Trenton365
Karey Maurice Counts
Red Balloon Studios
Trenton, Ewing or NYC you
choose either way KMC wants respect! Not
in the arrogant way the text may suggest but to understand the current state of
art in Trenton had several people who led, paved or blazed the way. KAMO as he is also known has various terms
that describe his craft one of them is MDNP-Multi-dimensional Neo-Pop artist.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
We met several years ago in
his
Trenton studio located in the
Conduit building on Broad Street.
At that time he was creating
mixed media
pieces with a focus
on spray paint.
Going back further
Karey shares about his exposure
to blueprints, maps
and how he
navigated the streets of Trenton
as a courier.
 |
| L-R Vanity Sabelnik, TC Nelson, Karey Maurice Counts |
During our conversation
shortly after
his opening at Trenton Social he
shared about growing up in Ewing
and his early life in art. His experiences
traveling to the “village” in NY and
hanging in the art scene that gave him
exposure to other artists who are
now household names like Keith Haring.
As his talent grew and because of his
relationship with the art scene in NY Karey no doubt recognized and adopted the
belief in the following statements he shared with me.
“Art is a business and all
artists should look at it this way, a lack of respect for this will devalue the
artist and all of their work!”
“Artist should consider a
contract including details on purchase, sale, rental and where it can be
shown.”
“Keep a database of work
created with complete documentation.
This will help to protect
your legacy.”
KAMO wanted me to make it
very clear that art is a market and people would be wise to look into owning original
art. He gave an example of how it
bothers him that parents will spend $100 for sneakers that are mass-produced
and then thrown away. He suggested they
consider spending $50 on the kicks and $50 on some art! I know if Karey had his way the term starving
artist would be erased from our lips along with bullying and racism.
Karey also shared his interests
in several genres of music especially house.
 |
| KMC with WTSR DJ Ms. Sue/Ms. Sue So nice they named her twice! |
 |
| A few of KAMO's friends |
Other interests include traveling, European and Mediterranean countries,
Miami, mountain biking and spending time with friends. He closed our time together with a “nugget”
by sharing he has more photographic work then anything, of course it’s
cataloged and in storage. Maybe he will
let me see some of those items the next time.
Karey Maurice Counts is a conscientious
man with a focus on sharing and acknowledging the past. His physical limitations have slowed his
movements but not his craft! Take a look
at his work and get in touch.
