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Michael McLeer, also known as Kaves or Michael Kaves, is a visual artist, actor, director, musician, and entrepreneur. From New York, Kaves started doing graffiti in the 1980s, for which his talent got noticed and appeared in Henry Chalfant's book Spraycan Art (1987). Shortly after, with his brother, they created the hip-hop group Lordz of Brooklyn. They had four releases All in the Family (1995), Graffiti Roc (2003), The Brooklyn Way (2006), and Family Reunion (2020).
His first credited film experience was in Salvatore Stabile's Gravesend (1995), where he made some original music and played a minor role. He starred, wrote, produced, and directed the short film The Shoemaker (2012), based on the life of his uncle in the 1960s. Acting with him, were Alba Albanese, Burt Young, Bree Michael Warner, and Peter Greene. For his efforts, he won Best Short at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Narrative at the New Hampshire Film Festival. Other directorial efforts include the reality show The Brooklyn Way (2007), the documentary Family Reunion (2020), the music videos Lordz of Brooklyn - Bomb the System (1991), Lordz of Brooklyn feat. Everlast: Sucker Mc (2000), Lordz of Brooklyn: Hey DJ (2003), The Lordz feat. Tim Armstrong: Outlaw (2006), The Lordz feat. Everlast: The Brooklyn Way (2008), Lordz of Brooklyn feat. DMC: Welcome to the Eastside (2012), Lordz of Brooklyn: Motherless Sons (2018), and Lordz of Brooklyn: Beautiful Struggle (2019). As a thespian, he played the lead in the short film Eulogy (2014). With the rest of the cast, they won Best Ensemble at the Queens World Film Festival. Other acting credits include Humdinger (2011), Female Fight Squad (2016), Star (2017), Cops and Robbers (2017), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), etc.
Separately from his film and music endeavors, Kaves found success in becoming a visual artist. He is a world re-known fine art painter and continued making graffiti murals. He illustrated children's books Hip-Hop Alphabet (2017), The ABCs of Metallica (2019), and The ABCs of The Grateful Dead (2022). He has designed logos, illustrated, and made custom art for major companies (Jaguar, Aston Martin, Beaujolais nouveau, etc), and musicians (Beastie Boys, Metallica, Freddie Foxxx, etc). His NFT collection "The Family Mooks" grossed three million dollars. As an entrepreneur, mastering the art of tattooing, he ran several parlors. His restaurant "The Brooklyn Firefly" is a space for artists to perform and showcase their talents. Furthermore, he co-authored the book Skin Graf: Masters of Graffiti Tattoo (2013).
