The Bodé Battle Monster Jam @ Amsterdam

The Bodé Battle Monster Jam - Mark Bodé and Chuckone head graffiti event on 18th July 2012

A very special opportunity for graffiti and comic fans takes place on Wednesday 18th July 2012 when Mark Bodé is the guest of honour at the 'Bodé Battle Monster Jam In Amsterdam'.

Organised by local Amsterdam graffiti and street artist Chuckone in association with ArTicks Gallery, the jam will take place in Koog aan de Zaan near Amsterdam. In addition to Mark Bodé and Chuckone, multiple artists will be painting simultaneously on walls adjacent to a skate park in what the Dutch call a 'graffiti-vrijplaats', which literally translates as 'graffiti free place' but actually designates an area free for graffiti artists to work in.

Mark is renowned the world over for his characters - voluptuous, sleepy eyed women, laid back lizards, and his late father Vaughn Bodé's alter ego, the Cheech Wizard, to name but a few. He is visiting Amsterdam with a collection of his latest works, to be exhibited at ArTicks Gallery from July 20th until August 4th 2012. Working in a range of media from pen and ink to spray-cans to tattoo guns, Mark Bodé is a much sought after artist both in terms of his work and as a collaborator with other artists.

In this case, some of Amsterdam's finest graffiti and spray-can artists will have the opportunity to work alongside Mark, who is planning a huge rendition of his painting 'Chaboochek', inspired by his father's drawing from his Science Fiction days during the late 60s. Says Mark, "A lot of these jams have been done in the past, so I'd like to have a theme that would make it different - a commentary on the horrors of war and the beauty of peace."

Though the style of both Bodés is colourful and cartoony, their subject matter has never shied away from the darker side of existence. Graffiti has traditionally reflected the concerns, and psyches, of its artists, and Mark's wish to "show the contrast of a bed of flowers with a beautiful broad and a war lizard… next to a violent war scene with death and destruction" summarizes the concerns of many.