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The Multi-Talented
Alan Ket

The Multi-TalentedAlan Ket

 

 




Introduction to Alan Ket.  1:19 min.  Interview:  Raymond Elman.  Editing & Production:  Antonio Delgado. Wynwood graffiti video courtesy of the Museum of Graffiti.  Recorded via Zoom:  8/15/20, Miami.

 

ALAN KET is an active graffiti artist, curator, photographer and author.  He is also a media and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience creating culturally meaningful content and brands.

As a creative director he has worked with brands including Slamxhype, Powercoco, Pepsico, Ford, Progressive, Nintendo and the USMC.

His photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, the New York Times Magazine, the London Sunday Telegraph, The Source, and Vibe.

Early in his career Ket launched Stress, a hip-hop magazine credited for introducing such artists as Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Eminem, and Raekwon, among others. Stress begat an internationally published Spanish language version of the magazine called Hip Hop Nation. In 2001, with Marc Ecko, he created the very successful men’s fashion magazine Complex. In 2009 he helped re-launch Vibe magazine as a consultant, photography director and producer. In this role he has worked with all the top music artists of today including 50 Cent, Eminem, Justin Beiber, and Erykah Badu.

Most recently he was the curator for graffiti and street art related exhibitions at Fondation Cartier in Paris, PowerHouse Arena in Brooklyn, 55DSL in New York City, The Hip Hop Theatre Festival at New York University, and the MOCA in Los Angeles. He has painted around the world in places such as Melbourne, Port Au Prince, Copenhagen, and Lima, Peru.

He is the author of the best selling titles: Graffiti Planet, Street Art, Graffiti Tattoo, and many other art related titles. He has lectured in universities worldwide, including New York University, Brown University, Syracuse University, UCLA, University of Wisconsin, and Wesleyan University.

In December, 2019, Ket co-founded the Miami Museum of Graffiti, located in the Wynwood Art District.

The videos below were recorded via Zoom and are organized by topic and run between 30 seconds and 8 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 0:55 sec.




We recorded an ArtSpeak video interview with 95 year-old Al Jaffee, who has appeared in every issue of MAD magazine, and said, “Cartooning is the secret of longevity.”

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   3:24 min.




When did you first see graffiti?

 

BREAKS THE RULES:  4:18 min.




Were you worried about being arrested for making graffiti?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:  2:18 min.




Did you receive any formal training in art?

 

UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART:  5:57 min.




When did graffiti art become “professionalized?” When did graffiti artists start earning money?

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:  4:18 min.




What were your thoughts when graffiti artists started being exhibited in commercial galleries?

 

 EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES: 3:32 min.




How did you become so knowledgeable about the graffiti movement?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:   1:58 min.




When did you get into publishing?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  1:21 min.




I assume that you were using digital page layout for your magazines.

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  4:08 min.




Do universities now recognize graffiti art as a legitimate area for scholarship?

 

VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION:  3:50 min.




Are you aware of any courses in art schools that teach students how to make high-quality graffiti?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  7:45 min.




What brought you back to Miami? And what is your take on the Wynwood Art District as an internationally known location for world-class graffiti?

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:  2:08 min.




There is a famous movie of Picasso drawing with light. Has anybody done something similar with graffiti artists?

 

UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART:  3:03 min.




To what extent do artists get paid to create graffiti in Wynwood?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:  1:33 min.




Let’s talk about your Museum of Graffiti. Do you think you will stay in Wynwood as long as it’s a center for graffiti? Or do you anticipate moving as the neighborhood continues to gentrify?

 

RESILIENCE:  0:42 sec.




Have you made any videos featuring Wynwood graffiti?

 

RESILIENCE:  2:13 min.




Is the Museum of Graffiti open during the Covid-19 pandemic?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:  1:24 min.




How many books have you written?

 

BREAKS THE RULES:  1:33 min.




Have you written a comprehensive history of graffiti?

 

BREAKS THE RULES:  3:10 min.




Is the Museum organized as a non-profit institution?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  1:30 min.




It occurs to me that terms like “art institution” and “art discipline” are almost oxymoronic when applied to a free-spirited practice like graffiti.