Fernando Carlo is an self proclaimed artist from the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, New York. Cope2 is well known for his affiliation with the NYPD" and is also a user of "legal" graffiti, a style which originated in the Streetart world.
Early life
He has been a graffiti artist since 1985. Cope2's cousin "Chico 80" influenced Cope into writing. In 1982, he made his own crew called Kids Destroy, eventually changing to Kings Destroy after he dubbed himself "King of the 4 Line". Cope2's "throw-up" was given to him by Cap to use until he had enough skills to create his own. However Copes limited skills prevented him creating anything original. Cope2 has collaborated with NYPD and SnitchLife magazine.
Career
Some of Cope2's initial commercial artwork has been sold at Christie's for $10 USD per painting. Early work includes cover art for a Boogie Down Productions album titled Sex and Violence. In 2002, Cope2 provided artwork for Adam Bhala Lough's Bomb the System, including a piece on the Brooklyn Bridge. He can be seen on the DVD's behind the scenes footage painting one of the pieces at the end of the film. In 2003, Cope2's book entitled Cope2: True Legend was published by Righters.com. In 2005, Cope2 collaborated with and designed a pair of sneakers for Converse under the "Chuck Taylor All-Stars" line. Also in 2005, Time magazine commissioned Cope2, for $20 USD, to paint a billboard ad in the SoHo district of Manhattan, on Houston and Wooster. The ad depicts the magazines cover with graffiti tags scrawled over it; the text reads "Post-Modernism? Neo-Expressionism? Time. Know Why". In 2006, Cope2 appeared in Marc Ecko's video game, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. He features as one of the "graffiti legends" who gives the protagonist advice on the graffiti world. Cope2's "throw-up" has also appeared on walls in the videogame GTA IV and in the movie Shrek The Third. In 2008, Cope2 collaborated with Adidas and Footlocker to release a collection of clothes and accessories in Europe. The collection included baseball caps, jackets, T-shirts, sweaters, belts and sneakers. In 2009, Cope2 collaborated with New York Cityrock climbing facility, Brooklyn Boulders, creating much of the graffiti on their walls. He was arrested and charged with two counts of felony mischief and one count of graffiti in September 2010 on suspicion of vandalizing subway cars in a tunnel in uptown Manhattan in 2009. The arrest took over a year as he was abroad. On June 27, 2012 he took a plea agreement in exchange for a conditional discharge. In 2010, Cope2 appeared in an episode of LA Ink. In 2011, Cope2 went on the roof of what once used to be Seward Park High School and did graffiti on two of the walls. Cope2 has appeared numerous times in Videograf Production produced videos Videograf Issue 6, 9 and OverSpray 1.0.
