GoodStrange (Dreams of NYC) III by BlusterOne - Original work on paper. Graphite pencil, acrylic and black gesso on 175gsm fabriano watercolour stock. 75.7 x 56.5cm. (Each piece comes with a free hand made sticker and one of Bluster”s “Smile New York” stickers.)

ABOUT THE ARTIST: James Alicea AKA BlusterOne

James Alicea was born in 1970 and raised on the Lower East Side of NYC. It was the local graffiti, from primal lettering to colorful murals that would spark his interest in making art. Growing up watching TV shows like Sesame Street, Electric Company and ZOOM: three dynamic educational children shows who’s objective was to teach the alphabets, numeracy and grammar through music and art, and how together they can be used to build language, gave birth to a love of manipulating letter forms and executing simple line drawings in his compositions. In 1982 he took on the pen name “BlusterOne” and began developing his distinctive style as the 80’s graffiti boom took flight. He studied at the High School of Art and Design the alma mater of many of the cities graffiti names from Tracy 168 through to Lady Pink and Lee Quinones. In 1987 he co-founded PNB Nation, one of the original NYC graffiti inspired clothing brands that kick started the global scene we now call “Streetwear”.

In the 90’s he became an original member of TheBarnstormers, a painting collective founded by David Ellis. Through this collaborative project Bluster’s work has been shown in New York, North Carolina, Japan and Puerto Rico, and continues to be sought after and collected.

Upon first look, the common denominator in all of Bluster’s recent work is the limited color palette of black and orange.  It was this color palette that Keith Haring implemented in his famous Crack Is Wack murals, a palette that calls for and demands attention from near and far.  Combined with his detailed images of melting letters, cross-hatched distorted human figures, obscure portraits of unknown characters, and other pus induced iconography Bluster pulls your eyes across the picture plane to bear witness to the world of his imagination, a world he calls GoodStrange.