Caution: Content Under Pressure Expanding in 2014
by Jerimey Sharp | October 10, 2014
Nik Soupe poses for a photo next to his jazz inspired mural that he completed in April of this year. Photo by Kay Richter.
A wave of white plastic and metal greets the eye at the Appliance Liquidation Outlet, located at 500 Carolina St. To the naked eye, this industrial warehouse advertising the largest selection of scratch and dent appliances in the city is an odd location for a massive arts and music festival.
To the sponsors at Content Under Pressure (CUP) 2014, the warehouse looks perfect. It has enough wall space to exhibit more than 60 artists while leaving plenty of room for other parts of the festival. Music, art, dance, and BMX competitions – CUP has always been about more than spray paint. It’s aerosol art. It’s street art culture coming together in one warehouse on the near Eastside.
The CUP challenge started in 2012 to help showcase aerosol production across the nation. The event continued at The Paint Yard store while at its San Pedro location. However, this year sparks new growth for the festival.
“TPY (The Paint Yard) wanted to expand all the elements for all age groups and decided to go in the direction of all forms of art, entertainment, and music, at the same time working with other groups and organizations as part of CUP,” stated a CUP press release.
The festival continues to highlight local aerosol artist legends like Nik Soupe. But the urban mecca of Los Angeles also is making a contribution, with Kyle William Harper returning after a 2012 appearance.
The Current describes Harper’s work as a “collage-like array of American cartoon imagery.”
He spent years traveling the world following the Grateful Dead tour as an extreme ‘Deadhead,’ and used those road skills and time in skater culture to find respect as a fine artist in L.A., and has gone on to curate shows in Berlin and Hollywood,” wrote Scott Andrews.
Harper will not be alone. Other LA artists that will be joining him are Bleep Blop and Asylm.
The list of Texas artists also is growing rapidly by the day. Vicco, Syph, Aver, and Bware are from the Dallas and Fort Worth area. Roshi K, Man With Pencil, Grimm, Evil Dave, Cody Schibi are traveling from the Austin area. And that’s not including the Houston artists (Sode, Hostal, Flipparachi, Cease) who will make the three-hour trek down IH-10.
While the CUP challenge grows from its original Paint Yard location, it is partnering with the other sponsors like Pabst Blue Ribbon, Lone Star Beer, GLI Distributing, the San Antonio Current, Montana, Lazy Daze Counterculture, Valspar Paint and Tha1Radio.
Among the other artists on the scene will be the Beyond the Canvas crew, showcasing live body painting.
Soupe noted the importance of art organizations coming together, not only for the benefit of the event, but also for the individual growth of the artists.
“It is always important to show these (aerosol) artists that there is more than one medium out there,” said Soupe, who also noted that he first learned to paint with a brush before he converted to his aerosol artform. “That technique helped contribute to the style of artwork and the shading techniques that I use now while painting.”