We're out here... by Evan La Ruffa

Art isn't just for galleries.

It's also meant to exist where we live, work, and play.

You know, the places where our lives occur.

Whether in our hobbies, our homes, our decor, or our state of mind, art is an option. It's a way for us to appreciate, express, and customize.

A way for us to be, do, and exist in a way that feels authentic to us.

Find out what you like, and make it ... research it... find it... buy it.

Because leaning in to the art YOU like is about the 99.999999999% of the world that doesn't exist in fine art museums, galleries, or collection storage.

At the end of the day... we're out here.

Notes to Self: The Secret to Investing by Evan La Ruffa

Work, testing, learning and becoming better at what we do and who we are, is the investment.

You must have known I wasn’t talking about stocks and bonds.

If the investment is the time we spend on the things we care about, then maybe the nonlinear growth of an investment portfolio is actually a good example.

Some days we are up.

Some days we are down.

But long term investment means taking our lumps, staying determined, and moving forward with the plan.

The plan can change (what stocks we invest in) but the approach (investment) stays the same.

The secret to investing is knowing that that’s what we’re doing.

So let’s go ‘head now…

Invest.

Notes to Self: On Noticing by Evan La Ruffa

Making art means noticing.

Noticing color, line, shadow, texture, & light.

Another big thing you notice when making art is an internal compulsion to propel a certain perspective into making it real.

Turning a thought about approach into a series of actions producing the art itself is a lot of fun.

It feels like cooking.

Or magic.

Don’t forget to notice…

(Inside and outside ourselves.)

New Art Available Today + Life Update by Evan La Ruffa

I am releasing a bunch of new artwork that I have made over the past few months in places like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oaxaca.

EvanLaRuffa.com/shop

The process of going from advocate to artist is more about which seat I am sitting in and what project I am working on, than it is the actual assessment of a new title or role.

I have been making this Post All Bills series for years now.

It’s felt like an organic extension of my perspective of being a human on this earth.

I love life. I love feelings. I love richness. I love texture. I love people. I love breathing.

And I love art.

I love watching it, seeing it, hearing it, tasting it, talking about it, selling it, finding it, and sharing it.

Since the days when we were spending time in NYC often, going back and forth for Lindsey’s work stuff and my sheer love of the energy, art, and action of it offers, I began working on this fun idea to recontextualize these tiny urban vignettes by finding them, then manipulating them digitally, using a tool we all have access to, to create something that never existed before.

Downtown LA is a playground for my work, and I am super happy with the 4 Kobe Bryant inspired pieces included in this drop... here is one of them...

Post All Bills No. 8 & 24 (Kobe Bryant, RIP - Purple - Lakers Edition) - 1/1 (30x39in)

The thread pulled has taken me to more cities, to more decayed walls, to examine more tattered paper, exposed wood and grit, perhaps a sticker, some spray paint, and a letter here and there.

Los Angeles is perfect. Mexico City is perfect. And most recently, I found Oaxaca to be perfect.

A new kind of perfect. A new spin on places where I have harvested these photos. A place where there is more color in the background, interesting lighting (especially at night), and fewer layers, rendering some of the finished artwork potent, stout, and primary in a way that I really love.

Like this one… which is available in a large format on my website….

Amid this new release we’ve also been plotting a big adventure for the family…

Moving to Oaxaca for 5 months in 2025.

We’re beyond excited. We’re doing the thing we said we wanted to do.

But the big plans, my changing identity as a creative person making things and sharing them has felt destabilizing. Or maybe it’s just the nervous discomfort of doing something exciting…

Then again, I’ve done this a few times before… whether closing IPMM’s gallery or our most recent donation campaign to support schools permanently - I try to read the patterns, figure out what feels right for me (us), and make a move that is BOLD.

Whether in my photography, my relationships, or my location.

Here is a shot of me harvesting photos in Oaxaca…

Here is a mockup of one of my prints in a cool space…

Here’s me making a silly face so I have something Instagram will show people… it likes faces more than art…

Here’s some mole that changed my life in Oaxaca…

And my new Etsy shop will have certain releases not available on my website… so check that out too…

Think mini prints and t-shirts! :)

Visit my shop to see every print released today, and please share with anyone you think might enjoy or potentially even purchase!

EvanLaRuffa.com/shop

Notes to Self: On Priorities by Evan La Ruffa

Priorities are an editing mechanism.

When our lists are short, we eliminate the space trash around our work (or life), and focus.

This means…

1. Needles move, they don’t wobble.

2. Anxiety is reduced greatly.

3. Things slow down - something most of us say we want.

3 items.

That’s it.

Noon will be here soon.

No need to cloud our brains and fire off stress responses.

Priorities mean we know what we have to do.

Notes to Self: On DOINGNESS by Evan La Ruffa

As a way to differentiate things a bit, I’m creating a few categories for my blog posts to help readers, friends, collectors, and colleagues tap in to the aspects of what I do that interest them.

Notes to Self will be the types of small reflections I’ve often shared here. Little ditties, takeaways, or patterns recognized. Mostly in myself, but also likely, in us.

Energy transference happens when we give and receive, and a self-perpetuating cycle of reciprocity ensues with most of existence. I have no silver bullet for eliminating all friction, tension, and doubt.

But I do have 41 years of data that reminds me that we get what we put in, and that stimulating this self-perpetuating cycle of DOINGNESS is magic.

Give, take, seed, and work.

Oaxaca by Evan La Ruffa

One word: amazing.

In Oaxaca, art is in everything.

Every door, facade, street corner, in galleries, in kitchens, by the roadside, up above you in the form of papel picado and in the warmth of the people.

We spent 5 days there researching it for a potential move… a move that looks more real. 5 months next year.

To switch things up, slow things down, make art, and push on the next phase of IPMM and my own artwork.

The fall drop will include works I made in Oaxaca and Mexico City… and if you need recommendations on great food and art in either Oaxaca or Mexico City, these links will do you right.

10.10 is coming soon… more art updates to come…

Fall Drop ... 10/10/24 by Evan La Ruffa

I will be previewing artwork I have been making in advance of a fall drop…

Gonna release work in batches… it’s here, and then it isn’t!

Collections, batches, series… ya know! Like with like, so you can buy more than one. This work I just posted was from the night series I shot in LA recently. An awesome turning point for the direction of my work, for sure.

I just posted the next 6 in that first batch of 7 for the fall drop.

Check them out!

Ups and downs + night shots by Evan La Ruffa

….. I know I am trying to moderate between them with more ease.

Sometimes I feel like I am ping ponging between feeling unstoppable and supremely stopped.

But I bet most of us have some version of that.

I just recently, as in, over the last few years, realized that I have anxiety. I just never thought of myself as an anxious person, but I also think it was the product of youth. Being a dad changes who you’re living for.

That said, if I’m honest, I haven’t always been super forward-facing about my challenges. I have often been vocal about the things I like to celebrate or view positively. Again, another thing I think many of us do.

But the reality is that I have the same insecurities all of us do.

But my animal brain still tricks me. There’s no lion hunting me, but shit, sometimes it sure feels like it.

I’ll begin previewing a batch of photos I shot in downtown LA last week… at night. I am super excited about the low light and what has come of these works.

Check those out on my Instagram… I posted the 1st one yesterday and I plan on releasing 1/1’s of each of them in a single drop, likely in early October.

I love y’all.

When in doubt… by Evan La Ruffa

Don’t buy art as a financial investment vehicle…

Buy it as an emotional investment.

The World Health Organization reported that participation in arts can reduce depression and anxiety by 30% and 40%, respectively.

Not bad for a non-medical solution.

We often think of blue chip art as a way the wealthy diversify, but don’t consider why a single piece of art could fetch millions of dollars in the 1st place…

Because of its power.

Because of emotions provoked… by so many people, then supply & demand does its magic.

When in doubt, and as a reminder…

If you need some uplift… ART!

My next art show... 7/27/24 by Evan La Ruffa

Saturday, July 27th from 6-9pm at Storm Print City Gallery in Evanston, IL.

2601 Prairie Avenue, to be exact.

There will be new work, some classic work, exclusive merch, drinks, live printing, and more… we don’t know exactly… we’re open to serendipity.

The text below is part of a design Russ adn I are releasing in limited quantities on premium shirts.

…..

art won’t buy itself SO

be the change you hope to see

and

put your money where your mouth is

because we need you AND

art needs you

AND

each piece of art you purchase is an investment

in A future where

beauty AND community matters

….

Follow me on Instagram for previews of new work that will be in the show!

ART is... by Evan La Ruffa

ART is...

All the songs you have ever played on repeat.
All the movies whose scripts you've basically memorized.
All the concerts at which you both lost your mind and found your booty.
All the fly clothing that has ever been worn.
All the incredible museums that have ever existed.
Every beautiful building ever designed and built.
Every mural you've ever walked past.
Every street musician that stopped you in your tracks.
Every asset ever designed with color, shape, and text.

How valuable is art? You tell me...

What is art? EVERYTHING.

My Artist Statement + by Evan La Ruffa

For all my life, really, I have made art. Illustrations as a kid, which gave way to a lot of writing, then the visual arts after college with illustration and line work, and then most recently, photography. I am attracted to ideas more than process, and love how new tools flatten the earth, and give more and more of us a chance to be creative.

My photography has run the gamut - from the dark room in high school where I seemed to love multiple exposures more than most, then live concerts, an emphasis on black and white architecture, and dabbling with SLR’s, until coming to my most recent body of work, which is a series entitled ‘Post All Bills.’ The series was born in New York City, where you can’t help but pass by various Post No Bills walls, of which everyone, quite predictably, posts bills. Ads for concerts, products, anything, really. As they are worn, tattered, torn at, and obliterated by humans, moisture, sun, and wind, they yield layers, segments, and compositions that please me to no end.

Finding them is the first part. Being lucky enough to coincide with them, temporally. After that it is up to me to turn them into more, to discover what else they have to offer, manipulating them in post-production, creating new moments that never existed.

This series has been shot entirely on iPhones. I am not a purist, a snob, or one of these people that thinks because they spent more money on their equipment that they are inherently better at what they do, or that photography isn’t actually more about awareness and light than tech snobbery.

My work is accessible, born from the street, made in cities, and the product of one question: what does it look like from over there? And how can I bring this to life in a new way, a way that makes someone feel good, lose time, and enjoy.

….

It was funny to show my work recently at Gallery Cafe on North Avenue - shifting my perspective from advocate to artist and feeling a bit shy about my newfound role.

I will be releasing a new batch of prints in my shop soon, as well as a special edition large format piece that I am really excited to share… and which you can uncover a sneak peek of if you head to my instagram account…

I also plan to release certain pieces only via Instagram, as well as some smaller pieces, and a few variant sets.

If you didn’t know I have a Virtual Art Gallery experience on my website (and why would you, I really haven’t told anyone, lol) - go check it out!

A really cool organization called CultureVerse out of Michigan helped sort that for me, and they do so for many other artists as well, as far as helping us create these virtual experiences of our work.

Thanks for your time & attention!

- Ev

An Update by Evan La Ruffa

Hey folks!

I want to thank everyone who is still on this list… it has existed for many years now and has always been a vague intersection point, which is part of why I think I have had a hard time keeping it consistent.

Life is busy with family, business, and art, as well as all the mundane, trivial, ironic, interesting, hard, and exciting things about life.

It’s also why I plan on using this space a little differently, and wanted to let you know in case it wasn’t something you wanted to keep getting.

In short, it’s going to be broader, not more specific.

You might hear about something we’re working on IPaintMyMind, the latest art I am working on, a quick reflection, a mention of a project of mine or one I find inspiring, etc etc etc etc.

As such, IPaintMyMind recently approved an exciting 2-year plan that will see us donate 365 pieces of art totaling $73,000 to Chicago Public Schools and investing in more outreach to art teachers nationwide. I had my first solo art show at Gallery Cafe which is closing soon, and have some other fun things in the work with respect to my own art.

I’ve also been building up a new project managing and representing artists, as well as working with residential clients on building their art collections.

Our family has some big plans and I’m excited about how life is changing, morphing, flipping and finding new ways to engage, entice, and perplex me.

I hope you’re well…

And I hope you’ll stay…

Un abrazo fuerte.

Don't let it go unsaid by Evan La Ruffa

So much goes unsaid in life.

But it doesn’t need to. In fact, it shouldn’t.

We often are so worried about whether or not what we say will be accepted, when really, we should be thinking about how what we have to say so desperately needs to be heard.

I’m not talking about telling someone off or leaning in to bravado.

I am talking about that short, supportive ditty.

That extra thing that will lift someone else, which takes 5 seconds, and costs absolutely nothing.

We each are so much for so many people.

Let them know that when they are their authentic selves, kind, brilliant, creative, sweet, supportive, successful, or just try hard… that they have “made it.”

Let others know when you appreciate, look up to, or see them for who they are.

There is nothing more connective than that.

How is culture by Evan La Ruffa

It’s all about HOW we do what we do…

The quality, feeling, tact, aroma, craft, style, and energy of it.

How we speak to each other….

How we listen…..

How we get things done.

How is culture.

A shared vision for the hue, the je ne sais quoi of the work or mission we build together.

There are tons of ways to get somewhere, but the energy we imbue the project with is paramount.

Goals by Evan La Ruffa

Setting goals is the type of audacious act that propels plans into reality.

They’re not corny, they’re empowering.

Own and activate your possibility.

Think. Say. Do.

Have the thought, write it down and share it with others, then implement the plan!

Note: the first two parts are actually the hardest part….

I am finalizing my goals for 2024 and will share them so that you all can help me make them real.

Thanks in advance!