Apexer

The Apexer (also known as Ricardo Richey) is a San Francisco-based public artist and mural painter. While Apexer is based in San Francisco, his works have appeared throughout US from Hawai'i to Florida and internationally including Taiwan.^[1] Besides being known in the street art community, Apexer has done commissioned mural projects for commercial partners and museums including the deYoung Museum^[2][3] and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Biography[]

Apexer was born in San Francisco, California in 1978. He is a third generation San Franciscan. He is Latino and African-American.^[4]

Apexer first noticed drawing when watching his mother doodling while she was on the phone. When he was in third grade, he remembers becoming interested in art. "I loved seeing the different colors everywhere around me and wanted to create my own. For me, coloring in my coloring book was no different than seeing scribbles and colors around the city. It actually got me into trouble at home—I would get black ink on the walls."^[1]

As a sophomore is high school, Apexer heard the word 'apex' in English class. "As a young boy trying to find his place and hierarchy, that name was incredibly cool. Fast forward to now, and it represents the exact opposite. If all of us try to do our best, to reach our peak, the most important part is to enjoy the process as you try and find your way."^[1]

Apexer studied classical art techniques, architecture, graphic design, and art history while trying to develop his own artistic identity. Apexer credits the San Francisco-based community organization, Precita Eyes with guiding him to finding his own artist voice.^[4]

APEX also remembers one of his earlier murals—“before the first dot com hit”—as an homage to San Francisco. A painted view from the top of Twin Peaks, the collaborative mural depicted the city with cherubs in the sky holding a banner behind the words “San Francisco is like heaven on Earth.” A familiar phrase from columnist Herb Caen, the words floated above a city that looks a little like paradise. However, the cherubs became the most important part of this piece. A group of passersby asked why the cherubs were white and not another race (APEX is of Puerto Rican and African American descent, while the other artists also came from diverse backgrounds). It was the last time APEX would paint a representational work in an effort to create something more complex. “If I’m painting from my imagination, I’m representing everybody,” said APEX. “I’m not representing one person. Or one race.”^[4]

Style[]

Having started in graffiti, Apexer's early work was based on stylized lettering and signatures. Over time these designs became more layered—in patterns, colors and symbols. They can be seen as simply beautiful or inspiring, but there are also layers of meaning to them.

Apexer is a street artist who creates colorful, spray-painted murals around the world. Using a visual foundation based in graffiti art and Chinese calligraphy, Apexer abstracts letterforms to create complex, dynamic compositions for his street art projects. Often creating artworks that communicate the vibe of the neighborhood where they are on view, Apexer’s painted gestures are accessible to a wide audience, and are constantly expanding upon the core element of his work: the letters of his nickname.“ "I’m abstract because I don’t want to be another billboard telling you what to eat, what to wear, when to go to sleep,” said APEX. Sometimes viewers can spot an obvious design element or symbol—like a Merkaba star in a mural on Haight and Masonic streets—but for the most part the pieces are an invitation to get lost in thought.“It’s really important to present I call it a ‘breather,’” said APEX. “If you come across my mural, you maybe can’t read it, you can’t decipher it. But maybe if this is on your commute home every day, you’re gonna slowly see it, understand it.”^[4]

Historical context[]

"From a historical point of view, we must remember that modern day graffiti started with the most rudimentary tags. Few, if any, of the writers had any sense of calligraphy. As more and more youth began to participate in street writing, style began to enter their thinking. Among the very early style masters, DAIM in Germany and Ernie from Brooklyn began creating complex 3-D styles that made their hand writings as distinguishable as impressionist artists like Monet and Matisse. 3-D styles have been adopted by many writers worldwide, but Apex has taken the creation to a new level of sophistication combined with an exceptional sense of color.

Also significant is the location of the painting, on the back of a large building that is part of the Stephenson Parking Lot in San Francisco [Colusa at Colson], This was the home of Psycho City for over ten years, before it was buffed and had been named for a great dug one piece. Psycho City^[5][6] was a west coast “Hall of Fame’ where writers would come from countries all over the world. It was also a non-permission venue. As time have changed, the two large pieces that are there are now are part of a permission renaissance to upgrade the area through the use of graffiti (urban) art… A la Wynwood in Miami and others.

Psycho City is a place of a thousand memories,^[7] The Zulu Nation event where the visiting policeman found his car completely tagged on returning to it, the celebration of “Oakland Dream” one of the legendary names in west coast graff, Brett Cook-Dizney’s political pieces, [Omen 2 and Nate 1] MPC [Master Piece Creators] Blockbuster walls, Hex (LA) and Omega’s piece that didn’t last eight hours before someone buffed it, ad infinitium.

…[T]his photo…is a fine example of the evolution from a very simple art form that has developed in many different ways to become a complexity of styles."^[8] James Prigoff, world renown photographer and archivist and historian of street art, Brooklyn Street Art magazine

Commissioned Works[]

Hayes Valley Playground at Buchanan and Hayes streets, funded by Kevin Durant (formerly of the Golden State Warriors) and Joe Gebbia, cofounder of Airbnb.^[9][10][11]

Haight Street Summer of Love in collaboration with de Young Museum's forthcoming 50th-anniversary Summer of Love exhibit^[2][12]

Timbuk2 Flagship Store Front in Brooklyn^[13]

Space NK First Boutique in San Francisco^[14]

BLACK SCALE's Flagship Store on Haight Street

Fox Sister Restaurant, San Francisco, CA^[15]

Stadia Bar, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV^[16][17]

Commercial Collaborations[]

Banana Republic, WorkWear Campaign^[18]

lululemon^[19]

Nissan^[20]

Timbuk2, Future Shapers Campaign ^[21]

Zendure, 5th Anniversary Limited Edition Design^[22]

References[]

External links[]

• KQED: Apexer on Street Art Murals
• APEXER at Mirus Gallery
• Apexer, The Path of Intuition, Interview by Kristin Farr, Juxtapoz Art & Culture magazine