At the top of Nomadic Studio, we worked and planned very closely with gifted educator and long-time comrade, Keith Brown. Great mind, great energy, and a healthy dose of saltiness. Keith introduced us to Chris Chappell’s exquisite work, which often straddles the line between murals and skateboarding. The intersection of public art and public play, if you will. The initial plan was to have Chris paint a skate ramp as a studio. You can see a placeholder mockup of it in entry 002. However, as he’s from Louisville, that got dashed as prohibitive pretty quickly. Still, he sent us one of my favorites from the exhibit.
Chris Chappell’s striking painting, “Please Don’t Kill Yourself” kinda speaks for itself. Maybe it’s also a thing someone needs to see today, as a bit of hope always feels fitting. From a visual standpoint, “Please Don’t Kill Yourself” is impeccable. I dig the mix of graphics, icons, and typography and I love how the whole thing comes together in paint. It checks a lot of boxes for me, and I’m always impressed with how well it still works with the motivational text.
Chappell is aggressively pro-mural in that he doesn’t just paint them, he actively pushes to make them part of a bigger conversation between people in a community. To wit, he paired this painting with a video install entitled “Painting Now!” This video was placed inside the Mockhouse movable structure with the painting on the outside, so you could walk into a mini gallery of his work. I enjoyed going back last week and seeing what else Chris has been up to. His glass skate decks are incredible. Definitely cold check it.
Chris Chappell is a self-taught interdisciplinary visual artist and grassroots educator who lives and works in Louisville Kentucky. His artwork stems from self-education, notions of play, and radical experimentation. Known for his street style paintings, homegrown loyalty, and aerosol murals, Chappell has made a name for himself through self-promotion, online instructional videos, curating, and community exhibitions. Recently, Chappell has adapted his style for glass, characters from paintings and developed patterns from murals can now be experienced on colorful hand held glass shards ranging in a multitude of sizes.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassskateboardart/
