By Liana Satenstein, Staff Writer

Armed with a pocketful of markers, a handful of spray paint and a sketchbook, junior Raul “Rez” Barquet has crafted a unique template to how his art will blend into a finite world of numbers and transactions. 

Barquet, a marketing major, has already formed two small businesses: a clothing line called “Are Easy Clothing” and a graphic design company, as well as a website that features his art portfolio. Like a graffiti artist that cultivates and markets their name through spray paint and street tags, Barquet has taken the same fundamental sidewalk concept and has applied it to his trademark brand of art. 

“In fall 2008, I started screen printing t-shirts on the floor of my dorm. Then I took my designs to an operation outhouse. I outsourced it to other companies and then they print it for me. The printing is a lot better and it’s cheaper,” says Barquet. His t-shirt designs are simple; the “AreEasy” brand name printed on the chest of a v-neck, the backside of a topless girl holding a gun with a bandana covering half her face, or even a funny “gangsta penguin” sketch located on the lower left.

“What inspires me are typographic designs as well as real basic designs. I hate those busy-busy shirts like ‘Black Label’ and ‘Ed Hardy’—I don’t find that appealing.”

Behind Barquet’s Spartan t-shirt designs is his life in Staten Island. In his bottom borough brogue, Barquet explains the influence of Staten Island graffiti in his art, “There was MS 17 who was one of the first writers [graffiti artists]. MS 17 was an incredible bomber; she did simple fill-ins and bubble letters—it wasn’t real fancy piecework but she was a vandal at art.”

Barquet’s street art influence is also evident in his recent set of paintings, where he translates the rash and brash of graffiti onto a canvas of religious undertones. One painting shows a consecrated Krylon spray can cleverly shrouded in the burning shape of Mother Mary. In another painting, Barquet draws a pair of prayer-clasped hands that clutch several markers, sanctifying their importance in a smoldering halo.

Taking his experiences in marketing classes, Barquet has been able to spread the word about his art and clothing designs, “I take the same basic principles of marketing companies and apply to myself such as the concept of the ‘Brand of You.’ If you market yourself you have followers that will follow you to another company. You’ll keep that same clientele base and business partners.”

So far, Barquet has shown his clothing designs at a fashion show at Brooklyn College and will be participating in a show at Jersey City College. He has shown his paintings in numerous exhibits and shows. Barquet plans to spread the word about himself and other young artists by creating a group art show for people under 25 on Staten Island.

“There’s a two dimensional structure that really isn’t representative of Staten Island. I want it to be an all day event, people can sell their art, have film majors, have graffiti artists, have designers. When you are at a certain level, you have to help each other out. No corporate people care about us, it is the little people that help each other.”

Although Barquet has entered a competitive world that combines business with aesthetics, his approach to spreading the word about his paintings and clothing line is similar to the graffiti artists that had influenced him—tag your name on every street corner, get yourself known, but keep your craft genuine and never sell out.

Raul Barquet wearing his own design (Liana Satenstein/ The Chronicle)