Breakdancers

Breakdancers

collection of Dr. Daren Martin

In the late 90's I was dj'ing and breakdancing and found alot of personal influence in the history of hip-hop. My friends in Austin called me Piper and my "tag" name was Link or Missing Link. Vardon Williams or Haps1 gave me that name. He said I brought the knowledge of High Culture to our Street/Club scene and the Street/ Club knowledge to an elevated culture appreciation. We were kids and I hardly think that I followed through in a way that might make THE missing link, but for who we were and what were doing, I still cherish the sentiment.

Later in my painting career, I made a return to my hip-hop influence and started to imagine how the pioneers of Modernist Art might interpret hip-hop forms, in dance, art, and scenic representations of it's history. I immediately went to Picasso, but also Henry Moore... I was also exploring the kinetic relationship of parts-to-whole. This painting is the result of those forms and a fun painting to look at.