Politically Incorrect – Opening Reception May 2nd at Trenton Social
Politically Incorrect – Press Release
New Work by Leon Rainbow
May 2 – 30, 2014, Trenton Social
TRENTON, N.J. – Speaking truth to power, being out of line, off color, expressing what we
really think, letting it all hang out — these are often discouraged in our society, labeled politically
incorrect. For graffiti artists, these qualities are a way of life. They embrace politically incorrect.
It is who they are.
Of late, urban artist Leon Rainbow has moved in a fresh direction, creating new murals on city
walls full of vibrant color, playful lines, yet teeming with deeper meaning. Lately, Rainbow
has set about creating similar expressions on canvas, as well as found objects. The result is
Politically Incorrect, on view at Trenton Social from May 2 to 30.
Rainbow, a Trenton resident, didn’t intend for his show to arrive at a time of political turbulence
in his home city, where the mayor was recently convicted of corruption and removed, and an
unruly campaign to replace him is heating up. “I am an artist first, but what’s been going on in
city politics adds a new dimension to the work,” Rainbow says. “You look at City Hall, then at
us painting the truth out in the streets and you wonder, who’s really politically incorrect here?”
he says.
The work in Politically Incorrect incorporates a style that had its genesis in a watercolor mixed
media series Rainbow did in 2010 called Freestyle Fridays. In Freestyle Fridays he released a
new freeform piece on his website each week for a year. These freeform pieces helped him to
develop a style that incorporates complex patterns and designs with imagery and symbolism.
This style further evolved in murals Rainbow subsequently created, one in Trenton (on Clinton
and Hudson Street), and another, sponsored by Miller Brewing, in the Fishtown section of
Philadelphia (on Frankford Street). In Politically Incorrect, Rainbow is using the movement,
style and color of his street work to influence his paintings on canvas, then working the canvases
back into the street art. This back and forth cross-fertilization builds new styles and concepts
with each piece. Politically Incorrect is an ongoing project.
Politically Incorrect
May 2 – 30, 2014
Opening reception: May 2, 6 – 10 P.M.
Trenton Social
449 S. Broad Street
Trenton, NJ 08611
For more information:
Leon@leonrainbow.com
www.leonrainbow.com