2019 Tattoo Gratitude Project
2019 Tattoo Gratitude Project
To demonstrate gratitude for adorning your bodies with my art, I’ve released a special timed edition poster for 2019. This specially designed poster is available ONLY to those who have given or received a tattoo featuring my work, or that is highly inspired by my work. The poster will not be available for sale.
It seems to me that most tattoos are a symbolic means by which significant people or events are marked. It’s a ritual of passage. I like this about tattoos. I like that human beings can’t help but be symbolic and artistic.
I’ve even met people who say things like “I don’t know anything about art,” or “I don’t understand art,” and I will discover that the same person has an image tattooed permanently on their body. What a strange and wonderful mystery that is.
The design for the print is inspired by art from Asia and medieval Europe, with the words pulled directly from the Kalevala.
I chose the text in part because of so many changes in my own life, but also because tattoos so often mark events or periods of hardship in order to move forward. Anyone with a tattoo of a fallen loved one understands this very well.
It’s an optimistic and encouraging reminder that we are not at the mercy of our own minds. We can all place hands on our own minds and shape them to better serve us—something that everyone is always struggling with.
HOW TO GET ONE:
To receive your own free copy of this exclusive poster, complete this short form.
Tattoo artists and recipients are encouraged (but not required) to post a photo of their tattoo(s) on Instagram with the hashtag #RaviZupaTattoo.
The tattoo does not need to have occurred in 2019 to be eligible for a poster, but the project will only run through 2019.
"Reclamation" Group Show at Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Reclamation Group Show at Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Reclamation is the act of making something old or discarded new again. In one sense, others’ scraps are others’ choice materials, making something from nothing. This art in this exhibition advances this idea by using what has been left behind to bring it back to life. The materials themselves are at the heart of the exhibition, representing individual ideologies of the artists. I’m honored so show my work alongside Lucien Shapiro and Ben Venom at the exquisite Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
In the spirit of the “Reclamation” exhibit, I have reclaimed imagery referring to 2nd amendment gun culture with skulls and crossed rifles, and applied it to that of the 1st Amendment. One print states an explicit proclamation of support for the freedom of speech while another supports the freedom of religion by editing a familiar phrase to make it reflect the true mandates given by Christianity specifically.
Each is an 11 x 17 inch, two color screen print on french paper which comes with a “Mightier Than” bullet sculpture. The sculptures are made from speedball pen nibs, a section of a #2 pencil and a spent 308 ammunition cartridge laser etched with the saw and hatchet symbol present in all my work.
RECLAMATION
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
311 E Main Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
October 27, 2018 – January 27, 2019
Bird Pot Print Release with 1xRun
Bird Pot Print Release with 1xRun
The great people at 1xRun in Detroit are releasing limited-edition screen prints (and one original drawing) this Wednesday at Noon EST. See below for an exceprt of my interview with 1xRun, and click through to read the whole piece on their site. As always, thank you for taking the time to look at my work.
1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece.
RZ: This is a companion piece to my weekly Wednesday Release Project. I make a new original drawing every week based on something interesting that’s happening in the news and sell it for $100. It’s part of the “Age of Enlightenment” series that I have been developing and adding to for several years. All original, ink drawings are done in the style of medieval and renaissance woodblocks inspired by artists like Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein.
1xRun: Was this image part of a recent theme, series or show that you had?
RZ: A companion to the Wednesday release. Each Wednesday at noon Mountain Time time I release a new unique original drawing that highlights something going on in the news. It is almost always a Bird Pot Creature, which is something that I developed, inspired by the work of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel. There is one exception when after the shooting in Las Vegas, I drew a skull with crossed rifles and paired the image with De La Soul lyrics “Gun control means using both hands in our land.”
1xRun: What materials were used to create this original piece?
RZ: India ink on paper.
1xRun: When was it originally drawn/created?
RZ: In the last week.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about for this image?
RZ: Because the project has to do with news and current events and immediately relevant issues, I chose a Bird Pot Creature with an early printing press. Strewn about on the floor of his shop are pieces of paper with all of the different drawings that I have so far drawn and released on Wednesdays. One deals with sexual harassment, one is about the North Korean threat, one is about kneeling NFL players and so on.
BIRD POTS HELPING US UNDERSTAND THE NEWS
SIZE: 18 x 24 Inches
MEDIA: 2-Color Screen Print
EDITION: 75 Signed & Numbered
PRICE: $65
New Tee + Print Release With Obey Clothing & Shepard Fairey
New Tee and Print Release with Obey Clothing & Shepard Fairey
My new collaboration with Shepard Fairey’s Obey Clothing consists of tee shirts and a letterpress print.
The images are part of my “Mightier Than” series which uses typewriters—implements of language and speech—and remixes them to resemble firearms. In these designs, I use imagery that is often associated with gun rights and 2nd Amendment culture and repurpose it to apply to the 1st Amendment.
From Shepard Fairey:
I love Ravi’s art, but Ravi and I also have several shared interests in D.I.Y. culture, printmaking, propaganda art, and social justice. For the Obey Clothing collaboration, Ravi addressed environmental destruction and the power of communication over violence. Along with the concepts of the art, I think the process Ravi used to create these art pieces is amazing: he cuts the art out of a traffic cone like a linoleum cut and uses the cone as his plate. Ravi is a true craftsman and a unique talent. I urge everyone to check this video demonstrating Ravi’s process. I’m honored to collaborate with Ravi for his talent and his philosophies.
"The Place Where There Is No Darkness" Solo Show at Black Book
The Place Where There Is No Darkness Solo Show at Black Book Gallery
This show is about optimism. “The place where there is no darkness” is a phrase that appears in critical moments in George Orwell’s 1984. Consistent with his doublethink motif, the phrase has two opposing meanings. In its initial context, “the place where there is no darkness” is a place inside Winston’s mind where he can dream safely, where Big Brother can’t access his thoughts, where there are no shadows for the government to hide and watch him. Later, after Winston is taken into government custody, Orwell applies the phrase to Room 101, a torture chamber where the lights are literally never off.
I am using the phrase as the title for this show because we are living in a difficult moment in which many people feel uneasy and distrustful toward the government. I embrace the complexity of the moment, however, and choose to remain optimistic. In fact, I believe that the current political situation might prove to be the best thing that has happened to this country in many decades.
I have chosen to use Santa Muerte as a central figure for the show because she also represents the paradox that something frightening and terrible can ultimately be positive and freeing. As the protector of the disaffected, she is becoming increasingly relevant. Her message is clear: death comes for all of us and this understanding can free us to live fully. Or as I have rephrased it for pieces in this show, “No one gets out of here alive. Go and be great.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The show will include a life-sized Santa Muerte sculpture which will act as a shrine for the duration for the show. I invite anyone to come to the gallery (either at the opening or throughout the month) and leave an offering to the saint.
Traditional offerings include:
– money
– flowers
– liquor/beer
– fruit
– cigarettes/cigars
– bread
– candy
– candles
– personal items of significance
At the end of the exhibition I will dispose of all offerings, as is tradition. Money will be given to a needy person (one of my homeless friends), perishable items will be buried, and everything else (candy, liquor, cigarettes, personal items, and so on) will be thrown away. I will be offering items of my own including some original drawings.
The show will also feature original paintings, drawings, sculptures, and typewriter machine guns from my Mightier Than series.
THE PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO DARKNESS
Black Book Gallery
304 Elati Street
Denver, Colorado 80223
Opening Reception: November 3, 2017, 7 – 10 PM
Exhibition Dates: November 3, 2017 – November 24, 2017
Free and Open to the Public.
Email info@blackbookgallery.com with inquiries.