I’m excited to share my newest painting and video, entitled “Reunited”.

Do you remember what life was like before the lockdown and before the words and phrases “quarantine", "social distancing", "COVID-19”, and before the poorly named “Corona Virus” was a part of our everyday conversation? Do you remember backyard gatherings, getting together with family, friends, and meeting new friends over some BBQ and good conversation without worrying if someone was closer than 6 feet away and wasn’t wearing a mask? I call this painting “Reunited” as a satirical, yearning look behind us at those backyard parties where the only "Corona" talked about was the cold refreshing one with its partner in crime, "the lime" nestled refreshingly in it. I look forward to a future where this can be the case again and we don’t have to be concerned about the large gathering and the Corona and lime will get back its reputation as a symbol of vacation, relaxation, hanging out with friends, and escape from the daily routine. Obviously, we need to do our part in stomping this virus out for the time being, but always with the goal in mind of bringing back the “good old days”.

“Reunited” by Greg “CRAOLA” Simkins 60” x 36”, Acrylic on Canvas SOLD — **“Reunited” by Greg “CRAOLA” Simkins**
60” x 36”, Acrylic on Canvas
**SOLD**

We live in the strangest of times...historical times...times that we will all grow from and be stronger as we educate ourselves and reflect on the past and the mistakes we’ve made in society, and teach our kids not to repeat them. I conceived this piece at the beginning of the lockdown and proceeded to paint it once I had the drawing perfected towards the second month of quarantine. When the protests began in response to the treatment and murder of George Floyd and all the other lives of black men and women taken so cruelly and early, the historical nature of this time really became ultra-real. I felt like this piece that had made so much sense at the time, had already become outdated. Yet, looking at it now that it has finally been photographed, I know that I have to share it.

Like most of my pieces, I get inspired by what is going on in everyday life and run it through my pop surrealist, story-telling, “Craola-fying” filters. I am inspired by the momentum of change we see in support of our black brothers and sisters - the sketches are forming and the ideas are beginning to flow from there as well. I look forward to seeing the artwork that is going to surface from these times and am excited to see what artists have pulled off so far. I am also hopeful that the world my kids grow up in (and their kids) will be the least racially divided that we have known for ages. I want them to celebrate their beautiful differences, break bread together, enjoy backyard BBQs together, have a Corona with lime together, make art together, cure diseases together, and love one another. As a graffiti artist for the majority of my life and even before that, being raised by great parents, our lifestyle has always been all-inclusive, but that being said, I know that I have gotten the “privilege pass” handed to me on many occasions and could never fully understand the effects of systemic racism and the feelings that go along with having to look over your shoulder EVERYWHERE you go. It hurts me to the core seeing my friends of different ethnicities go through those struggles with fear and an unjust system that was slanted against them from the start. I’ve said it before and will say it again, our young generation growing up in this now and the future ones will set the tide in the right direction as long as they “love their neighbors (that means everybody) as much as they love themselves”. - Greg “CRAOLA” Simkins