The São Paulo street art scene is one of the best in the world, and it’s with a huge amount of excitement that we saw Collingwoods Backwoods Gallery has just released the info for Yusk Imai’s solo show. Yusk is a favourite of ours here and we’ve been following him for some time. We loev his intricately sketched out ink work, and his Exoskeleton project was, to put it bluntly, fucking amazing.

“Despite being born in the United States, and of Japanese descent, it is the vibrant city energy and graffiti culture of his home town São Paulo that has played the most distinctive role in developing Yusk Imai’s artistic vision. Yusk represents the vanguard of a new generation of emerging Brazilian artists. His style transcends that of the hackneyed, commonplace

street art often seen gracing street and gallery walls, and is the very reason that he is universally considered a unique character. Yusk’s works are emotionally rich with spiritual messages and ask questions about human nature, our aspirations and our identity. His fine motifs and distinctive palette are an unquestionable nod to the masters of Art Nouveau. Timely then, that we see this exhibition running concurrently with the National Gallery of Victoria’s blockbuster Vienna exhibition.

You Have No Chance With Coincidence is a collection of works that explores life, love and death, interwoven through oils, acrylics, aerosol and inks, and all crafted through a delicate balance of determination and chance. It is a big collection, both in size and importance as it represents a significant chapter in the artist’s life.

This exhibition was completed as he made his way across Europe during the course of the year -painting walls and working shitty jobs. The installations and statues were created during his residency at Backwoods and Everfresh Studio over the course of the last month.”

It’s always an absolute pleasure to see an artists from beyond our shores working and exhibiting here, and Yusk is one cool damned creative talent. If you’re in Vic over September, don’t miss this show – its  São Paulo street art meets Melbourne street art, and its going to be awesome.

Who: Yusk Imai
What: You Have No Chance With Coincidence solo show
Where: Backwoods Gallery, 25 Easey Street, Collingwood, VIC
When: Show opens 6pm, Friday September 9th and runs til 25th September

Check out the Backwoods Gallery website for more info, as well as Yusk Imai’s website – it’s pretty damn cool.