You may have noticed that the garage door next Vinyl has been updated recently, and we've got the scoop on the new artwork and the artists behind it.
Although the piece itself is relatively small, it bursts with color and in fact marks the first-ever collaboration between internationally-recognized artists ELLE and Ian Ross. Locals may be familiar with Ross' work from the large, ever-changing mural that covered the construction site at 435 Duboce St. for the past several years, and ELLE was in town for the Wander and Wayfare exhibition put on by Rocha Art (formerly Ian Ross Gallery). The show brought female street artists from around the world to produce murals throughout the city, along with a show at the gallery itself.
"I was out painting walls with One Brush Initiative, which is run by Ian's wife Daniele," ELLE told us. "Ian was giving me lifts and helping me get sorted with my walls while at the same time he was crushing entire buildings of his own! I was blown away by his work and super inspired by him and thought it would be dope to do a collaboration together. As soon as we finished up our respective walls we got started on our collab piece."
ELLE is originally from just outside the Bay Area, and has been living in New York for the last seven years. She has painted all over the world, but was especially excited to return to San Francisco because she had yet to show in galleries or paint any murals on her own turf.
Ross was born and raised in Marin, and has created countless works around the San Francisco, the Bay Area and beyond. Although he originally got his BFA in Ceramics, he's been painting seriously since he moved back to San Francisco in 2003, and his signature line work can be recognized throughout the city. "The most important element of my work is the process itself," he said. "The moment I pull a brushstroke my goal is for my mind to be clear, and the action as pure as possible. I believe in searching for balance, and I identify with Eastern philosophies about creativity, learned while working exclusively with clay for ten years."
Ross was equally excited to collaborate with ELLE, and suggested that they use the existing structure and geometry of the garage door to divide their work. "We had both been working hard on bigger walls and just wanted a relaxing fun time for our first shared wall so we just started and laughed and froze our asses off as it got dark. Because that spot is a tiny garage door it quickly became clear we should have some kind of structure so I did the raised divisions in black and white while she blasted the rectangles with her signature supersonic colors," he told us.
Both ELLE and Ross were excited to put the piece up in the neighborhood, saying that everyone passing by was friendly and that some locals even brought them homemade moonshine to sip on while they were painting.
"I love that neighborhood," said Ross. "I've had a love affair with San Francisco for my whole life and I have always gravitated to the Western Addition and Lower Haight. SF is so quickly losing its color and characters but I feel like this neighborhood will put up the biggest fight of any (other neighborhood) in the city. I would love to contribute more art and energy to that fight."
Next time you're grabbing a cup of coffee at Vinyl, or just passing by, take a peek at Divisadero's newest aesthetic addition. The blank walls on the Divisadero side of Vinyl are also currently primed for new murals, and we'll keep you in the loop about those as well.
