Brooklyn Artist Inspired By His Graffiti-Filled Past

By: Stephanie Simon

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A Brooklyn artist who grew up doing graffiti now embraces the fine art world without leaving the streets too far behind. NY1's Arts reporter Stephanie Simon filed the following report.

You can take the artist out of Brooklyn, but you can't take Brooklyn out of the art. Michael "Mr. Kaves" McLeer was once a graffiti artist on the streets of Brooklyn, but now that he is having his first solo gallery show in TriBeCa, his work brings the neighborhood with him.

"I'm always inspired by Brooklyn, about growing up in New York City, and it shows up a lot in my work -- in the landscapes, in the street poles, the fire escapes," says McLeer.

McLeer started doing graffiti at the age of 10 and later he got into the music scene with his rap rock group Lordz of Brooklyn, perhaps best known for their 1995 release "Saturday Nite Fever."

His fondest memory from back in the day was meeting Run DMC during the filming of "Krush Groove."

"I have my graffiti book with me, my piece book with me, and they, you know, they say 'Hold the doors.' So they have to hold the doors for somebody, and in walks in Run DMC and Jam-Master Jay. So boom, there's your moment," says McLeer. "They see me with my book and they know what a piece book is and they all signed my piece book. And i still have that that picture today."

Now McLeer is collaborating with DMC on his new song "Welcome To The Eastside."

McLeer's new exhibit, "New York, New York: Big City of Dreams," features a tribute to his friend, the late Jam-Master Jay, also of Run DMC. The exhibit just opened at the Hionas Gallery in TriBeCa, and it features many of his city heroes.

He also has a tattoo parlour, Brooklyn Made Tattoo, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The reason why McLeer is known as "Mr. Kaves" dates all the way back to way before he was even old enough to be a "Mister."

"I was a 10-year-old kid drawing in the street with chalk and an older, more famous graffiti artist witnessed me, seeing that I had talent, and kind of mentored me and handed down the name to me," McLeer says. "So when the street gives you your name, that's your name."

So "Mr. Kaves" continues to embrace the name and the neighborhood.