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Your browser doesn't support iframes. Please upgrade to something better <p> Alain Maridueña (better known as Alan Ket) grew up between Jackson Heights, Miami and Brooklyn. He is the first born to his parents, both immigrants from Latin America. A native of Ecuador, Alain's father came to New York and landed a job as a machinist in Astoria - a far cry from his family's home in Guayaquil. His mother emigrated from Cuba with the rest of her family and landed in Washington Heights like the other Cubans in the '60s. Alain was raised by his mother and grandparents in the Latino enclave of Jackson Heights until the age of seven, when he moved to Miami. As a child, Alain passed his time with Spider-Man comics, Hot Wheels cars and an equal dose of TV like the Smurfs and Happy Days.</p> <p>At 10 Alain returned to Brooklyn to live with his dad. Summers in Brooklyn meant playing sports, learning how to breakdance and copying Bruce Lee moves. Midwood High School was the backdrop to Alain's teen years in Brooklyn. His goal was to pursue his interest in science and leave the neighborhood that was exploding with crime, drugs and escalating violence. Working his way through high school, Alain forfeited baseball and lacrosse with the other kids to help with the household bills and his own expenses. It was during these years of taking the 5 train to school that Alain fell in love with graffiti art and the soundtrack of his Brooklyn neighborhood sparked his love for Hip Hop music. After high school, he moved out on his own to escape the domestic abuse at home. It was during these years that Alain became known in the graffiti world as a serious artist and outspoken political activist.</p> <p>He went on to study at Borough of Manhattan Community College, eventually earning a scholarship to both Vassar and New York University, where he completed his studies in graphic communication technology and management in 1996. While at New York University, he married, had a daughter and started his first business, Stress Magazine. With this venture, Alain combined his NYU education with his passion to communicate the urban experience of young people of color who participated in Hip Hop culture. During Stress' existence (1995-2000), Alain and the magazine became known as advocates for prisoner's rights, political prisoners, journalists of color and against police brutality. Above all, the magazine gave the Hip Hop movement an outlet for firsthand experiences by employing non-traditional writers and participants of the culture. Stress spawned the Hip Hop journal, Elementary, and Black August, an organization to support political prisoners in exile.</p> <p>The years of working for a meager wage and the long work hours took a toll on Alain and his family. By the end of 1999, he and his wife separated. In 2000, Stress closed its doors forever and Alain went on to start a new magazine, Complex, for his friend Marc Ecko of Ecko Unlimited. At this point, Alain had become a magazine publishing expert and took advantage of his entrepreneurial training in order to better provide for his family. He welcomed his son into the world in 2001. Now divorced, Alain threw himself into his work, including lecturing and painting around the world on the topics of graffiti history and Hip Hop entrepreneurism. He lectured at such prestigious universities as Princeton, Brown, Berkeley and Wesleyan. He also painted and exhibited work around the world in cities such as Munich, Zurich, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.</p> <p>By 2003, Alain started working with fashion brands Azzure Denim and Indigo Red as Vice President of MarAlaining and Advertising, helping the company become a leader in the urban fashion category. During his time there, he consulted for Marc Ecko on his video game venture and the launch of the video game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. Alain served as the lead environment and graffiti consultant, making sure that the game was authentic and inclusive of the world's graffiti art pioneers. He was able to contract over 75 artists to work with him to create the art for the game.</p> <p>In 2005, Alain branched off to work for himself again, founding From Here to Fame LLC, a book publishing, content development and art agency. Since then, he has worked with a diverse group of clients like MTV, Lugz, Atari, Vibe magazine and Mountain Dew. That year he also curated Marc Ecko's block party, an event that paid tribute to graffiti pioneers and the cause of much controversy when New York's Mayor Bloomberg decided to revoke the event's permit. After a heavily publicized court battle, the City was forced to reinstate the permit and the event was a huge success. This was the beginning of a strained relationship with local politicians because of Ecko and Alain's public pro-graffiti stance.</p> <p>Today, he continues to promote Hip Hop and graffiti culture through the three book titles he has published thus far: <i>Street Play</i>, <i>Hip Hop Files</i> and <i>The Nasty Terrible T-Kid 170</i>. Alain continues to be active in preserving New York and urban art history by documenting the art scene in lectures, magazines like Mass Appeal and the upcoming book, The History of New York Subway Graffiti.</p> <p>At the time of his arrest in October 2006, Alain was working on eight different books on graffiti and fashion. He suffered a major setback as a result of the police confiscating his archives and computers.</p> <p>Alain is not only a parent, but also an uncle to two nieces and a nephew. He is an elder in his family and provides guidance and support to his parents, siblings and cousins. He volunteers his time in his community and to his friends. For many, he is a connector, a person with extensive contacts that is never unwilling to share resources and ideas. To others, he is just a busy and determined man, always looking to build on a new project or talk politics. When he isn't working, you can usually find him in the park walking his two dogs.</p>
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