Inside Case MacKeen’s ‘Painting for the After-Culture’ at Isza Gallery, Toronto

I grew up neck deep in the Toronto graffiti scene as a teenager in the 1990’s, and I got to know many of the “OG’s” from back then, so when Ryan “Case” MacKeen (KWOTA, TDV) reached out to ask me to photograph the opening of his solo exhibition in Toronto entitled “Painting For The After-Culture” this past summer, it was a no brainer. Yes, yes, a million times yes.

It was hosted at the Isza Gallery on King Street West at Church Street in Toronto, curated by Elicsr, and showcased a combination of both Case’s paintings, which are painted with spray paint (and I describe as “bokeh on steroids”), and his 3D printed sculptures. One collection of paintings were of city scenes in Toronto that had a meaningful memory to Ryan during his active period in the Toronto graffiti scene, and the other was a collection of portraits of people; his friends, including Toronto graffiti legend Duro 3, and a series of portraits of the cast from the graffiti documentary ‘Style Wars’.

Needless to say this event brought a lot of really talented Toronto artists, including Duro 3, Insight, Dudeman, Elicsr, and Nick Sweetman and many others, and it was nice to see some faces that I hadn’t seen in many years.

While my graffiti tagging days are long long behind me, it still makes me stop when I see a great piece, production, or ever a sticker, and more often than not I’ll snap some photos of them that I never think to post. I don’t know, maybe I’ll start a category just for street art and start publishing some of them here.

If you’re interested in connecting with Ryan, either to purchase a piece or have something commissioned, feel free to contact him via his website.