Check out the incredible arts studios at 915 Sping Garden | Good Day Uncut:

Philadelphia, we are Uncut. Hey, y'all, welcome to another episode of Good Day Uncut. Again, Hank Flynn is out. Gonna be back soon, though, so y'all stand by, man, but check this out. I'm out here once again, man. I'm at, uh, what is this? I think it's 910 Spring Garden, 915 Spring Garden. It's this huge, uh... collective of artists in this building. I forget what they call these places, but there's a bunch of art galleries in this building, man. And I came over here to visit this brother, Rafael Tiburino. Y'all may know him. He's been around for a long time. We're going to take a walk into his studio. You know, he's, I think he's the eldest of the Tiburino family. Let's get in here and let's find out, man. Hey, Rafael, how you doing, brother? How are you, Mike? Good to see you. Good to see you. Good, good. First of all, man. Thank you for inviting me out, man, to hang out with you. It's a pleasure. Appreciate it, man. I am indeed the oldest out of the Tiburino siblings. Out of the Tiburino siblings. So he is the oldest. Are you the most talented? No, definitely not. We're all equally. I like that. We all do different things. So I will never say. That is real big brother energy, man. That is good big brother energy, man. That's what's happening, man. So listen, so a few years back, right, I was doing a show called The 215. Right. And I would highlight artists and I would show off their work. And Juan Gomez, you know Juan? I know. Juan says to me one time, he would complain about every artist I would put on the show. Right. He's like, Mike, that ain't no artist. Mike, that ain't no artist. I said, Juan, who are you to judge artists? I said, I didn't know his history. Right, right, right, right. I said, who are you to judge artists, Juan? And he told me about his history. And I said, well, who would you think that I should be doing the show with? Right. He said, Rafael Tiburino. Okay. That was one of the first names he threw out. I said, I know Gabe. I said, but I don't know Rafael. Right. Oh, you got to know him, Mike. You got to know him. So here we are, man. I finally got an opportunity to meet him and to get to know him. Well, Juan Gomez is a very talented individual. And it's funny. We first met at art camp when we were 12. The city had an art camp out in Fairmount Park. And Juan, this little Puerto Rican kid, comes up to me and starts speaking Spanish. Thinking, I'm Puerto Rican also. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, settle down. I don't speak Spanish. And you're speaking way too fast. I don't think I'd understand you if you were speaking English. But we ended up going to high school together, creative and performing arts. Then we went to the Academy of Fine Arts together. And we've remained good friends. And I can definitely, not only that, but Juan's a collector of my work. And I can definitely attest to him being a great artist. So he talks the talk and walks the walk. I agree with you 100%, man. So real quick. Before we get into the show, just tell me a little bit about your history in the art world, your family history. I mean, you grew up in an art family. Right. Y'all had the Tiburino Museum, but that's just scratching the surface. Right, right. You and your family. Right, right, right. My parents, I guess, would be the epitome of a 60s love story. My father met my mother at her going away party when she was leaving the Academy of Fine Arts and told her the first night. You're the woman I'm going to marry, and my father obviously pulled that trigger, and my mother thought he was insane, but he ended up making it happen. That's around the time period after my father got out of basic training, and he went up to visit my mother in New York. So after seven years, he did get her to say yes, and they did get married. They were both extremely talented. My mother went to the academy on a full scholarship. My father was at University of the Arts. They, uh, they both. Did their own thing in terms of how they dealt with art, but they made it work. They made it work, and after seven years of my... My mother didn't think that a real artist could get married, so it took my father seven years to finally make it happen. And once it did, they got married, and they started procreating. I came two years after. My brother Leo, or Lateef, came two years after that, and then my sister Ellen came two years after that. Yeah. They're all, all the kids are artists in their own right. My sister Ellen is a very talented mosaic artist. My brother Gabriel, who's 14 years younger than me, he is a very talented painter. He's been working for Mural Arts since he was about 16. He's about 42 now. So a lot of the murals that you see around the city were done by him. And my brother Lateef is very much an artist in his own right, even though he doesn't choose that label. But nobody puts Gucci and Prada together better than him, and he loves to collect art. He has a good eye for doing artistic events and things of that nature. So I think the whole family suffers from the art bug, and it's not going anywhere. So, and for that, because of that, I kind of, so you grew up. In an art world. Exactly. Right? And I read a little bit how your family traveled. They took you along as a young man. Right. You did your first show. I don't even know how this happens. How do you do a watercolor show at three and a half years old? You know something? Not only that, I sold it out. So it was, you know, as a three-year-old, it's kind of like, oh boy, lots of candy, you know? So, yeah. So, I mean. What was it like, though, as a young man growing up around all that culture and all that art and being in a space where, because artists are kind of like free life, free flowing, free energy. I don't know if that's what it was like in your house. My parents were, they took it extremely seriously. You know, my father. My father was a very smart individual. He was always winning grants and things of that nature. My mother was always working very, they never had anything that they were really worrying about in terms of their artistic endeavors and things of that nature until my mother got sick. When she got sick in the late 70s, that's when the pressure changed a little bit. But up until that point, my father was always getting these grants where we would travel around the world. When I was two, we went to Europe for six months. The Abbey Austin Fellowship was what it was called, and it was a grant where the artist would travel and study in the realm of things that they thought would help out their artistic endeavors in terms of growing as an artist. So the first time he got it, we went to Europe in terms of him studying frescoes and all the Renaissance painters and stuff like that. The second time he got it, when I was six, we went to Mexico for six months. By that point, my father was into the Mexican muralists. So Orozco, Siqueiros. Diego Rivera, things of that nature. So that kind of thing was going on all the time too. But they also, they were moving a lot of art and they were showing a lot and enjoying life, enjoying us as a family. So that's what's happening. Look, man, so we're going to take a quick commercial break in a couple seconds here, and when we come back, we're going to just get into some of your work. You got a bunch of pieces in here. He invited us into his studio to show off some of his work. We'll just talk about your history in the craft and how do you do your craft. I know you said you do a lot of ink work and pen work, but you also paint as well. I do. So we'll get into all of that after this commercial break. Y'all give us two minutes. We're hanging out with Rafael Tiburino, man, Raphael Tiburino Studio, I don't know if that's what it's called, but I'm going to call it that for today. That is exactly what it's called, so you're fine. Let's go, y'all. Fox. All right, welcome back, y'all. Again, man, I'm hanging out with the brother Raphael Tiburino, one of Philly's, would it be wrong for me to say one of Philly's finest artists, man? I know we got a lot. You got a lot of talent. You can say that if you want. I know so many great artists. I would never even throw myself into that. Into that upper echelon, and I think it's a little too cocky, but if you but if I say that's fine That's listen, but you know and if you know me they're like well Mike your judgment So it might not be worth as much But listen, man, he's a super talented artist man And we're gonna take a look at some of his work, and I'm gonna just ask you Raphael first of all how would you describe your work man? Ah, I would describe it as cutting loose with my feelings, what I feel, whatever comes to mind, I try to get it out as instantaneous as possible, so I like to do a lot of pen and ink, I try to have a sketchbook with me all the time, as soon as something comes to my head, I like to get it out there. But then again, I like to do a lot of painting also, and I always have felt that they are coming from two different sides of the head. A lot of my pen and inks do end up becoming paintings, but not all of them. And I think the pen and ink as a medium, sometimes pen and ink is fine. And sometimes pen and ink, you can express yourself in ways that the painting ain't gonna hit. So as much as I love both mediums, pen and ink, watercolor, and oil painting tend to be the... The direction that I usually go in. Gotcha. So we're looking at this piece you got over here. You said this one right here. This is the yard. A couple of little trip hazards in the building. So that's all right. But this is the yard where at your parents crib where you grew up. That is from the balcony of one of the back houses looking out on the yard. It's called the Triumph. The Triumph of Life Over Death. It's a play in terms of, on words, in terms of the Peter Bruegel The Elder piece, which is probably my favorite piece in the world called The Triumph of Death. So the yard is very lush. It's very green. There's always life going on there. Now I tried to go a little Peter Bruegel-ish down in the right hand corner with some skeletons coming in and kind of messing with the play in terms of the piece. The triumph of life over death because the greenery and the nature, I still think, wins in terms of the contrast between the two. I definitely like to use those themes in terms of one thing versus the other, male versus female. Uh, good versus evil, uh, life versus death, things of that nature. So, uh, that's another play in terms of this piece, what's going on. And like, so I, I had the fortune to come over to the house and I did a piece with, with Gabe. Right. Uh, he came out and did our, our event, uh, well, two years now in a row at Arden Garden. I shot a piece over there and I remember walking into the yard. Well, first I had seen somebody, I think it was Juan that told me about the museum. Right. And he's like, have you ever been over there? I said, I didn't even know. That it existed. Right, right. And so I had been trying to figure it out, how to make it happen. And then, you know, Gabe told me that y'all had some issues and it wasn't really up and running the way that, you know, for the public to come out and see it. But he invited me over to come over and do an interview and so forth. And I got to see the yard and walk through it in real time and honestly do it. I was like, yo, this is probably one of the coolest places. I've seen, I mean, there's so many things in that yard that sparks interest and catches your attention and, and you know what I mean? That you can stop every three feet and see something different, you know? And I was like growing up in this space, like, was it like that the whole time or your father built out things? It was a slow build. So we started off in one house in the sixties, uh, the year I was born, uh, 69 and then slowly Things were added on, so it was a it was a growing, very organic process in terms of the yards, in terms of the houses, things of that nature continuing to happen. And so for but for that neighborhood and for that community, because I know y'all did a lot of y'all had shows that went on in there, y'all show films, y'all had events that took place. Like, what was it like, I guess, to be in that environment and to see what what's great about it is that. From the streets, no one really knows it's there. So that's always a plus. But, you know, in terms of growing up in that neighborhood and, you know, in terms of having the ultimate playground to hang out with your friends and your neighbors and things like that, I mean, I still run into people now that are adults now, and they're like, man, remember we used to... Come and climb in the trees and do this and do that and all that art and this and that. It always sparks so many memories and so many good feelings in terms of people in the neighborhood. And it still does. And we plan on starting to do things again. So it's not done as a thing. But everybody is definitely an artist on their own right. And everybody's kind of doing their own. Their own move right now in terms of where their spirit is taking them art-wise. Right, because I was even watching Gabe create it, and I was like, yo, like, how can you not be inspired to create? This is what you walk out into or walk through to go home. Exactly. You know, and this is your home. Right. You walk out of your yard in this, and he was just out there. He was working on a mural and so forth, and I was like, yo, this is, you know, like his son. I think he loves to work there because that's where my father did all his work also, you know. And mom and dad were such different people in terms of how they dealt with it. My mother was a night owl. So she did most of her work at night. My father did his best work in the morning from maybe five until he got it all done or whatever. But they would meet in the middle. Like when they were younger, they would meet when my mother was still working and my father was waking up. He would look at her work. Maybe they would converse about what she had done over the course of the night. He would talk about what he was doing moving forward in the day. She would go to bed and he'd start his day. So it's something to be said about how they worked and how that energy is still there. Yeah. And how we all. Or channeling it in our own way. So let's talk a little bit about your sketchbooks. Yep. So I know you marked off a couple pages in here. I did. I did. So what are we looking at? This one with the... I was going to say drinking with the pigs, but that's what it looks like, drinking with the pigs. Sometimes you have to have a nice vintage with some pigs. So there you go. Some of these aren't any deeper than what they look like. So, uh... And this one is, I can't remember what I call it right now, but I think the gorilla, oh, it's called the outcast. And, you know, the gorilla is kind of drinking by himself. Maybe he wants to join the party. But, uh... The young lady at the other table was kind of looking at him like, oh, he could be an interesting gorilla. That's a real one. And he's drinking a glass of wine, and that's what's going on. The one up top, I did for my buddy Danny Simmons' funeral. I don't consider it done. I consider it being done enough that I could get it printed and handed out at his memorial service. But I'm probably going to work it up a lot more and even watercolor it also. But as it is right now. It's done enough, so. All right, and then you knew, like you met Danny up in New York as a young artist yourself. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and Danny first met when I was... Maybe 27, 26? Yeah. And we met at a Rakim record release party. Look at that. So it ended up later. I think Danny had something to do with the album. Maybe he did the art on the record cover or something like that. But we hit it off. We definitely hit it off. Danny was a nerd completely in terms of loving comics, loving action figures, loving cartoons. And, uh... I suffer from the same problems, so even up until he passed away, we would still get together. Maybe a couple times a month and watch either Star Trek or Invincible or whatever cartoons or whatever was going on and go through. We do this for maybe six hours or maybe longer. You know, Danny was a great guy. It was always that childhood energy when me and him hung out. And if y'all don't know who he is, man, Google him. Danny Simmons. He was a legend in arts. He had Rush Arts up in North Philly. He had his place in Brooklyn as well. And he did a lot of things, a lot of things for the arts. When we first met and got very acquainted, I was curating a lot of shows in his galleries up in New York. So that's really when our friendship hit it off almost 30 years ago. And we just lost him just a couple months ago. So Google him, you know what I mean? So listen, we've got to take another commercial break. So we're going to come back out of this commercial break. We'll get into some more of Gabe's artwork, man. Right here. Shame on me. Hold on a second. Shame on me, man. Raphael's artwork. And we'll see y'all on the other side in two minutes, man. Yeah. All right, y'all. We're back here with Raphael Tiburino. Raphael Tiburino's studio. Not to be confused again with his brother. I'll fix that. I'll get better. But listen, so let's just check out this piece you got over here, Raphael. Yeah. So what's the name of this piece again? This one's called Jesus and Lucifer. And again, to play on my themes in terms of good versus evil, it doesn't get any more good versus evil than Jesus and Lucifer sitting down and discussing their theories on life over a glass of wine. So now when you were creating this, First of all, like, where do these ideas come from, right? So when I look at some of your pieces, like, I don't see these images in my brain. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? Like, so where do, where does your brain go, man, that brings you to these places? My brain is constantly in motion. And coming up with different ideas. And my main thing, somebody always says when they, or different people always say, boy, you must have some terrible nightmares. I don't, because I get it on paper as soon as something comes up, you know. So I sleep like a baby most nights, and that's why. You know, I get it out, get it on the canvas or get it on the page. And that's why I always have a sketchbook on me, because you never know when something's going to... I'm going to smack you in the side of the head and want to come out. So when you were creating this one, was there a conversation you were thinking Jesus and Lucifer would be having? No. Over this? No. I mean, it started off as a pen and ink. So the pen and ink was first. Of course. That's sold. I can't remember where it's sold. And then I did this at my studio in Soho back in the late 90s. So I had a basement. A studio underneath a gallery that I was helping to run with some friends called Subculture Gallery on Broome Street between Mott and Mulberry. So it was a great neighborhood. It was wonderful to be able to work in that space because you could work on something for a couple of hours, then go up, walk around the neighborhood, get a cup of coffee and be re-energized again because what's more energizing than the streets of Manhattan? So it was one of my favorite places to ever create. But what I loved about this piece were the little nuances and subtleties about it. I love that the sunflowers on Christ's side are alive and vibrant, while the ones on Lucifer's side are wasting away and rotting. I love that Lucifer has that outward strength, how he's muscular, but Christ is almost built like a kung fu master, where his energy is a little bit different. I think even though Lucifer is the more prominent in terms of physical prowess, Jesus looks, uh... Looks look stronger at least in my opinion. That's the way that I wanted it to look when I did the piece So yeah, I mean and I could see that when I look at it is like that was kind of one of the first things I noticed was like how how the Lucifer figure you can see the muscular energy in him and like the you know what I mean Like I got to show my dominance right? Right as opposed to like, you know, I don't have to show it, my strength. It's just here Right and you'll know it You know what I mean? So you got a few other pieces in here, man. I see you also do some still life. I do. I do. I love flowers. I love still lives. I love the pretty things. I guess I get that from my mother loved to do dark things, but she also loved to do flowers and plants and lovely, nice things like animals and things of that nature. And I like to do animals and flowers and things like that also. So that's actually a portrait my mother did of me. Oh, this one right here? Yeah, when I was a kid. He's still teaching, he's still doing it. That's not what I was doing. That's not what he's doing. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh, man. And then this guy, we got to get to another commercial break. Well, you know what? Let's do it again. But what am I looking at here with this guy? You were looking at a piece called Ouch. And it's as simple as someone catching an arrow to the back of the head while he's having his glass of wine and a cigarette and how that would ruin his day. That's simple. That makes sense. I guess that would ruin your day. It would. It definitely would. I'm enjoying it. All right, so listen, y'all. We got to take one more commercial break, man. We'll be back in a minute and a half. We'll wrap up this show with Rafael Tiberino. Rafael, thank you so much for letting us come hang with you for this half hour. Very welcome. We'll find out what he's got going on in the future, man, and y'all can catch up with him where you can catch up with him and see some of his work on the other side of this commercial break. All right, y'all, welcome back, man. So we got to wrap up the show in a few minutes here, man. So I just wanted to make sure I showed y'all a little bit more of Raphael's work. Before we ran out of time here. Because, I mean, this guy is just, I mean, he's been around a long time doing some amazing work in and around the city and abroad. So it's not, you know, he's everywhere. So look for him. Google him. He's easy to find. Friend me up on Instagram. Always post the new stuff every day. Follow him on the gram. And, you know, he's got a lot of work that y'all need to check out, man. So, Raphael, just real quick, man. Do you have anything coming up? Any shows or any place people can catch up with you? I've got a bunch of things coming up. I'm actually, we're going to put together a memorial show for Danny Simmons where loads of different artists are going to express, I guess, how they felt about Danny and their own work. I'm going to be doing a project with the Philadelphia Library, the main building on the parkway, which will be coming up in the next year or so. And I'm looking very forward to doing that in terms of the narrative, the story, and my pen and inks and things of that nature. Uh, some other things coming up I can't really talk about yet, but I'm always keeping busy. And again, look me up on Facebook, Raphael Tiburino, and, uh, you can always see what's going on there when you, uh, when you check me out and I post every day in terms of new artwork and things of that nature. Every day. Every day. New work or like work that you've done, just new picks? Like you create new work every day. Every other day, usually, but pretty enough that there's usually something going up every day at least. That's what's happening. If I'm not. If it's not complete, it's me working on it. You're always active. Stuff going on. And you also teach? I do. I do. I'm going to be working on some... A couple of upcoming things in the Academy of Fine Arts. We're just in the process of getting that going, so I can't really speak too much on it yet, but I'll be dealing with the legacy of the Tiburino family. Hi, Emily. I've always loved the Academy because my mother went there, my brother Gabe went there, and I went there also. I'm looking forward to that also. All right, well, look here, man. Y'all follow him. Check out his work. Look up the family, man, because they have a legacy here in this city, man, that really should be recognized and celebrated. And, you know, and then just find ways to check out the work, man. I'm just going to go ahead and close it out like this. We got about 10 seconds. So I'm just going to give you all the last couple of views, man. Good day, Uncut. Appreciate y'all hanging out with us.