meet lank.

Jonathan Conner (Lank) is an artist, designer and educator from Hamilton, New Jersey. A graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, Jon has designed artwork and signage for Whole Foods Market and currently creates images and educational content for Utrecht Art Supplies. Jon teaches drawing and two dimensional design at Mercer County Community College. He is a member of the mural group S.A.G.E. Collective and has been working with the public art organization Albus Cavus since 2008, participating in public art and mural projects along the east coast.

just one more thing...

i remember as a youngster staying with my aunt hannah when mom and dad were on the town, usually a weekend and usually just the right time to catch the latest columbo mystery... i was too young to understand the idea of the "everyman" hero taking down the wealthy and elite, but i certainly caught on to the concept of someone being much more than they appeared. at first glance he was a pushover that the murderer brushed off as a schlub and by the final scene columbo had worked them over and nailed 'em to the wall.

i hadn't seen the show in years, but when peter falk died recently and RAS said he wanted to do a tribute wall i was all in. i felt like the classic "just one more thing" pose was perfect so i got to cutting a life size (or what i assume is close to life size since i don't have a scouting report on peter falk) stencil of the lieutenant. the rest as they say, is history.

shouts out to RAS for the idea, LUV1 and lil' LUV for the documentary work and MEK for some well placed advice and the letterwork on the quote... and rest in peace to the man, peter falk. enjoy the video, some details and of course columbo getting on george wendt's last nerve...

garden variety - trenton, nj

a great collection of mc's showed up at the galamo in trenton last saturday night for the may edition of the garden variety show. s.a.g.e. collective represented as well, with KASSO running the show and LUV1 and i getting down on the walls. LUV rocked a beautiful portrait of the late, great gil scott heron and i dropped a couple of mix tapes (man i miss tapes). i also got down with some rare freehand work, putting up a big blue monster rockin' the mic. a good time was had by all.

S.A.G.E. Collective: soul of the message

our first show as a collective has come to a close, but for those who missed it, here is an image of my wall courtesy of delve. take a video tour and see the performers from our opening here.

crack o' the bat

world's best mascot holding it down at terracycle. trenton, nj.

RIP HK

give 'em hell lenny

scratch & dirty

here are two images created as part of sedso design's "place your art here" project at the walnut room in philadelphia. they posted a great line-up of musicians to choose from, so narrowing it down was tough. finally settled on ol' dirty bastard of the wu tang clan and the mighty upsetter himself, lee "scratch" perry. both images are watercolor and spraypaint on paper...

we have a piper down!

Sunday, March 21st found me someplace i didn't ever really expect to be, atop a float in the Trenton St. Patrick's Day Parade... An invitation from Leon Rainbow and the folks at Artworks in Trenton led me there and my Western European roots and love of all things Irish (read: the pogues & beer) had me very excited for a new experience. I had just over a mile and about an hour and a half to paint my side of the 4ft by 8ft panel. I chose to paint a bagpiper as my main image(a portrait of a good friend of mine, who was piping away with The Lia Faile Pipe Band at the front of the parade). Layered that over a large shamrock and framed it up with some traditional Celtic knots. Throw in the sponsor logos, a S.A.G.E. logo and an ornate "LANK" and it was a wrap....

I had a great time and was really pleased with the finished product. Thanks to Art All Night and Artworks for building the float, thanks to Rain for inviting me aboard and thanks to Brian Gentry and James Peeples for solid flicks and video work. (Oh! and a special shout out to the dude driving the big rig that the float was on, because he worked miracles piloting that thing around the small side streets of Trenton!)

picasso wall in progress, long branch nj

more blacklight

blacklight is back.. this time a the smile gallery in philly... wall space is at a premium so this time around my pieces are much smaller... 8"x8" spray on canvas.

see the sketches, that became the stencils that made these paintings.

obviously you're not a golfer...

it's a barn paintin'!... S.A.G.E Collective rocked out on my shed this weekend and i took a stab at my first non-stencil portrait. what better timeless icon to display in my own backyard, but the dude himself. now he's takin' 'er easy for all those tomatoes growing back there...

beautiful additions put in by the talented luv and the one an only Kasso.

the dude also stands sentry over the future home of the backyard bar...

"hey careful man, there's a beverage here, hey!"

woeful gap in posts

very busy lately, prepping for shows. when free time is sparse, a lot work gets jammed in to precious few hours. here are a few links to what's been going on and hopefully a post of some new pieces that have yet to be photographed or scanned. stay tuned.



photos by ricardo barros of the blacklight show at artworks, trenton

4 elements at gallery 125 - trenton

more photos to come...

blacklight show this week!

Albus Cavus x Sage Collective presents

UV Urban Blacklight Art Experiment

OPENING: Fri JUNE 4th 6-9PM

JUST ADDED LIVE BLACK LIGHT BODY PAINTING AT THE OPENING!

MODELS: Elyse Jankowski, Ashley Tanz, Tara Hornby, Monica Vargas, Michelle Palomino


SHOW RUN: Fri JUNE 4th - JULY 1st


Artworks

19 Everett Alley

Trenton, NJ 08611

Artists:

Peter Krsko, Mike Ciccotello, Joe Iurato, Josl, Luv 1, Aja Washington, Jim Hancocks, Papermonster,
David Orantes, Demer, Kortez, Jon Conner (Lank), Will Kasso

Music: Kortez and Mojito Jones

http://www.leonrainbow.com/vids/black-light-graffiti/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10164102@N04/sets/72157622412052789/

Sponsors:

IZZE, Albus Cavus, Sage Collective

Event on Facebook

spring jam '10

albus cavus and company did another bang up job this year.... worked with luv and delve and a fun piece at the bottom of the stairs at this year's spring jam at the raritan river wall. beautiful day to paint and dance and sing and draw and see TONS of great artwork. absurdly talented artists come from all over for a peaceful day working on this wall.thanks to been 3 for these great photos (and some excellent ones of my daughter getting up on her own piece of the wall). the big bob ross was a fun choice because everybody who came down the stairs was stoked to see him and they all had a story about how bob got them into painting by making it look so damn easy.


delve hooked up this sick sky to throw some (much requested and appreciatecd) happy little trees... leave it to bob ross sprark the unifying factor in the piece...

final wall, masterfully assembled in photoshop by luv. best believe it was tough getting a photo of the whole wall at once.

happy little trees - lank, luv1 & delve - s.a.g.e collective 2010

finished wall: graffiti heaven

angels

collaborated with the s.a.g.e. crew this weekend on an angel wall in trenton... framed these two angels (based on a michaelangelo sculpture) high up on the wall, with my grandfathers' initials on their belts... final pics of the whole piece will be up when i have them...

barn owls

i like barn owls and the weird shit that spray paint does when you lay it on real thick, wet on wet (that's what she said). the little green one is a donation to a fundraiser for scholarships at the college i teach at. the orange joint will be for sale shortly in the lank shop...

feed the art pig

these pieces are currently for sale at Van Gogh's Ear cafe in Union NJ. proceeds benefit public art collective albus cavus.

E

1979... a rookie driver hits the nascar circuit with a brash attitude and a mustache to match.

lots of snow.

recent works on cardboard and canvas