Anyone who lives in Brooklyn has seen his posters pasted on doors with his trademark dripping
circle around an eye.
instagram, and only recently a camera phone. So I did the interview old school. Armed only with
a blank piece of white paper and a sharpie we talked somewhat about art, but mostly about pizza,
Pavarotti, Brooklyn, and the Mets.
So let’s start at the beginning. Dain is a native New Yorker, a Brooklyn boy to be exact.
Born and raised in the projects where graffiti was everywhere, and he loved it. Dain got into the
tagging game at a young age. He remembers loving graffiti walls by SANE SMITH, JOZ, EASY
and listening to The Beastie Boys. It was this environment which spawn a young artist:
“Let’s see… The first time I got caught tagging was when I was 7 or 8 years old… we were
using spray paint and the cops made us go back the next day and clean the entire wall”.
Well it’s pretty apparent that this punishment didn’t help Dain kick the habit. Dain continued to
be part of the New York graffiti scene cultivating his own style, which turned into Dain pasting
in his signature style for the past eight years mostly in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of
Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Red Hook, and NYC.
Now that we have gotten all that background out of the way we get to the important stuff… the
question that plagues every native New Yorker… Where is the best slice of pizza in New York
City??
“Di Fara Pizza in Midwood Brooklyn is an amazing slice, but who has two hours to wait in line
for a slice of pizza? Lately I’ve been enjoying the pizza at Artichoke and one of my favorite is
New Park pizza in Howard Beach”.
What does this have to do with art or Dain’s upcoming show at Folioleaf? Not much, but
Dain is a very secretive guy and if you want a chance to run into him, staking out
Artichoke is probably your best bet ; )
So let’s talk art and the streets. Dain is not a mural guy, he actually doesn’t care much for murals
he instead has a thing for doors:
“I love doors, I’m always looking for doors to paste on. It’s gotten to the point where I’m out
with my wife and I see a door, maybe a bombed up red door, I love red doors especially, and she
jokes that I’m looking at the door like a sexy women, but that’s kind of true because the best
canvas is an old doorway”.
There is a method to Dain’s door madness though; it’s all about getting his art to the people:
“I love when people just stumble upon my work, like walking down an alley in China
Town with rats running by and you see one of my pieces pasted on an alley door”.
But this is not the only way Dain shares his talent, he also loves his work in a gallery setting:
“I’m a big fan of creating work for a gallery setting, but mostly I like to use galleries that are not
‘street art’ galleries, like my upcoming show at Folioleaf Gallery. Folioleaf is not a standard
street art gallery; they show all different types of artists. Maybe I can do a gallery show in the
future where I paste on doors and set them up in a gallery”.
I for one think that a gallery full of doors is a perfect way to present Dain’s current body of
work. This is because doors all over New York City streets are a patchwork of stickers, marker
tags, and pasted posters. All fighting for there own space just like New Yorkers fighting for a
rent controlled apartment.
Dain’s work is an organic collage of old images of vintage models tied together with funky neon
colors and his trademark circle painted around an eye:
“Most of the time I really don’t know who the model is in my pieces. A lot of the time its facial
features taken from many different pictures. For instance many of my pieces have eyes from two
different places. For me it’s all about the eyes ”.
Additionally, the NYC door is a perfect presentation medium because Dain likes and expects for
others to add to his pieces:
“I have no problem with others writing on my posters, I love seeing tags on my pieces, it’s just
part of the game”.
This is true of many of his contemporaries we discussed.
But of course as always I had to ask him about music. Before I sold out and became a lawyer I
was a musician and worked for a decade in the music industry. So I always want to know what
kind of music makes others tick:
“I’ve always been a big fan of music, especially groups from my youth like The Specials and
The Smiths, but it may come as a surprise to know that I am a huge classical music fan. I actually
fulfilled a dream of mine by catching Pavarotti in central park 20 years ago”.
No matter what Dain is listening to his work is always evolving and improving:
“My best work is always a week or two before a show. I tend to wait to the last minute but it usually pays off. Last year my procrastination almost cost me. I had to get 4 pieces ready for art basel. I hurt my back two weeks before, so I had to make all the pieces while laying down” : )
But there is no question that Dain is here to stay which is evidenced by a jammed packed
2014 including:
April 3, 2014 – Folioleaf solo gallery show
6-9pm (some free drinks will be served)
111 Front St, #226
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(646) 389-5714
[email protected]
Dain’s new print “Streets of Soho” – http://folioleaf.com/edn/005 is available now and at the
opening. Each print is a two-color screen-print which was then hand finished with spray paint by
Dain making each print unique. There will also be 12-15 originals available.
Additionally, Dain has also been selected to be part of a citywide Easter egg hunt presented by
the infamous Fabergé. Approximately 200 giant eggs will be scattered throughout NYC (kind of
like those painted cows a while back). Dain’s egg is scheduled to be in Rockefeller Center.
In summation, Dain is a true New York City street artist. He’s mysterious, dedicated, and has a
great sense of humor. Dain with a smile sums it up best:
“Buy this guy or in 10 years you will be kicking yourself”
_______________________________
comment