Beauty & The Streets (Overture Vol. II)

Study of Mayra aka HellaBreezy in Molskine

Study of Maricella in Moleskine

Hieu Cow in Moleskine

Priscella in Moleskine

Silver aka Softest Hard in Moleskine

Teresia in Molskine

Shevah in Moleskine

Brionna in Moleskine

Marley in Moleskine

"All my life graffiti has always been viewed as something negative, viewed with contempt and disdain. It's been called vandalism and been associated with gangs, however I never and will never see it that way. Gang graffiti is sloppy and not a part of the world I'm familiar with. Real graffiti is beautiful and incredible done by talented individuals and groups of artists/writers exploring and sharing another subculture and world that many are unaware of..." -excerpt from my sketchbook

Old decrepit buildings and structures where large majestic infrastructures once stood and now littered with graffiti are looked upon with disgust and seen as something demoralizing. The graffiti art form's reputation has gotten better with time, but it still carries with it a long negative history that a lot of people can't see past. Locations in the New York, San Francisco, Oakland, the Los Angeles arts district area, old rail yards, abandoned army bunkers, even half abandoned cities like Detroit have all been subject to its share of vandalism, history with graffiti as well as beautification and transformation by it.

As a kid I was amazed by the colors and the shapes the writers could create, abstract almost, vibrant and eye catching. Growing up I was told that it was something bad, and that the neighborhoods where these amazing works of art stood, were bad, but I was always curious. On the news I would see graffiti be given a bad name and the start of it's reputation building. It was seen as being a negative outlet for a depraved underworld, associated with the downtrodden, gangs, homelessness, violence and the anti-establishment. It would be a long time for the reputation of graffiti, and graffiti writers to chisel out their names in history and really define what graffiti was about.

In this sense, women have seen, lived and still live their own struggles. Their rights are constantly scrutinized and taken away by male oppressors in the form of government officials creating laws from seemingly nowhere and keeping women fighting for their basic needs. Unfair wage gaps between men and women, rape culture, "meninism", equal rights and many other forms of discrimination are what women have to face on a regular basis. The worst part  is these things shouldn't be happening, yet the majority of both men and women are misinformed due to mainstream media and propaganda used to deter positive influence that and actual facts that could be highly beneficial, but instead is used to propagate a false and twisted view for the benefit of corporations, tax payers/voters and government officials.

In the art world, women and their bodies were immortalized in statues, paintings, carvings, and books. They were idolized and showed us their beauty and power of not only being birth givers, mothers, and care takers, but goddesses able to overcome the toughest struggles, facing countless odds and excel in a male driven society. The Mona Lisa, The Pieta, The Birth of Venus, Salome, Lady Agnew and many more are all perfect examples of the way women should be viewed, treated justly and with high reverence.

Previous posts: Prologue , Overture Vol. I , Overture Vol. III

Bombay Sapphire and Art Basel Miami have teamed up once again and are running a contest for artists to win a chance to show their work at Art Basel in Miami later in 2015. I need your help and your votes to win a spot and show the world my series "Beauty & The Streets". Voting is aloud once per day and is on until November 9th 2015 you can VOTE HERE search "Tinoco" in the search field.

Thank you so much for your vote and please help spread the word by sharing this with your friends, family and social network!