The BRAVE Art Story

BRAVE Art was launched in April 2005 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, a beautiful mountain resort with a global reputation for progressive ideas and good times. The idea was to bring a fresh mix of art fused around street and board sports culture to a "pop up" space during The Whistler Ski and Snowboard Festival. The first show featured a diverse range of talent anchored by well-established street art and skate icons. This exhibit was the first of its kind in Canada exposing a new audience to a fresh style of art that mixed diverse elements of modern popular culture. BRAVE Art 2005 brought in classic skateboard memorabilia beside graffiti/street art legends and renowned local talent. The show opened with live painting and an artist reception. Cocktails flowed while art and people mixed. The combination of art and music in an almost party like atmosphere was an instant success. BRAVE Art was born and the word spread.

 

The real story of BRAVE Art is the artists, their work, influences, mediums and lifestyles. These words barely scratch the surface of a cultural story with threads that go back decades. The world is being filled with art everyday on a multitude of mediums from the streets to wood, canvas and paper. However, it is argued that a new art form was born when artists took their work to the streets of LA as early as the 1930’s and was transformed in the train yards of NYC in the 1970's. This street art style became an unstoppable creative force. The visual and cultural movement spread and graffiti blossomed throughout the world. The images, style and work ethic from this era ignited a generation of young artists to break down creative barriers and spread their images, stories and messages onto city walls, skate decks, snowboard decks, apparel, shoes and anywhere else that can absorb paint and display an image. Currently this new renaissance in art is a no rules, fast moving creative whirlwind showing no signs of slowing down and continues to elude any easy definition. BRAVE Art exhibits a selective glimpse inside this progressive art movement that is as unique, colorful and vibrant as the artists that created it.