#sentrock

Sentrock’s “The Boy Who Wanted To Fly.”

Currently on view at Elmhurst Art Museum in Elmhurst, Illinois and presented by Thinkspace Projects is artist Sentrock’s solo exhibition, “The Boy Who Wanted to Fly.”

Joseph Perez, best known as “Sentrock,” is a self-taught street artist who creates large-scale, colorful public mural works. He views street art as a gesture of compassion for his community and a powerful form of expression that encapsulates his Mexican American background, upbringing, and history. He developed his work from graffiti writing to his now highly stylized and recognized street art featuring the Bird City Saint character that wears a bird mask. He describes this signature mask as a means of an individual’s personal expression, strength, and hope.

For this exhibition, Sentrock presents a new signature mural in the galleries as well as animated video projections, a ten-foot-tall sculpture, a life-size birdhouse installation, eleven new large scale paintings, works on paper and various installations that reveal narratives about the Bird City Saint character, and its origins in the artist’s biography. The exhibition, across numerous galleries, will explore the dreams of a little boy living in an urban environment, the importance of his Mexican-American community, and why the boy has a bird mask.

‘Forever Beautiful’

Max Sansing and ProBlak

Launched in Detroit This Summer, A Black-Led Mural Festival Wants to Revitalize Neighborhoods with Public Art

Murals have long been associated with placemaking because of their unparalleled ability to transform underutilized corridors and city stretches into spaces primed for cultural gatherings, tourism, and subsequently, economic growth. This revitalizing potential is what drives a biannual festival that launched in Detroit earlier this summer as it dramatically altered the urban landscape of the city’s central North End neighborhood.

All images courtesy of BLKOUT Walls

Sentrock. Image courtesy of the artist

Rick Williams and Sydney James

Fight Harder Fly Higher

JC Rivera and SENTROCK

Rise Up! for the ACLU of Illinois 

On April 3rd, members of the cast of Hamilton Chicago came together alongside prominent Chicago performers and artists for a night of music and entertainment. As part of the concert, Bucketfeet reached out to Chicago artist Sentrock to design a CUSTOM pair of shoes that embodied the theme of the evening: Rise Up! This work of art could be yours, we just have to convince Ari Afsar (Hamilton Chicago's Eliza) to hand them over first!

The ACLU of Illinois is fighting to defend all of our constitutional rights, day in and day out. As individuals, the path forward can feel overwhelming but with the ACLU our voice is magnified as they fight in the courts for us all. This is an opportunity to support them and say thank you.