EXCLUSIVE: See Preview Photos of TRAP CHAPEL, A 48-Hour Pop-Up Art Gallery By Trap Music Museum Artist FREEKYBEAR

Don’t let your mind’s eye stop at what’s immediately visible at TRAP CHAPEL, or assume that it's just copying T.I.'s idea -- look a bit deeper. From the candles formed in the shape of promethazine bottles and assault rifles, to tall paintings of Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane and others, you’ll find serious art theory and hidden symbolism of history, religion and more in this two-day pop-up art gallery that imagines stars of Atlanta’s trap music culture as equally saintly and sinful.

The Trap Music Museum has been a runaway success, not only for T.I. and curator D.L. Warfield but also other artists involved with its creation, like Atlanta native Adam Crawford, aka FREEKYBEAR. And though it may seem similar to the Trap Music Museum (which is also open temporarily while Atlanta hosts “The Big Game”) there’s a different idea on display in this two-day pop-up art gallery, and it speaks directly to the interconnectivity of different ideas, while challenging the definition of art across eras of civilization which, to people who might think of trap music as something less than worthy of serious cultural appreciation, might otherwise seem centuries -- if not worlds -- apart.  

FREEKYBEAR says his paintings are named after songs in some cases, and have details that call back to the local inspiration that caused them to be created. His painting of Atlanta rapper 21 Savage, which hung prominently in the Trap Music Museum for months, is named “No Heart,” after a song from the rapper’s “Savage Mode” album. Our Lady of Sorrows, a Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary with seven daggers piercing her heart, inspires it. But in 21’s case, he’s wearing a priestly robe, sporting a shining halo made of plastered White Owl cigarillo wrappers, and holding six daggers in his hand. The seventh dagger is the tattoo on his forehead – a tribute to his famous quote, “Issa knife.”

“No Heart” hangs on a wall in the TRAP CHAPEL next to a painting of a similarly dressed Future, holding a doubled Styrofoam cup. The two paintings are part of a collection of more than 20 other works of trap-culture-inspired art surrounding it in the upstairs nave and sitting beneath it in the basement space. Also noteworthy: the building that houses TRAP CHAPEL was once an actual church, and still holds the shape of a sanctified place. 

FREEKYBEAR uses some of the same methods and techniques seen in religious icon paintings, and is quick to offer his thoughts on where there are parallels between what is accepted as high art and what is made in the trap. “I like to use historical approaches and put my contemporary spin on it, to make it interesting,” he said. An example can be seen in his smaller “mini icon” piece showing a saintly T.I. holding a pair of guns, with a noticeably impeccable hairline edge on his forehead. Look closer and it appears to have been done with some type of blade, not just a fine paintbrush.

“Those are actually indented and traced,” he says. “That’s the traditional method of icon writing back in the day. And it’s called ‘icon-writing’ – it’s not painting icons. Just like if you’re writing graffiti in the streets, it’s called ‘graffiti-writing’ – you’re not just doing graffiti. It was that kind of parallel of the writing and the writing. And the gold leafing too. Just bringing all these things together from the street culture to the high fine art of the 12th century.”

He’s also quite aware that his race could play a negative factor in the way his exhibit is received. “For me, being a white guy doing it, it’s the understanding that people are growing up in these situations. This is a reality that can’t be disregarded. As a white person, you can’t just be like ‘This is bad!’ And as a black person you can’t say, ‘You’re a crazy white person because you’re creating this kind of work.’”

“What I’m trying to do is educate everyone in saying, this is where it comes from, this is the hidden symbols – if you understand what it is – and these people are fine artists. These are gentlemen that have come up with some of the most influential and inspiration music out there. It’s not necessarily the most positive. They are addicted to drugs. But they are the rock stars of today. The Beatles were doing the same stuff – I mean, they weren’t robbing houses, but The Beatles were doing drugs, hanging around crazy people. They were being arrested too. These days, instead of ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll,’ it’s ‘sex, drugs and trap.’ That’s what it is.”

FREEKYBEAR wants his interpretations of trap culture as high art to make people who love the music feel as if it is being properly honored and to make those who might feel otherwise see it in a new way. He’s a student of the trap, who can quote inspirational social media posts from Quality Control CEO Pierre “Pee” Thomas (who is heavily responsible for the success of Migos, Lil Yachty and Lil Baby). He also references the changes in attitude and approach that we’ve all seen in 21 Savage and also Gucci Mane, whose success helped both escape the trap. And he’s such a fan of Gucci Mane that he’s using the East Atlanta rapper’s image to create our city’s version of Shepard Fairey’s “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” street art campaign in New York City.

When I mention the popular criticism that trap music is sometimes too formulaic, he has a good answer: “It’s the same thing with icons too,” he says.” “If you go to Italy, you’re going to see 1,000 of Jesus with the peace sign or Mary with the child. That’s kinda why I did icons.” And when I ask what he thinks of people who think trap music is toxic, and he sticks to his guns. “You have to look at things situationally,” he says. “You can’t forget this bad part of the trap. You can’t forget where you came from.”

“When someone is in a situation they can’t escape,” he says, “and they’re looking for a way to escape, and the only people they see in their neighborhood that are escaping it are people going about it a certain way, that’s the way you see to escape it. And that’s just what it is. When you see someone pulling up in that Mercedes and getting out and doing whatever they’re doing to get that money, you wanna figure that out. It’s motivational too, because whether you’re gonna trap or rob, or whatever you wanna do to get your money, there’s another side of it that’s just inspirational and hustle. Just go out there and get it.” 

Ultimately, whether you like trap music or not, it’s definitely worth the time to see not just the Trap Music Museum, but also the TRAP CHAPEL, since both offer unique visual art, ideas, and perspectives on this sound and culture that began in ATL but has since spread across the globe, from English Avenue to the cobblestone streets of Italy, and beyond. And if you’re a fan of Migos, Young Thug, Peewee Longway and others, you’ll probably love what you’ll see, and appreciate the thought and effort that went into what FREEKYBEAR has created as an homage to his hometown.

“I like to make stuff that represents Atlanta’s culture, and the unknown,” FREEKYBEAR says. “If you know, you know, and you think it’s the coolest thing.”

The TRAP CHAPEL is only open Friday, February 1 and Saturday, February 2, 2019. RSVP is mandatory for free entry, and there'll be free beverages from Wicked Weed Brewing and Cathead Vodka. RSVP now.