GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

ain’t a style so I can go buck wild” and
so what I’ve learned from hip hop is there
aren’t any rules. I didn’t know a painter
couldn’t be a poet or a poet couldn’t be a
sculptor. There is no mandate that says I
can’t do it all. It all depends on what space
I am in. I feel it and I use whatever medium
I have at my disposal to give it a voice.
I move between mediums with regularity
that they are all now interconnected. I love
transforming physical spaces.
GR: TELL ME ABOUT YOUR MESSAGES. I
SAW SOMETHING ON CHANCELLOR AVE-
NUE IN NEWARK THAT I KNEW YOU HAD
PAINTED ON A STOREFRONT. IT READ,
“WHO’S NEXT.” WHAT IS THE MESSAGE
THERE?
Jerry Gant: There was a show at the criminal
justice building at Rutgers called,
Who’s Next. They were a series of portraits
of ordinary guys, a shoemaker and a
chef and these men had been assassinated
by the police. I decided to do that piece
right by the jail.
GR: WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU TAG?
Jerry Gant: Cloudy days are good. Late
nights or early mornings. I love old buildings.
I look for places off the beaten track.
I love the boxes the train conductors use
and although they cover it up regularly
with silver paint, for me that’s like a new
canvas and for folks who follow me, it gives
me an opportunity to communicate fresh
and new with each coat of new paint. The
streets never sleep. Eternally awake.
GR: WHERE IS YOUR FURTHEST TAG?
Jerry Gant: I’ve done work up and down
the eastern seaboard, England, Mexico
and Canada.