About the artwork
This vibrant work by COPE2, created in 2009, perfectly embodies the artist’s signature bubble-letter style, a defining visual language within New York graffiti culture. The bold interplay of light and bright blues, framed by strong black contours, gives the piece a dynamic rhythm characteristic of COPE2’s handstyle. The pink background, punctuated with darker abstract forms, enhances depth and highlights the spontaneous, gestural approach that comes from the artist’s early career on the walls of the Bronx. Executed entirely with aerosol paint, the work retains the immediacy and raw energy of street practice while asserting a strong studio presence on this horizontal format. As a work from a key period in COPE2’s transition between street and gallery environments, the canvas reflects the consolidation of his iconic visual identity and his expansion into the contemporary art market.
Expert opinion
This 2009 canvas stands as a strong and highly recognisable example of COPE2’s mature studio work. Pieces from this period are appreciated because they preserve the raw authenticity of his Bronx graffiti roots while presenting a consolidated visual identity adapted to the gallery context. The lettering shows confident, fluid contours and the chromatic balance between blues and the contrasting pink background gives the composition a lively rhythm that reflects the artist’s handstyle at its peak. Works from these years occupy a pivotal place in COPE2’s trajectory, marking the moment when his street vocabulary became fully integrated into the contemporary art market. This canvas therefore offers both aesthetic impact and historical significance for collectors interested in the evolution of graffiti from the streets to institutional and private collections.
About the artist
Fernando Carlo, aka COPE2, is a leading figure in New York graffiti. Born in 1968 in the South Bronx, he began painting in 1978. Very active in the 1980s and 1990s, he made a name for himself by painting on all the New York subway lines, earning him international renown. Today, COPE2 continues to create, blending his raw energy with abstract expressionist style works, interwoven with his famous bubble letters and canvas tags. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and internationally, including D'Stassi Art in London in 2024 and JPS Gallery in Hong Kong in 2021.
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