Graffiti in the Town |

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area A few months ago, Geoff and I were rolling around west Oakland when we spotted this building with two walls covered in graffiti. Oakland is no stranger to graffiti, but this stuff was different. On the south wall, there seemed to be a lot of Japanese manga or anime influence, as well as a few qualities that make it look like vector art.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Myla

Many of the pieces exhibit extremely clean lines and superb coloring. No blotchy stuff here. There were definitely paint rollers and stencils involved.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Muse (Oakland)

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area We were intrigued by the uniqueness of the whole installment, so we decided to shoot it all and then look into it. It turns out that the south wall was part of a project called Few and Far that was organized by an artist calling herself Meme. Meme invited 13 other female graffiti artists to come to Oakland from around the Bay Area and around the country, and three more showed up on their own. Over the course of a few rainy days in early June, the 17 women put in work and created what you see here.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Myla (Australia/Los Angeles)

Each artist got her own section of wall to work on. Most of the pieces aren’t collaborative, but all blend into each other making the entire project cohesive.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Anaga (Bay Area)

It’s definitely got a female theme. Proof that women can be just as cool as men? I think so.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Siloette (San Francisco)

Flowers and everything. Meme wanted to point out that she respects the more “perverted, macho, tough, gross stuff” men paint, because not everything should be what women like. Women can be hardcore but still like girly things, and that can still be contrasted with the more manly art. It all fits together!

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area This mural was just the first of a series. Few and Far will be hitting up walls in other cities across the country in coming months. Some of the artists will be the same and some will be new!

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Beth Emmerish (San Diego)

Toofly (New York) and Dime (Bay Area)

Reds (Miami)

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area 179 (Seattle)

179 (Seattle)

Here’s a video I found. Man, it sure would have been cool to shoot them doing the whole thing.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Around the corner there were some more traditional style burners, but even those were surrounded by pieces influenced by pre-European Mexican styles, really gnarly Rat Fink-eqsue stuff, and variations of tattoo flash art. This stuff is not part of Few and Far. Geoff’s hoodlum graffiti artist friend, known as Berner from the GR/ATB crew, knows a lot of the artists from this wall and stepped in on this article to give us some knowledge via satellite uplink.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Berner: This piece is by Gats. I have an issue of Zipgun magazine right in front of me with him in it! My friend interviewed him. He’s from the Bay, but lives in Sac. He’s been doing it hella long, he’s very well known.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area We made sure to let them know we were there!

How can anyone even keep track of something this massive? It’s nuts I tell you!

Berner: Oh shit! That’s Jersey Joe on the left, and Jurne on the right! I’m pretty sure Jersey Joe (AKA Rime, AKA the best in the whole world) did the character in the middle too. Rime lived in Sac for a couple of months, he’s pretty much the best. He’s gone worldwide painting graffiti, dude, seriously. Search Google for Rime from the AWR and MSK crew and you’ll find shit from Europe, Asia, everywhere!

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Across the street in that brick building is where our friend Rich used to have his car shop. He built and fixed a lot of pretty cool cars in there before he closed it down in 2008. Myla’s husband Dabs did this piece. He incorporated her name into it, just like how she incorporated his name into her piece!

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Ah ha! Evidence! Only the finest of spray paint was used.

Geoff refused to smile for the security camera.

What better symbol for the whole Bay Area than a BART train?

Berner: Pear [pronounced “Peer”]. He’s sick, dude. Simple stuff, but sick. He’s known for his ability to do some of the cleanest writing out there. Super clean. Run it!

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Jeez, so vicious!

Berner: I don’t know who did that, but I know who did the CBS, it looks like 7seas did that. He’s from the 1810 and CBS crew.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area It was pretty cool that the artists had reserved spots. I’m sure everything on this wall is legal too, and that allows everyone to spend as much time as they need to make every piece awesome.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area These guys are so awesome.

Who comes up with this stuff? I know there were drugs involved.

Berner: I don’t know what the fuck that even says. TRCB? TRCD? Must be someone good though, that’s a pretty dope piece.

beth emmerish few and far graffiti hops ksra meme dabs myla oakland rachel pelican reds siloette toofly australia los angeles new york san diego san francsico bay area Berner: I’m really not positive, but I think it was maybe Rime that painted that. That’s ill, yo. Straight ill.

Nope, that’s more Dabs! Berner needs to learn his Aussie styles!
I hope Oakland gets more stuff like this!

.:Bohan