WK, Act4, 25 Years / Wk Gear features an extensive collection of some of the artist’s most famous works including his 17-painting installation at the Colette Gallery in Paris, the iconic decorations of building facades in downtown Manhattan and Project Brave, a moving 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Centre. Complete with an in-depth introduction and biography with contributions from several contemporaries, the book presents a fascinating journey into the world of WK.
WK (aka WK Interact) was born in 1969 in Caen, France. He has lived and worked in New York since the early 1990s. WK is interested with the human body in motion, his paintings of figures frozen in a flight of movement reflects this infatuation. The artist’s unique process involves a technique of twisting an original drawing or photograph while it’s being photocopied, resulting in the monochromatic palette and streamlined moment-in-time appearance of his finished work. WK site-determines his placements by finding an appropriate location first, then his imagery is chosen specifically with a concern for encounters in an urban environment or “interactions” (as the artist indicates in his pseudonym). In the late 1990s his images began appearing on building facades in downtown Manhattan, complimenting the constant stir of bodies and the perpetual motion of contemporary urban life in the fast-paced city.
“WK Interact’s iconic black and white street art – human figures engaged in some type of extreme motion or emotion, running, jumping, screaming, struggling to escape – has forever pierced our memory of the Lower East Side and SOHO streets.” Isabel Kirsch continues to write in the introduction, “the impermanent, multi-dimensional surfaces of the ever-hustling and bustling inner city are the ideal backdrop to bring his images to life.”
“WK’s public art cannot stand still or keep quiet for the simple reason that the world around it is no more capable of playing dead either.” – Carlo McCormick.
“WK’s public art cannot stand still or keep quiet for the simple reason that the world around it is no more capable of playing dead either.” – Carlo McCormick.
“WK is one of the true original artists to push the urban art form and inspire a generation to take it to the next level.” – Patrick McNeil.
WK has proved himself to be one of the truly original and innovative street artists in his ability to marry the movement of the street to the dynamism imbued in his work. WK Act 4 explores 25 years of WK’s work on the street, producing everything from small scale stencil work and throw ups to huge wall paintings and murals – featuring graffiti graphics, illustration, art objects and supplies – all beautifully complementing the perpetual motion of urban life.
WK, Act4, 25 Years / Wk Gear
Hardcovers, 20x25 cm, 320(148 pages | Drago Publisher | ISBN: 978-88-98565-00-9 / 33-7