L’Officiel
L’Officiel, Russia, September 2008 Alyonushka Pin-Up Photo and Art-Director: Irina Davis Irina Davis This year: photograph Irina Davis not only took part in Moscow Photobeinnale-2008 with her “Kids project”, but also got acquainted on Moscow-New York flight with artist Erni Vales, that led to this collaboration and friendship forever. In the nearest future: in […]
Juxtapoz
Profile Erni, Juxtapoz, September 2008 Art & Culture Magazine The New York City Graffiti Issue I have endured a lifelong love/hate relationship with graffiti. I have been challenged, bored, excited, annoyed, and thrilled by the movement. Graffiti has stereotyped me, personalized me, released me, and brought me many of the best travels, friends, and […]
Ninunina.com
Erni Vales began painting the sides of subway trains in the mid to late 80s. It was the peak of the graffiti years in NYC and he was able to get into the gallery scene quickly from there. He started, Lower East Side Clothing with graffiti partner Gil Aviles but after painting murals in clubs […]
New York Doll
Rolling Stone Cover, August 2009 New York Doll Lady Gaga Photoshoot by David LaChapelle Credits: Décor Annie Sperling, Production Carpet Suhrie, Speedy and Jaimie Wisnecki, Costume Design B.Akerlund, Murals by Erni Vales, digital Tech John Schoenfeld, Construction Coordinator Marc Greville, Corset Thierry Mugler
Gallery Welcomes Hip-hop Heavyweights
Winnipeg Free Press, September 2, 2009 ARTS&LIFE, Graffiti Gallery hosting sultans of spray paint. Gallery welcomes hip-hop heavyweights By Morley Walker You’d think they were royalty the way they’re being treated.But American graffiti gods Cey Adams and Erni Vale, in Winnipeg for a exhibition opening Thursday night, carry a lot of weight in a certain […]
Mercadito Restaurants, Chicago and Miami. 2009.
One could almost say that 2009 was the year for my union with Mercadito since it has occupied almost my entire year. The entire summer spent in Chicago was a blast creating 5 different styled and textured murals. I love when I don’t have to be responsible for the design of a restaurant and I can just be free and creative and the designers. Seed Design, the designers have given me very few creative restraints and the final product is really amazing. The restaurant as well as my installations has been getting great reviews and the same team, including myself is now in the middle of creating Mercadito Miami slated to open early 2010!
Absolut Vodka. 2009. Advertisement photo set.
Oh the things I can do in 2 days. This set painted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is part of a series of ads for Absolut Vodka, maybe not the best vodka in the world but still one of the most creative. The direction for this room was a few green circles on a page, […]
Nathan Jenden 2009
Mercadito didn’t take all my time and I was able to break away for several LaChapelle projects but the best project for sure was meeting Nathan Jenden, senior designer for Diane Von Furstenberg. He didn’t know anything about me and honestly I was more lost not knowing who he is, I know now though and […]
Krista, Brooklyn backdrop for music video, Directed by Ron Morhoff
Sometimes I get to do really fun stuff, After meeting with director Ron Morhoff, learning there was no budget and not much time to create the painted panels for the Krista video I was just ready to turn the opportunity down, but since I had the free time and creative freedom, I decided that since […]
Tribal wall. 2009, San Diego, Tribal Gear Headquarters.
Alka Seltzer. Promotional painted vehicles. 2008, Milwaukee, WI.
I thought I knew what cold felt like, after all, I was traveling from Moscow back to the states and into what I like to refer as the frozen tundra of Milwaukee. I remember very little about this trip beyond that, no actually it was fun painting these vehicles, 2 cars and 2 storage trailers […]
Lady Gaga for Rolling Stone. 2009. Photo David LaChapelle.
The Lady Gaga shoot was much more hectic than most shoots with David, there were many sets and lots of props. I painted 2 sets, the first was a contemporary personally painted “metropolis” backdrop that I thought came out really hot but the shot that made the magazine turned out to be the really simple […]
Christian Audigier, 2009. Photo David LaChapelle
Working with David is always an adventure, his work is so fantastical and off the wall, that I never know what his mind is looking for. But luckily for me what comes from my mind through my arm is usually something he loves to shoot and when he called to book me for Christian Audigier […]
Graff City, 2008, private commission, acrylics on canvas. 7’ x 14’
I always love getting back to my first love, graffiti! Here I blend several graffiti components together, 3D style Graff City with old school tags and little mini pieces on it and an old IRT subway car traveling through its center while the entire piece sits atop a stylized cityscape. The drawings for this piece […]
Google NYC Chelsea Offices. 2008.
Who wants to wait for slow elevators? Definitely not the employees of Google NYC! Nothing about these guys is slow, instead of waiting around for elevators the staff that take up 4 floors of the building are constantly using the staircase to get from floor to floor and to make that more pleasant why not […]