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MAB GRAVES: collective S1-001

BORIS PELCER: Collective S1-002

ALEX GARANT: Collective S1-003

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"A GIANT IN THE MENTAL"

Born in 1971 in upstate New York, artist Mike Giant began drawing as soon as he could hold a crayon. His family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1979 where he was immersed in bmx bikes, skateboarding, heavy metal, punk rock, hip-hop and gang violence. He graduated in the top 10% of his high school class and attended the University of New Mexico on scholarship as an architecture major. He began writing graffiti under the name “Giant” just before starting college and got his first tattoo soon after. In 1993 he was offered a full-time job drawing graphics for Think Skateboards in San Francisco and decided to leave UNM without a degree. After four years at Think he lived in London briefly then returned to San Francisco to work in animation. In 1998, Mike was offered an apprenticeship in tattooing by Nalla Smith. He began tattooing full-time a year or so later and worked in legendary shops like East Side Ink, Newskool and Everlasting. Mike made tattoos full-time for a decade before switching his attention to REBEL8, a clothing brand he founded with his old friend Joshy D in 2003. Then, after 20 years in California, Mike moved to Boulder, Colorado where he currently lives and works.

House of Roulx now has the distinct honor of partnering with the master of modern hieroglyphics to present his "Tights" series, a trio of drawings that steps beyond his traditional tattoo flash and graffiti mediums. With "Tights" Giant explores abstract patterns and geometric motifs through minimal cubism and shape shifting, all the while staying true to his signature ultra stark black on white foundation.

"Many years ago I offered to buy some American Apparel tights for a girlfriend if I could photograph her in them. She was game. We went to a local AA, picked out some tights then returned to my San Francisco studio for a quick photo shoot. The resulting images were organized into a private zine and just recently I finally got around to drawing some of the photos, something I had in mind since I first asked her to pose for me."

- Mike Giant

"Tights 1," "Tights 2" and "Tights 4" are available as limited edition archival pigment prints on Hahnemühle William Turner Deckle Edged Matte Fine Art Paper, 310 GSM at 13 x 19 inches each. The prints, each signed and numbered by Giant, are held in strict editions of 25. Available Friday, June 17th.