Fresco Presents: 'Art Lives - Atlanta 2 Augusta', 7/11/15

“To inspire…”  That’s all I kept hearing yesterday at Fresco’s “Art Lives – Atlanta 2 Augusta” exhibition. 

As I interviewed talent after talent, personality after personality the same phraseology.  “I do what I do to inspire...”  “We’re here to inspire…”  “Any time I have an opportunity to inspire…”  “The purpose of this event is to inspire…” 

Well, it worked, datgommit.  I was inspired.  In fact, I was inspired for the THIRD time in that building.

So this is what went down:  a crew from Atlanta known as the Good Juice Family came all the way down to Augusta to share their graphic artistry.  Featuring artists Fake Savian, Travis Love, and Elev8ted USC, the gallery ranged from massive anime paintings to cyber-punk skateboard art to slick photography.

Now, that’s what I came out to see; what I DIDN’T know is that Libra had plenty of live entertainment in store for the occasion as well.  Atlanta’s own Lorde IV & Izzy Jones were in the building on deck to keep the energy of the occasion; from Augusta, our own Ashley ‘AE’ Elim and Arthur ‘ART’ Chapman.  On the tables was DJ Lavi in all his dreaded glory.  So whether you came out for the art or for the music, you got served like royalty.

…Oh, and speaking of served--- cuz you know I’m bout that grub life--- Good Juice Fam even brought their own chef:  the brotha Grilled Cheese Papi was doin work servin’ the $2 grilled cheese sammiches.  That’s about EXACTLY what you need in life in Downtown around 6PM, lol

While waiting for the exhibitions and performances to get cracking, I saw a lot of familiar faces and met some for the first time.  Augusta native and veteran MC Champ Wilson made an appearance, informing me about his underground album The Champion and shouting out his affiliates Drea Keys and DJ Lavi.  I had my first meeting with area actress Ashley Black who was present, as well as Shaquille Owens and Arion Diggs repping their youth organization Nation of Men, Inc.  Area vocalist Christal Oliphant made an appearance; hopefully we’ll be seeing her oblige Fresco with some performances of her own in the coming weeks!

I had the pleasure of being re-acquainted with Ashley AE Elim, who I had met recently at a studio session with Truez (who was also present).  It took me a second to recognize her with her newly-transformed hair-stylings and such, but being the engaging person she is she walked right up to me and reminded me to check out her EP (which I’m hunting down as we speak, lol).  Truez also had his artist Kumar in tow, who I had met at that same session.

Pretty soon Libra came in and we had our first performance of the evening; Izzy Jones out of Atlanta by way of College Park.  The brotha’s Afro game was impeccable; and seeing the passion with which he performed and the way he channeled James Brown, you would’ve thought he was from Augusta!  What he liked about the occasion was that there was nothing but “high, positive vibes”, which is quickly becoming the mark of Fresco.

One of my favorite performances of the occasion was that of Lorde IV.  Before his performance, IV kinda gave me the rundown of what the Good Juice Fam was bringing to the table… 

…But lemme tell ya how all that came about. See, the whole time he was there, he was rocking this oriental shade hat and a Leaf Village headband around his arm (like the Leaf Village Ninjas from Naruto--- ya’ll do watch Naruto, right?  Cuz I do…).  At the time of our meeting, behind me were all these anime paintings, so I did the math and figured, “This shade-hat guy must be the artist.”  But nah; turns out that the painter was a cat named Fake Savian, who would be the first presenter of the Good Juice Fam visual artists.

The works of Fake Savian exhibited influences from several anime series:  Sailor Moon and Dragonball to name a few.  They were very eye-catching, but also very affordable; the average price range was from about $100 to $250.  However, he also brought a monster-- a huge, hulking work which sat atop the store shelves and took up three separate panels.  Inspired by the classic anime Akira, THIS work was going for $1000; but that’s reasonable for a piece that would eat up half your livingroom or three walls of your den. 

Next up was Travis Love aka Brainchild, who specializes in a different kind of art: decorative skateboards featuring goons, skulls, eyeballs, and a pinch of cybernetic circuitry. He also brought with him three paintings that were done on regular mediums, one in particular that featured a wall of a beautiful graffiti set against an equally beautiful backdrop.

Finally, the gallery focused on the photography collection submitted by Elev8ted USC.  She told us from the jump that the photography was not for sale; however, there was one item she was selling.  It was a drawing I had been eyeing all night that said, “Free Mark”; apparently one of the Fam’s associates is currently incarcerated for a marijuana-related issue.  Proceeds from purchases of that item were going toward his release; may the green stuff become legalized nationally in time enough for him to avoid an extended stay :-\

With the art exhibits out of the way, the floor was opened back up for more performances.  Lorde IV got on the mic and took bananas to the next level of bananas.  With Libra in the backdrop masked up, Fresco went full Leaf Ninja Village as he performed; he was in full control of the spot and I’m glad I didn’t miss it!  Once he was done repping for Atlanta, it was time for Augusta to show Atlanta how we do it.  Local singer AE approached the mic and I got to witness the girl I met at the studio in her element…  ZERO FEAR--- somewhere out there, Billie Holiday was saying, “Who does this young thang think she is??”  Not only did she have sweet vocal transitions, but her stage presence was on POINT; you woulda thought she knew everybody in the room!

(Hail, she was so friendly maybe she DID know everybody in the room, but that ain’t the point, lol.)

After Ashley’s set came the surprise of the night:  a performance by local area artist Arthur ‘ART’ Chapman.  I had no idea male R&B artists were making a comeback, and I DEFINITELY didn’t know it was happening in Augusta!  The brotha came out and gave us a lil minute-ministry, telling us that each of us is a work of art and that we should love God and love ourselves for it.  After that, he dropped one of the most creative R&B songs; as a self-proclaimed music aficionado, I miss the romance in R&B.  Don’t you?

…Maaaaan, what a night!  When can we do this again?  Atlanta, we really enjoyed having you in our city last night; Good Juice Fam, pleased to meet ya.  Augusta, way to show up and show out!  E.G.S. is definitely looking forward to the next Fresco event; if you haven’t already, make sure you donate to help Libra keep those doors open.  It’s only been a few months, but Fresco is making a HUGE difference in the local atmosphere right now.

Yo, DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT FRESCO AT THE GOFUNDME LINK BELOW!!  DOORS DON'T STAY OPEN FOR FREE!!

Earl Grey Summers, the No.1 Pencil; hit me up:

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