This continuing body of work is about celebrating the brilliant artists who, like me, practice their craft in this place. It consists of a series of freehand spray-painted portraits on wooden assemblages made from construction and renovation materials. The way we artists in particular are pushed to construct a public persona by sharing our craft, our process, our stories, and our lives online is evolving, and remains fascinating.
The reference images for each of the portraits painted were pulled from each artist's social media feed, often with filters already applied and resolution compressed - they are the images we send to the world to represent us. Through posting images of ourselves and our work, we implicitly ask to be seen, for our voice to be heard, for the thoughts and ideas that define us to be acknowledged and reflected.
Image Courtesy of Brendan Ryder
AJA Louden is a visual artist of Jamaican-Canadian heritage with a studio based in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Treaty 6, Edmonton, Alberta). Louden works primarily as a muralist, but also founded and directs the Aerosol Academy series, developed by in 2011, which teaches people of all ages about art making and art history through the lens of graffiti and street art, and has been taught around AJA’s home province of Alberta. Sharing a decade-long passion for contemporary urban muralism and challenging commonly held perceptions about the history and culture of unsanctioned public art is an important part of the studio practice. AJA Louden Studios is a venture created to share AJA’s work and the work of his skilled friends and colleagues with the world. The goal is making cities and spaces more inspiring, engaging, informed and thoughtful through strategic, compassionate use of art and design in public spaces.