Das my i$H

February 6, 2009

Das my i$H

The color for a 25^th anniversary is silver… but expect swirls and explosions of bright shades at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art when “Ish” celebrates 25 years as an abstract graffiti artist.

For Das my i$H, which opens Feb. 6 and runs through April, the artist (Ismael Muhammed Nieves) will transform the iMOCA galleries into his “crib.” This unofficial retrospective features such paintings as  “Babylon Gone #5″ and “Clap Your Hands”, along with several installations and even a sculpture of a chair with wild, flowing lines.

The exhibition of paintings and sculpture is sure to recharge the soul during the grey, dreary Indiana winter.

“My art is a lot of line work—shapes, images and moments formed by loose lines,” Ish said. “For me, drawing a line is equivalent to performing prayer. There has to be a trust that what you’re thinking and/or what you’re engaging in will manifest itself close to your intention.”

As befitting a Purdue graduate with a degree in electrical engineering, Das my i$H is sectioned into parts, all working together in a closed circuit.

Das my i$H is part of a partnership with the Indianapolis Public Schools, which features Ish and seven other artists on an interactive DVD to be used by more than 20,000 schoolchildren.

Ish became exposed to street art while growing up on the lower East Side of Manhattan. The work of this self-taught artist has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Indiana University Gallery for Contemporary Art, South Shore Arts in Munster, Purdue University Calumet and the CISA Gallery, among others. He has been part of group exhibitions at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute and South Shore Arts.

Exhibition possible through the support of Katz & Korin, Efroymson Fund, 92.3 WTTS, Rowland Design, IMC, NUVO, The Indianapolis Foundation, Allen Whitehall Clowes Charitable Foundation, Stellar Gin, Arts Council of Indianapolis, and LevelSix.

Tags: abstract graffiti art

Posted on: 10.11.2009