Review | Deck The Walls

Since the winter storm has come and gone and leaving downtown Phoenix rather cooler than expected, events such as the yearly Deck the Walls event couldn’t have had a more successful outing than any other. With the essences of rich music, lively crowds that take part in the occasional dance offs and dance battles, nothing really compared to the main ingredients of the event, ART. The art showcase was spectacular with mind bending graffiti paints that tell the history of the city in a single line of spray paint, the fashion was never more vivid than December 18th, 2010. The sense of direction the fashion leads the guest into is somewhat familiar to watching Avatar for the first time in IMAX 3D, you lend the artist your eyes and they take you into a journey that you never saw coming.
Deck the Walls was quite refreshing for the underappreciated art of Phoenix; the future is looking brighter and brighter with every showcase of beauty in these stylized events. The event was nothing but having a great time in Braggs Pie Factory, located in downtown Phoenix; the team behind this event was none other than That’s Whats Up Production team. They brought to the table a handful of knowledge about Art that would have never gotten the chance to see the light of day, to the broad audience that these events handle.
If you ever got the chance to see and appreciate modern, past and quite possibly future art and you have a tendency to shake your hips to good music. Don’t even think twice about going, your five senses all get what they are asking for. Watching amazing art being displayed, eating and tasting the finest underground gourmet food, listening to the purest music around, feeling the crowd move and groove, smell the fresh artwork and prepare to be dazzled by the amazing showcase that revitalizes the soul. As soon as walking towards the building half a block down the road, the energy of the even could already be felt and you just knew you were going to have a great time, if it was your first time or you’re an occasional guest at these events, it was exciting for every person there. The age group had been scattered to the high 50’s when a young women walked in with her fashion crew and displayed a handful of amazing pieces of clothing and jewelry, and from there on you would see anyone from age 18 to the 21 year olds getting cozy at the open bar. It was very comfortable and everything seemed very well put together from beginning to end. Overall it was a breath of fresh air to be a part of a spectacular event such as this, already looking forward to the next event That’s Whats Up Productions sets up, I’ll definitely be waiting first in that line.

Deck The Walls | Press Release

That’s What’s Up Productions
Ms. Yardley Mannix
1239 E. Jefferson Street #3
Phoenix, AZ 85005
Phone: (602) 501 – 6010
yardley@thatswhatsup.com

Release December 1, 2010

“DECK THE WALLS” FASHION SHOW SUPPORTS LOCAL PHOENIX ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS

Phoenix, AZ – On Saturday, December 18th, 2010 That’s What’s Up Productions presents the first annual “Deck The Walls” show at Braggs Pie Factory in downtown Phoenix. The show will highlight local fashion designers, artists and dancers. The high-energy fashion show will showcase six of Phoenix’s most talented cutting-edge and alternative clothing and accessory designers.

Designers include Kelly Calabrese, Devani Weaver, Tiffe Fermaint, Makeshift Apparel, Yardley December and Dear Raymer. Hair stylists from Urban Hair and Hair Pollution and MAC makeup artists come together for this exciting event, aiming to create eclectic and avant-garde looks to compliment the progressive, high fashion looks that will be featured on the runway.

Highly detailed, original designs will grace the runway at 10pm at Braggs Pie Factory located at 1301 W. Grand Avenue in downtown Phoenix. Renowned DJs William Reed, Jared Alan and BC/AD will be playing the hottest tracks serving as the soundtrack for the night.

Guest list is available for this special event and will be done on a first come, first serve basis for photographers and media. Tickets will be available for $10 at the door the night of the event.

For guest list reservations or for questions regarding the event please contact Yardley Mannix at yardley@thatswhatsup.com or by calling (602) 501 – 6010.

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Bragg’s Pie Factory Renovation

Our latest renovation project at Bragg’s Pie Factory in Downtown Phoenix is much larger than anything we have ever undertaken before which pulled us into a complicated, and very expensive, city code upgrade process. We’ve spent close to a year renovating the 15,000 sq. ft. cast-in-place concrete building. Their Facebook states, “Bragg’s Pies, one of the last remaining examples of “streamline moderne” architecture in the city, originally opened in 1947 and at the peak of its operations was a state-of-the-art facility that had 35 daily routes that reached as far as Tucson and Yuma. Located on “Lower Grand”, which stretched from Grand Avenue’s terminus at Seventh Avenue and Van Buren (“Five Points”) to the old city/county line at Nineteenth Avenue and McDowell (“Six Points”), the district served as a zone for transportation-related retail (service stations, restaurants, motels, etc.), transient worker housing and industrial/commercial uses.” These types of adaptive re-use projects and distinctive historic arts districts are seen as valuable economic development tools to most successful cities. As Phoenix sprawls into the desert that creates waves of look a like housing and generic shopping districts, this distinct area should be viewed as a little gem in an increasingly generic environment. The Pie Factory originally opened in 1947 as a state of the art facility that had thirty five daily routes for delivery of the pies. Today’s Bragg’s Pies Factory is a wonderful, spacious gallery with ample room for appreciating a wide variety of art. We will be celebrating the reopening of Braggs Pie Factory and will be presenting the biggest event of the year “Deck the Walls 2010”. Yardley Mannix will host a fashion show that will be showcasing Winter Collections by Kelly Calabrese, Devani Weaver, Tiffe Fermaint, Makeshift Apparel, and Dear Raymer. Towards the back of the gallery the Pie Factory features a spectacular collection of art created by local, national and world-renowned graffiti artists. The exhibit features canvases, which are an eclectic collection done by El Mac, Retina, Saber, Sever and Revok. The entire show will be decorated in a minimalist fashion and paintings and photographs of all types will be displayed all around. There is also a break dancing competition that will take place on an elevated dance floor that is covered in traditional black and white linoleum. Several dance teams will perform for our guests and at the end our guests can then join and all have a good time. The gallery provides a multifaceted showcase for art that runs the gamut of our art generation. The artists will be on hand to greet and to introduce you to their work.

The renovations of the building were done all yearlong while working with the city on ordinance codes so that the event could take place with no hiccups at all. There are several other architectural changes that we cannot tell you about that take place inside of the event so if you are into renovated-historic properties then you will not want to miss this event.

Interview with El Mac

Deck the Walls – Interview – El Mac

This is sort of a no-brainer. Over the past few years, there have not been many artists who have generated the attention and energy than El Mac. Its obvious why: his murals with Retna, as well as his solo work, are unlike the work of any artist today. His last show at FIFTY24SF Gallery in the Summer of 2009 featured eight faces, 7 women and 1 man, all peering over onlookers almost as if they should be hanging in a church. They were dynamic, but as with all of his work, there is almost something holy going on.

It seems like our attention gravitated toward Mac after seeing his Obama portrait, the simplicity made it attractive, but there was something in the style that made it stand out. His linework, handstyle, and the way that he can create an icon has become iconic itself. Now, with a new book out with Upper Playground, Alianza, featuring the work El Mac has done with his long-time collaborator Retna, highlighted by a show at Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica, the artist has the momentum on a continuous roll. —Terrence Murtagh / DTW

DTW: You live in Phoenix. Being that you are in Arizona, have you been to either the Petrified National Forest or Meteor Crater?
No, but I have been to the place where they make the best tortillas in Phoenix.

DTW: You paint really big pieces, and with Retna, you paint really big, complex pieces. How do you organize yourselves?
Still figuring that out. It usually starts from a photo. We both have a big archive of shots we’ve taken, or photos from friends, and once we’ve decided on the right image, it becomes a foundation that we can jump off from and play around with. I’ll focus on my part, Retna will focus on his part, but then there can also be a lot of exchanging opinions and ideas about the parts we’re not sure of. Every piece is different.

DTW: You are influenced by Renaissance artists, Carvaggio, Tooker; basically some heady names. Do you study? Are you a studious painter?
Yeah, I guess you could say that. I’ve basically been studying classic art since I was a little kid. There’s always more to learn, more to discover. I never went to art school so I don’t see it as some kind of academic pursuit, it’s almost more of a religion. There’s just been so much great art made throughout history. I can only hope that maybe some day when I’m long since buried and forgotten some kid will take
the effort to discover some of my work and be inspired by it.

DTW: What’s the biggest difference between painting by yourself and painting in collaboration with another artist? You do both.
Maybe interaction. One is a shared, cooperative experience while the other isn’t. Doing both helps balance my introverted and extroverted sides.

DTW: Your favorite historical figure?
Alphonse Mucha, for his incredible art.

See more of El Mac’s work at El Mac Dot Com

Deck The Walls 2010