Man, oh man, did we have an exciting week! It must have been the best 1st wedding anniversary ever! Let's see if we can't catch you up to speed...

Monday night's book-signing event was off the hook! We couldn't believe how many people showed up, and neither could Russell Howze, the book's author, and curator of StencilArchive.org. There were so many stencil enthusiasts in attendance, in fact, that the good people at Powell's City of Books had to bring out a whole rack of more chairs to accommodate the crowd. Still, there were people left contentedly standing on the sidelines when the chairs ran out. The presentation Russell gave was great, and the "wooooot's" heard when Tiago's name was called out were especially heart warming because most were from people we don't even know!
The subsequent Stencil Ride that Tiago led, (as part of Pedalpalooza), was a real hit, as well. Many left the event saying that it was their favorite Pedalpalooza event to date. We were out fraternizing about the city well into the night, and returned home very flattered and satisfied.

The next day marked the public portion of the Towards Carfree Cities Conference, and Tiago's first official public art performance with spray paint! Thanks to Meghan Sinnot, one of the organizers of the conference, for arming Tiago with the spray chalk and, more importantly, the official permit that allowed him to paint burning upside-down SUV's on the grounds of City Hall! Conference attendees from all over the world stopped to watch, applaud, and congratulate Tiago for his artistic accomplishments and messages!

The rest of the week was filled with wonderfully ridiculous and inspiring Pedalpalooza events, including the Solstice Ride, which we co-lead! We rode all night for the shortest night of the year, and were re-married in front of a crowd of about 100 bikey friends by bike light at the top of Mt. Tabor. Thanks to Rev. Phil and Leigh from Vancouver for the wonderful words and thoughts they shared, and to everyone who participated, observed, and heckled! We love you all!

Yes, it has been a magical week, and the perfect prelude to a magical summer for the year of two-thousand-great! Before I go, I just want to remind all of you that you only have a few more days to catch the rest of Cycleseen, the all-around-P-Town exhibit of bicycle related art, in which our own Mr. DeJerk is featured in not one, but TWO different shows! The art comes down this week, though, so get out there and Cycle-see it while you can!

Love, and be super duper ridiculous,

Mrs. DeJerk

DeJerk to be featured as interactive artist in this year's Towards Carfree Cities International Conference!

That's right! The 2008 Towards Carfree Cities Confrerence is coming to Portland tomorrow, and Tiago DeJerk will be leading an interactive art experience for the attendees on Tuesday the 17th. This is the first year that the conference will be hosted in North America, and it's occurrence coincides with Portland's recently earned recognition as the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States! The conference theme is "Rethinking Mobility, Rediscovering Proximity," and according to the site,

"This year’s Towards Carfree Cities conference theme is intended to promote discussion of urban livability, mixed-use development, local agriculture, pedestrianization, strong neighborhoods, accessible public space, and sustainable transportation. The conference program unites diverse interests, from city planners to developers to environmental activists to transportation service providers, around the common goal of reducing communities’ dependence on automobiles."

This conference is going to be amazing! Thousands of attendees are expected from ALL over the world. If you're able to, you should attend at least a portion of it. If you aren't in Portland, you can watch the video-stream coverage of the conference on CrankMyChain! Cycle TV.

Come on down to city hall on Tuesday the 17th to participate in the public day of the conference! Tiago will begin his interactive art installation around 5:00pm, and if you stay till the end you can catch the Sprockettes performance at 7:00! Can't wait to see you!

Love,
Drica

Just in case you live in P-Town and haven't been by Powell's this month, here's a shot of the front window of the world's largest independent bookstore! The Portland premiere event at Powell's is only a few days away!

Please join Tiago, myself, and Stencil Nation's author, Russell Howze, for an intimate event there this Monday the 16th at 7:30pm. Afterwards, Tiago will lead a Stencil Ride as part of Pedalpalooza. He'll take us all on a tour of some of Portland's stencil art, and we'll make stops on the way to stencil items ourselves! Bring shirts, bags, vinyls, and whatever else you want to stencil.
Also, as part of the exciting book related news, check out the list below that Rusell posted on Stencil Nation's blog!

We look forward to seeing you all this weekend, and especially on Monday!

Love, Drica

Here’s the list of museums that have currently ordered the book to sell in their shops:

• Weisman Art Museum Minneapolis
• Getty Museum LA
• MFA Boston
• National Building Museum DC
• Berkeley Art Museum
• Dia Center For The Arts NY
• Museum Contemporary Art Chicago
• MOMA NY
• Norton Simon Museum LA
• Walker Art Center Minneapolis
• MOMA SF

You know, Tiago's been getting a lot of well deserved, steadily increasing praise and adulation this past year. He's been featured on websites, in newspaper, on the radio, and now, even in a book. All in all, we feel pretty great about the direction we're headed! Something happened recently, though, that's filled us with a warm gooey feeling that's even warmer and gooier than all those other things - combined! It happened last Thursday during Tiago's Cycleseen show opening at the Independent Publishing Resource Center. There we were, hob-knobbing with the poster producing elite of Stumptown, when someone called Tiago over to the central cork board, to point out a very special note that the center had received. The note, (which can be seen on the opening page of the IPRC website), was from a student who had attended Tiago's Stencil Workshop, hosted by the IPRC last year. This student had been so inspired by her newly acquired skill set, that she developed an entire space at her home to be dedicated to art! Here she is in her own words...

PORTLANDERS LOVE THE IPRC AND OUR WORKSHOPS! Here's what one recent participant had to say: "I'm just writing to tell you how thankful I am to find a place like the IPRC! I took the spraypaint stencil class last weekend. . . the instructors were fabulous and have inspired me to turn my garage into an art space. Thanks again for offering such fantastic workshops!"

Wow! How's that for inspiring? I sure am proud of that Mr. DeJerk! Thanks for taking the time to read about this. Now let's all get out there, share some skills and spread ridiculous love and inspiration!

Heart,
Drica

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!

D e J e r k . c o m
coming soon...

www.dejerk.com

Reposted from BikePortland.org:

At this shop, not all the works of art have two wheels

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on April 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am

Cyclepath Bike Shop co-owner Bill Larson pointing out a detail
in one of Tiago DeJerk’s paintings.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Cyclepath Bike Shop in Northeast Portland is known for stocking custom, high-end bikes that could easily pass for rolling works of art. Now, sharing space in the showroom among $6,000 bicycles, are four large-scale stencil paintings by Portland artist Tiago DeJerk.

The paintings were commissioned by Cyclepath co-owner Joshua Hutchens and were unveiled at a party at the shop Friday night.

All four of the pieces were painted on reclaimed wood (three of them use old wooden doors) and were done in the unmistakable style that DeJerk is fast becoming known for. (If they look familiar that’s because I wrote about a mural painted by DeJerk on the walls of my office back in October).

The paintings range from abstract repesentations of bike parts to stylized images based on actual photographs. Team Cyclepath rider Patrick Wilder sloshes through mud in one of the pieces, and over the shop’s front counter Hutchens himself is featured. An uninterrupted bike-chain motif ties the paintings together.

Hutchens first met the DeJerk at BikeCraft, a bike-themed gift bazaar where DeJerk sold some of his smaller works last November. That night, Hutchens says “I went to buy a few of his paintings, but they were already sold. I asked if he’d consider doing something larger for me and it led to this.”

With fond memories of painted murals in other shops he’d work in — in Moab, Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado — Hutchens said he wanted to bring “something big” into the shop.

In the weeks that followed their initial conversation, DeJerk visited the shop (on MLK at Brazee) to get a sense of the space and he looked over photographs to use as a basis for the paintings. The result is four inspired works that are sure to garner DeJerk even more attention in his fledgling art career.

At the opening night party.

Artist Tiago DeJerk

DeJerk got his start in Portland’s bike scene as a clown who performed with the Alberta Street Clownhouse. His first medium was self-expression, makeup, and building tall-bikes. That led to oil painting and printmaking, which he displayed at the Last Thursday artwalk on Alberta two years ago.

Up next for DeJerk is a series of promotional pieces for Black Sheep Bakery in Southeast Portland (yes, the one with the bike-thru window), and he’ll be the official artist for the upcoming, weeklong Pedalpalooza festival in June.

Also in June, DeJerk will embark on a book tour for Stencil Nation, a new book (due out June 1) in which he serves as one of three artists representing the Pacific Northwest region.

As for his works at Cyclepath, Hutchens says they’ve been a huge hit. “Everybody wants to know who did them and where we found the guy.”

========

– For more photos of the paintings and the opening night party at Cyclepath, click here.

– Stop by Cyclepath Bike Shop: They’re located at 2436 NE. MLK Jr. Blvd. in Portland.

– To contact Mr. DeJerk, email info[at]dejerk[dot]com and stay tuned to DeJerk.com.

Eu, (f)Artista

Finalmente, resolvi tomar vergonha na cara e me "contratei" como artista. Ha tempos que eu quero ser o patrao de mim mesmo e agora consegui me convencer de que eu mereco o cargo e tenho talento o suficiente para isso. Esse eh um trabalho de periodo integral, e ainda nao sei direito quanto vou ganhar, mas ja estou recebendo.

Na ultima quinta-feira de marco nos inauguramos uma galeria na Clown House, com trabalhos de meus camaradas e meus,obviamente. Foi legal, muita gente veio visitar, mesmo sem a gente ter feito nenhuma propaganda. Jonathan, um cara super agilizado e envolvido com todos os aspectos possiveis de ciclismo em Portland, fez uma visita e rasgou seda no seu site.
Tenho trabalhado com diversas midias, como pintura, colagem, gravura, stencil e bordado. Nao me limito a isso, eh claro, e estou empolgado por estar descobrindo novas possibilidades.

No mes inteiro de marco teve uma peca minha numa outra galeria, com varios outros artistas de Portland. O tema da exposicao era livre, e o formato 4x4 polegadas. Minha peca constituiu de pedacos de camaras de bicicleta costuradas (como retalhos) e uma caveira, duas chaves-de-boca cruzadas e as palavras D.I.Y. or DIE, tudo bordado com fio dental. Meu trabalho foi um dos escolhidos para o cartaz e postais da exposicao. Agora estou trabalhando em outros quadros, linoleos e ilustracoes, entao ando cheio de trabalho. Quando tirar mais fotos, colocarei no meu site.

Shows no The Know!
No final de semana passado nos (Pepto Dizmal and The Feral Clowns) tivemos 2 shows no mesmo bar. Foram dois shows completamente diferentes, mesmo sendo os mesmos atos. Sexta-feira o lugar estava lotado e o publico, muitos deles super bebados, estava super barulhento, entao tivemos que ser bem corporais. No sabado a plateia foi menor e mais comportada, entao tivemos mais dialogos, etc. Eu estreei um ato novo, sendo um artista pintando uma modelo (Carol) mala e metida. Ela enche tanto o meu saco que eu quebro um tijolo na minha cabeca pra aliviar a tensao. No final, eu mostro pra plateia o retrato que eu pintei e, na verdade, eh um burro. A gente teve competicoes, como quem come mais cachorro-quente e um jogo chamado "What's up your ass?", quando a gente chama voluntarios da audiencia e coloca objetos na bunda deles para eles adivinharem. Foi muito bom!

The Goonies
Esse filme eh um dos meus filmes favoritos de todos os tempos. Obviamente, nao eh por motivos artisticos ou ideologicos, mas porque me traz boas lembrancas da minha infancia. Eu e meus amigos vimos o filme. Eu e meus amigos andavamos de bicicletas buscando "tesouros" e aventuras. Ano passado foi o aniversario de 20 anos do filme e teve bastante comemoracoes aqui perto, pois o filme foi rodado, em sua maioria, na cidade de Astoria, no litoral de Oregon.
Segunda-feira eu, Maya e Giovani estavamos no The Know, um bar duas quadras daqui de casa, e, como ele estava pra fechar e nos ainda nao estavamos prontos pra ir pra casa, decidimos pegar nossas minibikes e ir pra praia. Era umas 3 da manha quando saimos e chegamos la umas 5 e pouco. Estava bem escuro, entao a gente soh tomou uma garrafa de vinho e acampou por la mesmo e, na manha seguinte, fomos explorar a regiao e bombar as ladeiras nas bicicletinhas. Apesar de nao ser exatamente a mesma praia, essa foi a nossa aventura Goonie e eu me emocionei bastante por estar ali.
Mais fotos em minibikeman

Mini Bike Winter
Semana passada foi uma semana cheia de atividades relacionadas com o Mini Bike Winter, um evento criado pela minha gangue, o Zoobomb. Festas, stencils, bicicletada sem roupas durante uma das noites mais frias do ano, invasao do shopping center e o mais empolgante: as olimpiadas de inverno. As competicoes foram as mais diversas, como mini bike polo, desafios, duelos, corrida de costas e corrida morro abaixo. Teve gente de varios lugares, incluindo 19 membros de uma gangue chamada MC3, de Vancouver, Canada. Tirei varias fotos e coloquei-as no meu novo site de fotografias www.flickr.com/photos/minibikeman

Justa Super Girl!
Esta eh minha amiga Justa, super gente fina. Nos conhecemos verao passado e temos sido cada vez mais amigos. Ela eh super talentosa e manda super bem em varias artes. A gente ta sempre fazendo artes juntos tb, tipo stencils, roupas e acessorios e bordado.
Ela tem uma home page com varias fotos, de seus amigos (incuindo eu) e projetos artisticos.

Senhoras e Senhores: Pinga de Clown
Pinga anda de pernas-de-pau e mini bikes, mas as vezes ele pedala uma bicicleta de 2,5m. Essas fotos foram tiradas sabado passado, em sua segunda aparicao publica, num evento chamado Rose City Roller Derby, onde meninas em patins apostam corrida e derrubam umas as outras. Alem de investigar o tamanho das mini-saias e shorts das participantes, Pinga participou de um "vale-tudo" em mini-bikes, onde teria provavelmente conquistado o premio de maior conquista de hematomas, caso existisse. Ele tambem registrou uma historia de um palhaco atendendo pessoas no banheiro, como se fosse um garcon.
O evento foi um sucesso, com casa cheia e muita diversao e convite para participar de um evento semelhante em Seattle.

Minha Casa
Faz dois meses que me mudei pra esta casa em que moro agora. Ja falei sobre ela anteriormente, a "Clown House". Foi a mudanca mais facil da minha vida, so atravessei a rua com minhas coisas. Meu quarto eh super pequeno, na verdade eh uma sacada nos fundos que foi transformada num quarto. Tive que cobrir as paredes com cobertores e plasticos para aguentar o frio. O bom de morar aqui eh que sempre tem alguma coisa rolando, tenho tido inspiracao o tempo todo. Alem disso, a galera que mora aqui eh muito gente boa.

Neve em Portland! Depois de alguns dias frios pra caramba, chegando a sensacao termica de 14 graus negativos, nevou inesperadamente pela primeira vez na cidade em que vivo. Eu fiquei "preso" na casa da minha amiga Jessie, pois tudo estava sendo coberto e os ventos eram fortes. Foi um dia muito bonito e hoje ja nao ha mais sinal da neve que acumulou, pois choveu bastante, a temperatura subiu e a neve toda derreteu. Essas fotos foram tiradas ontem, quando a neve ja estava sumindo. Uma delas eh a casa em que morei nos ultimos 6 meses, a outra eh a casa em que estou me mudando, a Clown House.

Stencils
Ha um tempo eu comecei a me interessar e me aproximar de algumas formas de arte de rua, e a que mais me interessou foi stencil. Fiz dois quando ainda morava em Berkeley, e voltei a criar varios outros aqui em Portland. Eu tenho amigos que tambem fazem, e a gente acaba trocando ideias, imprimindo a arte um dos outros nas nossas roupas e tudo mais. Recentemente, navegando pelo meu site preferido, Stencil Archive, reconheci dois trabalhos meus que eu fiz nuns muros de San Francisco e alguem fotografou. Depois de entrar em contato com quem mantem o site, acabei ganhando a minha propria pagina, dentro da categoria "USA Artists" (pois o site eh internacional, e meus trabalhos foram feitos aqui). Nao so isso, mas um dos meus stencils foi escolhido por um tempo como "destaque" do album "USA".

Esta eh minha amiga Kate. Ela eh uma pessoa muito interessante, louca e sensata. Ela eh enfermeira, porem seu trabalho eh ser um "anjo da morte": ela prepara e conforta as pessoas que estao em seus leitos de morte para deixar esta esfera de existencia de uma maneira tranquila.
Agora, porem, ela esta numa missao diferente, muito massa. Ela se juntou com um grupo de pessoas lah em San Francisco que foram, em dois onibus movidos a oleo vegetal, a New Orleans, para ajudar e fortalecer as pessoas que sofreram os desastres causados pelo furacao e pelas autoridades politicas. Vejam bem, isso eh solidariedade e nao caridade. Ela vai se encontrar, no bairro de Algiers, com um coletivo de individuos chamado The Common Ground Health Clinic Collective que estao tocando um cafe e servindo comida de graca. Eles estao servindo mais de 1000 pessoas por dia, sem nenhuma ajuda do governo. Afinal, quem precisa de governo, onde existem individuos?


Esta foto foi tirada num trem, uma noite dessas em que estavamos pegando carona neles pela regiao.

A Clown House eh a casa dos nossos vizinhos palhacos. Dingo (o que esta de chapeu, tocando violao) eh o palhaco mais louco que ja conheci. Ele enfia pregos no nariz e deita em cacos de vidro enquanto sua parceira Chlorine Jones toca violao em cima dele. Eles tem um quintal e uma oficina abertos para quem quiser consertar ou criar bicicletas e de la sairam algumas das criacoes mais doidas que eu ja vi. Foi la que eu montei minha mini bike, e eh la que eu estou trabalhando numa bicicleta nova pra mim. Alem disso, sempre tem eventos rolando. Festas, exibicoes de filmes, apresentacoes circenses, corrida de mini bikes, duelos em bicicletas altas, luta livre na lama e coisas do genero. O site do Dingo eh bem engracado e ele sempre o mantem atualizado.

Eu e minha mini bike, domingo passado

Eu e minha mini bike