Northshore Magazine

Northshore October 2019

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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99 mark of its maker. Coming from a blue-collar town in upstate New York, Bablo also loves the playful side of life and of art, that is not fancy or exclusive or taken too seriously. "I love it when people can experience art," he says. "When there isn't too much of a bar- rier. I want people to touch it and feel it and experience it. That's why I like murals. They're community oriented." This community lifestyle has led Bablo to stay put after graduating from Montserrat; he's lived in downtown Beverly for 15 years, watch- ing it grow into a more arts-minded city. His girlfriend's art studio and shop is conveniently located a few blocks down Cabot Street from the Steez studio, an underground space of whimsy that could be described as the man- cave of a tinkering genius. Individual meticu- lously organized spaces are arranged where he can follow his various creative pursuits. There is his desk that still bears the editor-in-chief sign, but also an epic long table for graphic design projects, a wall of colorful rolls of vinyl, a massive vintage neon gas station sign that he's refitted with LEDs, a 1951 lime-green retro fridge that he refurbished, a wall of wheat- pasted posters that suggests his interest in feature walls in interior design projects and, beyond a plastic curtain, his woodshop. Pretty much all the men in his family, including his father, were in construction. "I learned how to use tools quite young," says Bablo. Which must be why he gives off that vibe that screams: he's super handy and good at problem solving, and that he can repair, jig- ger, or upcycle anything. This interest—bordering on obsession—in making art more accessible comes from child- hood when he wanted to touch everything everywhere he went and being told no. "I want people who wouldn't normally go into galler- ies to go," he says. "My parents would ask, 'Can we go in there?' and I would say, "of course you can," he says. It seems Bablo has been saying those same words to himself his whole life. Each December, Bablo travels to Miami for Art Basel, where he can check in with current design trends, and what other artists are doing and obsess over various materials being used. The giant, sometimes intimidat- ing art fair, doesn't faze Bablo in the slight- est. "These artists are just people like you and me. They don't know if they' ll even be back here next year." Several years ago, Bablo navigated around the red tape of city and state government agencies to paint 3,000 square feet of the Beverly/Salem Bridge, creating blue and white waves on columns underneath the massive structure. He and his partners had to do part of it in the freezing cold of winter in order to qualify for funding. "That's a minor victory for the arts," he says, "to break the ice, because the waterfront will be developed one day and we wanted to take that space first." He also has a big mural at Bent Water Brew- ing Company in Lynn, visible from the Lynnway on Route 1A and a 200-foot mural at the Ink Block in Boston. At Ellis Square Social Club on Cabot in Beverly, he created an accent wall from album covers. "I like big visual work," he says. In September, he celebrated his biggest proj- ect to date, when an old soda fountain he and a friend discovered in Las Vegas was dismantled and reassembled inside a gallery at the Univer- sity of Northern Colorado in Greeley. It opened, serving hot dogs and ice cream, as a function- ing experiential soda fountain. As a nod to the desert from which it came, they brought in six tons of sand. This all came after Bablo com- pleted a two-year project painting the vaulted ceiling of the freshman arts building, donated to the same university by the Guggenheim Foundation. This was a collaboration with Pat Milbery, a former pro snowboarder, who also had his own column in Steez magazine. One of the reasons Steez stopped publica- tion is that the sport was actually in decline, says Bablo. Looking back on running a magazine that transitioned nicely into Steez design house, Bablo is thrilled that he created a tangible project on deadline for so long. "I'm extremely happy that I did it. I had some of the best days of my life. But eventually, everything turns into a job, right?" Although he is unafraid of hard work, still it seems this is what Bablo is trying to avoid: the creep of complacency and the repetition of life that comes with entering your third decade on the planet. "That's why I'm all about the idea and the bigger concept," he says. "If I've already done it, what's the point of doing it again?" steezdesign.com Bablo's office in Beverly is full of inspiration. PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOE FERRARO

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