CHEESE201

CHEESE BIOHailing from Jersey City, NJ, Juan Vasquez Jr. aka “Cheese” has already become a local living legend. At the age of 37, Cheese has established himself as a premier go-to artist for his true to life and Hip-Hop/graffiti inspired pieces. Cheese, a name given to him by his little league teammates, began his love for art in the early 1980s when hip-hop was merely an expressive outlet for local New York City youths. He ran with a small crew of kids, the Commission, who bombed the warehouses and rooftops of Jersey City. Cheese was also part of the scores of breaking crews popping (pun intended) up in the area. “There were kids on every block with cardboards and linoleum, breaking to the music from their huge boom boxes… We were doing it during the same time Rock Steady Crew and all the other crews were out there.” As the hip-hop movement progressed, so did Cheese’s desire for art. He continued long after New York City and New Jersey officials ridded the streets and trains of Hip-Hop’s artistic explosion. Cheese simply took it from concrete to canvas, perfecting his craft by constantly watching other artists around him. “I didn’t really take it seriously at the time, but I knew I could do what the other artists were doing. So I observed and kept painting, airbrushing and drawing to get better.” Better is definitely an understatement. Cheese continued to bless canvases at a level head and shoulders above the rest without any technical training. Despite ten years airbrushing and twenty years painting, it was only within the last five years that Cheese decided to make art his career. After holding a previous job as a retail store manager for fifteen years, he realized that he needed to make a change. As a result, he set up shop at S.W.E.E.T.S in Jersey City and started full-time as an artist. Now, with an incredible portfolio that grows larger by the hour, Cheese has completed countless Hip-Hop inspired pieces as well as a few customized pieces commissioned by clients in the area. He is most noted for the larger than life mural on the walls of Studio 53 in Manhattan. Though Cheese may not be a household name (at least not yet), he is an icon to many, especially among the youths of Jersey City. When asked what he’d like to be remembered for, he modestly replied, “Just that I helped a lot of people on the way up.” With an amazing gift to capture life on canvas, a deep-rooted love for the Hip-Hop movement, and his humble nature and leadership, Cheese is on his way to not only take the “Street Art” world by storm but also make an indelible mark in Jersey City, 201 STAND UP.