KavesXAdm

Courtesy the artist

A collaboration between legendary graffiti writer turned fine artist Kaves and his brother, DJ, producer, and fine artist Adam McLeer—professionally known as Adm—Graffiti Rug Burners produces large scale, one-of-one textile artworks that re-imagine Hip Hop's aerosol art practice into a new form—the rug.

The rug on offer here—Hip Hop You Don't Stop! —is a one-of-one Graffiti Rug Burners piece produced in 2023, depicting a young graffiti writer running down elevated subway tracks with aerosol can in hand as the eponymous text floats above in yellow and orange, with pink, blue, and purple bursts of color in the background. The work is a nostalgic nod to the McLeer brothers first brushes with Hip Hop culture, subway writing in the South Brooklyn neighborhoods that raised them.

Michael McLeer started his career as a graffiti writer in winter of 1979 at the age of 10. Hanging from the beam of an elevated B train, McLeer wrote "Kaves" in aerosol paint for the first time and began an artists journey that would take him from subway tunnels to museums galleries in just a few decades. In 1987, some of Kaves' early train writing was captured in Henry Chalfant's Spraycan Art, the follow-up to the 1984 graffiti bible he co-authored with Martha Cooper Subway Art . A multi-hyphenate talent, Kaves would go on to expand his artistic practice as a musician, designer, graphic illustrator, brand consultant, tattoo artist, photographer, actor, and filmmaker in the coming years. Kaves founded the Hip Hop group Lordz of Brooklyn with his DJ brother Adam, ADMoney, in 1989 introducing new modes of rap lyricism stemming from their experiences as Italian-Irish kids from South Brooklyn. Across disciplines, Kaves has collaborated with: Audemars Piguet, Jaguar, NIKE, MTV, ADIDAS, Beaujolais Nouveau, Beastie Boys, and Metallica.