Current Exhibition
One Big Room Full of Bad Bitches (Group Show)
Everything Bad Comes Something Good (Solo Show by Alrad)
San Francisco, CA — SWIM Gallery presents One Big Room Full of Bad Bitches, a group exhibition celebrating queer, femme, and women-identifying artists in graffiti, featuring contributions from Xara Thustra, Lophi, Schatzi, Kolekt, UHOH, and Misia—all anchored by a solo showcase from Alrad, Everything Bad Comes Something Good.
Exhibition Dates:
Opening Reception: November 6, 5–9 PM
Closing Celebration / Potluck / Alrad’s Birthday: November 26, 5–9 PM
Gallery Hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12–5 PM
SWIM Gallery, 509 Ellis St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Artist Bios
Alrad
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Alrad began her journey in graffiti at 14 after discovering her brother’s black book filled with drawings of Kwai AUK. What started as doodles in middle school evolved into tagging walls, and in high school, she painted her first wall with Weaps. Influenced by artists such as Ceaver, Lehs, Wire, Agana, Leach, Dime, Yenta, Freya, Nina, Mynx, and Sad Cloud, she was drawn deeper into graffiti culture.
After high school, she briefly attended the San Francisco Art Institute but left after questioning the role of institutional art in her life. Despite leaving school, her passion for street graffiti only grew, becoming her true creative calling.
Misia
Misia grew up in San Francisco, where early walks with her dad sparked a love for graffiti and its characters like Mummy, Orfn, and Giraffa. As she grew older, she came to see writing as a form of drawing—with letters carrying just as much personality as characters.
In her teens, she explored the city, skipping school to leave drawings in hidden corners—acts that deepened her connection to both graffiti and her surroundings. For Misia, graffiti is a powerful, accessible form of communication and resistance—an ancient, expressive act that reclaims public space and transforms the overlooked into something meaningful.
UHOH
UHOH is a self-taught multimedia artist from the 562 area of Southern California. Initially drawn to illustration, she’s always sought ways to make art daily, even without financial backing. Once active with throwies in busy areas, she’s now focused on refining her letter structure and taking a more intentional approach to graffiti. Her current work explores themes of identity, moral conflict, and personal growth.
Kolekt
Born and raised in San Jose, Kolekt discovered graffiti through her love of photography and aimless city exploring. She often rode buses and trains with no destination, hopping off to take photos and share them online, which led her to a community of graffiti lovers and her first mentors in the scene.
Although she never felt at home in the fine-art world, creating art was always part of her life. Everything clicked when she painted her first wall under a bridge—solidifying her path. Her name, Kolekt, was chosen with the help of her brother after months of going without a moniker.
Schatzi
Schatzi is a graffiti artist out of Oakland, California, known for her playful style and whimsical clown characters. Her name—meaning “little treasure” or “baby” in German—suits her unique blend of sweetness and grit.
After getting sober, she discovered graffiti as a powerful and healthy outlet—one that perfectly blends her two passions: painting and climbing. Drawn to the physical challenge of scaling buildings and the creative freedom of street art, she found graffiti to be the ideal intersection of artistic expression and extreme sport.
Lophi (Lizard)
Lophi, also known as Lizard, identifies as she/her, it, that. She is the reptilian test-tube creature forged from the monotonous plains of Omaha, Nebraska. Her work is a bleeding, hallucinatory hyperbole of a transient past and a present-day domestication.
A lifelong fiber and three-dimensional artist, she has explored airbrush, embroidery, mosaics, and cement sculpture before turning to graffiti as an outlet for her involuntary need to create. After a thirty-foot fall in 2024 left her titanium-reinforced, she keeps her work grounded—through train yards, walls, and derelict buildings that feel more like home than anywhere indoors she’s inhabited. The whole world is a jungle gym for her whims.
Xara Thustra (Heart 101 / Stop Men)
Xara Thustra is a queer street artist—“queer” not just in identity, but in rootedness: in safety, home, community, family, land, and deep respect for all living things. Their work speaks to boundaries, nourishment, self-worth, respect, and self-defense—values woven into the fabric of public art that uplifts both individual and collective identity.
As Xara puts it:
“Plants to the front.”
