Percy Fortini-Wright: Street Art

Street Art is a term used to typically describe artwork done in urban environments. The title of this exhibition somewhat of a paradox. My recent body of work is realistically spray-painted street scenes on canvas, the art being the street itself. Thus the title “Street Art.”

What draws me to paint landscapes and street scenes are the space, place and time. Night scenes in particular; with distinct lights, wet streets, and cars dashing by, is a scene that many can relate to. I love driving, plus being a night owl these scenes are familiar and are a time for reflection, while simultaneously demand attention and perspective. When driving I take shots out my car window, my aim is to put the viewer in the driver seat as the observer.

My process is always spiritually symbolic using the spray paint to capture ethereal and atmospheric qualities of light. The sculptural quality of paint protruding towards the viewer symbolic of form. The spray can and brush for me is metaphoric of spirit and matter. My number one motivation for painting is observing how light reveals and conceals form.

– Percy Fortini-Wright

Percy Fortini-Wright is a Boston based artist who received both his BFA and MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. While in his youth he wrote graffiti, most active during the late 1990’s, becoming a technician of wild style graffiti letters, tags and bubble letters while simultaneously he evolved as a traditional painter of scenes, abstraction, and portraiture to his characters the Children from Beyond. In graduate school he mentored with artists Paul Rahilly, Ken Beck, Paul Goodnight, Vanessa Platacis, and Dike Blair. His inspirations range from painters like Anders Zorn to John Singer Sargent, to wild-style graffiti pieces and tags. Exhibiting within both the public and private spheres and creating large and small-scale pieces, Percy merges the worlds of classical painting and graffiti techniques boldly pushing the boundaries of his work, without being confined by stylistic stereotypes. Having experienced both the birth of his son and the loss of his mom, he has a deep understanding in the importance of finding balance through the chaos of change.

Percy has participated in many graffiti events including Meeting of Styles in the Bronx, NYC, Under Pressure in Montreal, Canada and Urban Basel in Basel Switzerland. His work has been selected in a juried exhibition by Jonathan LeVine at Parlor Gallery, NJ in 2013 and in 2014 a group exhibit at the Copley Society juried by Paul HA. His work has appeared in a number of art publications including New York Times, the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Juxtapoz, ArtScope, Annie Selkie’s Fresh American Style, American Art Collector and the centerfold of The Improper Bostonian magazine, PBS (Open Studios with Jared Bowens) and Nominated Bostons Best award by The Improper Bostonian in 2015. Past projects include work commissioned by Flank Steakhouse in Waltham, MA. and by Adidas for the Boston Marathon which was featured in Hypebeast and Sports Illustrated.