TYPOE: Purgatory (false ceiling)
Reception: Saturday, April 9th, 7-10pm
Through April 30, 2011

Locust Projects is pleased to present Purgatory (false ceiling), a new project by infamous Miami graffiti artist TYPOE. In his most ambitious undertaking to date, TYPOE will present a site-specific installation featuring a dropped ceiling covering Locust Projects’ 2,700 square foot gallery space on which he will create an adaption of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.

Purgatory (false ceiling) will present street art in a gallery space, and continue the artist’s exploration of religious and popular iconography. Taking the Sistine Chapel as a starting point, TYPOE will adapt aspects of Michelangelo’s masterpiece using paint, text and collage, infusing elements of his own style and experience. Using a street art practice known as “wheat pasting,” the artist will affix images printed on paper to the dropped ceiling. Combined, the architectural installation and imagery will convey parallel cultural and autobiographical narratives.

TYPOE is the street name adopted by the Miami-based artist. Recent exhibitions include Bang, Bang, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL and the group exhibitions Manifest Equality, Los Angeles, CA; Abracadabra, Hollywood Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, FL; and From Gutter to Gallery, Brevard Museum of Art, Melbourne, FL. He is the co-founder of Primary Flight, which organizes a site-specific, street level mural exhibition annually in the Wynwood and Miami Design Districts.