Writer Charline Stoelzaed

With the collection In Sickness and in Health, a twenty-nine year project comes to an end for photographer Colin Gray. This is the final installment of a portrayal of Gray’s own parents, part of a piece of work that began in the eighties. The images that are often choreographed and humorous. Gray tracks the deterioration of his mother, Rene, in an attempt to find personal relief by immortalizing her agonising death. Bedridden following a stroke, the final chapter of the series The Parents depict Rene’s final days, no longer a caring wife and mother, but a ward of her caregiver husband, Ron. Assembled like a play, with blank pages indicating the succeeding phases of Rene’s illness, Gray’s images move back and forth between clinical registrations and impressionistic emblems with unseen colours and shapes. The voyeurism reflected in several scenes is strengthened by sub-temperature lighting, and brought back into balance by the subtle but unmistakable story of a life that is full of stories, and that shimmer through the images. In Sickness and in Health demonstrates Gray’s strong sensitivity to composition that is as just as often architectural as organic, while always making perfect sense. This concluding chapter puts the ugliness of the dependent and the concept of decay against the unconditional nurturing in the face of which the external disappears.

Colin Gray: In Sickness and In Health

Published by Steidl

Available from Amazon here

Photography Melika Ngombe

The fashion world is all drama – you need look no further than the catty goings-on of industry grandees  Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent. In her gripping book “The Beautiful Fall” Alicia Drake describes the bitter rivalry between the two iconic designers, while dishing up a sneaky behind-the-scenes look at Paris fashion in the 70s. Drake, a seasoned fashion journalist, dives into the biographies of the two men and paints a vivid double portrait of their unwittingly intertwined lives. Intrigue, ambition and glamour in an enthralling mix, a fascinating read for both fashion insiders and outsiders.

Alicia Drake: The Beautiful Fall

Available from Amazon here

If you were to illustrate the word ‘love’ through one photograph, what would it be? We’re planning on running a photography gallery on our website on Monday 13th February to be entitled The Love Movement. The idea is simple: curate an online collection of photographs that, in one way or the other, allude to the word ‘love’.

What’s the idea behind Trash TV?

I was born with TV, grew up with it and realised how shitty it actually is. I just had to do something about it. First Trash TV was a term only used in the US, until about 10 years ago, when we could observe the same development here in Belgium. The Trash TV installation explores five themes: childhood, reality TV, sex, games and American sitcoms.

What’s the message you want to pass on?

There’s not really a message behind it. It’s more about just pointing out the current state of television, what we have to live with at the moment.

In your installation you throw TVs into a bin – do you own a TV?

Yes, I own one and I watch pretty much everything. But I look at it in a different way, to get inspired for my work.

What’s your biggest criticism of television as it is today?

It’s continuously becoming less and less interesting. We are watching emptiness. We cannot just leave it at that.

Who’s responsible for that? The viewers who make ratings of questionnable shows go up or the TV makers who assume that the viewers are stupid? It’s the old discussion of what was first – the chicken or the egg…

For me the TV makers are responsible. They try to copy the US where TV is horrible. They play commercials all the time, even when there might be an interesting programme it’s difficult to watch because of that. There’s a lot of money behind it, it’s nothing that can change overnight.

Your exhibition is quite eclectic actually and shows many different aspects of your work – can you tell me more about your fusion of magazines and iPods?

I wanted to play with technology and combine a medium of the past (the magazines) with a medium of the future (the iPod). Who knows how magazines will develop? Will they even still exist in 30 years? Will they maybe have moving images inside?

You also show your classic magazine cuttings that you are most known for.

Yes, it’s some of the newer pieces. My technique is much more refined now and I pay more attention to details.

Magazines are almost like a religion nowadays. They tell you how to dress, what to eat, where to go out, how to live.

The exhibition also includes an installation dealing with Belgian politics and recently you did a project on the G8 countries. Is your art becoming more political?

A big no. I really don’t want to be a political artist, not at all. But when something so absurd happens as Belgium being without a government for ages and politicians singing the national anthem wrong – then I just have to do something on it, I cannot ignore it. In the G8 project I focused on the flags and played with that aspect that countries can be like brands as Nike or Honda for example.

How would you describe your artistic development since you started?

My art evolved over time. I explored different themes but always went into the same direction. My artwork gets updated by what happens around me – take the technologic developments for instance.

What’s your working process like? How do you start out when you make a new piece? Do you make drawings?

Everything happens in my head. When I have an idea I get completely obsessed with it and cannot sleep anymore until I’ve figured it out. So I plan everything in my head and then I just do it.

Why magazines? Did they always have a special place in your life?

Yes, I’m very passionate when it comes to magazines. I’ve regularly been reading magazines ever since I’m 10 years old. There is so much information inside them, images, colours…and as they usually only survive for a limited amount of time and end up in the garbage after a week or so, I wanted to give them a second life. And I feel like the people behind them don’t get enough credit, they never have their moment of glory. Also, I find that magazines are almost like a religion nowadays. They tell you how to dress, what to eat, where to go out…how to live in society.

What is your favourite magazine?

The Word Magazine of course (laughs)! I like WAD, Photo, Playboy, Vogue, Wallpaper, Artpress, Graffiti Art, … there’s a lot of good stuff out there.

How long does it take you to transform one single magazine?

It depends – sometimes a few hours, at other times several days. I like to work parallel at different pieces so I can stop and come back to them later.

Which other artists have influenced you?

Artists who took objects and gave it a second life, as Marcel Duchamp or Marcel Broodthaers.

What inspires you?

Life. Life and its absurdities.

Christophe Coppers’ Trash TV runs until 25th February

Bodson Emelinckx, Rue de Henninstraat 70 – 1050 Brussels

www.bodson-emelinckx.com

Subway by Bruce Davidson published by Steidl / www.steidlville.com

With its more than 1,000 kms of tracks, 460 stations and several millions of rides delivered each day of the year, New York’s subway system is a world of its own, tirelessly running through its five boroughs like ever-pulsating veins, the nervous system to the city that never sleeps. American photographer and Magnum member Bruce Davidson infamously captured this urban microcosm on film back in 1986, focusing his lens on the commuters, musicians, train conductors, thugs, vagabonds, businessmen and buskers that made up the underground’s make-up at the time. And, given the particularly dangerous nature of the subway back in the 1980s, this was no small feat. Davidson: “As I went down the subway stairs, through the turnstile, and onto the darkened station platform, a sinking sense of fear gripped me. I grew alert, and looked around to see who might be standing by, waiting to attack. The subway was dangerous at any time of the day or night, and everyone who rode it knew this and was on guard at all times; a day didn’t go by without the newspapers reporting yet another hideous subway crime. Passengers on the platform looked at me, with my expensive camera around my neck, in a way that made me feel like a tourist-or a deranged person.” It is precisely this prevailing sense of tension that make Davidson’s visual journey so mesmerising, each of his subjects, for example, portrayed with haunting authenticity, staring zomby-eyed into Davidson’s direction. More than 25 years on, and although the book has been given a Steidl update (it now comes with additional unpublished photographs), Davidson’s work has aged magnificently, remaining a vivid and powerful reflection of the city’s past.

Bruce Davidson: Subway

Published by Steidl

Available from Amazon here

All photography Pauline Miko

Knitted cardigan from Henrik Vibskov and scarf by SPRB

As its name suggest, Danish designer Henrik Vibskov‘s Nordic Kimono – a heavy-knit oversized cardigan with tie belt – astutely blends Japanese cuts with Nordic patterns, bringing the best of both worlds together. A unique piece that scores house points both for its originality but also for the quality of its craftsmanship, the cardigan is made out of Merino wool and is cut to perfection (fitted but with enough room for manoeuvre should the Christmas dinner get out of hand). Topped by this exquisite hand-knitted scarf-come-hoodie made by Dutch imprint SPRB, and we’ve concocted the perfect solution for winter snuggles.

Thursday 23rd December’s proposal: Maison Fabre gloves and Il Bussetto coin purse

Taking colour-coded style to new heights, we’ve selected two items today guaranteed to bring smiles around the Christmas tree. First up, a family of leather-clad colourtastic gloves for women from venerable French glove-makerMaison Fabre. With a palette that tilts towards the bold and beautiful and a cut that aims for the timeless, the decade-old family business once again confirms its reputation for excellency. Next up is Italian imprint Il Bussetto‘s elegant coin purses, handcrafted using an ancient Italian manufacturing technique. Available in three different sizes and with a range of different colours to choose from, they’ll sit perfectly with the gloves.

Wednesday 21st December’s proposal: Good One sweater and Calourette necklace

As stylish as it is eco-conscious, this effortless, slightly-on-the-quirky-side sweater from London-based sustainable fashion imprint Good One stands out through its colour-patterned design, the label’s trademark look. Combining modern and contemporary features with an innovative production method (known as ‘up-cycling’, a trend that blends sustainable fabrics with reclaimed textiles), this unstructured pullover will appeal to the fashion-fiends keen to add a little lightheartedness to their wardrobes. Add to that the restrained sparkle of this necklace (made of real walnut and real silver) from Calourette – a French jewellery label with a knack for playful and original creations – and you have yourself another sure-fire duo of Christmas pleasers.

Tuesday 20th December’s proposal: Faguo & Johnstons of Elgin high tops and Alexander Wang hoodie

We’re suckers for collaborations here at Word HQ, especially when they bring seemingly opposing forces together. In steps French upstart sneaker label Faguo (The brand that pioneered the ‘buy-plant-support’ business model) and Johnstons of Elgin, a Scottish imprint that is over 200 years old (its tweed and cashmere are favourites of the British Royal Family). The unlikely pair have teamed up  on this Scottish-themed high top that combines Faguo’s modern and elegant design with Johnstons’ exceptional fabrics (the shoe is made of authentic Scottish tweed), bringing a little bit of Highland authenticity to the street. And, since we’re on the topic of street-savyness, we’ve picked out this Alexander Wang wool and cashmere hoodie as the best one to rock with the high tops – hands down.

Monday 19th December’s proposal: Asus N55S and Coffee Spot

In barista world, coffee enjoys the same kind of precision rating as wine. Indeed, the (somewhat belated) emergence of coffee joints in our cities has been accompanied by issues of bean quality, provenance and processing. What’s more, the image of the barista has evolved from one of spotty teenagers trying to make some pocket money to well-travelled, knowledgable coffee captains whose passion for the bean is second to none. Well, they now have a trusted little companion in the shape of this handy little coffee spot book. Designed by DeInvasie.be founder Yves Drieghe and printed in Belgium on an original Heidelberg press, think of the book as your very own little ratings agency on paper, a 100-page strong archive of all your coffee experiences. And, just in case the paper runs out or your pencil gives in, we suggest you take this sleek and sexy new notebook from Asus along. Called the N-Series, its built-in HD camera and Bang & Olufsen powered sound system (complete with subwoofer) makes it ripe for coffee lounge media consumption.

Friday 16th December’s proposal: Contacts DVD and 032c

Contacts is a comprehensive and exhaustive three-DVD boxset collection of movies (English, French and German audio) which profiles the world’s greatest photographers in a fresh and unashamedly personal way. Everyone from Sarah Moon, Jeff Wall or even Henri Cartier-Bresson takes to the camera, revealing secrets behind their iconic images and providing insights into their singular artistic approaches. A captivating behind-the-scenes look, the documentaries often make for exhilarating accounts and manage to picture these legendary photographers in their natural habitat: in the darkroom, on location or in the studio. And, to complete your Sunday afternoon culture fix, a yearly subscription to culture bible 032c (the self-proclaimed Manual for Freedom, Research and Creativity) will ensure you remain on top of your game as far as everything fashion, art and culture is concerned.

Thursday 15th December’s proposal: Santal Massoia perfume by Hermès and l’Eau de Villée limited edition bottle by Manor Grunwald

Since 2004 Jean-Claude Ellena, the mastermind behind all Hermès perfumes, creates elegant scents for the Hermessence line aimed at men as well as women. Santal Massoia is his tenth and most recent composition for the unisex collection, combining a rather unusual mix of two milky woods: the more common sandalwood and the rare massoia, a protected tree species found in New Guinea and Indonesia. Exotic yet discreet, the scent hits all the right notes this winter and is guaranteed to warrant an approving nod from the connoisseurs. And, keeping within today’s fire power tone, we’ve dug out a Manor Grunwald-designed limited edition Eau de Villée bottle that will without a doubt keep spirits high around the Christmas tree.

Wednesday 14th December’s proposal: Swatch Touch and Maison Martin Margiela gloves

Riding the current wave of everything ‘touch’, the Swiss watchmaker-to-the-masses reveals its Swatch Touch, a watch that, you’ve guessed it, comes with a touch screen. Trading in the customary twists and turns for swipes and taps, the Blade Runner-worthy timepiece comes in a timeless black (pictured), although the less serious souls will certainly go for Swatch‘s signature pallet of uplifting colours – everything form pink to turquoise. And, to guarantee you keep both your hands and your new watch nice and warm, these Maison Martin Margiela gloves will undoubtedly do the trick whilst staying true to your ‘presentation is half the battle won’ mantra.

Tuesday 13th December’s proposal: Sony Alpha 77 (with 18-55mm lens) and Louis Vuitton City Guides 2012

With its elegant disposition, this freshly-updated and tightly-packed collection of travel tomes consists of nine separate city guides that take in everything from a town’s museums and tearooms to it’s best shopping addresses and drinking dens. With the addition of a cutesy section entitled ‘Good Things’, the Louis Vuitton City Guides’ focus is clearly on the good life, dishing out innumerable insider tips as to what a city has to offer – from the 22 year old wine cellar in Zagreb to the 150 year old pastry shop in Warsaw. Choosing to give a shine to Europe’s lesser known capitals and satellite cities (Vienna and Salzburg; Naples and Bari; Odessa and St Petersburg), it is the depth of local insights and the simple way in which the intelligence is presented that really makes these city guides the perfect companion for your 2012 city-hopping plans. And, whilst you’re at it, take Sony‘s excellent Alpha 77 D-SLR with 18-55mm lens along in your weekend holdall to guarantee the tip’s many memories are captured to perfection, be it in photo or video mode.

Monday 12th December’s proposal: Marshall Headphones ’The Major’ and Slove ‘Le Danse’

With its synth-driven melodies, catchy guitar riffs and addictive bass lines, Slove’s debut LP ‘Le Danse’ is undoubtedly one of our favourite albums of the year, clocking up impressive amounts of airplay on Word radio. In fact, the band’s sexy-cool blend of uptempo and uplifting dance-pop so captured our hearts and minds that we invited the Parisian duo for a live showcase at our blue album release party (Watch the video here). Easily our number one music pick if we were to draw up our own wish list this Christmas. (And we’d probably throw in these sparkling white headphones by Marshall – ideal for bass-heavy listening.)

Photographer Julie Calbert

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Writer Melisande McBurnie, Photographer Stine Sampers

Camden by Jean-Christian Bourcart – Images en Manœuvres Editions

Bourcart’s most recent publication – what could almost be described as a photo journal – sees him set foot into one of Americas most malignant areas. It portrays the subject in complete disarray, caught off guard. It’s as if the state had just come and repossessed the bed, the fridge, even the roof, just as he was about to click the shutter. Q-tips litter the floor, along with pen caps and exposed cables. From bitter cold streets to sticky tarmac and, every so often, a gesture, a kiss, an embrace. This is the stuff of “shit”… All the things you weren’t supposed to see. And to think he simply googled “most+dangerous+city+america”, result “Camden.”

Available from Amazon

Gone? by Robert Adams – Steidl

In his latest book Gone?, Robert Adams take us on a “Hansel and Gretel” journey into the landscape of a recollection based in Colorado. Shot in black and white, a series of photos taken in the 1980s document the slow evolution of a once wild region. Revisiting a place, where as a young boy Adams walked and the impact it now plays on reshaping his memory, Gone? is the disappearance of personal landmarks, of how one got from A to B and all the little pit stops in-between. There is something engaging upon seeing Adams’ vast lands devoid of colour that leaves us with an urge to fill it in, a true scrapbook of sorts. One can’t help but want to remember with him of how it used to be.

Available from Amazon

Black and White by Ellsworth Kelly – Hatje Cantz
Investigating the interplay of positive and negative, form versus colour and the space that surrounds us, Ellsworth Kelly brings us back to basics. With over six decades of study and observation into his everyday surroundings, having first gained worldwide acclaim for his paintings and drawings, Kelly now presents us with Black and White. Asking the viewers’ approach to be that of a child, who learns from disassembling and reassembling, the result is engaging and playful – looking somewhat simple at first sight though closer inspection reveals there’s an equation behind each move, a “working out” so to speak, a consideration of weight, balance and its tipping point. Indeed we are left with a querying feeling of “What came first?”

Available from Amazon

Red Roses Yellow Rain by Marrigje de Maar – Hatje Cantz
In Red Roses Yellow Rain, Marrigje captures the more humble abodes and their interiors over a period of several visits to the “Motherland”, a country rapidly hurtling into modernisation. Here she allows us to spy into a culture still steaming with history and traditions. A domestic journey into communist China and what lies behind the wall. It’s almost like walking onto the set of a Zhang Yimou film. The classic coral-red and jade-green with floral flasks and pink plastic bags taking on a form of true “minimal-decor” all captured with that similar somber light. So inviting are these images, one can almost smell the tea brewing.

Available from Amazon

Far Too Close by Martina Hoogland Ivanow – Steidlmack
Far Too Close entangles the boundaries between familiar and foreign. Drawing the viewer into something of a secret and what lurks in its shadows, Ivanow depicts the features of an almost faceless person, making it near impossible to make out where one subject ends and the other begins. Having traveled extensively over a seven year period to remote places such as Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Argentina, the photographer sets out to explore and capture a personal history of “home”. The shape of sheets are here and the place on a pillow where a head had rested.

Available from Amazon

(First published in the white album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“When I am unable to start working, I tend to go for a walk (mostly in the nightime), I take a book and read, reorganise my studio or take up older works. The canvas remains blank for a while, but even then I give it a push. Even if it’s not completely good, I paint the entire canvas until it has a first layer of paint over which I can paint the day after. Then at least I have an image that I can criticise. Worrying about a blank canvas or painting is useless. It is not the moment one stands before a new canvas that I start thinking about what to paint; when I order the canvas I already know what to do with it. There are some canvasses that I have been working on for years now, I paint over them, or they are waiting for the ’moment of genius’ to get things right. ” Vadim Vosters (32) currently works on a painting for the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam, a light installation for De Markten in Brussels and a performance video for an installation in Ukraine.

vadimvosters.be

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Photographer Sarah Eechaut

“(I don’t fear the blank canvas at all). I have learned to treat the canvas like a piece of paper. When you make a silly drawing on paper and it isn’t good at all you just throw it away or try to make something out of it. I work on different paintings at one time, it’s better to reflect and see how things work and get influenced by each other. If something doesn’t work out, I just paint it over or test something further on the image. In this way the relationship between you as a painter and the images is totally different when you would work on one canvas at a time.” Manor Grunewald is an artist currently working on a large oil painting for a group show at the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam as well as on his upcoming solo show at Gallery fortlaan 17 and his new book coming out in February 2012.

Manor Grunwald

“I always wanted to be David Copperfield, but I turned out to be a painter”

Until 28th January 2012

Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent

(This feature was first published in the white album)

Graphic designer Emil Kozak posing for the Braun Cruzer campaign

“I guess what really hooked me on skateboarding was the creativity,” he says from Barcelona, where he moved to from his native Denmark for, as he puts it, his ‘love of skateboard (and his girlfriend).” After an initial phase of lots of “staring at the ceiling because of the language barrier”, Emil managed to set up a design practice in the city that focuses on art direction, graphic design, illustration and communication for well-known, influential culture and fashion imprints such as Eastpak, Burton or Nike. ‘Danish design made in Barcelona’ became his tag line. Think Northern pragmatism with Southern warmth.

Today, Emil’s inspiration net is cast slightly wider, with everything from mother nature and photography to surfing and pop culture giving him enough material for reflection and creation. And, with a visual style that tilts towards the playful and good-humoured, it is no wonder he has taken his art to, well, the canvas.

Read our Q&A with the man-of-the-moment below.

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Graphic designer by day, artist at night.

How did you get into art?

It has been a slow process of realizing that my main voice is visual in some sense.

How would you describe your art to someone who hadn’t seen it before?

Naive, bold, positive and simple. I love simplicity. I like to speak as clear and precise about a certain theme… I feel simplicity does that.

What was the reason for your breakthrough? Luck? Talent? Stamina?

I mix of the above. I also think I have been fortunate to have long periods of uninterrupted reflection, which might get some balls rolling. Especially when I moved to Spain from my native Denmark. I often found myself in situations of staring at the ceiling because of the language barrier. Now I speak Spanish fluently, though.

Why did you start working with skateboards instead of canvases?

I started when I began skateboarding, itʼs quite common that skateboarders customize the board and griptape etc. I think skateboarding is a very creative game. Itʼs about making something out of nothing. A skateboarder sees a playground when other people see an empty parking lot. It is like this imaginary world that you can go to when the other one sucks.

How long have you been skateboarding?

I got a skateboard when I was around seven years old (a little orange plastic board) that I used to play with in my grandparentsʼ living room. Throughout my early teenage years I got obsessed with skateboarding and I spent a lot of years studying magazines, movies and skating the streets of my city. But what really hooked me on skateboarding was the creativity: ripping with style, the colors, the music and the visual marks blew my mind. From there on it kinda influenced every part of my life and way of thinking.

Why do you live in Barcelona? Tell us about your studio and the art and board scene there.

I am from a small island in the south of Denmark. From a city called Maribo. I moved to Spain a bit more than five years ago. My girlfriend is from Valencia and we wanted to live together in a place that was kind of “in between” our two backgrounds. We also decided on Barcelona for practical reasons… The airport, its central location and the fact that we had a lot of friends already living in Barcelona. On top of that, the art scene etc. is pretty exciting here… lots of stuff going on! Good graffiti and great places to hang out with a skateboard. With my studio I focus on art direction, brand/identity development, graphic design, illustration and communication for a wide range of clients. The studio was established in 2003 and has been working with the most well-known and influential brands in arts and culture, fashion and entertainment. Usually clients contact me because they are looking for something visually strong, with a contemporary twist – Danish design made in Barcelona!

Perfect start to your day? Perfect end to your day?

Surfing at sunrise, and having a beer at sunset…

How long does it usually take you to work on a piece of art?

A lifetime plus one to 30 hours…approximately.

Whatʼs your favorite subject to paint?

Anything that somehow relates to western culture and the human condition.

What do you think makes a painting an artwork?

It all comes down to context. In this day and age anything can be considered art….it just depends on the context.

Whatʼs your favorite piece of work so far?

The Kindergarten Legends. They are ideas from when I was in kindergarten myself. I remember that we used to tell stories about other kids who had apple trees growing in their tummies, because they had swallowed the seeds from an apple. We actually believed it – I love the surreal imagination that kids have!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Skateboards, Alicia, the city, the nature, sentences out of context, logos, typography, my brother, ping pong, surfing, guitars, handwriting, photography, books, paint, doodles, animals, children, pop culture and pretty much everything in between!

What people and artists do you admire?

Iʼm fascinated by creative people who have had a life-long creative career. People like Milton Glaser, Man Ray, David Lynch, Herb Lubalin and many many more…

Name the last three things you bought?

The book ‘Niagara’ by Alec Soth, an Olympus point-and-shoot camera from the 80s for only three Euros and a flashlight.

What do you do in your free time?

I spend time with friends and family. I also enjoy surfing, books and lazy days at the beach.

What are you most proud of?

Working on my own, and being in control of my own path.

What projects do you have coming up?

Iʼm in the midst of creating a surf brand. It explores the phenomenon of localism, but from a different angle. Instead of the surfers being the ‘locals’, the point is Mother Nature being the rightful owner of a given area. Sharks, water, whales etc. Humans are NOT the center of the universe. It is called ‘Locals Only’. I recently also did a collaboration with Braun cruZer for one of their product lines. At first it might seem an unusual thing for me to team up with the guys from Braun but actually it was a cool combo. After all, just like my work theirs also revolves around style. And besides Iʼm into beards myself and like to express my personality with the way I look.

Photographer Joke De Wilde

Paul McCarthy: Selected Works

Opening night Thursday 28th April
The show will also be open on Friday 29th of April, for Art Brussels’ Gallery night, and closes 2nd October
Charles Riva Collection
Rue de la Concordestraat 21
1050 Brussels
charlesrivacollection.com

“A lot of my transitions flow and connect fluidly like I am telling a story,” says Ronnie Abaldonado, one of the judges to this year’s Braun Battle of the Year breakdancing contest. A Filipino living in Las Vegas, Ronnie (28) has secured some of the most respected break titles around (winner of the 2007 Red Bull BC One, first place at Las vegas’ prom Am, first place at Cannes’ Break The Floor), a feat he attributes to sheer hard work, commitment and determination. “Stuff like this doesn’t just happen to you. It’s hard work. I train at least two hours a day, five days a week.’ says the straight-talking breaker, conscious of his influence on emerging dancing talent and his responsibility to tell it how it is. Having gotten serious about breaking at age 10 (he lived in Guam at the time), he first started emulating moves picked up on MTV”s music videos and imitating his older brother Rodolfo. At the time, his ultimate goal in life was to be as good as him. He quickly overtook his brother’s stage prowess, and went on to achieve much more than mere family supremacy. Becoming one of the States’ highest ranking b-boys, his style quickly became synonymous with an intricate attention to detail, sharp execution and a heavy dose of realism. His many variations of freezes, his intricate footwork as well as his power moves are now the stuff of legend, with Ronnie’s name firmly engraved in every self-respecting hip hop fan’s mind. His success has even led to an appearance in b-boy documentary Turn It Loose, endorsements by leading advertisers (Braun) and, today, every kid from Sao Paolo to Seoul name-dropping Ronnie in the same way b-boys from the 1990s’ heydays name-dropped Crazy Legs. Call him a no-nonsense breaker. A ‘blood, sweat and tears’ type dancer who means serious business. And it shows.

Watch a break sequence Ronnie filmed for Braun

Watch a behind-the-scenes video of Ronnie shooting the Braun Body CruZer campaign

This post is the first in a series of sponsored profiles on up-and-coming ‘movers & shakers’.