Exhibition Runs: September 15 – October 27
ZimZum is the kabbalistic idea that the creation of the universe was caused by God breathing in and breathing out. With that concept in mind, street artists Gaia, Michael Owen and MOMO embrace the creative potential of the medium’s current status, flowing in and out between the gallery and the street with an ambitious installation that resists easy labels.
Outside, they occupy a brick wall on The Patterson’s exterior with a collaborative mural; on the other side, they fill the Creative Alliance’s 2000 square foot Main Gallery with an installation covering wall and floor. Counter to street art’s traditional emphasis on the individual – the graffiti “signature” is its most basic form – the three work together to fuse styles and techniques, and push each other in new directions.
With large wheat paste line drawings of animals and historic figures referencing urban development, Gaia has exploded into public view since 2009, exhibiting nationally from New York to San Francisco, Portland, New Orleans and Washington DC.
Michael Owen is known as the artist behind the Baltimore Love Project, a planned series of 20 murals across Baltimore with silhouetted hands spelling the word “Love.” He’s also a Resident Artist at the Creative Alliance and has completed numerous public and private commissions, including the city’s largest mural in the underpass east of Highlandtown.
MOMO garnered early notice for “the world’s largest tag,” an innocuous, wobbly, 8-mile line of orange paint, spelling his name across the streets of Manhattan. He has since emerged as a leading presence internationally, with beautiful, site-sensitive, geometric-abstract murals pushing both abstraction and street art in new directions.
Following the opening on Sep 15, Creative Alliance opens its doors for the Sweatboxx Dance Party, from the producers of the successful FUSION series, paying tribute to Baltimore Club.
