Red Run Art Series (No Blackout Dates) – Package #5: “Run The World” Tour Stamp ft. Run The Jewels

Series Overview:
– Red Run Art Series (No Blackout Dates) is a mixed-media series by artist Damon Kardon created to celebrate the traveling circus that is the music tour. He has various bands and solo artists whose music and words have influenced him and his art over the years. He set out to encapsulate in these works everything that a band or artist puts forth with a new album and accompanying tour. What better way to convey the creativity and excitement of travel than in a postage stamp representing this new voyage?

“Red Run” is a postage term describing an assignment to handle registered mail and “Blackout Dates” a travel term meaning no time off from travel. These terms represent to Damon, a clear vision each band or artist delivers in their new album and then expresses 24/7 in their subsequent tour. Each piece he creates starts with a painted portrait of the band or artist. He then incorporates colors and elements of their new album into the background. Next, he takes that image of the finished painting and digitally alters and adds text through Photoshop.

The text seen on each postage stamp design incorporates new song and album titles as well as the names and dates of the tour. Each completed stamp design is a mixed-media collage representing the artist/band and their music. You shall see a new finished piece featured every week for the entire run of the series. Through their boundless creativity and determination, these artists/bands have put their musical stamp on the world.

Road-Ready Listening:
– Be sure to enhance your viewing/reading experience by streaming Run The Jewels’s latest full-length offering, Run The Jewels 3, released on December 24, 2016, via Run the Jewels, Inc..

About the Painting:
– A few years ago, I saw Run The Jewels open for Jack White at Madison Square Garden. On “Close Your Eyes (and count to F*&k)”, Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine came out from backstage to rap his verse from the album cut. Mind=Blown!! It was one of the most powerful performances I have ever seen (across all musical genres). RTJ continued to blow the roof off the Garden for the next thirty minutes. Ever since Killer Mike and El-P came together, they have broken through so many boundaries in Rap and Hip Hop. They are truly one-of-a-kind and their DJ Trackstar is just leveling audiences with his sonic soundscape. They are by far my favorite rap group of this decade and I wanted to pay tribute to them and their signature RTJ imagery in this design. – Damon Kardon

Package #5: “Run The World”:
– Check out Damon’s creative process by scrolling through the photos below.

Tour Dates:

03/09 – Seattle, WA @ KeyArena *
03/10 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center at the Rose Garden *
03/13 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena *
03/24 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Arena $
03/25 – Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena $
03/27 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena $
03/28 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena $
03/29 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre $
03/31 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center $
04/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center $
04/03 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden $
04/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center $
04/06 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center $
04/07 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun $
04/08 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem $
04/12 – Miami, FL @ AmericanAirlines Arena $
04/14 – Duluth, GA @ Infinite Energy Center $
04/15 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena $

* = w/ Tove Styrke
$ = w/ Mitski

Run The Jewels’ cover artwork for Run The Jewels 3:

The Series & Future Artwork:
– Coming up in Package #6… Arch Enemy.
– Previously in Package #4… Corrosion of Conformity
– Previously in Package #3… alt-J
– Previously in Package #2… G-Eazy
– Previously in Package #1… Killswitch Engage