ABOUT: Rodney “RAD1” Wills
Rodney “RAD1” Wills – Born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1966, Rodney Wills spent his formative years in rural Alabama, a backdrop of motorcycles and homemade BMX ramps contrasting sharply with the burgeoning urban cultures that would later define his artistic path. The arrival of a skateboard and Skateboarder magazine in 1977 ignited a creative spark, placing him ahead of the curve in his rural surroundings. Rodney’s mom noticed he was not doing his homework, but instead drawing cartoons and various things of interest. She told him he had to do his homework, but encouraged Wils to continue drawing. She found art classes at the city recreation center in the nearby town of Sylacauga, Alabama.
In fifth grade, at the age of nine, Wills began art classes with Pat Holmes at the Sylacauga Recreation Center, initially meeting twice a week and later increasing to three nights a week. Rodney was the youngest in these art classes, which were mostly filled with elderly women, and all of them were painted in a traditional landscape art style using oil paints. Within a year, Wills was entering local art shows, selling paintings, and purchasing BMX bicycles for both him and his younger brother. See examples of this art: Oil Painting by Rodney Wills, Sycamore, Alabama 1976 – 1980.
Rodney started his ninth-grade year attending the Alabama School of Fine Arts. By 1980, Hip Hop’s arrival introduced him to breakdancing and DJing, though the visual element of graffiti remained a distant concept. Also during this time, Rodney would open his bicycle store as BMX was his passion.
Wills pursued his artistic inclinations at the Atlanta College of Arts before earning his bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the California College of Arts. For a decade, his graphic design skills found expression in the snow, skate, and surf industries, notably with O’Neill wetsuits.
Upon arriving in Atlanta, a pivotal moment occurred in 1984 when Wills was adopted into the seminal Atlanta first-ever Hip-Hop graffiti crew, The United Kings, as the sole non-blood family member. It was here that he adopted the nom de plume or moniker of “RAD,” “2RAD,” and later “RAD1” after moving to the Bay Area of California and joining the KTD crew in 1986.
After college, Rodney continued his passion for street art, regularly painting on weekends until 1993. For 30 years, life and work within the graphic design industry consumed the majority of his creative outlet. At the same time, he tried to have as much fun as possible through these creative endeavors, while providing for his young, growing family.
Not until 2020 during the COVID outbreak, when everyone had time to dwell into hobbies, the Instagram page “East Bay Archives” posted a photo showcasing “RAD” stating, “Even though this guy was from Atlanta, and a member of The United Kings, he painted a bunch here in the East Bay at a very key time and became a member of both KTD and WCU.” This post would eventually reach Dr. Dax, a prominent Atlanta artist, and he stated, “I’ve been looking for RAD for 35+ years, and when I was about to give up, he landed in my DM’s!
In 2022, the Atlanta Beltline Association sponsored its first-ever Historical Street Art festival, called the ATL StyleWriters Wall Jam, featuring Rodney, aka “RAD1,” reunited with The United Kings. The public witnessed who these artists are as they painted together for the first time after 36 years! This has become an annual event and has rekindled the artist’s spirit, pushing Rodney to create a new collection of canvases showcased at “City Of Kings,” a first group show (in a gallery) for The United Kings, during the 2024 ATL Style Writers Wall Jam.
Today, Rodney Wills and his wife reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado, having moved there in 2021 to work for Red Line Land Cruisers and creating art in his homemade basement studio. These new works are derived from his early aerosol influence, but Wills is exploring beyond the boundaries of preconceived letterforms.
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Read about Rodney’s First: Spray-painted Dad’s shed behind the house…
More Blogs: https://rad1tuk.com/blog/
Artwork: https://rad1tuk.com/shop/