I totally had a DC art celebrity geek weekend. This is what happened on Sunday:
KELLY TOWLES
Sunday was Adams Morgan Day Festival, an annual event that shuts down 18th Street NW between Columbia Road and Florida Ave, and opens up with stalls filled with food, crafts, jewelery, art, and just random stuff. One highlight/lowlight of the day: street karaoke with someone singing Ashley Simpson's awesomely bad "Pieces of Me".
However, I got to joke around about how awful the singer was with none other than DC's own Banksy, Kelly Towles. I've been a major fan since he exhibited at Adamson Gallery where I used to intern. Unfortunately, I was no longer at the gallery when his stuff was there, but it was magnificent.
Since then, I've kept a cellphone photo gallery of his random street art. I so, so desperately wanted to say to him "Look! Look at all the photos I have of your stuff on my cellphone!!" but my boyfriend, catching on to the beginnings of what could best be compared to a tween reaction to The Jonas Brothers, deftly averted the conversion to Kelly and his wife's new venture, De*Nada Designs.
To my chagrin, Kelly told us that he has retired from street art and has been working full time on projects with music bands and the De*Nada clothing line (from which my loving boyfriend bought me two tees to commemorate this awesome occasion).
But, Kelly could not have picked a better time to step back from the popularity of his work. Best to step out when you're at your peak, than to fade way unremembered.
Image from Kelly's site.
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