Project: Upper Playground x Montana Colors Artist Series
Role: Project Manager
Notes: For this project Upper Playground teamed up with Montana Colors to create artist series cans featuring the work of Mister Cartoon, MQ, El Mac/Retna & Sam Flores.

A while back I posted about Above’s travels in over 11 countries in Central and South America that was sponsored by Montana Colors. He’s just gotten back to us with a remixed version of his video montage that’s split up into four parts. Check out part 1 here and stay tuned for the next 3 parts!

A while back we told you about graf artist Above’s South Central tour. Well, 6 months later, Above is back from his tour and is sharing his adventures. His tour included stopping in 11 countries over a period of six months with stops in: Brasil, Guatemala, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Panama, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Mexcio and Chile. I’ve been following Above’s work for years and it’s wonderful to see him grow as an artist. He’s done several other tours - United States Tour (2004), European tour (2005), and the Sign Language Tour (2006). Back then, his art involved more of his trademark arrows teasing viewers with mobiles in the streets with word games or fabric covered arrows stuck on buildings. For his South Central Tour, you can see Above’s work evolving. He uses more lettering now - on a much larger scale - and you barely see the ubiquitous arrow. He hasn’t abandoned his word play though. This pieces are clever and interact with the community and spaces around him - they are now part of the ever changing landscape. Above has definitely left his mark in South and Central America, despite tales of being robbed and getting stabbed on his travels. He’s also picked up some sponsors along his way. Montana Colors, the crème de la crème of graf supplies, sponsored his most recent tour.

The video is fun, entertaining, has a killer soundtrack and you can watch it right here! Get lost for a minute and go above . . .

ABOVE: SOUTH CENTRAL TOUR from ABOVE on Vimeo.