VRNO

Last year I had the chance to coordinate an art & music event here in San Francisco. I did this to help get some of my favorite artists some exposure. One in particular is Jamal aka VRNO out of Detroit. He does some rather extraordinary drawings and paintings. Stencil, markers, acrylics, and found materials are a major staple in his pieces. Lately he is incorporating more color and patterns in his works. If you get a chance to view his flickr page, I challenge you to just look at one piece—I am positive you will click through the vast majority of his works and be impressed with each image. (ag)

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Why art? For me it’s pretty basic. I use art as an outlet. It’s sort of a pacifier. And it’s definitely not something I take too seriously.

When did you first start? Almost 2 years ago.

Do you only create collages? If not, what other mediums/media do you work in? It’s only been collage based thus far. Archiving bits and pieces of old paper and photos is a hobby/curse of mine. I have slowly started to incorporate some spray paint and acrylic paint.

Who inspires you? It changes all the time but some people inspiring me today are Robert Rauschenberg, Gaslamp Killer, and always my Father.

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What is the art scene like in San Francisco? I didn’t know too much about the art scene in SF. I just moved to Oakland and have yet to get out to some of the many galleries but there seems to be a nice vibe out here. I strolled around at the Oakland Art Murmur street fair last month and that was really fun. I tend to be a little hermetic so “scenes” aren’t really my thing. I think I’ve only been to like two art exhibits ever.

Have you exhibited your work? I have not exhibited my work yet but I hope to very soon.

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Do you use computers to create some/all of your works? Computers don’t have a place in my art as of yet. I am
interested in incorporating them for certain things in the future but at this point all my collages are hand made.

When you are not creating, what do you do? Recently I’ve been spending my time trying to find a real job. Other than that I have a huge appetite for media. Weather it’s some new music I just came across or an old movie or some kid making bad ass collages on flickr. Basically, if I’m not being creative I’m usually looking for more inspiration.

If you could let the world know about someone/something/some place, who/what would it be?
Being new to Oakland, I just discovered the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. It’s a great place to grab cheap/used art supplies. I wish there were more of these non-profit art/thrift places around. Their website is  http://www.creativereuse.org/

Where can someone purchase your work? Right now you can only purchase my work by contacting me through my flickr page or contacting me at barrettwcook@gmail.com. I hope to be exhibiting some of my stuff in the upcoming months as well so if anybody is looking to put together a group show, drop me a line.