Local Muralist To Paint Live At HighBall

BY KORY KASLER

HighBall revelers will once again encounter street artists and muralists painting live murals at HighBall Halloween 2013. This year’s event will feature three muralists, one who will be painting solo, and two who will take on a mural as a duo. As you would expect from any HighBall feature, these won’t be your everyday murals, but instead will display the true creativity of these artists, whether it be in the form of UV-reactive paints, time-lapse videos of the painting process, and other new ways of bringing murals and street art to the public.

Ashley Voss, known in the art community as Coreroc, is no stranger to HighBall Halloween, and is sure to bring his best work to HighBall again this year. Coreroc has been involved in street art since the early 90s, and around 2006 he began getting involved in more a more formal gallery setting as well. As in the past, he will not only be painting a mural, but making it come to life with UV-reactive paint that will react with lights shining on the surface. He explains that his art is centered on “bold, bright colors melted together in a way that creates strong contrast and undeniable pop.” He compares it to “a Skittles commercial in desert heat.”

For the Coreroc mural, he will be presenting a completely new image at different stages of the day, cleaning the slate each time and starting fresh with new murals, from images commemorating the “Electric Avenue” HighBall theme, a Kid’s Day mural, as well as a span of time where he will bring “rapid fire imagery” in which he doesn’t know “what the spontaneous nature of [his] process will bring.” He also hints at walking murals, crowd participation, and general excitement around his work, so make sure to be in attendance!

For the second mural at HighBall, artists Jonathan Ryan and Brody Garich will collaborate on a mural that will incorporate both of their styles into one piece. Jonathan states that he has been an artist for as long as he can remember, and never had a moment where he said, “I’m going to be an artist now,” and that he has “always been interested in drawing and painting.” His artistic style is inspired by abstraction, bright colors, and bold lines. “I began almost a year ago, starting to use my abstract techniques and style to create images,” he explains. “So far, human and animal skulls have been the subject matter. Skulls are dark, but I try to bring them to life with color.”

A collaboration of this nature certainly presents some added challenges; particularly how two artists work to combine two styles into a single, cohesive piece. Speaking to this challenge, Jonathan explains that he and Brody were new to each other and they “had to take some time to get to know each other and get a feel for each other’s creativity, and then [they] started sketching out a design for the mural.” The collaboration is sure to be something to see, as Jonathan says, “Brody’s illustrative style is a great complement to my own looser abstract painting style.”

While you’re taking in all that HighBall has to offer, be sure to make time to see these murals come to life, happening 6pm until midnight on both nights of HighBall!