Detail of the skateboard in the current exhibition
Charles Hargrove, alias KOOL KOOR, wurde 1963 in New York geboren. Er ist ein Vorreiter der Graffiti-Kunst, ein reines Produkt aus der South Bronx.
Er stammt aus einer Familie von Malern und studierte Architektur und Illustration. Seine Leidenschaft galt jedoch den Graffiti. Er verlässt die Wände als das, was sie sind, und wechselt zur Leinwand. 1980, im Alter von 15 Jahren, stellt er in Fashion Moda aus, der ersten Kunstgalerie in New York City, die sich für die Künstler der Bronx interessiert.
In New York nahm er an zahlreichen großen Graffiti-Ausstellungen teil. Er gab seiner Arbeit neuen Schwung und begann, in Galerien und Museen auf der ganzen Welt auszustellen.
Werke von KOOL KOOR finden sich in renommierten Sammlungen wie denen des The Metropolitan, der Chicago Renaissance Society, des Butler Museums, des Groninger Museums, des BAM in Mons und vielen anderen.
Heute zeigt KOOL KOOR mit seinen Werken, dass das Leben, wie wir es sehen, nicht der Realität entspricht. Es gibt andere Ebenen der Realität, die wir jedoch nicht sehen wollen. Das Werk von KOOL KOOR dreht sich um das Schlüsselwort: Architektur.
Seit seiner Jugend ist der Künstler von der Architektur fasziniert, und er hat es nie versäumt, seine eigene Vision zu entwickeln. Bildlich hat er Parallelwelten dargestellt, die auf sehr fließende Weise miteinander verwoben sind, indem er sich allgegenwärtiger labyrinthischer Strukturen bedient, die er Futuristischer Symbolismus nennt.
Charles Hargrove, aka KOOL KOOR, was born in New York in 1963. He is a forerunner of graffiti art, a pure product from the South Bronx.
He comes from a family of painters and studied architecture and illustration. However, he became passionate about graffiti. Leaving the walls for what they are, he switched to canvas and in 1980, at the age of 15 he exhibited at Fashion Moda, the very first art gallery in New York City interested in the artists of the Bronx.
In New York, he participated in countless major Graffiti art exhibitions. He energised his work and started exhibiting in galleries and museums all over the world.
Work by KOOL KOOR can be found in renowned collections such as those of The Metropolitan, Chicago Renaissance Society, The Butler Museum, the Groninger Museum, the BAM in Mons and to name a few.
Today KOOL KOOR depicts through his works that life as we see it does not correspond to reality. There are other levels of reality that we do not wish to see, however. KOOL KOOR‘s work revolves around the key word: architecture.
Since his youth, this artist has always been fascinated by architecture, and he has never failed to develop his own vision. Pictorially, he has depicted parallel worlds that are intertwined in a very fluid way by making use of ubiquitous labyrinthine structures which he calls Futuristic Symbolism.
The architectural structures rotate and revolve like bundles of nerves in the human anatomy. The use of robotic shapes reminds us that there is always a link to another reality.
Recently, KOOL KOOR has entered a phase in which the actual architecture of his paintings evolves in a spectacular way, taking into account the different periods that shaped his already long career as an artist.
KOOL KOOR provides us with synthetic works in which movement and depth predominate, generated by voluminous brushstrokes from which flow liquid labyrinths, fluid passages that connect the different levels of reality.
Although KOOL KOOR has long passed the simple graffiti stage, he has kept his own style. Now his Futuristic Symbolism has evolved into a “galactic” surrealism.
