Vision On.... continued

I recently had another entry for the ABU! Gallery. This time from young Ramses.

At first glance it would appear that the artist has assigned the talents of a youngster to perform the illustration. Either that or stuck a pen up his nose and moved his head erratically.

Now, what strikes one immediately is the bold and rather striking Ageing B-Boys Unite logo at the head of the page. Note the 'face' in place of the dot for the letter 'i' and also the fact that the end letter is missing. The depicted 'face' could almost be a latent 'Smiley Face' from the late 1980's with it's repetive form of music known to the youth as 'Acieeed House' music. Add to this the fact that he has quite literally 'dropped an e' (from the aforementioned word) and one may summarise that the artist was a former abuser of recreational drugs. The finished article, I speculate, is the artist wanting the world to know his seedy past but perhaps only cryptically.

Moving on, I am especially enthralled by the subversive manner in which the artist has called upon the seething war between two of the largest sports companies that provide the hip hop scholar with their beloved pumps. In one fell movement he has forced the viewer into the problematic and thorny issue of deciding which of the two camps are indeed the footwear of kings?

Connected to the shoes is the main character who here, is holding a piece of vinyl with the stereo stylus still attached. What this is saying to me is simple. The deejay will provide music however and wherever - regardless of whether the stereophonic equipment is self-contained or not. Genius!

I am responding with a generous degree of belly-laughs as I read the caption "REPPO 1936" as it alludes to a particular favourite artist of mine from the 'gangsta rap' fraternity, namely Boogie Down Productions. The artist has taken to heart the adage 'The P Is Free' and decided to help himself to an extra letter JUST BECAUSE HE CAN! This audacity only excels the fact that Ramses is surely not to be messed with as his views certainly aren't that of the average b-boy and in fact is keen to unsettle the viewer in a way the beloved Banksy can only dream of.

Bravo, sir.