Lansing street artist Eufoe gives the gift of humor for the holidays

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27 — Eufoe, aka Samskee, has been adorning Lansing’s buildings with rainbows and Oldsmobiles for over 10 years. His latest collection of woodcuts are scaled-down versions of his signature tags and cheeky quips, which are known for scaling the sides of trains and businesses, creating handheld slices of surrealism.

Lansing’s Reputation Beverage, located at 800 E. Michigan Ave., is featuring Eufoe’s collection of custom woodcuts and paintings until Saturday, Nov. 30. Most of the woodcuts are outlines of words, such as “Insatiable” and variations of his tag. There are also reclaimed found objects, such as “Life’s A Bitch” — a greeting sign with a Shih Tzu smoking a Cuban cigar. Eufoe said he is “selfish” with his art; he doesn’t make it for others in mind, but is a critic when it comes to inaccessible art.

“It was hard being an artist here in my 20s,” said Eufoe, 33. “The one way to cultivate an art scene is to offer resources for learning. I want to get more involved in that, because I basically have a library of books I’ve acquired over the past 15 years.”

With the exception of using industrial-grade tools to carve smooth lines out of wooden boards, the artist limited his resources for this collection to canvases from Dollar Tree and boards from Menards.

Under various artist names, Eufoe has received commissions for his street art from Puma to Lansing Brewing Co., and has been featured in various magazines circulated in the underground international scene of graffiti artists, mainly for his work in Detroit railyards.

“Graffiti falls into the category of street art. It’s cool how something 5 years that people were like ‘No, no that’s not art,’ is being embraced and raising property values,” said the street artist. “I think people are realizing it’s not just beef on the wall, or gang-related, there is artistic merit behind the letter forms.”

Eufoe at Reputation Beverage Through Dec. 1

Monday-Friday 8 a.m to 4 p.m.

Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

800 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing

Reputationbev.com, (517) 657-3913