Art or die

Brutalist gem in Basel, Switzerland. Picture taken by me on 11 June 2023. It now serves as temporary artist studio space until it will be demolished later this year to make room for a luxury apartment building. More information about this building is unknown to me.

Faculty of Information Sciences, university of Madrid 2018 (photos Mick La Rock)

In de Hip-Hop Evolution Showcase at OBA the story of the voyage hiphop has made will be shown by means of urban dance theatre,  storytelling, spoken word, rap, dj-ing, beatboxing, breakdance/bboy-ing and graffiti. 

Saturday 26 May 20:00h:  Hip Hop Evolution Showcase

Talented youngsters and professionals like Gideon Everduim (a.k.a. Gikkels) and Yahmani Blackman take us through the history of the hiphop-culture on stage. The showcase is directed by theater director  Dorothy Blokland.  Mick La Rock created a classic Hip Hop graffiti- piece stage prop: (text continues after photo)

SMIB x BLAKA will kick off the showcase at the Hip Hop Forum with a panel-audience discussion about the African roots of Hip Hop and contemporary Hip Hop slang.

Sunday 27 May from 11:00h:  Hip Hop Evolution Showcase JUNIOR program

Workshops for kids 6+ with Dutch Hip Hop Royalty like: Beatboxing with Andre Accord, Shirt customizing with the world famous PATTA, De rappende voorlezer KiddoCee will read children's story from books for the little ones, The legendary DJ Allstar Fresh, DJ Kendis & Rockefellababe will spin the 1's and 2's in the silent disco, Breakdance with pioneers The Rocking Chairs and last but not least kids can draw graffiti on NYC subways with Mick La Rock.

For Amsterdam's popular local TV station AT5 Mick la Rock was interviewed about the one of the last excisting graffiti hall of fames of the city.

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and Aruna Vermeulen, director of HipHopHuis Rotterdam invited Mick La Rock at the Boijmans' depot to have a look at the 1980's New York graffiti collection.

Mick about the Boijmans Van Beuningen graffiti collection: (BLADE, QUIK, SEEN, ZEPHYR, NOC167, RAMMELLZEE)

03:52 - 05:28

06:30 - 08:46

10:31 - 14:14

A new collaboration between NYC's King of Graffiti Blade and Mick La Rock takes place March 27th – April 6th 2018. Both artists have been invited to decorate a bridge at the Baana, a busy outdoor cycling and walking track, located just steps away from the Helsinki Art Museum.

Blade and Mick la Rock each have a 15 meters wide and 4 meters high mural to paint on either side of the bridge. Interesting detail is the presence of wall paintings by OsGemeos and Egs along the same track.

Apart from the outdoor mural Blade will create an indoor mural for the exhibition, whereas Blade is leading and Mick is assisting.

Opening of the Graffiti exhibition @ HAM in Helsinki – April 6th 2018.

More info can be found here: HamHelsinki/GRAFFITI

‘The only crime is people not recognizing graffiti as true art!’ – article for Christie’s graffiti auction.

Graffiti works on paper from the collection Martin Visser were offered for auction at Christie’s Amsterdam. This collection was acquired in the early 80’s at Gallerie Yaki Kornblit. For the online auction Christie’s devoted an online catalog accompanied by an article about the legendary Gallery Yaki Kornblit.

Via the Amsterdam Museum Christie’s was introduced to Mick La Rock, who guest curated the exhibition 'Graffiti. New York Meets The Dam'. Mick La Rock is befriended with Kornblit. On Yaki’s request Mick became his spokeswoman about his gallery and story for the article.

Author: Alastair McVeigh, additional interview material provided by Mick La Rock.

Always wanted to know how the New York way of graffiti writing made it's way to Europe and further developed there? Watch the new online series The Rise of Graffiti Writing on Arte.tv/de! Curated by Lars from Copenhagen and directed by René Kaestner, this 10 episode series brings you the full insight. With interviews with most of the important artists from the 80's and 90's in NYC and Europe, and many never before published film footage, this document can be regarded as an important new retrostpective on the scene.

Because of her role as guest curator of the 'Graffiti. New York meets The Dam' exhibition at the Amsterdam Museum (2015), Mick La Rock was invited for consultation about the influence of NYC graffiti on Amsterdam. Together with the film crew she visits hidden old tags by Quik and Shoe, and explains how gallery owner Yaki Kornblit brought many NY artists to Amsterdam for shows at his gallery where important musea like Boymans, Groninger Museum and Louisiana Copenhagen bought work.  She introduces Yaki and his former gallery partner Vincent Vlasblom, who brings one of Rammellzee's most incrtedible drawings with him. The rest of the story is told by the artists involved: Boris Tellegen Delta, Niels Shoe Meulman, Bando, Mode2 a.o.  A must see!

The whole series can be viewed online from 24 November 2017 to 24 November 2019.

Always wanted to know how the New York way of graffiti writing made it's way to Europe and further developed there? Watch the new online series The Rise of Graffiti Writing on Arte.tv/de! Curated by Lars from Copenhagen and directed by René Kaestner, this 10 episode series brings you the full insight. With interviews with most of the important artists from the 80's and 90's in NYC and Europe, and many never before published film footage, this document can be regarded as an important new retrostpective on the scene.

Because of her role as guest curator of the 'Graffiti. New York meets The Dam' exhibition at the Amsterdam Museum (2015), Mick La Rock was invited for consultation about the influence of NYC graffiti on Amsterdam. Together with the film crew she visits hidden old tags by Quik and Shoe, and explains how gallery owner Yaki Kornblit brought many NY artists to Amsterdam for shows at his gallery where important musea like Boymans, Groninger Museum and Louisiana Copenhagen bought work.  She introduces Yaki and his former gallery partner Vincent Vlasblom, who brings one of Rammellzee's most incrtedible drawings with him. The rest of the story is told by the artists involved: Boris Tellegen Delta, Niels Shoe Meulman, Bando, Mode2 a.o.  A must see!

The whole series can be viewed online from 24 November 2017 to 24 November 2019.

For CBK Zuidoost (Center for Visual Art, Amsterdam Southeast) graffiti artist Mick La Rock created 7 large works for the public space.

7 Compositions is a reaction to Sarah Payton’s video installation What it seems to be. Both artworks were exhibited from September 6th 2014 at the square in front of CBK Zuidoost.

Mick La Rock visualized her fascination and love for the modernist ‘raw concrete’ architecture of the Bijlmer estate.

Both works talk about people's relationship with the city and with eachother as city inhabitants.

Famous Polish artist Paulina Olowska invited Mick La Rock to collaborate on a mural for her exhibition "Au Bonheur des Dames" at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. To suit the exhibition's concept Mick La Rock and Olowska designed a piece in the typical Amsterdam-Parisian graffiti lettering style of the mid-80's. Their inspiration being Niels Shoe Meulman, Bando, Emile Zola, Kazmir Malevich and Lady Pink.

DUTCH NATIONAL OPERA AND BALLET

In spring 2017 4 upcoming artists of the Amsterdam South East region were invited by the committee of the Dutch National Opera and Ballet to show their work during the enactment of Monteverdi's Madrigals.

For this 2017 version of Monteverdi's opera The National Opera & Ballet's decor-and-costume atelier functioned as stage. Two halls were refurbished for the enactment and lobby. Aileen had the privilege to finish her large piece at location.

Participating artists:

Mick la Rock – visual artist / muralist

Auke Vanderhoek - photographer

Loidys Carnero – furniture designer / visual artist

In 2012 artist Chrystl Rijkeboer scouted Mick La Rock for a one month solo exhibition in Gallery ArtUnit. ArtUnit was a one-window-gallery in the historical center of the city of Haarlem, NL. For the exhibition in Mick created a site specific hanging installation, made from acrylic painted wood.

01 August 2012 - 31 August 2012