Goggins?

So the show Justified or the guy that plays ghost on what's the show?

What's the fallout?

He also did a couple Tarantinos.

He was in Hateful Eight.

If I seen his face.

He was in Django.

Okay.

He's in a bunch of stuff.

Okay, okay.

So he's like a Tarantino guy.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Okay, okay.

For sure.

He's got that character actor vibe about him where you might not know him, but you've seen him.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

That was, yeah, that was the kind of thought behind it.

Like work on like lesser known people and kind of build it up over time.

And I still do that, like when I go back and do a piece just to see if I've grown, I'll redo that person multiple times from like different things.

Like I did Tupac one.

I've done that multiple times.

I did a Kobe one.

I went back and did that one again just to see how realistic I've gotten or how I've grown as an artist.

Because if you do multiple things over and over and over again, then you can see the transition between that versus, you know, doing a Michael Jordan piece.

Like, well, that's different because it's a different reference point.

Have you ever done.

Have you ever done more than portraits?

Not really, no.

I'm open to it.

You know, landscape.

I'll do whatever.

I mean, to your point to like, you know, the tool belt.

I'll, you know, do photography or whatever.

You know, the bills.

Right.

So before a year ago, you weren't even like drawing, like pen, you were sketching?

Yeah, he said, I sketched it.

Right.

Yeah, I would draw when I was little.

I draw like superheroes.

Did your father have an artistic background?

Yeah, my mom too.

So, like, my dad does a lot of calligraphy.

Great people, by the way, if they're listening.

I spoke to them at the reception.

They're my.

They're my biggest fans.

So you had the fundamental down aspect of like, how to draw?

Yeah, I mean, I. I took a 25 year hiatus of like not doing anything and then just started last year and started painting.

And then it went quickly from painting just to paint, just to, you know, get on canvas, to.

Let's see how good you can get.

Let's see how dialed in you can get.

You know, it started with just paint and figuring it out to like laying down base layers and putting sketches there.

And YouTube University kind of.

But I didn't even do go that far because, like, I have adhd.

So like two minutes into a video, you know, somebody's like, and this is how you're gonna like, I can't do that.

Yeah, I'm gonna drop out real quick.

That's you, you genius.

So what's the story behind the hiatus?

Really?

No, I mean, I did it in high school.

I just stopped doing it.

You know, I kind of like just atrophied over time.

You know, I got.

I got married, I had two little kids and just.

It wasn't even on my mind, honestly.

It wasn't like, I don't want to do it or there was no reason behind not doing it.

It just kind of fell out.

And I was working a lot and yeah, never had a chance to do it.

Was there something that got you back into it or was it just in intuitive?

I.

For probably like a year Prior, I thought about doing it, and then at one point I was like, you know what?

Screw it.

If I screw up or if I don't do as well as I think I'm going to, then at least I tried.

So, yeah, that was.

That was kind of the main thing.

Just like, make the attempt and see how far you can take it.

And I'm curious to know how that feels, because me personally, I took like 10, 15 years off of making music.

I was a beat maker as a young.

As a teenager, and I just started up again.

And it was like riding a bike when I started again.

And it was hard to process coming back.

Cause I was like, I thought I buried this part of me.

Right?

Yeah, it was still there, obviously.

Right.

And when it came back up, it was like, okay, this feels good.

So I wonder how that felt for you.

Was it like, imposter syndrome?

Was there insecurity?

I mean, there always is, right?

Yeah, I mean, for me, anyway.

Like, I always have anxiety.

I always think that, you know, I'm not doing that.

I'm the first one to take.

Construct constructive criticism.

I like anything negative.

Someone's like, that's not, you know, you can make that better.

I'm like, you're right.

I could take that better.

Someone's like, that looks fantastic.

I'm like, I don't believe you.

Sometimes it's not a.

Sometimes it's not a.

An emotional hiatus.

Like, for me, it was more so like a.

Like, I guess a time period or like, where I was like, hiatus.

Like I said, Like, I was like, art is like my first love.

So, like, all the way up until, you know, the time period where you.

Your friends start introducing into weed and all these different type of, you know, girls and all this different type of stuff.

So now I'm more into that versus I'm into art.

And, like, I guess when I came back from the hiatus, it was more so.

Like, I was like, what is this space?

Like, I did this for, like, the love.

Like, I just love painting.

Like, so now I have to figure out how to be a character on Instagram, or now I have to figure out how to sell art, or now I have to figure out how to be a artist or something like that.

So I think that was more so for me.

Like, I was just like, I don't want to do it because I don't want to make it a career or something.

Or, like, the stigma that's attached to it.

I think as people mature, their art matures.

Like you said, you better able to Take criticism or you in a place in your life now where you can figure out the place that art has alongside your lifestyle.

Well, I think, Rob, to take on that too is you're like, when you're doing it young, you're doing it for.

You're doing it for the vibes.

You're doing it because creating is just part of what it is you're figuring out.

You're creating something about yourself.

But that gap is you learning about who you are.

Right?

Yeah.

And you, like, you don't know who you are as a kid.

Like you're, you are complete for what you are.

Right.

But when you get to that twenties and real life hits, you have to figure out who am I in context of life, who am I.

Right.

And that's like when you're a full ass adult, you have the opportunity to now go back to art and not from that.

You know, it's a different kind of confidence.

You have fake confidence when you're 20.

And then when you've lived a life right.

You know yourself, right.

At that point, you have something to say too.

Right.

Right up until that point, everybody else is telling you what to think, what to do, what to whatever.

And you're, you're taking art from everybody else and kind of putting your spin on it at that point.

Because you've lived a life to put into your art.

Yeah, yeah.

And then you now have this, you know, kind of not chip on your shoulder, but almost like this confidence now to say, okay, I can create this and now what do I do with it?

Right.

And this is where we come into now, the fact that you're at behind the Glass currently, you know, and before that, from what you told me, I believe Hydra was your only first show.

Correct.

Yeah.

So this is your second show.

Yeah.

You know, which is amazing.

And I'm proud.

I'm pretty sure the difference between both shows.

Right.

Because I'm not sure how Hydra did, you know, I know they have art, you know, on a monthly basis.

They were at one point during receptions.

I don't think they have been.

But you know, from the difference between, you know, what you had there and how it was, you know, presented, which was great.

It was on both floors and whatnot to like here, where I feel like we actually give you guys a platform, a stage, you know, to shine individually in this little space.

How did that feel?

Real quick, seeing that for.

For behind the glass.

Behind the glass, yeah.

Yeah.

So that.

Yeah, I mean, that's incredible.

Like just to walk in and to see it Has a gallery type feel.

Right.

In a mobile spin, a smaller space.

It doesn't feel like it's not a gallery.

Right.

Like, you walk in and you're just like, okay, it's a smaller area, but as a gallery type vibe to it.

So to see it, you know, the work being paid off for that, and to see the evolution from Hydra, where I feel like I've gotten better because it's been X number of months.

I didn't just recycle, you know, saying about growth.

Yeah.

So, like, I create new pieces specifically for that.

And because of that, you know, you get to see the newest stuff available, and hopefully that's the best stuff.

Because everyone always likes to say whatever they're working on is their best stuff.

Right.

So is there.

Was there an interaction at the reception that stood out to you with family or friends?

I guess I'd say the amount of people that showed up that I hadn't seen in quite a long time.

Yeah.

Like family friends from, like, when I was little that just popped up and like, oh, yo, what are you doing here?

Yeah, and just like, I mean, looking around and seeing the involvement and like, just people walking through, seeing all the pieces and seeing everything and just active conversations.

It wasn't very stoic.

You know, you could go into some other art galleries and, like, there's no talking at all.

Someone coughs and you see, like a side.

Are you allowed to talk about the piece?

The thing I want to pride ourselves on behind the glasses is the fact that there's so many things going on at that time, and we still have a large amount of traffic because people have to park to the Mercantile on Main Street.

They have to navigate to the space.

You know, it's not just a door that takes them from inside, you know, from outside.

Right.

To the gallery.

They actually have to go to there.

And the amount of traffic.

Traffic, yeah.

And we get.

We get really great turnouts.

And I think, again, this is a testament of why I feel like we have a special space in Rochester in the art community, because we do things a lot differently.

Yeah.

You know, and, you know, again, we don't repeat the same artists.

And we want to make sure that there's people that, you know, have minimum exposure, have never really been, and that many, you know, type of settings where they can present their stuff to that artist.

Yeah.

Not repeating the artist thing is the.

Is the.

I think that that's the part of the.

That's kind of one of the main, I guess, sources to the.

To the kind of killing the hierarchy thing, you know what I mean?

Because if like I, like I said to you, if, if, if there's a 12 year old boy and he's a.

He's.

He wants to do art and he walks past behind the glass.

Yeah.

He could see our art and he might think like, oh my God, they're so cool.

Like, how do I get inside of there?

You know what I'm saying?

But the fact that you are like Everly always changing it.

It kind of just like bends the whole rule for what is cool.

Yes.

Or who is cool.

You know, and we have three cool people here.

That's why we have adult November.

And we're ending out the next, you know, the last two months, you know, on a strong note, you know.

And you know that, that shows to why each of you guys bring your both individuality and how we felt, you know, when we curated this team that you guys, you know, made each other better.

You guys are all little Kobe's.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so we're going to go to our.

Oh, gosh, what's.

Gosh, what's her name?

Trying to think of a woman basketball player.

Yes.

What's her name?

We can name a couple, Richard.

Of course you can.

You can't even think of Asia Wilson.

Asia Wil.

Candace Parker.

Parker.

Parker Scott Diggins.

I was about to say Candace Diggins.

Wow.

Richard, you can't even listen.

I don't watch nwa I'm glad you didn't say Caitly.

Hell no.

Oh my God.

All right.

Yeah, No, I know that.

All right.

Purpose.

Reese.

Yes.

Reese.

Hi.

I'm great.

Thank you.

Good.

Thank you for being here.

I appreciate it.

We, like I said Rob and you know, and Q or myself and Quaje, we, you know, we got wind of, you know, the amount of special individuality that you brought to this p. The.

The different installations that were at Frank's Chop Shop and you shared the space with Rob.

Correct.

And no.

No, no.

Weren't you in the back and she was.

Nah, I was just there.

So you just had your own pieces at the time when I went.

Right.

Yeah.

And you utilized show inside a capacity.

That's what it was.

So how did Rob play a part in your.

In.

In your installation?

Because.

Not at all.

Wasn't there something.

I'm just a fan, bro.

Didn't you give her some photography or.

No.

Oh, you talk about our piece that we did together.

Okay.

That's what I'm saying.

Like, wait a minute.

I knew that that was what.

When I saw it.

Yeah, I remember she could use some of my photography for a collage, which.

Is amazing because this is where we're talking, where it's community of a competition, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was a really important thing for me, I think.

So that was my second show showcasing my art.

My first show was at Abundance Co Op.

Shout out to Abundance because I absolutely love them.

Yeah, they're.

They're an amazing space.

They are.

So they reached out to me and kind of built my confidence, which led me to going over to capacity.

And there was a quote that I saw that said, you.

This is not exactly what it said, but essentially you won't always have the opportunity to get on stage.

You have to kind of make the stage yourself and bring the crowd out yourself.

So that was what led me to, like, that.

Yeah.

Doing my showcase.

There you are.

Second or from what I know, second artist that was coming from Abundance, actually, last month we had Thomas, who did.

Okay, yeah.

Distorted Reality.

He was at Abundance about three months ago.

I never heard of Abundance or Hydra.

Abundance is a grocery store, but in the back, they have a little section area.

Yeah.

But I was able.

I. I had over 25 pieces in there.

Like, it was.

It was a beautiful.

It was beautiful.

So 1.

And gave it to my sister for Christmas.

There you go.

Awesome.

Awesome.

That's awesome.

All right, so talk.

Talk real quick about your medium.

Like, what do you like?

We talked about collage work.

Right.

So.

So I do mixed media collage art.

I started collaging when I was super young.

I want to say, like six or seven years old.

Just doing fun, little random things.

I love, obviously using magazines.

I love old magazines.

With some of the work that I showcase in the gallery, I did use some recent, you know, news articles and things of that nature.

So me and my printer have a great relationship.

But yeah.

So mixed media.

I have wanted to branch out into using maybe fabrics in the future or.

Or different types of elements.

You know, the possibilities, I feel like, for collage work are kind of endless.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

I've seen reels that you put together that kind of breaks down your process and you sped them up to make them faster.

But I know you shared one.

Can you just talk about that process?

Because I don't think people can understand how much work and detail goes into those collaborations.

You know, it's so funny.

A lot of people think it's digital.

They're like, wait, you cut that by hand?

I'm like, yes.

So obviously, the process, you have to gather all the photos, whether you're Flipping through magazines or creating files online, that's probably more time consuming for me than actually curating it.

Yeah.

So a lot of ink, huh?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

But it's cool.

Yeah.

It's worth it.

Yeah.

With my printer, you get free.

I just buy new printers every six months because you get free ink refills, I swear.

Yeah.

But anyways, when it comes to the placement, is it.

Is it.

Is it a structure or is it more so, like, you kind of just like, this looks good right here, like this?

Or are you even, like, sometimes, like.

No, I'm trying to tell a story.

Yeah.

So when you're creating a piece, where.

What's your starting point?

Like, do you have a vision at first, or do you just see pieces and you're like, you know what?

I'm gonna start doing this and just.

Yeah.

See what comes out.

I feel like creating for me is very much so.

It's very spiritual.

It's very much so.

Something that happens internally for me.

So I want to reference I gu.

The pieces that I created for this gallery.

For sure.

For example, I had.

I had a piece that I did, kind of highlighting some of the.

The craziness that's going on in the world.

The centerpiece, if you guys know what I'm referring to.

So I had a vision.

It was just something in my head, kind of.

So usually I will see in my head the base.

I guess sometimes I do, you know, find a perfect clipping, and I'm like, this is the focal point.

But it's usually just a vision that comes to me.

So I knew I wanted to display for that piece specifically detachment in some capacities, but I didn't necessarily know how it would come about.

Yeah.

But, yeah, to answer your question, I suppose it is.

It is.

It is spirit.

It comes from just, like, my little mind inside.

Because sometimes when looking at people who make collages, I feel I can feel like a spirit or like, you know, I feel that there's this, like, kind of not.

It's not really like a kind of.

There's no straight line.

Found its way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

People always ask, do you plan it out?

And.

And I.

Even if I tried to plan it, it probably would not come out.

Yeah.

Like, even with those pieces that I did, I didn't.

I didn't plan them.

Like.

Yeah, it just.

The time.

Yeah.

I don't know.

It just happened.

I had a student at the collage where they actually compared, you know, as they're creating collage work, it's the energy that they bring into it.

As things come together, it's almost like a magnet.

They just come and attract.

They attach to it on its own.

Right.

I like that.

So they'll see something and it'll just stand out while they're looking through different articles or different papers and magazines.

And then they'll say, okay, wow, I'm connected to that.

I feel the energy drawing me to that.

Let me bring it into this piece somehow.

They'll chop it up and then they'll find a placement for it and it fits.

Well, it's interesting because I think the synergy between all three of you and this always happens, right?

Whether we try to do it or not, there's always a synergy between our artists.

Oh yeah.

And I think with you three, you all have used something noticeable, right.

To connect to people, to start a conversation.

Whether it's a movie we know or a real person we know or images from a magazine we might have seen but rearranged in certain ways.

We've all used that as conversation starters.

Is to say, hey, here's this familiar thing.

Right now we're on the same page.

But then let me show it to you in this way to start the conversation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But Reece, I want to ask you specifically because I know we talked about it briefly, you kind of made a switch for your work for this gallery from doing something that was purely out of expression to really trying to make a statement with your art.

What precipitated that switch for you?

Honestly, in my life, I have just been constantly in a super deep state of reflection.

I'm very much so in tune with my emotions and, and also just even unwillingly, I'm.

Part of me is consumed with what's going on in the world and some of the things that I wanted to share.

I decided to take, you know, my thoughts and put it onto paper.

I think it's really important because it's easy for a lot of people to kind of ignore some of the more important conversations that need to be had.

So I touched on.

I'm very into health and wellness.

I touched on, you know, the over consumption of over processed food in America.

I.

My family, I have so many people close to me that have been affected with, with their health.

And a lot of people will run to the doctors and consume any medication that's given to them.

But not a lot of people will look inward to say, you know, what can I change about my diet or my lifestyle, my own consumption to, to better my life.

So that was really important to me.

Yeah, I did Another piece kind of talking about societal pressure with.

With beauty standards.

The piece was specifically towards women just because I think there is a huge.

There's a huge distortion with what beauty is and people chasing this idea of perfection and making alterations to their face, to their body, or just to their being that I think sometimes they would be better off without.

I love that you said that.

Is that you made it specifically for women.

But when I looked at it, I felt like it talked to me because it was kind of telling me, like, anything, any conversation that are specifically just for men or specifically just for women.

I feel like a dude could stand outside of the specific just for women conversation and learn something about himself.

Absolutely.

And that's beautiful you felt that way.

I love that piece too, because around the border, I. I put different eye shapes to show individuality and everything, but I snuck my eye in there, so it's like a little Easter egg if you know, you know.

That's awesome.

Yeah, that's cool.

I had three other pieces that I didn't mention, but, yeah, everything was kind of targeted towards an important conversation that I have with myself or, you know, within my community.

I love that you say that because I have found myself, me.

And I don't know if you guys know who A.A. rashid is.

He's involved in a lot of the hip hop scene with Westside Gun, and he's more so a teacher, if anything, an educator.

But me and him was talking about how artists could get, especially during today's time, the populace or the senses.

Like Homer Simpson with his brain blown out or something like that.

Or something really elementary.

Garfield and SpongeBob slapping up or something that's at the moment or something.

But the lost art of the artist.

Our job was always dating back to the caveman who's writing on the wall.

What is going on?

Yeah, yeah.

And what is making you say what's going on?

And what is the shared experience that you have with everybody else together?

You know what I'm saying?

So with that being said, we had that conversation and I'm like looking around and I got like Elmo or I got like all these, like, I got like Shaq or something like that.

And I'm like, let me.

Let me talk.

What do I feel?

And it's so beautiful that we felt that.

Like, we've.

We both felt that.

And it was a statement gallery.

There was.

There was so much to be felt from left to the middle to the right.

And people were leaving, like, wow, you guys did so good.

And I will say, obviously, three Shows is not that many, but this show opened up the door for so much more conversation than I've ever had with anyone at any show.

I swear to say.

Yeah, like when.

When you're thinking about like having done your third gallery, but thinking back to when you started collaging, like what.

What would you.

What do you think?

Like that.

That version of you would think about this now.

I think she would be so excited.

It's so cool because I have the first collage piece I've ever made and it truly has always been a form of self expression.

Whether it was something I wanted to implement within my life or things that I love or.

Or negative things.

I'm telling you, it really is.

It's cool to see the progress.

I think little me would be really excited too, because little me, I.

When I'm like the standing behind my mom, like, or like I'm show and tell, I'm like scared to show something or something.

So me being having the extreme level of confidence that I have in my art today to be able to like show at behind the Glass or show at Frank's or like even just walk into Rocco and try to have a conversation with Blue about anything.

You know what I mean?

And even being vulnerable to share online like that itself too, you know, takes a lot.

I cried painting the ebt painting.

So the.

The that part too.

Being.

Letting myself be more vulnerable in my expression, to have a deeper expression in.

My art and share truth.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And this is why you guys are a strong lineup at night.

We really, really appreciate you guys being part of behind the Glass.

Showcasing why this gallery is important to, I feel, the, you know, the art scene here in Rochester.

Yeah.

But yeah, we'll be up on the walls for the whole month of November until the next first Friday in December.

Please subscribe to the podcast on the, you know, Lunchador podcast network.

We appreciate Chris producing our show as always.

Yeah.

Make sure you guys get out your plugs real quick.

Tell everybody where you can find your stuff.

Yeah, we'll do the lunch at our plugs.

Yeah.

So my Instagram, all of my art can be found under RISA Made.

R E E S A Made like homemade.

That's kind of across all platforms.

Go ahead, brother.

Rebel and Fox.

R E B E L A N D F O X Pretty easy to find.

The only one with all the tattoos on my head.

And you can find me on Instagram.

Most of my art and all my interactions will be on Instagram at.

Who painted?

That is who painted D A T Who painted dat?

Awesome.

Nice.

Yeah.

Thanks, everybody for coming over.

This is one of my always my favorite things to do.

And if you're enjoying this show, make sure you check out all the shows on the Lunchadore Podcast network.

Go to lunchadore.org we just finished the Anomaly Film Festival.

We're gonna have a recap episode of that coming up real soon.

We've got a new show that'll be starting very soon from our very own Rob Bell over here, Plants and Beats.

If you want to catch some of his lo fi beats.

Already on Plants and Beats podcast.

Part of the family now.

Check out.

Check some of that out.

It's a great.

It's a great listen.

Great way to chill out after a long day.

Make sure you check out other shows, like I mentioned, Bossy Roc and then Common Thread from Rory Van Grohl and Greg Benoit talking about hardcore music and how it's made them better adults and interviewing people that are in and out in and around the community.

So that one's been great as well.

Also make sure to check out It's a Lot by Emily Hesney Winch.

Been doing amazing interviews about social media and parenthood.

It's been just a delight.

So thank you so much for joining us on behind the Glass, and we'll be back next time.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.

Walton Goggins has a vodka.

Walton Goggins has a vodka.

Walton Goggins has a vodka.

Walton Goggins vodka.

That's Mulholland vodka.