This August is one year since I installed yellow paper in the window of the Cranky Yellow shop and closed down the space. I never really felt Cranky Yellow was over, rather just entering a new phase of existence. I had become so overwhelmed and stressed by the physical space that is was utterly necessary to shed that layer to re-connect with the essence of Cranky. Thus began a year long renewal; for myself, the brand and the way in which those two identities connect.
In November of 2011, as I finished clearing out the space at 2847 Cherokee, I sat and considered everything Cranky Yellow had been over the five previous years. I didn’t see the end of a body of work, rather a blank slate upon which so much more can happen. The space was empty and white. Such a contrast to the packed colorful hive Cranky Yellow had been. From that emptiness, anything could happen. I knew this would be the beginning for someone to do work in that space and also the start of my own evolution Post-Cherokee. I was exhausted but not ready to give in for good. A little time was necessary to make sense of the path that lay ahead.
While I missed the shop regularly and struggled for a few months about the loss of the palpable nature of defined space, I began conceptualizing the personality of Cranky Yellow; calling it CY9. Creating in my mind’s eye a soul of CY that could drift out of the demise of the shop and re-invent the brand all together. The entire process tempered and perfected further creative aspirations for Cranky. I set to work creating a new non-physical space to push this idea beyond the scope of anything I had done before. I kept my work a secret and only posted cryptic clues via social media for everyone still following CY developments. I dug deeper to further advance CY9 as an ideational structure ready for realization.
I continued to focus heavily on the visual attributes of CY9 and how to better define the sensory experience of viewing this new chapter of Cranky Yellow. Taking a nearly psychedelic aesthetic and applying it across all the work; elaborating on the vision of CY which I had been creating through the previous physical spaces. Making it a point that it is possible to ‘BE WONDER’ in tangible reality or in phenomenal representations through art. Modifying my vision to bring a cohesive, authentic and colorful style into the future of the brand.
It is so energizing to finally be sharing CY9 with you! Really take some time and enjoy browsing through the depths of this website, get involved and return often. This new phase of Cranky Yellow is important because it represents the ability for art and identity to adapt in order to facilitate further growth and the continuation of a body of work without boundaries.
This is only phase one and we have many more planned to release to you over the coming months. I hope you will stick around to see what we have prepared. It will be stunning and I am really humbled to keep sharing the cranky experience with you! Thank you for your continued support and inspiration! Leave a comment below; I would really love to hear from you after this year of transformation. Thank you!
