Nationality American Name Emit Emit | Role Artist | |
Born 1971 Hartford, Connecticut Known for Graffiti art, graphic design, The Firm Graphics Style Graffiti art, Street art Website Emit on Flickr Emit on Instagram
DF Crew | ||
Emit, also known as Emit One, EMIT, or Emit DF, is an American graphic designer and graffiti artist. After starting his career on the east coast as a member of the IMOK crew, he co-founded the notable DF crew in the early 1990s, painting large-scale works throughout Connecticut, Boston, and New York. Emit moved from Newtown to Denver, Colorado in 1995, where he joined The Firm Graphics in 1999. As lead web designer for the company he has promoted events such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Lights All Night, Paradiso, and Electric Forest among others.
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As of 2007 he was a member of both the RTD crew and Guerilla Garden crew in Denver, the latter of which Denver Westword named "Best Graffiti-Advocates in Denver" in 2007. Emit was interviewed in the online Artillery Magazine in Australia in 2012, and has been invited to paint murals for US events such as Scribble Jam, Colorado Crush, Xstatic Croatia, and the Paradiso Festival. According to Michael Roberts of Denver Westword, "EMIT is known for his clean, east coast-influenced style."
1990s: First crews
Emit was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1971. He started his career in street art and graffiti in 1989, painting highways, trains lines, and rooftops throughout Connecticut, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.. He joined the IMOK Crew in 1990, noted as one of the first "multi" city graffiti crews. Emit was then a founding member of the DF Crew in 1991, along with artists such as Sub, Kaws, Cycle, Gaze, Jive, Tdee, Nace, Fact, Rapes, Scribe, Lead, Dalek, When, Vogues, Ouija, Merz, Rem, Aero, Noble, Quiso, and Seak. In the early 1990s, he and other DF crew members such as Sub, Kaws, Gaze, and Tdee focused on largescale themed productions throughout the east coast. By 1993 he had been commissioned as a muralist by local businesses in New York.
2000s: Work in Denver
Emit moved to Denver, Colorado in 1995, where he worked on murals for Together Productions until the late 1990s. He helped start The Firm Graphics with DJ and promotor Steve Blakely of Denver in 1999. As lead web designer and head of internet, through the company he has promoted large music events such as Electric Daisy Carnival. The Firm also helped produce the 2006 graffiti book Idiots on Parade, which featured the DF graffiti crew. While at Firm Graphics he continued to paint independently, and since 2000 has been commissioned by companies such as Denver Pavilions and Breckenridge Ski Resort. In 2005 he took part in the Scribble Jam in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 2007 Emit was a judge for the Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament held in Los Angeles.
By early 2007 he was a member of the RTD crew in Denver, as well as Guerilla Garden, a crew founded in 2005 that Denver Westword dubbed "Denver's unofficial graffiti-advocacy organization," further explaining that "its members are some of the city's top graffers, including Jher, Jolt, Voice, Crims, Koze and Emit." The group works with galleries and other organizations to help underground muralists obtain legal work, and in February 2007 Emit contributed to a gallery show organized by Guerilla Garden at the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council, with all proceeds going to the Bridge Project.
2010-14: Recent projects
From 2010 to 2012 he was commissioned to do artwork for festivals such as the XStatic Festival in Croatia, as well as local businesses such as First Drop Clothing Company in Boulder, Colorado. In 2012, he organized a "style swap" along with other artists such as East, Serval, and Bacon and he has also painted with notable artists such as Scribe and Mike Giant.
Emit was interviewed in the online Artillery Magazine in Australia in 2012, and after working on a number of commissions, he contributed a mural to the Colorado Crush Graffiti Festival in 2013. He has also been invited to paint murals and works for US events and festivals such as the Paradiso Festival, held at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington.
Artistic style
According to Michael Roberts of Denver Westword in late 2014, "EMIT is known for his clean, east coast-influenced style." Emit paints with a sharp style of graffiti art that incorporates both 3D and 2D painting, creating the appearance of layers and depth.