On October 16^th, the South Side Community Art Center and WAP are introducing “Inside Out” as a second piece to their ongoing scheduled exhibit, “Demise”. Showcasing the work of Menace, Select Inverse and other creative residents of the “Windy City” the Center will be making history by installing graffiti in its facility for the first time.

“Menace” marks this as his 20^th year of being involved with painting and making art. As a student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from the ages of 5 to 18 “Menace” participated in a Marshall Fields Holiday Window Display as his first reputable art exhibit at the age of 8. At “Inside Out” you will have the opportunity to experience the style of the art he creates outside and interact with him as he classically brush paints a section of the wall live, inside. The installation is going to be taken down and sliced into sections that will be sold to the public. All of the profits are going directly to the construction of a more durable gallery wall in the installations place. This show features an urban sticker art exhibit which host the work of “Select Inverse”, great music, various other street artists, along with a since of community that is unique, diverse and revolutionary.

Join us Friday October 16th from 6 to 9pm, while we not only tear down walls by “breaking artistic barriers to build new foundations”, but break down barriers of age, race, religion and social backgrounds in order to participate in the important history and future of the SSCAC.

South Side Community Art Center, 3831 South Michigan Avenue, October 16th 6-9pm

All proceeds will go to the Families.

Where you from?
From a lil’ town called Des Plaines, IL, since birth to present day.

Where did you get the name “Esho” from?
It comes from an old Buddhist philosophy based on the Ying and Yang theory. Basically if you carry good vibes with you, you will spread good vibes around you and vice versa with negative vibes. It’s all about being positive and keeping positivity around you. Originally though I just put the letters together, because I liked them, I ended up googling it one day and came across the meaning of it, I liked it even more then and kept it ever since, I first came up with it in 99.

When did you start?

Ever since the first time I picked up some crayons. Art is the only thing I ever constantly got A’s in at school. I still have the first pictures I drew with crayons of planes bombing each other and stuff; I still have those drawings at home. I’m very much against the idea of throwing art away, I like to document everything I do, and I have stacks of sketch books at home.  I started taking it seriously in high school when I got into acrylics, I felt like I could push that medium more than anything I ever worked with before. Once I went to College I started using oils, and I never looked back.

What were some of your early influences?

I’ve always been drawn to the renaissance period. I focus on realism and never got into abstract art. I always want to stick reality onto a canvas, or get as close to it as possible. College thought me a very mechanical, traditional way to paint, ever since I got out of school I started to develop my own style, still keeping it fundamental but putting my own twist on things.

Where did you go to school?

I was trained at the American Academy of Art. You know how some schools have that “throw some paint at the canvas and tell me how you feel” way of teaching, well that type of shit didn’t fly there. It’s a very traditional old school way of teaching. I learned how to make frames and stretch canvas amongst other things. I really looked up to my oil painting teachers that I had at the school, there are some incredible people at that school.

If I was to describe your style I would call it “Gritty-realism”, do you think that’s an accurate description?

I do, I wouldn’t call it caricature or anything like that, and I think my style is more real than that. I like to focus on facial features add drama to them and insinuate them, while not getting to far from realism.

What’s your creative process like? How do you approach a painting?

Live art paintings are quickie portraits and spontaneous, I only get a couple hours to work on it so I do the best I can with the time given. In the studio, I’m not spontaneous with it at all. I’ve done paintings that have taken me a year or more to complete. If I put that much time into something I put just as much thought into it. I did this one skyline painting that was brutal, the planning that went into it, making sure the proportions were right; it really put my schooling to the test. I tried to make it look as real as possible while still having it look like a painting.
I did these 4 black and white portraits that were a mix of my live art paintings with something I would do in a studio. I took the same idea I put into my live art paintings, but much more developed. Those paintings were a big step for me and it gave me an idea as to the kind of stuff I want to get into in the future. I’m currently working with this photographer Wendy Alas on a project that plays off that idea, she’s supplying me with photos to work with and I’m going to turn the 2×2 photos into 4×4 paintings

What’s your favorite medium?

Oil by far.

What are you working on currently?

“artwhino” in Washington DC and “Fish out of Water” in San Fran. I am trying to get into the gallery scene, but it’s a hard one to get into. I’m pushing the mural thing a little more now, I did one inside the Blues Bar in Mount Prospect, its pretty awesome you should go check it out, and I’m going to paint the elephant room at the Brookfield Zoo pretty soon, I’m also going to paint the inside of The Mix.
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– A. Vidaurre, R. Pepin