Hit & Run, opening this Thursday, August 9th at Gregg Sheinbaum Gallery in Wynwood, is a retrospective of AholSniffsGlue’s work. The exhibition features pieces that date back to and before his official debut at Butter Gallery two years ago and includes his memorable characters and infamous eyeballs along with more recent works, some never seen before.
Earlier this year, after a two-year hiatus, our bearded friend AholSniffsGlue bounced back onto the art scene with an exhibition dedicated to the working class hero, Ahol: Full Time. Surprisingly, there was not a single one of his iconic eyeballs in sight. The exhibit included a video projection and 3-D printed sculptures which in my humble opinion marked Ahol’s evolution from our friendly neighborhood street artist to a refined contemporary artist.
The Hit
One gloomy and rainy evening in late June, Ahol was driving his scooter aka “rukus” home on Biscayne Boulevard when he was hit by a reckless and careless driver who stuck around long enough for him to recall her face (that he later so sketched and posted all over the web) but not long enough to make sure he was okay.
Fortunately, he is recovering quickly but the impact that destroyed his scooter didn’t leave him in great shape either. In a recent interview with Miami New Times he explains the severity of his injuries.
“I have a hematoma. The muscle of my inner thigh was sliced in half and it’s regenerating slowly. There’s like a pool of blood in there and it takes a while for that shit to get cured. It looks pretty gross.”
For the most part, Ahol has been confined to his studio during the recovery — working, swimming and making art of course. Always humble and mindful of his roots, Ahol creates works with any tools and all media accessible to him.
“Creating is full-time. The mind never stops. Forward is the only way regardless of the speed bumps life puts in your tracks.”
During his recovery, he made digital artwork with images of random everyday things that inspired him. Check some out:
The Run
Ahol is on the run again and doing what he does best. Unfortunately, he has encountered another major speed bump — ridiculously high hospital bills (big up to our President for passing ObamaCare). As kind gesture to help cover the insanely high medical bills, Gregg Shienbaum offered Ahol his gallery to showcase and sell his work at no cost.
“A Wynwood regular and friend of the gallery, Robert De Los Rios came into the gallery and told me what had happened to Ahol and about his medical expenses. Immediately I said to Robert, Tell Ahol, that if he wants to do a show in the gallery, I will give him the whole gallery, and all the money will go to help pay his bills.”
From what we can gather the exhibit is going to be wonderful and since he has everything to do with it, the opening reception should be nothing short of a party. The evening’s festivities include a special DJ set, an open bar and a digital collaboration he has been working on with Freebase and Metro Zu.
Limited by his lack of mobility, Ahol initiated a cellular collaboration with his friends — Freebase and Metro Zu. During these photo chop sessions the artist sent images back and forth on their cell phones to create digital collaborations. These images will be projected in the gallery in a slideshow.
“The idea behind this show is that anything goes. I am always working and creating and so this show was bound to happen. I couldn’t be more thankful than to have the opportunity to show it in Gregg’s Gallery.”
A couple of weeks ago we had a quick chat with Ahol about the concept and content of Hit & Run for a piece we contributed to Purehoney.
“This has been an ongoing body of work I have been creating for quite sometime. Some are newer than others but all never seen before.”
The exhibition documents the past five years of Ahol’s artistic career and includes drawings, paintings and sculptures. He even climbed up on a ladder and painted a wall in the gallery despite his injuries.
“The place is huge! Paintings, drawings, multimedia, sculpture and a lot of surprises.”
Gregg Shienbaum will donate 100% of all sales of Ahol’s work in the exhibit.
“Ahol is a well known local Miami artist, who has given so much to the art community and I just felt that Wynwood and the art community needs to support him in his time of need. It is time for us to give back.”
Ahol has been an active and generous supporter of the local art community and has contributed to many charitable causes including the Wynwood Art Fair. Now it’s his turn to receive, don’t ya think? Gregg Shienbaum is giving Miami the opportunity to earn back some good karma by helping out he who has helped so many.