Abcnt

This piece of original artwork comes ready to hang.

Opening Friday, June 30th at Detroit’s Inner State Gallery “LAX/DTW” will feature over 80 local and international artists curated by Los Angeles-based gallery Thinkspace. The massive group exhibition serves as introduction to the burgeoning New Contemporary art movement for art lovers in the Midwest, handpicked by one of the scene’s most prolific galleries.

“With roots firmly planted in illustration, pop culture, comics, street art and graffiti, put quite simply the New Contemporary Art Movement is art for the people,” Thinkspace co-founder Andrew Hosner said.

For the eleventh iteration of Thinkspace’s traveling group exhibitions, co-owners Andrew and Shawn Hosner hand picked Detroit to showcase one of their most ambitious collections to date. As part of the exhibition, the Hosners have also picked two featured artist, James Bullough for his unique cross cut portraits.

Abcnt is a sociopolitical activist/anarchist, the product of mid-nineties expressionism and new-millennium activism, who describes himself as “[a] real west coast hip-hop fanatic, with a kind of militant attitude towards consciousness.” And how does he execute his expression and voice? Through avenues in politically charged street art and music.

Abcnt started tagging in 1996. Back then he was strictly focused on style and imagery, until around 2004 with the development of his iconic business bandit logo. The logo depicts a bandana-masked businessman in dripping black-and-white stencil style, often up against a symbolic red background or above an anti-corporate play on words, like: “United Snakes of Amerika.” His harsh view of the corporate world and political agendas may strike concern in some, or touch home to others. It doesn’t seem like he cares much about the former, though; he’s got a message and he’s getting it out there. As for the name Abcnt? It’s an evolution of an alias dating back to his early days of spray paint and stencils, when he was known as simply absent—a tonic acronym with a tonic maxim embodying the artist: Always Be Successful Entertaining New Terrain.