about HVW8 Art Installation
L to R: Dan Buller, Tyler Gibney, Gene Pendon
Ten years ago the original idea behind the a HVW8 composition/piece was to pay hommage to someone deserving in their field whether it was musically, such as Miles Davis, Donny Hathaway, Nina Simone, Augutus Pablo; politically, like Shirin Ebadi, Noam Chomsky, Romeo Dallaire; a tribute to other artists, like Malike Sibyde and Mies van der Rohe; or just persons deserving of being called ‘heavyweights‘, like Richard Pryor and David Suzuki. HVW8 would take the iconography and sample it like a jazz standard and freestyle around it, building something to call our own and proud to represent.
One of the principle artistic projects of Heavyweight Production House, the Heavyweight Art Installation is made up of Tyler Gibney, G Starship and Dan Bulller. The three artists work in collaboration, not unlike the dynamic that came from past mural jobs, graffiti exploits, art parties and comic jams, to create painted compositions live within club settings and before music audiences. Using the environment as inspiration, the painters instantlly blend ideas onto the canvas, sampled from a rolodex of sketchbook images, Polaroids, old photographs, pop iconography and brush techniques. With each painting taking about 3-4 hours to complete, the process is a challenge of graphic resourcefulness; the live aspect compresses the painting experience into spontaneous reactions to time, space and energy. The result is a document of the night, capturing the mood, sounds and electricity of these environments. Heayvweight Art Installation has toured and exhibited internationally in venues in Japan, England, Holland, Brussels, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, Puerto Rico.
The HVW8 Art installation first debut was painting live at the 1999 Montreal Jazz Festival. Following that the collective have created live art across the world, participating in festivals such as the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, the Winter Music Conference in Miami, CMJ Festival in New York City, and the Candela Music and Arts Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The trio have performed their live art along sides cutting edge musicians, producers and DJ’s such as Jazzanova, Afrika Bambaataa, Gilles Peterson, Bugz In The Attic, the Herbaliser, Roots Manuva, Osunlade and Black Spade, Kid Koala, the Herbaliser, Masters at Work, United Future Organisation and theHerbaliser. HVW8 has exhibitions in galleries such as the Parco Gallery in Tokyo, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) in Toronto, and the Liane and Danny Taran Gallery Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts in Montreal. Their work as been included in the private collections of Paul Allen, Marc Ecko, Kevin Garnett, Talib Kweli and Eric Belfour. The Hvw8 Art Installation has also been featured in such publications as Graffiti World, Scawl 2: More Dirt, and The Art of Rebellion 2: World of Urban Art Activism and artist film documentaries such as Next: A Primer on Urban Painting (Pablo Aravena/Agnes B. Love Streams) and The Run-Up (Upper Playground).
Interview in San Francisco in 2008 for 10 year show.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2002 Heavyweight @ Ropeadope: Sound and Vision, The Ropeadope Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA (08/17/02)
2002 StreetWise One, Apart Gallery, London, UK (July)
2002 Installations: 1999-2001, Parco-Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (January)
2001 Declarations: International Art & Design Symposium, Socité des arts technologiques/Concordia University, Montreal
2001 Heavyweight Art Installation, Harbourfront Centre –Gallery 2, Toronto
2001 Boxed: Round 2, London Regional Art & Historical Museum, London
2001 Boxed, Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff
2001 Yo Bro, Oboro Gallery, Montreal
2001 25 Artist, 25 years, Leaonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery/ Concordia
University, Montreal
2000 Phase One: 1999 North American Tour, Live Painting Series, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto
2000 Phase One: 1999 North American Tour, Live Painting Series, Liane and Danny Taran Gallery Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montreal
1999 CMJ Music Festival, The Roxy, New York, NY
SELECTED PAINTING PERFORMANCE
2002 Alena.Mtl & Lowdown Present, Alena Boutique, Mtl (09/20/02)
2002 Heavyweight: Live, The Echo, Los Angeles, CA, USA (09/07/02)
2002 Heavyweight: Live, The Top, San Francisco, CA, USA (09/05/02) Performances with: DJ’s Iz (Joshua) and J-Boogie
2002 Bumbershoot: Seattle Arts Festival 2002, Seattle, WA, USA (08/30 –09/02)
2002 Heavyweight Cookout, Halcyon Boutique, Brooklyn, NY (08/18/02)
2002 Heavweight @ Ropeadope: Sound and Vision, RopeaDope Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA (08/16/02)
2002 Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, Tennessee, USA (06/23/02)
2002 Extension of the Spectacle, Albion Hotel, Miami FL, USA (03/22/02) Rico (03/01/02)
2002 SunCom Art Nites presents Heavyweight & Barnstormers Live, Puerto Rico Museum of Art , San Juan, Puerto Rico (02/28/02)
2002 Heavyweight Art Installation, Club Milk, Tokyo, Japan (01/12/02)
2002 Heavyweight Art Installation, Club Blue, Tokyo, Japan (01/14/02)
2002 Heavyweight Art Installation, Club Buddha, Nagoya, Japan (01/15/02)
2001 Heavyweight Vs.the Barnstormers, Socité des arts technologiques, Montreal,Canada
2001 Fresh Festival, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada
Performances with: Antibalas, Bullfrog
2001 And 1 Mixtape Tour 2001, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, USA
2001 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal/DJ Series, Montreal,Canada Performances with: DJ Smash, Jazzanova, Dzihan & Kamien, Gilb’r & I:Cube, Tiga, Shantel
2001 Ecko Party, Club Red, Miami, USA
2001 Winter Oasis 5 –Decadence, Club Space, Miami, USA
2000 Ritual Fashion Expo Tour, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, USA
2000 Garage 416 2nd Year Anniversary Party, Club Roxy Blu, Toronto, Canada
2000 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal/DJ Series, Montreal,Canada Performances with: United Future Organization, Nightmares on Wax, Prince Paul, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Smith & Mighty, Bossa…Trés Jazz
2000 Houston Gallery 1st Anniversary Celebration, Seattle, USA
Performances with: DJ Z-Trip and Radar (Bombshelter)
2000 Experience Music Project Museum, Opening Festivities, Seattle, USA
Performances with: Gus Gus, Supreme Beings of Leisure
2000 “Pressure Point”Film Debut and Fundraiser Evening, Montreal, Canada
2000 Discovery Channel Gala Evening at Ciapriani’s, New York, USA
2000 Masters at Work 10th Anniversary, Miami, USA
2000 Coachella Arts and Music Festival, Indio, CA, USA
Performances with: Kid Koala, Kool Keith, Amon Tobin, Neotropic, Luke Vibert, DJ Food, Autechre, DJ Ease, Uziq
1999 CMJ/Giant Step Music Festival, New York, USA
Performances with: Jurassic 5, Lamb, Groove Armada, Innerzone Orchestra, The Herbaliser, Roots Manuva
1999 The Herbaliser North American Tour (with Roots Manuva –UK), Canada & US (16 cities)
1999 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal/DJ Series, Montreal,Canada
Perfromances with: Joe Clausell, Amon Tobin, Frederic Galliano, Luke Vibert, The Herbaliser, Spacetime Continuum, Carl Craig, Theivery Corporation