“I just played City Splash [festival],” he says eagerly, reflecting on his performance 24 hours ago. “It’s about 30,000 people there. I played the small stage, but you feel that collective energy, it’s crazy.” After inheriting the prolific London-based sound system Jah Youth from his late father, Allan Rolle, the 44-year-old is eager to preserve its legacy. Dedicated to roots reggae since its 1975 debut, the sound system has been entertaining intergenerational West Indians and Brits for over 50 years. “My father was a very inspirational person in and around the community,” Lion states. Using his compensation for an injury whilst serving as West Ham United’s U21’s league goalkeeper, Allan Rolle inspired Lion throughout his childhood, his ear for music expanding because of his father's pivot. “He even opened a record store in Upton Park,” Lion shares. “Because I looked so much like my father, musicians would stop me asking about it, my father, and the music in there.” Being of Dominican and Vincentian descent, Tau Lion was nourished by the strong, post-Windrush generation of West Indians who sought communal connection, collaboration, and celebration, Rolle’s ventures becoming integral to this collective yearning. “Both the record store and sound system became community hubs; it really gave my upbringing some excitement.” Jah Youth wasn’t just a success nationally, carrying on a legacy of sound systems in the country since 1955, but it made inroads into the wider Black diaspora, Lion gaining first-hand experience on tour, as the sound system made its way to various countries in Africa. “Suddenly, in 1990, we got to tour with the full sound system, we went to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe,” Lion explains. Joined by the prolific band Misty in Roots, in Zimbabwe, Jah Youth supported a segment of their East African tour, aligning with the political message of Pan-Africanism. Here, Tau Lion was exposed to a bird's-eye view of politics and music's inherent overlap. “At that time, Misty In Roots were eager to extend their message out there, because apartheid was still an active situation.” With songs such as “Ghetto In The City” and their advocacy of the 1976  Rock Against Racism movement, Misty In Roots weren’t shy in using music as a vehicle for social change. “It was inspiring to see something like that up close and personal,” Lion notes. Grateful for the experience, he says the tour served as an important catalyst for his inter-communal efforts as an adult. After moving to Sierra Leone in 1991, Lion and his family were forced to return to London when civil war broke out. “I remember thrusting all we had into the back of the car one morning,” he recalls. “I couldn’t go back for some of the things.” Making it back to the UK safely, he would finish his final year of primary school before spending his secondary school years and college life, toying with the idea of returning to Africa. “I finally told my dad about it, but he wanted me to finish my education first.” Towards his late adolescence, however, he’d get the call, again via his father’s record store, to explore a new medium. “A jeweller, Gully used to shop at my dad’s store,” Lion explains. “When I was 19, he asked for my help. His jewelry brand was called Gullcano, so I jumped at the chance to dive into something new.” Focused on luxury chains and bracelets made in styles such as Cuban links, Tau Lion dived into the experience wholeheartedly, eager to gain a first-hand skillset.Quickly getting on with Gully, Lion would spend his free time assembling the jewellery. Formalising his knowledge academically, he later enrolled in college and university to study the art form, still working with Gullcano in the background. “I actually dropped out of university before final year, as I wanted the knowledge, not a formal academic paper,” he laughs. Eventually finding his way back to Africa, Lion purchased a house in Tanzania, with his father's backing and support, attempting to build a jewellery imprint of his own, dubbed Made In Africa. Expanding into beaded jewellery with local assemblers, Inter noticed a gap in knowledge on the ground. “There are transferable skills that I wanted to give people, helping them to expand,” Lion shares. Now, he goes back each September to run workshops, maintaining ties with his Tanzanian community. Tau Lion is bringing his expertise to Patta for a brand new jewellery collaboration set to showcase his years of work and practice to a new cohort of cultural enthusiasts. “My designs are inspired by ancient architecture and geometric design,” he begins, deep in thought. “For example, one of my links is inspired by stars, the other, planets, and the third, interconnected universes.” Deciding to focus on sets for both men and women, the bracelets crafted can be paired as a necklace. For Lion, the concept for the collection is tailored to the community, allowing for braces to be worn as individual pieces or assembled for multiple family members or friends. “Three [individual] bracelets will be able to assemble a standard male-sized chain, and two will be big enough for a woman,” Lion explains. Using the analogy of a father, he expresses that a necklace could become an heirloom for his child as they grow up. “It’s about keepsakes and legacy.” Made from sterling silver, Lion wanted an ethical, widely accessible material for the inaugural release, but also one that’s ideal for being worn in event spaces. Lion notes that some people believe sterling silver helps ground the body in high bass environments. “That’s where the connection between the sound systems and my focus now on jewellery collide too,” he continues.Mindful not just of this collection, but also what lies ahead, Tau Lion’s mission across sound and design is simple. For him, cultural preservation is key. “I’m just excited to carry on the legacy my father carried so strongly,” he says. “And creating and preserving my own at the same time.”Patta Magazine Volume 7 available soon

Words by Andy Thomas In 1978, Lee Quiñones’ iconic mural Howard the Duck appeared on a handball court wall in the Lower East Side near where the 18-year-old had lived since arriving as a child from Ponce, Puerto Rico.The first freestanding urban mural to appear in New York was a symbolic moment for graffiti art’s emergence out of the underground, with walls replacing metal as the young artist’s urban canvas.Quiñones began spray-painting subway trains at 14 in 1974, creating ambitious murals in train yards on the Lower East Side. Two years later, Quiñones and the Fabulous Five crew had the audacious plan to paint an entire 10-car subway train with a mural that would make them folk art heroes across the five boroughs.These acts of artistic genius and ingenuity would prove as important to the evolution of hip-hop culture as DJ Kool Herc’s Back to School Jam at 1520 Sedgwick Ave in 1973, fellow Bronx schoolboy Grand Wizzard Theodore inventing scratching in 1975, and the arrival of “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979.Another big moment in hip-hop was Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style, which starred Quiñones as the semi-autobiographical Zoro. Ahearn became aware of Quiñones when he came across the Howard the Duck mural while filming his martial arts movie The Deadly Art of Survival on the Lower East Side with his Super 8 camera.In June 1980, Ahearn and his cohorts in the arts collective Colab transformed a three-storey building on 41st Street and Seventh Avenue into The Times Square Show, a DIY exhibition that, in the words of the Village Voice, was “the first radical art show of the ’80s”.It was also an important moment in the history of graffiti art, with Lee Quiñones and his Fabulous Five partner Fred Brathwaite (AKA Fab 5 Freddy) displaying works alongside around 100 other artists, including Kenny Scharf, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring. It was there that Ahearn met Brathwaite, who would introduce the filmmaker to Quiñones.Through his social commentary and poetry used in his expressionistic work with messages like “If we don't use our heads now we may lose our tails later” Quiñones had been speaking directly and profoundly to the marginalized from the streets where he was raised. But Quiñones had ambitions for his art and culture that went well beyond the Lower East Side.The December before The Times Square Show, an art collector named Claudio Bruni had invited Quiñones and Fab Five Freddy to exhibit at his Galleria La Medusa in Rome. It was the first step towards propelling Quiñones into the international art market and giving graffiti art the same attention and respect as other art movements - from pop art to abstractionism.By the mid-’80s, Quiñones was participating in groundbreaking group shows like Arte di Frontiera: New York Graffiti in Italy and Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany. As the graffiti art he pioneered became recognized as a serious art movement in the years that followed, Quiñones continued to expand his artistic vision. Today, his works are displayed in the world’s leading museums - from MoMA in New York and Pérez Art Museum Miami to Museum Ludwig in Köln.In October 2025, he held his first solo exhibition in London for 40 years, Outside Is America, an intersection of old and new works that spanned his career - from iconic spray paint pieces like the self-titled Lee from 1979 to contemporary mixed material works such as Heart in a Hurricane from 2025, created from his Bushwick studio.With a lineage that reaches back to the mid ’70s, these works continue Quiñones'mission to communicate using a combination of striking visual symbols and written messages. Through empathy and resistance, his addressing of political and socio-economic issues in the age of Trump and the dark dystopian forces of ICE is needed more than ever.As Outside Is America drew to a close, we caught up with the artist to talk about the works displayed at Woodbury House and how they speak to contemporary America.“Art arrives at the time it deserves”, says Lee Quiñones. “I’ve always been at the forefront of something while also realizing I’m just following a lead of something bigger than myself. I think every artist has a responsibility to be committed to what they do in their time. Art does percolate under the surface until it comes up with something to say at a particular point in time. Creating art is in itself a political act. In some cases, a rebellious act; in most cases, an urgent act.“Titles have always been important to my work and they often speak to me before the work becomes a tangible thing. I want the work to correspond to the title and vice versa.  With this show, I wanted to talk to people outside of my country as an American with what we are going through today. This is nothing new, though. We’ve always lived in the abyss of the hypocrisy of humankind. But I’m a firm believer that the forces of good can be more powerful than the forces of evil.”HEART IN A HURRICANE“I had found this old vintage flag in the Brooklyn Navy Yard back in the mid-’90s that had been sewn together, not printed. This was a beautiful piece - it was more than a piece of fabric, it was the fabric of the country. But it started to get me thinking about all the atrocities over time in America. When you think about personal moments, you can go back to Mildred and Richard Loving, the interracial couple in the ’50s who married and went through hell just for being in love. Then, into today with Colin Kaepernick (of the 49ers). He’s not stepping on the flag or burning the flag; he is kneeling to bring a justifiable awareness of this country’s issues with its dirty dishes. Now I’m Puerto Rican, and we have our very rightful gripes and rifts with our country for obvious reasons. So I’m always going to have a rebellious part of me. But in this piece, which is a self-portrait, I’m not rebelling or lashing out; it’s a very tender moment. I’m lying down with a rose in my hand to show a love of country. But you can’t love a country if you can’t question the country.”UNFOLDED“Ori Carino is an Italian American who, like me, grew up on the Lower East Side and was inspired by my art. But he was also a huge inspiration to me, another man from the Lower East Side with whom I shared concerns and pride. Here are two men of Puerto Rican and Italian descent. The main reference of these two things combined is West Side Story. As beautiful as that story is, it's also a tragic story of migration. The real genius behind that painting is Ori Carino - he said to me, ‘Lee, I’m making these paintings on these layers of synthetic silk.’ So I went down to his studio, and I was floored. He told me he wanted to do a collaborative piece about the layers and layers of immigration and the different conversations and arguments over the centuries. So I was like, ‘Wow, this is great karma for us coming together.’ It was a beautiful collaboration even before we pulled the trigger on the paint. And the results were amazing.”TABLET #9 “These writings taken from studio walls are what I call soundboards. I think of them as liquid daily diaries of my thoughts, my isms, my poetry, that come to me now and then. Sometimes I feel as dumb as a church mouse. I just can’t talk, spell, or remember anything. Then the next day, I wake up, and I just spill out all this poetry. Lots of it makes sense, and much of it doesn’t at that time. But maybe it will become something that I will work out later in another painting. These ideas can be playfully funny or darkly poetic. The idea is you don’t hit people over the head with things, but you get them to think through the usage of words. I heard Basquiat say once that he would cross out words so people would be attracted to them. It got people thinking, ‘Why did he cross that out? What did he write?’ And sometimes the lack of words is more powerful and gets people thinking, ‘What is that about?’”LEE“This was one of a batch of paintings that I created between 1979-80, trying to exorcise myself from the fringes of the subway art era. That time was so powerful and special for me. It saved my life even though I was always putting my life on the line. It saved me from the abyss of my neighbourhood. I had painted in the dark about dark times for years. But in that darkness, I painted in the brightest colours because I wanted to bring this banquet of flowers to people. Lee featured in the 1979 exhibition The Fabulous Five at Galleria La Medusa in Rome [the first European exhibition to showcase artists from the graffiti movement], organized by gallerist Claudio Bruni. When we write, something comes out through us.”HONEST GEORGE“Honest George is rooted in the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s one of a series of pieces I’m doing based on all these follies and tales we hear as children, and on how we structure our beliefs about them and relate them to the real world as it unravels. My moral compass is angry, so my work relates to the hypocrisy of the human experience. But today my work goes all over the place. There are times that I do go into a rhythm, but I only stay there as long as I need to. My art will never be repetitive or redundant. I never want to be put in a corner. As artists, we have to switch gears; otherwise, we are going to burn the clutch.”  

Words by Chris DanforthChicago’s Anthony Gallery is taking its distinctive curatorial vision across the Atlantic with the opening of a new space in Amsterdam. Founded by Isimeme “Easy” Otabor in 2019, Anthony Gallery is known for pairing buzzing and established artists, fostering cross-cultural dialogue, and reflecting Otabor’s personal perspective. Now, Amsterdam has become its second home. More than a gallery, the Amsterdam location aims to be a cultural hub, integrating music, design, and community engagement while connecting local and international artists. Otabor emphasizes that the gallery’s goal is to foster dialogue with Amsterdam’s creative ecosystem, not impose an outside voice. The launch features a collaborative exhibition by Tony Lewis, whose observational drawings capture human connection, paired with cocktails inspired by his work. Looking ahead to 2026, the gallery will host solo and group exhibitions blending local talent with global voices, creating a space that is both globally connected and locally rooted.  Below, Patta Magazine chats with two of the minds behind the project, Easy Otabor, and supporting the project from Amsterdam multidisciplinary agency Tree Filling Window, Erum Shah.How did the relationship form between Chicago and Amsterdam?Erum Shah: I’ve worked with Easy for years, including on Tom Sachs projects. Easy has been thinking about expanding Anthony Gallery to Europe, and Amsterdam felt natural. Both cities are local yet global, with strong communities and a commitment to craft. Amsterdam, like Chicago, brings together music, design, and art in a way that aligns with Anthony Gallery’s values.Easy Otabor: Amsterdam has long been a crossroads for art and ideas — a place where conversations can take root. There’s a growing energy here around contemporary art, and we wanted to be part of that momentum while also creating a bridge between European and American audiences. You’re launching with Tony Lewis, tell us how that lined up.Erum Shah: We wanted a celebratory launch before the program officially kicks off in 2026. Easy has a long-standing relationship with artist Tony Lewis, whose drawings capture hospitality and human connection. He sketches in bars, observing people and spaces, which reflects the spirit of the gallery. The launch exhibition felt like a natural way to bring Amsterdam together while connecting US and European perspectives. Tony also plans to create cocktails to pair with his drawings, creating an interactive and authentic experience.Easy Otabor: We’ve admired Tony’s practice for years. His ability to use language to address questions of identity and communication feels incredibly relevant right now. When the opportunity arose to collaborate on a new body of work, the timing felt right for it to anchor our opening. It sets the tone for the kind of dialogue we want the gallery to fosterWhen you select artists to work with, what do you keep in mind?Erum Shah: Easy pairs new voices with established ones, challenging what fine art can be. He prioritizes cultural crossover and, as a Chicago-born gallerist, includes many Black artists. His roster is distinctive because he creates dialogues between emerging and established artists, for example, pairing an emerging painter with someone like George Condo in a group show.Easy Otabor: We want to continue to keep working with great artists, but more importantly, great people.What role do you see the gallery playing in Amsterdam’s community?Erum Shah: The gallery’s responsibility is to add to the existing cultural ecosystem. We chose Amsterdam because its values - intersection of music, design, art, and local brand culture - align naturally with his vision. The goal is not to impose an international voice but to bring Amsterdam into conversation, pairing local voices with artists from Easy’s global network, including the US, Tokyo, and the African diaspora.Easy Otabor: We hope to contribute to the ecosystem and culture. That means engaging with artists, curators, and institutions already here, while bringing new voices into the mix. Our goal is to build a space that’s both globally connected and locally grounded—a place for exchange, experimentation, and discovery.What’s planned for 2026?Easy Otabor: We have an exciting slate of exhibitions that build on this year’s conversations, some returning collaborators and some new names we’re thrilled to introduce. Beyond the program itself, 2026 will be about deepening relationships: with artists, collectors, and the communities around both galleries. We’re focused on long-term growth, not just expansion.Are there other ways the gallery will engage with the community?Erum Shah: We want to redefine what a gallery can be. It will host talks and conversations across culture, curated exhibitions, and events that create community engagement. We’re exploring partnerships with local establishments and other sectors like hospitality and food, so the gallery feels integrated with Amsterdam’s culture. Opening nights and ongoing events should encourage dialogue, participation, and a deeper connection to the city.