Great news, folks!

The book Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art by Russell Howze hit stores on June 1st. You better get to your favorite book store and pick up a copy quick, because this hot little number features outstanding work by the likes of Banksy, Swoon, and your very own Tiago DeJerk! (Although the book has him listed by his given name – Tiago Denczuk – we see the misnomer as a minor defeat for the cult effect, the parents DeJerk see it all as a major victory!)

Mr. Howze, creator and administrator of the website Stencil Archive, has been a big fan of Tiago’s work since it was first posted to his site by an anonymous admirer in 2006. From that point, Tiago’s fan base on Stencil Archive alone grew so quickly that Russell was inspired to invite Tiago to be a featured artist in his upcoming book. This was all way back in the late summer of yesteryear, (literally August of last year), mind you, when Tiago was a young newlywed, with empty pockets and a head full of ideas. One idea that he couldn’t have had, though, was of how much this book would end up meaning to him!

Well friends, that’s the long and short of the history of the book. Now on to more good news! It seems that, as the book and author were making their way up the coast, a great friend of Tiago’s, the Sprockette’s very own recently transplanted Agent Chaos stumbled across a copy in San Francisco. This agent was a particular inspiration to Tiago during the formation of his stencil craft, and her opinion is highly regarded by him. Here’s what she had to say about the book: "Nice job being in a BOOK on the page after SWOON!! It makes me so happy!!"

Y’all may know as well as we do, however, that close friends – regardless of how desperately they try not to be – may become biased where art is concerned. It only took a quick trip to Powell’s, though, to prove Agent Chaos absolutely correct! The book looks amazing, and not only is Tiago one of 350 artists represented in its pages, he’s also one of only a handful of those artists whose work is accompanied by a two-page spread, complete with a colorful artists’ bio! YEE HAW!

We are so darn tootin’ excited, that we’d buy each and every one of you a copy if we could! Unfortunately, we can’t. But you can support DeJerks AND Russell Howze by visiting the book’s website at stencilnation.org and ordering your own copy at wholesale price! Then, if you’re in the Portland area, you can join us at Powell’s City of Books, the world’s largest independent bookstore, on June 16th at 7:30pm for an official book presentation and signing! Immediately following the event will be a bicycle ride led by DeJerk himself as part of (you guessed it) Pedalpalooza 2008. Read more about the ride and the event in our news section! And thank you for all of your support!