Stencil Nation

Thu., Nov. 20, 7 p.m., free, Wooden Shoe Books, 508 S. Fifth St. 215-413-0999, woodenshoebooks.com.

by Dianca Potts

Books

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Russell Howze is takin' it to the streets. Hitting the road this month in support of his summertime release, Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art (Manic D Press), Howze will explore the underground phenomenon of a definitively urban art form: "Stencil art is ... more liberating in comparison to more traditional forms of artistic expression," Howze says. "You can take an image and repeat it all across the world if you want to. You don't have to work on canvas, stay on a gallery wall or paint in a specific location. You can even stencil stickers and mail them out to other people to stick up in other cities." 

Tonight's one-hour presentation will focus on an overview of the art form, verbal and visual, including a slide show, examples of stencil art from around the world and actual cut stencils. In addition, Howze plans to go hunting for some of Philly's own stencil art. "I'm looking forward to wandering some alleys and streets in Philly so I can find some work to put on my Stencil Archive Web site," says Howze. "It'll be good to go back to the source of modern graffiti as we know it, which started in Philly and blew up in NYC soon after. Personally, I think I enjoy discovering it more than anything."

Thu., Nov. 20, 7 p.m., free, Wooden Shoe Books, 508 S. Fifth St. 215-413-0999, woodenshoebooks.com.