Written by Michael Ashman
When it comes to spreading their name on the streets, graffiti artists often go beyond buildings and signs in search of buses, trucks, and trains to be used as moving billboards. But there’s one mode of transportation they rarely take on: airplanes. After all, how can the artwork on planes be seen if it is mostly above the clouds?
To solve this problem, Eric Firestone, the owner of Eric Firestone Gallery in East Hampton, New York, decided he would have to bring the planes down to earth. With the help of arts writer and curator Carlo McCormick, he gathered a group of graffiti artists to paint “dead planes” at the famous Tucson, Arizona airplane “bone yards.” The result is “The Boneyard Project: A Return Trip,” a combination of Contemporary art with the unconventional surface of decaying planes. More than 30 graffiti artists worked on old U.S. Air Force airplanes giving the dead planes a rejuvenating facelift. The military aspect of some of these planes also recalls the history of modern air warfare. After serving their purpose and left to rot in an old part of the base, these once deadly airplanes are now repurposed with a more peaceful activity in mind. For instance, a broken-down DC3 was chosen by the Brazilian graffiti artist Nunca, who transformed the dead plane into a beautiful eagle with men holding onto its back. Other painted planes inform us of positive and negative associations each artist has with war.
This was not the first time Firestone used old aircraft as eccentric canvases for art. “The Boneyard Project: A Return Trip” is the follow-up to his first project called “Nose Job.” His first trip to the Boneyard in 2010 yielded him with several nose cone art pieces from the discarded dead planes. The exhibition showed off a revival of images such as, pin-up girls, tattoos, and war slogans, painted on old fighter jet and bomber cones by the soldiers. Inspired by this old art form that was used to humanize these machines, participating artists, including Shepard Fairey, Lee Quinoes, and Akio, re-imagined the nose cones and other plane parts to give them a modern update.
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| Phoenix of Metal by 'HOW & NOSM |
The culmination of the project was the exhibition in January 2012 at The Pima Air & Space Museum titled “Round Trip: Art from The Boneyard Project.” This exhibit features works from “Nose Job” and new selections from “The Boneyard Project: A Return Trip.” The painted planes on display highlight the personal reactions of the artists about the harsh history of war. The largest air & space museum has a great significance being close the “bone yards” where Firestone and McCormick first founded the project. Going beyond the streets into the desert to find a new and interesting objects to paint proved to be successful for these artists.
To learn more about local graffiti artists check out Thumbprint Gallery located in La Jolla, San Diego. Many of artists featured at Thumbprint Gallery have been influenced by the graffiti art scene. They also have prints and stickers for sale at the gallery's online store.
Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9138296/The-Boneyard-Project-street-artists-paint-aircraft-at-plane-graveyard-in-Arizona.html
http://www.theboneyardprojects.com
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2012-01-26/culture/art-on-the-fly-the-boneyard-project-lands-in-tucson/
http://www.theboneyardprojects.com
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2012-01-26/culture/art-on-the-fly-the-boneyard-project-lands-in-tucson/
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