February 20, 2009

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Age: 25
Hometown: Hastings
Where do you now live?: Hackney
Where would you most like to live?: SF
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Mother
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Sleep, Eat, Draw, Ride my bike.
What is your favorite color?: Red Oxide
Who (or what) do you love?: The moon on the sea.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Nature, Decay, Wood, The Seaside, Trees.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Too many to mention...

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Rusted, nostalgic flotsam and jetsam

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Tattooing

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Hot cheese

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Happiness and a house on the beach.

Posted by marc at 7:10 AM in Interviews |


January 6, 2009

Age: 31
Hometown: London
Where do you now live?: Southend, UK
Where would you most like to live?: In a home of my own
Who was your first "hero" in life?: My Mum
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I dont have days off, My brain doesn't let me but if I were to try, its spending time with my children, reading and dancing round the front room to whatever music we can find that very moment whilst giggling hysterically.




Wooster: What is your favorite color?:

Depends on my mood, the weather and the day of the week.

Wooster: Who (or what) do you love?:

My family, I have two little boys whom I am immensely proud of. I adore creating and being around people who create.

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

When I was 7, My Dad used to be a window dresser in London, he would chop up bits of perspex and arrange objects in our front room ready to take to display the next day, he is amazingly creative and has always encouraged me along with my Mum to be active and question everything...I have a fascination with mannequins which I am sure will come out in my work sooner or later!

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

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Glenn Brown

Anyone that makes work. Its so easy to have ideas or thoughts and let them swirl around in your head without expressing them.... In particular I am most interested in work by Cut up Collective, Cayetano Ferrer, Hans Haacke, Adam Neate, Antony Micallef, Jenny Holzer, Glenn Brown, Damien Hirst, Downey and Darius, Kelsey Brookes, Rachel Howard, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Antony Micallef, Banksy and after a visit to the Tate Modern at the weekend Cildo Meireless...the list goes on and on and I can easily get ever so carried away with myself!!

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I would love to be able to understand Math, I just cant get my head round it at all.
I also harbour a secret desire to be able to skateboard-nothing too tricky just actually move in a straight line without feeling like I am going to fall on my bottom and perhaps jump up and down a kerb (if I am feeling a bit flash)...but I think I can list that alongside the wish to be able to do a full cartwheel!

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Room 101

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Peace

You can see more of Laura's work here.

Posted by marc at 7:25 AM in Interviews |


January 5, 2009

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Age: 24
Hometown: In between 2 pubs in the countryside.
Where do you now live?: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
Where would you most like to live?: In a place close to all my good friends, where art is in abundance and creativity flows all around.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: I would hate for this to sound cliché however my first hero would obliviously be realised when I was a kid and therefore I would have to say my dad. When we grow up our opinions change however I still hold massive respect for the man.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: To experience live music, especially some dirty bass. Seeking out new art. Plan mischief or new ideas (however this is more of a continuous activity). Chill and chat with friends. Practice bad mixing.
What is your favorite color?: Blue. No doubt.
Who (or what) do you love?: Open mindedness. Altruism. Logical thinking. Not accepting what we are brought up to believe or what is indoctrinated in us. Thinking for yourself and researching the full spread of the facts to discover the whole truth. Pushing the boundaries.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Anyone who pushes it. Anyone with dedication, no matter what they are doing so long as they are not harming anyone with it.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Aphex twin for his overall genius, Blu and Sam3 for always impressing me (and their amazing animations), Banksy for stepping up the level, Steppenwolf (the novel) for its insight into the human character, Aldous Huxley for his mastering of the English language (and creating the Doors of Perception), Conor Harrington for his style, Lucy Mclaughlin for her beautiful simplicity. JR for his wonderful photography, my good friend Karborn for sharing my youth til present day with....... the list could go on and on (and i’m scared ive missed out some important ones... infact no doubt i will have).

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I believe there is no constant in my artwork. If an idea strikes me and it is within my capabilities ill go for it. Some of my work takes on the surreal. Some of my work revolves around modifying the surrounding environment to give it an edge.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

To be a master of music production

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Insanity. Wasting my life. Fucking up these questions.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

For people to respect my work. To make work I am proud of and finally make a name for myself. To not get arrested again.

Posted by marc at 9:05 PM in Interviews |


January 2, 2009

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Age: 45
Hometown: Paris
Where do you now live?: Paris, France
Where would you most like to live?: Where my heart leads me… maybe one day Brooklyn !
Who was your first "hero" in life?: A mix between Brian Jones, Bruce Lee, Marcello Mastrioani and Coluche
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Stay with my 3 children
What is your favorite color?: Full color time
Who (or what) do you love?: People, Men, Women and Figures… (introduction to my booklet !!!)

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

jlparis.jpg Jacques Villeglé

My first influence is all the paper with all that memories… but 25 years ago when I start to paint, I was influenced by the "Steamin Muslims", a french painting group from the eighties. After that I discover a lot of pasted up and collage from different time and different artist too. Fifteen years ago I discover the work of Jacques Villeglé… and my head was "Shake it out" !!! We have to dream in that life, so life is my influence everyday… I try it. Specifically about artist in disorder… I like Matisse, Chaissac, Giacometti, Man Ray, Warhol, Basquiat and more (so classical !)

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

M-City, Orticanoodles, FarkFK, Gaia, Swoon, Faile, Bast, Dain, Judith Supine, Matt Siren,
> Dan Witz, Revs, Pure Evil, Fairey, Blu, Banksy, Elbow Toe, Os Gemeos and Talking Mute but also all my french peers and there are many !

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Think about a person, think about some colors, think about a movement, think about paper…old paper !!!

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Art Scotch, my second life…

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Losing my hands…I'd lose my head !

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Always have the freedom to make street art throughout all the city and make people happy with my collages

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You can see mote of FKDL's work here and here.

Posted by marc at 8:09 AM in Interviews |


December 29, 2008

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Age: 38
Hometown: Fairfax VA
Where do you now live?: Washington DC
Where would you most like to live?: Canary Islands
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Speed Racer
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I quit my day job
What is your favorite color?: Clear
Who (or what) do you love?: Anything with alcohol in it (including people)

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Classical music this week, natural landscapes, watching animals--especially albinos

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

EvanRoth(fi5e), BLU, Jorge Rodriguez, Anthony Micallef, CON, Truth, TILT, Eric il Cane, Leon Reid, Brad Downey, Slinkachu, Judge Judy and dead, Juan Munoz

How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it? That it can be hard to identify as art

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

The ability to be 10 years younger

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Dying in my sleep so that I miss the experience of it

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Right now to write different words on the sidewalk with popcorn and watch the birds eat it, but they're mostly south right now so I'm going to wait until spring.

You can see more of Mark's work here.

Posted by marc at 8:34 AM in Interviews |


December 20, 2008

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Age:26
Hometown: Sao Paulo
Where do you now live?: birigui/sao paulo
Where would you most like to live?: i need discovery so much places in future......
Who was your first "hero" in life?: my brothers
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: i play percussion and love music.....
What is your favorite color?: fluorescent tons....
Who (or what) do you love?: my friends, my life painting....

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

In the beginning I was very influenced by artists of pixaçao from sao paulo, urban; c.maluco, psychopaths and so on ... mais adiante conheci o grafiti de N.Y. e depois me abri a todas as influencias artisticas de diversos suportes...

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I like people from the old school and new school of sao paulo! osgemeos, Onesto, also vitche .... .. esher older artists, Gustav Klimt, Francis Bacon .. I like things from sao paulo as the art of "balloonist" practicing an illegal and very interesting art, done only with Chinese paper, glue, gas and fire!

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

tudo que pode ser imaginado pode ser desenhado ,de um projeto de arquitetura a um sentimento.....
nossa mente e capaz de produzir sinteses e signos ,minha arte tenta traduzir ao mundo do sensivel coisas e seres do mundo imaterial ou sensorial....
como um jogo de cartas as minhas imagens tem valores e significados , mas por vezes se oculta a minha racionalidade ....

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

to play percussion.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

My fears are linked to my pleasures and challenges, without moving my life .. I feel most consistently successful by my fear and suffer for it .....

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

to continue painting.

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Posted by marc at 7:39 AM in Interviews |


December 17, 2008

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Age:24
Hometown: Paris
Where do you now live?: Paris mon amour
Where would you most like to live?: Wherever i feel free
Who was your first "hero" in life?: My dad and Gandhi
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: See the sea
What is your favorite color?: punchy ones
Who (or what) do you love?: JR's lips
Who and/or what are some of your influences? sociology, ethics, Boris Cyrulnik, Japan
What other artists do you most admire? Camille Claudel, Francis Bacon, JR, Blu
How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it? disturbing and questioning, organic, sociological...
What other talent would most like to have? to play triangle, conduct planes, and tell jokes without laughing before the end.
What do you fear the most? cruelty and logic together
What is your greatest ambition? question people to make them see & think further


ADOPTION DAY IN BRUSSELS
by prune-art

You can learn more about Prune's art here.

Posted by marc at 7:04 AM in Interviews |


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Age: 30+
Hometown: somewhere in poland
Where do you now live?: also somewhere in poland
Where would you most like to live?: close to the atlantic ocean
Who was your first "hero" in life?: zorro
Who (or what) do you love?: i like cocoa, i love chocolate
What other artists do you most admire? johny rotten and peter tosh
What other talent would most like to have? singing like nico
What do you fear the most? road block at 3 o'clock
What is your greatest ambition? to do what i want, not what i have to

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You can see more of Peter's art here.

Posted by marc at 6:57 AM in Interviews |


December 12, 2008

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Age:34
Hometown: Born South East London, studied at CSM London school of art, fine art painting, finished '96
Where do you now live?: Berlin, Friedrichshain since 2000.
Where would you most like to live?: Anywhere close to friends and family that is not too cold, where you can still see a reaction from the people that are being played. Berlin has been my home now for the last 8 years and its been amazing to witness such a drastic alteration in the face of development from the street floor up.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: A guy called Frank Wilson, he taught me to breathe and introduced me to Tai Chi and took the piss out of me constantly it kept me on my toes.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: What work? Absorb new work in the galleries, online, outside my door and in public spaces... generally enjoying the response to the changing world by artists. Getting from A-Z by bike come rain or shine.
What is your favorite color?: Neutral grey of course! In all its splendid variants...but of a similar colour temperature please. Its hard not be able to take a set with me on the plane. El Mac and Ruedione from Montana were telling me last week how you can mix from a hot can to a depressured cold one to get the right mix if you are picky. It was only when I was half way round the world without my cans that I realized how dependent I have become on the grey scale range that I use.
Who (or what) do you love?: My wife, my daughter, the extended family I am part of and the rock solid belief in the gallery that is supporting me, REINKINGPROJEKTE. The rush of doing 40+kmh on a bike in wind shadow and not getting out of breath. A knife with an invisible edge.
Who and/or what are some of your influences? Coffee...I wouldn't be cutting stencils if hadn't been for the amazing articulate stencil work of EVOL and PISA73 from CT/INK here in Berlin and I would still be painting in oils if it hadn't been for Berlins amazing in your face culture on the streets. Coming from London was the best and easiest step to securing the affordable luxury of a studio and a place to live. I've said coffee haven't I? The main inspiration comes from the natural inadequacies and faults of the last piece of work I made. Working with the representation of today's human figure and its interaction with the space around it pushes me in directions I haven't seen before in art history, so I am really trying to just respond naturally to the dialogue of how humans interact with one another and tip the balance of a preconceived perception of the figurative image. For instance a man clad in full chemical protection suit relaying info down a walkie-talkie is hardly going to be reading a shopping list of eggs, chocolate, toilet paper, dandruff shampoo... etc. but he could be! My latest piece "the embrace" is a remake of the naked lovers pose from Picasso's 1903 work under the same title. It basically highlights the barriers we put up globally and shows the ridiculous way in which we hinder ourselves from the basic necessities of love. The past years of thick-skinned politics are in fact highly sensitized to foreign bodies.

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Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

"Of all the street artists my favorite has got to be Bansky" ahh if I had a dollar...! Seriously across the board here, Frank Auerbach, the London school, Vermeer, Holbein, Cranach, Turner, Whistler, Micallef, Nadia Hebson, James Johnson Perkins, Paul Becker, Dimitris Tzamouranis, Moki, Brad Downey, Swoon, The invisible heroes, Bun Zero, Kode 9 and the spaceape, Hyperdub, Mary Anne Hobbs, Ani Difranco, PJ Harvey... better stop now, last but not least the Berlin softcore of course, big up!

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Post apocalyptic grey romanticism.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I would love to have the ability to fly so I could get rid of ladders, cables and extensions and have fun making work in all sorts of unreachable spots. It would probably feel like doing a rooftop in the fog.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Not being able to provide for those I love.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Be one of the good ones.

You can see more of Boxi's work here.

Posted by marc at 6:49 AM in Interviews |


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(Donation stands set up to assist the beleaguered auto industry during the holiday season. Sadly, someone attempted to steal the donations from this stand assuming there was anything to steal. - Vinchen)

Hometown: Columbus OH USA
Where do you now live?: Columbus OH USA
Where would you most like to live?: I believe a larger European city would agree with me.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Theodor Geisel, more popularly known as Dr Seuss. I can think of no one more imaginative and creative who could succinctly distill life's complexities into entertaining and serious social criticism. I think he moved me before I knew words to describe the feeling.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Visit with friends. Daydream of things I would like to exist and then try to make them exist. Wander around empty moonlit streets adding my part to reality's collage.
What is your favorite color?: Orange
Who (or what) do you love?: Having lunch and drinks outside on warm autumn days.

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(The coupon above was inserted into weekly free papers in bars, delis, cofffeshops etc.)

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Khalil Gibran, Milan Kundera, Albert Camus, Raymond Carver, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufmann, Gang of Four, Wire, Banksy, Samuel Smith, Fred Rogers, Dostoevsky, and many more.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, Francis Bacon, Caravaggio, James Rosenquist, Conor Harrington, Blu, Jenny Holzer, Max Beckman, Jeff Koons, Basquiat, Kehinde Wiley, Richard Prince, Peter Saville

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

That perhaps it is comparable to life; it exists for only a brief moment, for a few people, and then it is gone. I hope finding it is like receiving a letter in the mail. Or maybe it's more like a six year old throwing a tantrum.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

To be a writer. Novels, stories.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Indifference. One person's indifference is another's executioner.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To minimize wants, to be honest and happy.

You can learn more about Vinchen's art here.

Posted by marc at 6:19 AM in Interviews |


December 11, 2008

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Hometown: Oakland California
Where do you now live?: Brooklyn New York
Where would you most like to live?: Towards the equator
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Unkl Bill
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Drink & walk.
Who (or what) do you love?: Kath Bloom's "Terror" Album

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Just this Summer discovered Francis Alÿs (!) What rock was I under?

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Jean Dubuffet, Daniel Buren, Maya Hayuk, Marie Lorenz, Melissa Brown, Eltono, Sam3, Influenza, Filippo Minelli, Zosen, Sonik, Blu, Wayne Horse, Steve Lambert

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

"It looks like a music video nightmare" That's a quote from "Northshore" that friend Sean will say describes my work.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Music

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Winter

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

The best ambition would be empowering others, and the surest way is with help. I'd like to work with more interdisciplinary people as well as artists- academics for example.

You can learn more about MOMO's art here.

Posted by marc at 8:06 AM in Interviews |


December 9, 2008

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Age: 29
Hometown: Taupo, Aotearoa New Zealand
Where do you now live?: Occupied Kulin Nation Lands, Melbourne, Australia
Where would you most like to live?: wherever my love and my baby live
Who was your first "hero" in life?: my mum
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I'm a mum, work isn't an on/off thing. But when I get out of the house I most prefer to get out of the city. And I'm quite fond of cross stitching.
What is your favorite color?: green
Who (or what) do you love?: people who ask questions

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

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(Rayna Knyaginya)

Sylvia Pankhurst - British radical feminist suffragette, artist and anti-facist. Rayna Knyaginya - Bulgarian revolutionary who sewed the uprising flag in 1876. Emma Goldman, Eva Rickard, The Random Trollops. And all the women who have ever fought for justice and freedom with their beautiful strong creative voices.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Lisa Anne Auerbach, Sara Rahbar, Cross Stitch Ninja, Cat Mazza, Janie Terrano

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Traditional domestic craft with a revolutionary political analysis. My art practice is direct action anti globalisation, anti speculation, pro community craftivism.

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Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I wish I could make up tunes.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

to completely overhaul our global economic system and save the world

You can learn more about Radical Cross Stitch here and here.

Posted by marc at 6:46 AM in Interviews |


December 8, 2008

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Age: 64 years until i am 100
Hometown: well i grew up everywhere in Canada but i was born in Toronto but have lived in Montreal much longer than anywhere else in my life...
Where do you now live?: this week San Francisco...supposedly my home is in Montreal but i am not there that often
Where would you most like to live?: summers in Berlin, fall in new york, winter in Chile and spring on a lake in Quebec and then a whole new line up for the each new year
Who was your first "hero" in life?: mark gonzales

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

early transients that slept on boxcars and in dark alleys and scribbled on everything as they transversed the country

What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: i dont really take a day off work..it is just painting all day ..taking time off i guess is when i bike around and draw on things outside...

Wooster: What is your favorite color?:

my favorite color rotates it is like a mood ring displaying my emotional status for the day

Wooster: Who (or what) do you love?:

the planet earth

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Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

the ones who still draw outside .

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

i think i would describe the adventures i have gotten into while painting trains and the fresh air in the train yards and the feeling of being out in the snow in the silent yard right in the middle of a city...the making of the art ...not as much about the finished product

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

i wish i had the talent to stop wars

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

flying...it has held me back from so much in my life..cut me off from many adventures

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

to build a log cabin on a lake and hid away in the summers

You can see more work on other's website here.

Posted by marc at 7:29 AM in Interviews |


December 5, 2008

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Age:36
Hometown: Ottawa
Where do you now live?: Montreal
Where would you most like to live?: I need to travel more and check spots out. I really liked Berlin, Sarajevo and Budapest. I am going to spend part of the harsh Canadian winter on a nice warm beach this winter for sure.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Tintin
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I like to spend time with my lady friend and do some skateboarding, graffiti and beer drinking with friends.
What is your favorite color?: blue green, green blue
Who (or what) do you love?: friends

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

My dad is an amazing artist and influenced me tons. when I was a kid i was into comic books, skateboard graphics, mad magazine stuff like that. I also spent tons of time in the art section at the library getting inspired by the masters. My biggest artistic influences are people that i have spent time painting with. I have learned so much watching people like Other, Broke, Produkt, Evoke, Hv8weight, Thesis and Gawd paint .

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

There are so many, i am really inspired by the massive murals people are doing these days. I really want to do some building sized pieces that must be so fun. My favorite thing to do is to wander around cities and train yards and see what i find. i like to be surprised, train yards are the best for seeing art from everywhere on the continent.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I would get them to listen to some my favorite records and read some kurt Vonnegut books.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I wish i was better at selling my self so i could travel more and do massive murals.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

getting old and losing the use of my body

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To be happy and keep making lots of art.

You can see more of Labrona's art here.

Posted by marc at 7:38 AM in Interviews |


December 4, 2008

We've been fans of Jeff Soto's for a long time. So we were thrilled to learn that Jeff will be opening his first museum exhibit on December 13th at the Riverside Art Museum in Southern California. It will be his last show in Southern California for a couple years. Here's the info:

Jeff Soto: Turning in Circles
December 13, 2008 – February 21, 2009
Reception: Saturday, Dec 13, 2008 6-9pm public reception.
Riverside Art Museum
3425 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 684-7111

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Age: 33
Hometown: Fullerton, CA
Where do you now live?: Riverside, CA
Where would you most like to live?: We are an hour from Los Angeles so it would be nice to move closer at some point. My wife and I always talk about moving to Oregon but we have a ton of family and friends here. Plus the weather is nice so I don't see us leaving any time soon.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Kind of embarrassing but the first person I remember thinking was heroic was Luke Skywalker. And I remember thinking my dad was pretty heroic. He had fishing and art skills.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I really need a week off at this point. I'd probably spend it with my wife and daughter, maybe we'd go to the zoo or something, maybe go feed ducks at the park. Something simple. And I'd get a nap in the afternoon. Just a nice lazy day.
What is your favorite color?: A mixture of Burnt Umber and Pthalo blue- it makes beautifully different shades of grey.
Who (or what) do you love?: The easy answer is my wife and daughter. But there's so many beautiful things in the world to love- looking at the stars, the smell of Ultra Flat Black, climbing a mountain, ice cream, jumping into the water on a sweltering day, anything that overwhelms the senses with goodness.

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Who and/or what are some of your influences?

In high school I was looking at a lot of Impressionists and NY graffiti writers. Then in college I discovered hundreds- thousands of artists, and by now I'm a fan of so many. If I had to narrow it down to the ones who influenced me most, probably the Clayton Brothers who I had as teachers, Rich Jacobs, Van Gogh, the English illustrator Patrick Woodroffe, Mear, Seen, some of the surrealists like Max Ernst, Frida Kahlo, probably throw Hayao Miyazaki into the mix as well.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I'm drawn to artists that do their thing and do it well. Kinsey is making some incredible art these days. Dave Choe is nuts. Travis Millard... Maya Hayuk... Mark Ryden is always doing his thing well. AlexOne.. Esther Pearl Watson, Monica Canilao.. there's a lot of great art coming up..

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Lots of colors, fragmented imagery, tight rendering mixed with randomness and mark making. I am starting to get much looser, which is how I painted when I started out so things are coming full circle somehow.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I always tell my wife I'd trade all my visual art skills to be a badass acoustic guitar player. I just want to sing songs around the campfire. In reality I wouldn't trade what I have.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

I used to really fear getting caught for graffiti. When I was younger the rumor was that La eMe, which is the Mexican Mafia, would chop off your pointer finger if you were in prison for graffiti. Especially if you were a white boy. That really used to freak me out, but I found out later it was untrue. I think now that I have a daughter the big fear is that something happens to her, or that I die early and miss seeing her grow up. Probably the same fear all parents have.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Usually I have some idea of where I'm headed with my art but right now I have no idea. I'm just happy to be making some things and hope I can keep on doing that.

Posted by marc at 6:45 AM in Interviews |


A few years back Sara and I flew to Amsterdam for our friends Chaz and Tina's wedding. At the reception we had the pleasure of meeting the Berlin based artist, Nomad.

We're pleased to let you know that this Saturday Nomad is opening his first soloshow in the United States, "THE ART OF LOOSING IT pt.3" at Found Gallery in Los Angeles. It should be amazing.

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Age: 14 Aeons currently take hostage of the body of a 38 year old German
Hometown: Kam'Gthul-Ga in the outer rim of Betegeuze
Where do you now live?: I'm a nomad. Currently I'm in Silverlake, L.A. on a veranda, Next week I'll be in Berlin.
Where would you most like to live?: Kam'Gthul-Ga, in my forest
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Luzifer, i guess...
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I never quit the great plan. Work is never done...even when I'm dreaming I work.
What is your favorite color?: Straciatella
Who (or what) do you love?: I love Life. Like Snoopy.

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Imaginary Friends,The Misfits before 1983, Jerry's Kids,Throbbing gristle, The great Elders,Maggots Mold and Rust, Rainbows,Warriors, the weather, Lee Scratch Perry, Aleister Crowley and Patrick Cowley, Everybody who ever got up, Toy or King in the Universe, Metallica before 1984, Insects, My Sister, Myamoto Musashi, Griselda Blanco, John Waters, Harmony Korine, Ugly fat Dogmatics, Cool Cats, Haters Ron Jeremy, Richard Pryor,Johnny Cash and everybody i ever met.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

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(Aubrey Beardsley.1894. Salome)

There's too many to mention, seriously... but to give you a hint I stick with 4 common names : William Blake, Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt, Caravaggio. ... and the fantastic Nobodies.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

To let flowers grow out of each of my footsteps

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

To be completely without any fear.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

living and dying.

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Posted by marc at 6:25 AM in Interviews |


December 1, 2008

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Age: 30
Hometown: Okemos, MI, USA
Where do you now live?: Hong Kong
Where would you most like to live?: Buenos Aires
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Eazy-E
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Coffee and the Internet.

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What is your favorite color?: BADA55 (a very specific shade of light green)

Who (or what) do you love?: When Grape Lady goes down:



Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

I've learned a lot (either directly or indirectly) from the following people: Cory Archangel, Mark Jenkins, Banksy, Sean Carter, Zach Lieberman, Jonah Peretti, Leon Reid, Kanye West, Biggie, Richard Stallman, Stephen Powers, Damien Hurst, Edward Tufte, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Lessig, Le Courbusier.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

LOLs for the revolution.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?*

The ability to sell art for money.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Working for other people.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To have Kanye post my stuff on his blog.

You can learn more about Evan's work on his blog and his website.

Posted by marc at 8:21 PM in Interviews |


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Hometown: Rome
Where do you now live?: Rome
Where would you most like to live?: I fear any thing is not Rome, then Rome.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: My cousin, he’s called Leone “Lion” and he was 4 older than me.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Fishing with Lex on the Tevere river.
What is your favorite color?: Red
Who (or what) do you love?: I love Beatrice like Dante.
Who and/or what are some of your influences? I like everything is printed since the print was born. So I like Piranesi, Dorè and the daily newspapers. And I love the stuff of Bast and Faile. I admire the way of JR of pasting up the same poster over different planes and surfaces; in that way the poster became the wall. But influences mostly comes by Alessandra and by the churchs of Rome.

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Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

My favorites street artists are Blu, Giotto, Swoon, N4t4, Bergognone, Gaia, Rello Rocca, Gentile da Fabriano, Madame Archer, Raffaello, Vhils, Lex.

Wooster:How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I mostly work in black and white my stencils and my posters remember the prints in black and white. I work mostly with half tone, dots, points, pixels., lines, I called this way of cutting stencil “hole school”. I like the mix between the abstract pattern that you see in a close view and the realism you can note by a far view. I do mostly portraits of anonymous persons and of a girl I know.

Wooster:What do you fear the most?

Twin Peaks

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Wooster:What is your greatest ambition?

To be a champion of “calcio” like Roberto Baggio.

You can see more of Sten's work here.

Posted by marc at 6:54 AM in Interviews |


November 26, 2008

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Age: 29
Hometown: Devon, UK
Where do you now live?: London, UK
Where would you most like to live?: I love London, but i wouldn't mind spending time in other big cities such as New York. I love Barcelona too.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Fictional hero: Doctor Who. Real life hero: Probably my Dad.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Meeting up with friends and drinking and chatting.
What is your favorite color?: Grey
Who (or what) do you love?: Looking at the stars on a clear night. I can't do that in London because of the light pollution, but recently i was in the middle of nowhere in South Africa and the sky was incredible - it blew me away.
Who and/or what are some of your influences?: Everyday life. I love people-watching. I like to imaging what kind of lives the strangers that i see are living. I am a bit of a cynic though - I like to think everyone has skeletons in their closets.

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Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Cartoonist/illustrator Chris Ware, concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, Edward Hopper, David Lynch, Mark Jenkins, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, director Hayao Miyazaki - all for different reasons. And I'm always pleasantly surprised when artists that i meet turn out to be really nice guys - Herakut, Blek, Dolk, Nick Georgiou and loads more.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I enjoy exploring how people live in big cities. My work is installation and photography - little plastic people, stuck down on the street in different scenes and then left there. Hopefully the images have some kind of narrative and emotion.

Wooster: What other talent would you most like to have?

I would love to be able to speak more languages, but i don't think my brain is wired that way. I hope i am around to see the day when you can just inject some kind of nanobot in to your head and suddenly be able to understand everyone else.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Illness and old age. Getting older is fine but I would want to be healthy. The problem is, I love chips way too much.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

One of my greatest ambitions, since i was very young, was to write a book. I've just had my photography published in a book, but i would still love to actually write one some day.

You can learn more about the art of Slinkachu here.

Posted by marc at 7:34 AM in Interviews |


November 25, 2008

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Age: 42
Hometown: My family left Cuba when I was three and settled down in North Plainfield, New Jersey. I grew up going to keg parties in the woods and listening to hard music (Black Sabbath, Rush, Pantera, Bad Brains…) I remember it all as an adventure. I was cutting class all the time and moving from crazy thing to do to crazy thing to do.
Where do you now live?: For the last six years I have been living in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona is really cool. Unique mountains and hip beaches surround it. Barcelona has Roman walls, Romanesque churches, Gothic palaces and architectural marvels of Catalan Modernisme all within a city with modern infrastructure. Your health care is covered and you don’t have to get up at 5 in the morning to move your car for the street cleaner.
Where would you most like to live?: I want to keep shuttling back and forth between Barcelona, NYC and Buenos Aires.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: I never looked for hero figures as I was growing up. Now as an adult I realize the incredible effort that my parents put into raising my two older brothers and I. My parents are my heroes.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I like to spend my free time with family and friends. I had the awesome luck of talking an intelligent, creative and beautiful woman into being my best friend and wife. We have great little kids together and I love to spend time with them. Actually there is no delineation between our creative life and our family life. When Ana has to travel to do projects, or I have to travel to do projects, the rest of the family usually comes along.
What is your favorite color?: My oldest son has hazel eyes that are a golden green.
Who (or what) do you love?: I love the fact that I have learned to appreciate the moments in life when things are good.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

I started hanging out in Manhattan at the age of 16. In my early twenties I helped form the art group Artfux. Blue Man Group was just starting out at the Astor Place Theatre. They threw really cool parties and the atmosphere around them was really creative. Tompkins Square Park in the East Village was called “Tent City” then and Alphabet City was a free for all. Johnny Swing had a studio in a former gas station at Second Street and Avenue B. He was bolting and welding sculptures made from found metal objects all over NYC. Stephen Marsh and his industrial junk-rock trio Wisdom Tooth were playing out a lot. It was all really colorful and fun. I was surrounded by theater, music and art that was breaking barriers and it all made it seem natural that I should want to do the same.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I admire artists from different periods because of how they have impacted me at different times in my life. Leonardo da Vinci, Jean Giraud, Marcel Duchamp, John Heartfield, Ana Mendieta, Chris Burden, Barbara Kruger, Mark Pauline, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer are each a little part of me as an artist. With my contemporaries I would have to say that Swoon, Blu, and Marc Jenkins have impressed me not only with what they say with what they create, but also because of who they are as people.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

My art is usually found within the urban landscape. City textures are my favorite background for my work. I like to work with ephemeral materials. One of my directions is to create large charcoal portraits of anonymous people on inner city walls that fade away with the wind and rain.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

If I had another lifetime to devote to something else I would probably be an archeologist.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

How the lack of empathy from governments hijacked by corporate greed, communist and right wing dictators, religious fanatics and all other types of oligarchs could leave this world for my children.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

I would like to be able to continue creating artwork until I am old and feeble.

Posted by marc at 7:58 AM in Interviews |


November 24, 2008

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Age: LVIII
Hometown: NYC
Where do you now live?: Queens, NY
Where would you most like to live?: Tough question. Definetely a tossup. Quebec, Canada, Lund, Sweden or Old San Juan, PR.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Sherlock Holmes
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Laughing
What is your favorite color?: Warm Grey
Who (or what) do you love?: Inner peace, family and friends. Individuals with the strength and courage to persevere in the face of adversity. Intuitive minds making new discoveries and sharing with others. Being in the immediate now. Uncontrollable things like blushing and breathing.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

It's amazing how a few words from someone has the power to dramatically affect another person's path. One afternoon I was driving my professor Dongkuk Ahn to the train station and I said, "I like the way the light is on a cloudy overcast day." He replied, "Then why don't you put that into your artwork." Well, I took his advice, but did the exact opposite; I began putting my work outdoors.

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Conceptually, Jasper Johns' stencil and number paintings/prints made a strong impression on me. I reconfigured his concept of a 'target' to my own 'single word' poetry, symbol and icons within a site-specific outdoor location so that the work existed in its' own isolation as a target, allowing the viewer to focus in on the experience of being at that particular location whether it was a highway, a dump or an abandoned lot. That was a very deliberate choice on my part. Similar to deciding on what specific musicians I wanted to work with during a recording session because of their own distinctive coloring of a musical phrase.

Most of my major influences during my twenties came from a number of different artists, writers and composers including Daniel Buren, Robert Smithson, Art Povera, Tennessee Williams, Pierre Boulez, Paul Klee, Gordon Matta-Clark, Guerilla Art Action Group, Carson McCullers, Brian Wilson, Marcel Proust, Diane Arbus, e.e. cummings, D.H. Lawrence and The Who.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Over the last couple of years, a bunch of extremely talented artists have emerged on the streets today from all parts of the world and they're raising the bar about what painting is all about! It's like somebody put a firecracker in an art history book and blew it up right on street. The colors are vivid and the scale of the work is dramatic. It's better than most gallery-driven art which tends to be extremely dull, overworked and sofa-friendly. Outside will always remain a punk movement, but indoors it always gets a bit tricky. Art is, and will always be, about the 'feel'. Like a great jazz combo, when they're playing live, they're fantastic; but within a recording studio, their performance tends to be a bit neutralized by the surrounding.

Back to the question. There are tons of individuals I admire: Dylan, Yoko Ono, Richard Artschwager, Richard Long, Lee Quinones, Robert Moog, Laurie Anderson, Alicia Keys, Rammellzee, Saul Bass, Stewart Brand, Tom Robinson, Noc 167, John Huston, David Byrne, Julia de Burgos, Wim Wenders, John Coltrane, Wendy Carlos, Bebe Barron, Omer Avital, The Last Poets and Don Leicht. Don has an inspirational work ethic. Here's a guy who's making art every chance he gets. He's had double bypass heart surgery, kidney dialysis hooked up to a machine three days a week for six hours a day, and a kidney transplant and now living with extreme leg pain.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A tapping on the brain and a slight brush across the heart.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Perfect pitch.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

A 'sad news' call in the dead of night.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Scoring a three-goal hat trick; making art that simultaneously affects the viewer's mind, heart and gut. Not an easy thing to accomplish for any artist, whatever their choice of medium might be.

You can learn more about the art and influence of John Fekner here.

Posted by marc at 6:49 AM in Interviews |


November 23, 2008

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(click to enlarge)

Age: 27
Hometown: a little city in the middle of the mountain called Belluno. North East of Italy
Where do you now live?: temporarily in Belluno
Where would you most like to live?: I am in love with NY
Who was your first "hero" in life?: I would say Indiana Jones as well
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Have fun with friends
What is your favorite color?: Turquoise green / water green
Who (or what) do you love?: My girlfriend and all of my friends. I love to watch ice hockey on tv while eating pizza. I can finally do that in Italy!

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Barry Mc Gee, Clayton Bros, Yoshitomo Nara, Hyeronimus Bosch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Coil and most of everything Mother Nature and human being.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

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(Taylor McKimens)

Royal Art Lodge, Marcel Dzama, Taylor McKimens, Andre Either, Os Gemeos, Walton Ford and I could go on and on...

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it

I would say the topic I explore is the conflict at the meeting point of opposing forces: good and evil. life and death, light and shade, wonderful and terrifying. My work can be seen as translation of universal concept such as the harmony of nature and the struggle between good and evil into allegories. the figures are often metamorphic, they mimic the fascination with hybrid and tragicomic in the reconstruction of a personal mythology inspired from popular culture and nature. A critical mass which finds its own imagery, fears and fantasy, just like an ancestral culture regulated by nature's rhythm and determined by its laws.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I'd really like to DJ. I think it should be great to see all of the people in front of you to dance and have fun because of your music. It should be gratifying and a lot of fun.
I'd like also experiment doing my own music.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To be able to give something to think about to people and hopefully inspiration to something positive.

To see more of Davide's work, and to check out his new book 25 Drawings, go here.

Posted by marc at 8:11 AM in Interviews |


November 22, 2008

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Age: 37
Hometown: Fall River, Massachusetts
Where do you now live?: East Freetown, Massachusetts
Where would you most like to live?: Anywhere on the pacific coastline of Costa Rica.
Who was your first "hero" in life?: My Uncle Louie.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: If there are waves, surf, if not, drink beer and paint.
What is your favorite color?: Today it's red.
Who (or what) do you love?: Who: My family. What: Life.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

The graffiti movement of the late seventies and early eighties is probably my greatest influence. The over the top use of color and the scale of the work is something that has stayed with me. When I attended college (my first exposure to fine art) I discovered the abstract expressionist movement, I found I had a strong connection with the artists of this movement especially with their notion of making it more about the act of painting than the painting itself. More recently the street art movement has impacted my work greatly. When I discovered Wooster Collective in 2004, I changed, and so did my work. When I began researching the artists involved with Wooster and
other urban influenced artists on the internet I was like,"Holy shit, I thought I was the only one using old school graffiti and spray paint in my studio work." Ignorance is bliss I tell you. So, rather than naming names I truly believe every artist I have been exposed to since then has influenced my work to some degree.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I admire any artist that dedicates their life to creating, from the many successful urban influenced gallery artists to the 15 year old kid bombing his neighborhood with stickers he stole from the post office.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Imagine there is a man in a canvas walled room. Loud music begins to play which makes the man act a fool. He begins running around exploding spray paint cans, tagging, and squirting liquid paint through ketchup bottles. He doesn't care much about the color he uses as long as it contrasts the last color. The man hears a voice calling out - red, violet, light blue, green. The voice is the man's own voice. When the voice subsides the man is finished. Take the canvas walls down and put them up in a gallery. This is my art.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I wish I could sing. Well, I can sing. I guess I mean sing in tune.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Death.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

I'd have to give you two, one I have no control over and one that I do have control over. I'd like to earn a living from my art or be a college painting professor. Although I'd love for both to come to fruition.

You can see more of Rene's art here.

Posted by marc at 10:15 PM in Interviews |


Of all the young artists we've met in the past few years, few have impressed us as much as Gaia. At only 20 years of age, the depth and level of commitment that Gaia brings to his work is remarkable. We're pleased to share with you his A's to our Q's:

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Age: 20
Hometown: New York City
Where do you now live?: Baltimore, Maryland
Where would you most like to live?: I'll always love New York but Baltimore has such a kind and open atmosphere that I haven't found anywhere else. But New York most definitely has the best spots.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Ride bike and peruse the local farmer's markets.
What is your favorite color?: Red
Who (or what) do you love?: I love the excitement of a new project and of being apart of a community of artists who are united and bound by their passion for their work. I love the independence that my bike affords me. I love to constantly reconsider my beliefs.

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

My peers and the people that I live with offer the most valuable critique that I could ever hope for. I am forever indebted to the dialogue we have established and the possibilities that they introduce to my work. My primary influences currently exist amongst the formative teachers, students and topics experienced in art school.

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(Collaboration between Gaia and Deep)

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Of course, Swoon will always be an artist whom I deeply admire. The scope of her installations, street work, and social projects seems boundless. Kiki Smith's exploration of the body, of humanity's relationship with nature, the diverse media she employs is also a strong inspiration within my life. These two artists in particular were the impetus for my getting up in the streets.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

My emotional relationship with the important people within my life is what inspires the content of my work. My art is deeply personal and cathartic. I try to maintain an honest articulation of both my frustrations and felicity in each piece. Whether it is the celebration of a burgeoning young boy who I once babysat or the valediction of a person who lives in my past, I want to express a feeling that can be fundamentally understood by the viewer. I am very interested in communicating these passions on the street and in an attempt to relate to others through the imagery.

I put my work up in order to reactivate a space and reconsider our modern notion of property and domain. By applying my work to a surface or installing an environment in an urban setting, I am establishing a new significance and understanding of a particular space.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I want to know how to weld, work with radio, wire electronics. I am actually teaching myself how to mold and cast a pig head as I am writing this interview for my collaboration with the brilliant fibers and installation artist Rachel Lowing.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

When I began my first block nearly two years ago, it seemed an impossibly difficult endeavor to establish myself in the New York street art scene. It just didn't seem feasible and I felt as if I was being left behind. There was a sense of urgency that I would simply remain in obscurity if I didn't get up hard and consistently. But flickr gave me a palpable sense of who was paying attention to my pieces on the street and that there was a momentum that was building.

That original sentiment relates persists in what I fear most now, and that is to be forgotten. I so want to be apart of this unbelievable movement in contemporary art that exists on the street. I am afraid of fulfilling the belief that I am just "a flash in the pan" or the possibility that I be reduced to a trendy hype. I strive ever day to maintain a trajectory in my work that has longevity so that I do not turn out to be another burn out or maybe more applicably a one hit wonder.

My calling is with the interaction of people and right now I find that on the streets. I am forever beholden and thankful to the artists who have come before me and truly blazed a clear and focused trail for me to follow.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

I feel like my work is fundamentally traditional in medium and subject matter. My pieces' true function is when they are situated on the street otherwise they are relatively static. While there is an extensive and rich history of street art and graffiti, for it is arguably the largest and most accessible artistic movement in our history, I still believe that the streets are a pertinent genre and are extremely contemporary.

My greatest ambition would be to find a balance between my very formal practices of approaching fine art with pieces that function and are relevant in the real world. Each ambition fulfilled serves a platform for subsequent growth and opportunity.

You can see more of Gaia's artwork on his Flickr page here.

Posted by marc at 8:06 AM in Interviews |


November 21, 2008

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Age: old enough to know better but still young enough to try it.
Hometown: Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
Where do you now live?: Vancouver B.C. Canada
Where would you most like to live?: Paris, France
Who was your first "hero" in life?: This one is tricky. I'm finding myself debating the merits of the "hero" in North American culture, how the idea of a hero has become perverted and maligned, we no longer have a sense of the original intent or meaning of the word. Not unlike many initially positive and unbinding social constructs it seems to have become a method solely by which to propagate product; to create desire for that product unbeknownst to the consumer. More recently the product has been removed from tangibility, it now resides as ephemera, particularly useful when populations need to be convinced of or swayed towards certain ideologies. I am thinking specifically of the onslaught of comic book superhero movies that have been accosting every man woman and child in the last 6 or 7 years. The all rely on the same formula, the use of an underdog, a freak accident or occurrence beyond their control, the never ending countdown, the false humility..ect..ect. I suppose what concerns me the most is that these scenarios are played out with such frequent repetition and magnitude that the effect they must be having on the children and youth of today is incalculable. Anyway.....never really had any heroes, if I had to name one it would be Eric Blair. His work got me through some really hard times as a teen, and still amazes me with its almost prophetic accuracy.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I don't take days off.
What is your favorite color?: i know its not a colour..black.
Who (or what) do you love?: Kaia, animals, children who aren't afraid ( harder to come by these days...;{....) old folks who aren't angry, the forest, riding my bike really fast, making a good piece of art (rare), Europe, film cameras, making music, singing, playing piano, dreaming ( if they are good dreams) old blues, boy sopranos, being inspired, anything antique that is mechanical, hand tools.....ummm...lots of stuff..hahhaha!

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?:

The Renaissance, David Hockney, Caravaggio, Attila Richard Lukacs, Rick Owens, Chuck Close, Arvo Part, Eric Satie, David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, James Dean, Bernini, B/W film photography, Carl Jung, Carlos Castaneda, George Orwell, Shakespeare, Jimi Hendrix, William Blake.... there are so many. too many.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Currently ..Elbow Toe and Conor Harrington...sooo far ahead of the curve. These ones you might have to Google, but its worth it...Office Supplies Incorporated, Graeme Berglund, Jeff Petry, Todd Duym, Meghan Patterson, Ronan Boyle, Tom Anselmi.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I guess I'm pretty lucky in that department, I have pretty much all the ones I want. I do regret not taking ballet lessons when I was a kid, I think it's absolutely beautiful. I'd like to be able to dance like Baryshnikov. That would be really cool.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

The power of my mind.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To be written into art history and be an inspiration for the generations to come.

You can see more work by The Dark here and here.

Posted by marc at 8:02 AM in Interviews |


November 20, 2008

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Age: 36
Hometown: Szczecin
Where do you now live?: Strasbourg
Where would you most like to live?: close to the sea, on a shore
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Melvin Van Peebles
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: listen music
What is your favorite color?: the whole rainbow
Who (or what) do you love?: the nature

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Mankind, anyone being able to do the worst and the best at the same time. A few passionated ones, being better, provode me insipration to paint and become someone good as well.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I could quote hundred, but I have Andy Goldsworthy in mind for his poetry, Moretti for his amazing drawings. C215 for doing so generous art, and for sure my idol James Brown.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I am mainly painting portraits of people who inspire me through their exemplar lives and actions I try to catch their humanity and energy. I show my works through different ways (gallery, streets, press) and I also use different techniques. I recently launched a blog www.cheval23.net so that i can present who is hidden behind the portraits I paint

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Without any doubt to play music. Music is the ultimate art, that does not need any translation

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

That I could not hear anymore, this could deprive me of listening music

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

To believe in human beings

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Posted by marc at 9:15 PM in Interviews |


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Age: 28
Hometown: Valencia
Where do you now live?: In Valencia, but I try to travel as much as possible.
Where would you most like to live?: I really like a lot of cities. Every city has its great things, and I would like to live in many cities. In fact, it´s what I try to do. A bit in Valencia, a bit in London, a bit in Mexico D.F, a bit in Palermo....
Who was your first "hero" in life?: I don´t really remember, but it's possible that it was He-Man…Master of Universe!!! Jeje!!!
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: When your work is something that you like a lot, sometimes it´s difficult to see the difference between work and free time. In my free time I try to paint in the street and draw in my sketchbook. Also I like travel and see new places and meet new people.
What is your favorite color?: Sometimes white ... sometimes grey ... sometimes blue...It's always changing.
Who (or what) do you love?: I love my parents and my friends .... but especially I love the luck that I have had in this life; it's given me so many beautiful things.

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

I'm increasingly influenced by many things of my daily life .... Formally I have been influenced by artists like Dibo, Os Gemeos, Logan, Herbert, San or Blu, amongst other greats. More than admiring their work, I admire them as people... Really great friends.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Conceptual artists have influenced me very much, such as Mauritzio Cattelan, Santiago Sierra or Teresa Margolles. It's not that our work is aesthetically similar, but in some way their work is present in mine, more and more.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

My art is an investigation of daily life... I like to begin with personal concepts, investigating different techniques, and creating a parallel universe full of recognizable symbols.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I'd like to learn how to do so many more things... to learn to dance well is top on my list.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

I am afraid of many things ... but mostly the disease or death of my relatives and friends. Life not always is how we would like it to be, and sometimes we have to face it.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

My major ambition is to be happy with what the life brings me in every moment. I believe that it´s necessary to fight to appreciate the present and not to depend always on the arrival of a better day.

You can see more of Escif's art here.

Posted by marc at 7:16 AM in Interviews |


November 19, 2008

If you've been to our house, then you know that Samantha, our fifteen month old daughter, has the best art collection of the family. Her room explodes with energy from the numerous paintings that hang on the walls. Two of our favorite paintings in Samantha's room are by Kelsey Brookes. And the reason why we love them so much is because there's a spiritual quality to them that reminds us of being back in India. Kelsey's paintings make you feel good, and we want Samantha to wake up to this positive energy each and every day.

Recently Sara and I wanted to learn more about Kelsey so we asked him to give us some Q's to our A's.

Enjoy:

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Age: 30
Hometown: Denver Colorado
Where do you now live?: San Diego California
Where would you most like to live? Inside of a wave
Who was your first "hero" in life?: The first hero in my artistic life was Picasso followed closely by Basquiat. In my life outside of art my parents were and still are.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Surf
What is your favorite color?: I have 8 favorite colors right now! they look like this

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Who (or what) do you love?: Love its self, Curiosity and Creativity.
Who and/or what are some of your influences? I am constantly surprised by and absolutely enthralled with Hindu art especially from Tibet. I love the art of Heinrich Kley and I love quilts. Giuseppe Arcimboldo's paintings are a continued source of amazement. Traveling, surfing and hallucinations too.

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Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

There are so many and for so many different reasons. Here is the incomplete short list; Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Heinrich Kley (as I have already mentioned but they deserve a second mention I think). Indian and Tibetan folk artists, Quilt makers from around the world, CocoRosi, Folkert De Jong, Raquib Shaw, Andre Ethier, Swoon, Dave Choe, Antony Micallef, Paul Insect, Banksy, Andrew Schoultz, Lister, Kill Pixie, Faile, Maya Hayuk, Os Gemeos, Clayton Brothers, Yang Shaobin, Aurel Schmidt, Gee Vaucher, Alex Grey and so many more.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Figurative art depicting various forms of the human body deconstructed and loosely put back together using animal parts surrounded by psychedelic and spiritual patterns,
animals and colors. Do blind people get visual hallucinations? The art would be way easier to explain if they did.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have? Mediation and Music

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Losing my mind

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Losing my mind

Notes on Creaton:

Everything in the universe comes from something more fundamental than it self, united with accident and out of this union creation and novelty are born.

As a crow is attracted to shiny and colorful items it finds in its environment our human consciences can work in a similar fashion. As I sift though my environment separating artifacts of beauty from the ordinary, these relics settle into my unconscious. They dance within my subconscious as they freely associate with one another and through a combination of recollection and accident, they migrate once again back into my active conscious when I paint. Painting is the spark that my unconscious needs to liberate its new patterns. Random and seemingly thoughtless marks are visualized as animals and matter, all that is left to do is place the paint where it asks to be placed. I am a crow adhering to the universal laws of nature.

Notes on Conscientious and Painting:

Conscientious has 2 states of being in this world, aware and unaware. Awareness is the state you are in at the moment if you are reading this unaware is what you were before and what you will be after you are aware. These paintings represent
the only exception to that rule. Creation exists beyond the scope of physical parameters and universal constants, unseen by tangibility and rationality. A place where rules are fluid and dynamic, forever changing in accordance to the unknown.
These paintings are a product of this place this limbo between 2 worlds. When I close my eyes these paintings are what I see.

Notes on Introspective Conscientious:

Introspective Conscientious is the humans minds evolved ability to take images from the real world pull them into there minds, divide them into parts and start turning those parties into abstractions. Was art born when Introspective Conscientious
was evolved?

You can see more of Kelsey's work on his website.

Posted by marc at 6:13 PM in Interviews |


November 18, 2008

For the past year, Sara and I have been working day and night on a book project for TASCHEN entitled "Trespass: A History Of Unauthorized Public Art".

In the course of doing research for the book. we've had the pleasure of meeting and learning about new forms "unauthorized public art" that we haven't showcased as mich as we should have on the Wooster site.

One of our obsessions of late has been the "guerrilla gardening" movement. And one of the most influential artists in this scene is Edina Tokodi (aka Mosstika).

We're thrilled to share with you her "A's to our Q's":

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Age: 30
Hometown: Kecskemet, in the middle of Hungary
Where do you now live?: Brooklyn, NY
Where would you most like to live?: in Europe somewhere close to the Sea
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller :)
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Keep develop my craft and simply just not think about work. also reading, and watching a good movie
What is your favorite color?: green, blue
Who (or what) do you love?: Pityke and my Family. and I love to go swim or jogging early in the morning :)

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

I'm influenced constantly by various experiences, meetings, readings; even by walking on the streets. What inspires me the most however is to encounter various media, artworks, or other people. It's the sincerity in a creative piece that I value the most; that it's made with heart and hand.

On the other hand I grew up in a very inspiring milieu. My parents and my two sisters are all creative persons, either in an artistic or in a practical sense. Very early on, it became natural for me to approach things in this way.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

There are several landscape and environmental artists I like a lot, such as Goldsworthy, Christo, or James Turrell. There are some contemporary designers who influence me too, like Tord Boontje whom I especially admire.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

I work with plants and other living or organic materials such as hand-made paper, sand, etc. I try to bring nature closer to city dwellers both with my street art pieces and with my site-specific indoor installations.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I would love to be able to play music.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

If we don't pay much more attention we may cause irreversible harm to our environment in the close future.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Certainly, my greatest ambition is to create more and more complex works that allow me to explore the diversity of and possible connections between (organic) materials and, still, to remain close to the nature.

You can learn more about Mosstika here.

Posted by marc at 8:31 PM in Interviews |


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Age: 28
Hometown: Athens
Where do you now live?: Berlin
Where would you most like to live?: Here I am fine
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Michael Jackson.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: Cycling.
What is your favorite color?: Always changing
Who (or what) do you love?: My love!

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Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

Alexandros: Talking with people and listening to bizarre personal stories. My work is first of all human-based and I am interested in realizing deeper how weird creatures we are.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

Alexandros: Theo Jansen is by far my favourite one. I think that the great art has to include numerous approaches to the main aspects of life. Jansen does it perfectly!

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Alexandros: That's a bit awkward! I would say that through my work I try to investigate our troubling nature. And even if this investigation can never conclude it is interesting to see how far it can go.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

Alexandros: Music composition! What I like is that music touches and moves deeply a really wider audience than visual art does. Of course that's the point!

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Alexandros: Losing the ability to do what I want. Secondly to lose my passion for that.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

Alexandros: Still searching..

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You can see more of Alexandros's art here.

(A note from Wooster: Be sure to watch the video of Theo Jansen above from the TED conference. It's amazing)

Posted by marc at 7:37 AM in Interviews |


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Age: 35
Hometown: Paris
Where do you now live?: Paris - Belleville
Where would you most like to live?: Morocco
Who was your first "hero" in life?: Indiana Jones
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: To know it I should stop working some day
What is your favorite color?: Blue
Who (or what) do you love?: my 5 years old daughter Nina
Who and/or what are some of your influences?

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Ernest Pignon-Ernest is my main reference, being the first French street artist in history, and doing amazing stencils and silkscreened posters outside already in the 70's.

What other artists do you most admire? I am a big fan of the portraits of Stéphane Carricondo, from the 9th Concept crew, I love James Jean drawings and the watercolours of my very good friend Dan23. In the streets the best for me is for sure mister Banksy.

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Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

C215: I am for one year traveling the world to paint contextual stencils in the streets, mostly by day and without any authorization. I like to paint portraits, but also animals and complete streetscapes. You can find my works on tagged doors, rusty mailboxes or int he corner of your street. I like to interact with locals, where ever I go, cutting ad hoc stencils for each trip : Brasil, Israel, India, Morocco or Poland streets can not be hit in the same way. I try to express with stencils something not so easy to get with such tools : to provide feeling and emotions to the passing by people.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

C215: I would love to play piano, but I am quite dyslexic

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

C215: Losing the use of my right hand or my both eyes (losing all this at the same time i would be very unlucky !)

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

C215: To teach my daughter my technical skills if she could be interested and make her proud of her father when she will be older

You can see more of C215's work here.

Posted by marc at 6:25 AM in Interviews |


June 12, 2008

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For us, one of the best aspects of the Wooster Collective project is that over the years we've met - and continue to meet - an amazing group of people. One of those people is the artist, Elbow-Toe. If you're not yet familiar with his work, be sure to check out this interview on the terrific blog, my love for you is stampede of horses.

Posted by marc at 7:37 AM in Interviews |


June 9, 2008

Back in August of last year, we sat down with Dan Witz - who's not only one of our favorite artists, but also one of our favorite people - for a series of wide ranging interviews. The full text of the interviews will be included in Dan's upcoming monograph for Ginko Press, "Dan Witz. In Plain View. 30 years of artworks illegal and otherwise."

While the book won't hit bookstores until the Fall, Dan's has posted an extended excerpt on his site. You can read it here. We like it a lot.

Posted by marc at 2:12 PM in Interviews |


June 6, 2008

The other afternoon we sat down for a long chat with Caroline Cummings, the owner of the 11 Spring building and our collaborator and partner on the Wooster on Spring art exhibition that we did at the end of 2006. Over the years Caroline has become a good friend and continue to be an amazing supporter of the street art scene

For a new website called Stay Thirsty, we spoke with Caroline for about an hour about the things we find so interesting about street art. The resulting interview, which was posted on the web this morning is a great summary of what it is about street art that motivates us.

(We've included the entire interview below, but please be sure to check out the Stay Thirsty website here, where there's audio excerpts and photos)

Thirsty interviews Sara and Marc Schiller of Wooster Collective
- By Caroline Cummings
June 6, 2008

Stay Thirsty Media, Inc. - Current News

The Wooster Collective was started in 2003 by Sara and Marc Schiller. The website features street and urban art from all over the world. I met the Schillers in 2006 when we collaborated on the Wooster on Spring Street show-a celebration of street and urban art in New York City.

Thirsty: How and what made you want to start the Wooster Collective?

Marc Schiller: A lot of things happened at the same time to bring the Wooster Collective project to life. In 2001, we took a new flat in the West Village and got a new puppy, which allowed us to explore our neighborhood. I had also just gone to Japan not too long before and bought a digital camera, which, at the time, was a new and expensive technology. Sara and I used to look at all the different aspects of where we were living while we explored the streets. One day, we were on the sidewalk and found a wheatpaste, or sticker, which really opened our eyes to start to see that the neighborhood we were living in was exploding with uncommissioned art that people were putting up illegally. When you look at the diversity and volume, it was pretty amazing.

Sara Schiller: It was a time when street art was really exploding and we documented every day all the new pieces that were put up. So, essentially we had a visual library of a movement for a year in downtown Manhattan. When Marc’s computer got too big to hold the images anymore, we brainstormed and said lets just throw these up online. We put them up and the next thing you know, tens of thousands of people had viewed very simple images. At the same time, blogging technology had just started to emerge and we thought we would explore that. We decided to call the site Wooster Collective because we were living on Wooster Street at that time. From that point, artists started sending their own images and it just took off from there.

Thirsty: What year was this?

SS: The blog launched in 2003, but we began taking photos in 2001.

Thirsty: Do you remember who put up the first wheatpaste that you saw?

MS: I don’t remember the first one, but I do remember specific cases that really blew us away in the first couple of weeks. Following September 11, Dan Witz put up a shrine, that he painted, near a fire station where a number of the firemen were killed. He painted lit candles around the lamppost and people began to put real candles and flowers around his work. It was very striking. That for us was very powerful and really got us obsessed. Certainly Swoon and Michael deFeo were doing a lot of work back then. DeFeo was putting up flowers on the bases of lampposts all over SoHo.

SS: There was also a series of simple white stickers, called the Fats, which read “The Fats have feelings too,” or “Fats have friends.” They were making their own social commentary very simply, but you noticed it and stopped to think about what these stickers were saying. At this point stickers were hand made and very meaningful.
There were also a lot of sculptures going up, Darius and Downey were bringing 3D pieces to the street. But, there was an explosion of everything from stickers to wheatpaste to sculptures.

Thirsty: As opposed to graffiti, which was so popular in the 80s and 90s, have you thought about why there was this explosion of street art at this time?

MS: A few things came together at this time. I think the internet was certainly a big part of it because people were able to share what they were doing. Street art is an ephemeral art so it only lasts so long, sometimes for only an hour or two. People started documenting it through the Wooster site, in addition to a few other sites at the time, and could see what was happening. This fuelled other artists and inspired them to put up their own stuff. You could share ephemeral art for the first time.

SS: Technology, the sense of the ability to photocopy pretty cheaply and make things bigger. Artists could make stickers and screen-printings quickly and cheaply, and this added to the nexus.

Thirsty: I’ve always found it interesting that this art form found its validation on the internet.

MS: Validation is the right word because it is basically illegal. In the past, the discussion of street art, graffiti, or any type of urban art, immediately led to the discussion of vandalism and the illegality of the art. With the internet, because it is not owned by any one media conglomerate, or controlled by spectrum sales, you had a situation where people could celebrate the art form and create an audience around that celebration. We found that the Wooster site influenced media that was offline because it was one of the first places with a huge audience that actually accepted the art as art. This led to an opening of more people, journalists and magazines accepting it for what it is. Now with Flicker.com and the ability to share photos, the street art movement has exploded. The New York Times, and similar institutions, which were negative about the work in the past, have come full circle. Now they talk about it as one of the reasons to come to New York.

Thirsty: I find it interesting that even though it is illegal, for whatever reason, a lot of the art is feel good art. You read it and it makes your feel happy, or it points out something you maybe couldn’t put into words before. It validates your emotions as a person living in the city and walking down the street. But, it is illegal and the focus has shifted away from that. The artist could get arrested. It seems as though people can appreciate the art even if they might not want it on their building.

MS: There's a lot of contradictions and complexity and that's what actually what makes it interesting. Things that are black and white, or things that people want to put into black or white, don’t really have much depth or context to them because it's just so obvious. Things like street art confuse people and it has a lot of contradictions. If you are open to those contradictions as benefits, it’s fantastic. The fact that it is illegal makes it even more interesting because you do feel that once you tap into it, it adds a level to the city that is very humanizing, is very creative and is very inspiring. At the same time, it's completely illegal, it's completely acquiring space that you don’t own, but so necessary and so needed that it creates a lot of interesting discussions.

SS: I think people are also attracted to it because it proves that cities can’t be controlled. Advertising is taking over every piece of public space and people are fed up with the zillionth Gap add, or even the zillionth Gap store. They are also reacting to the exploding gallery scene in Chelsea, where people don’t feel welcome. You walk in and aren’t treated like a person. Well you know what, why not go out on the streets and find amazing art to celebrate and see there? So, I think another reason why people started to accept it was a reaction to those two forces, which have really come into play in the last three or four years.

MS: Street art is thinking about the city as a collaborator, thinking about the way that the art, artist and city collaborate and interact together. That is very different from being in a gallery or painting illustrations for a magazine. It actually became its own art form and there are practitioners that are absolutely brilliant at it. People are inspired to go out and create art, get exposure and access, without feeling that they need to conform to the gallery system.

SS: That is also the challenge of viewing street art over the internet. Many of the pictures are usually just of the image itself and the work needs to be put in the context of the building or street that it is next to. A lot of the work is a reaction to specific elements of a site.

Thirsty: I think that is one of the contradictions too, you see them reclaiming the ad space.

MS: Or, you take down one ad and put up another because the art adds to the notoriety or fame of that artist. I love Ron English, but there are contradictions there. He is liberating these billboards with work that is so much his brand style that he is getting recognition for it. So, where do you draw the line? Where do you say that you are reclaiming public space, but at the same time not putting up the same thing that you are trying to react against and make a statement against? These types of contradictions, if you don’t judge it and polarize it all, are actually fascinating. Things don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be celebrated and enjoyed. If you focus on the contradictions, I think it is absolutely fascinating.

Thirsty: It appears that in this ever-evolving art form, artists are actually coming off the streets and moving into the galleries.

MS: A lot of the artists are doing it on their own terms. For example, artists like deFeo are doing it in their own spaces in warehouses rather than the white-walled environment of Chelsea. He owns the control over it. Other artists are experimenting with the Chelsea gallery, it just depends. We find it all compelling and interesting, it is just a question of finding the right balance.

Thirsty: Sarah and I have been talking about the exhibit in the 11 Spring Street building. One of the reasons that I wanted to do it is because it felt so right, it just clicked. The question is how do you find a place where it doesn’t feel contrived to show this kind of artwork? When we first began, I was expecting a bunch of hoodlums, but they all had families and could have been teachers or lawyers. They are dedicated individuals who have a sophisticated aesthetic sense.

MS: I think it is an energy, for me, not to sound too ethereal, but you can walk into an environment and there is an energy. When there is a great energy you can feel it, when you stood outside 11 Spring, there was an incredible energy of people that were attracted to the art and wanted to participate. You can’t intellectualize the space too much, if it is right, you just know.

SS: That’s the thing, Marc and I don’t think about the space so much, as want to encourage and support the artists. I think that any artist, who goes out to the street and puts up art, which is dangerous to create, has to be driven. They are different in their soul, whatever makes them up. As they move to the galleries, they bring a new sensibility with them. It doesn’t feel like what they’ve come from and this is why they sometimes have reactions to the white glove gallery. They are losing many of the things that are fundamental to their work. Something that was site-specific and was on a wall now has to be on something that can be sold. Some of the things that you see changing now are: scale, works are getting much smaller, and durability. Much of their work is produced at the photocopier in Kinkos and then wheatpasted, rather than on archival paper.

MS: But, also the high of the illegality of it adds something to the action too. There is something about the thrill of knowing that somebody could be around the corner to arrest you. So, every artist is on a different path, or doing it differently, and that is what we are excited about. We see it as art first. If it is moving into the galleries, there are no bigger supporters than Sara and I. We’re excited to see how the artists make the transitions, some will make it well and others won’t, it can’t accept everybody. It won’t accept everybody. The street accepts everybody, the fine art world does not.

Thirsty: The fact that they worked on the street doesn’t mean that they can’t do something else and not still be part of the street world. It is sort of an indoctrination, they understand what it is like to really drive and feel the energy of the city. Maybe they can bring those lessons with them. They don’t necessarily have to be on the street to do that.

MS: I think that is something, Sara and I found, fascinating in the intelligence of those artists. They are thinking about the work as being more than just about technique. One artist who we spoke with, Swoon, talked about art school and how great it is for teaching you about technique. She talks about talent and photorealism as the ultimate in terms of technique. For her, she found it unsatisfying the better she got. Which is weird, right? The more talented she got, the more fearful she got. She didn’t want to lose her soul. Something about being out on the street gives you that connection to real people, real life, that you don’t have on canvas. That is something that we learned and gravitated towards. It is very infectious.

Thirsty: I think another thing that makes it very popular is the sense that you discover it. I didn’t really know that it existed, but once I discovered its accessibility, I caught the bug. The more I talk to people, I realize that everybody likes it. What I find so refreshing is that I don’t have to be in a museum, I can look at it on my own and have my own thoughts.

SS: I think that what has added to it, and we saw this with 11 Spring, is that today’s society interacts with things using their digital cameras. Everyone has a digital camera, or a camera phone, and the way they experience things now is very different from ten years ago. When you go to a museum, every sign says that photography isn’t allowed and that you can’t touch. The street is very liberating in that sense. There is something very fulfilling about knowing that you went and found that Swoon piece and now have a picture of it.

MS: Art itself is very intimidating and we define art by being accepted into a museum or a gallery. It is art if it is accepted by the establishment. Street art, on the other hand, was accepted by the people before the establishment and I think that is very appealing.

Thirsty: This art has not been canonized.

MS: Right. Or, if it is in a book it is suddenly art. And we use that as a way to understand what art is. And for a lot of people, they accept that, it is fine for them. But then they realize, through artists like Banksy and others, that art can be much more accessible. Art can be more democratic and much more universal. Once you tap into that, through Banksy, the Wooster site or walking down the street, it completely changes your idea of what art is. The other universal truth about art is that we all want to show that we are on this planet, that we are alive and exist. By writing your name on a wall, or by putting up a wheatpaste, it confirms that we are here and have value. I think that is what we saw at 11 Spring. People felt that they wanted to write on that building and you (Caroline) gave them the opportunity to do so. They could confirm that they were human and that they would be accepted. When you say that you can’t write on a wall, it is a monument, it is very controlling. A lot of people don’t really want to accept that level of control and so street art gives them the ability to make a statement against that control. That is never going to go away because we don’t want to live in Disneyland, there is something too clean about a lot of what we experience. It is too sanitized.

Posted by marc at 5:28 AM in Interviews |


August 20, 2007

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Caroline Emilie Brenier interviews Tristan Manco at the 2007 Difusor Festival in Barcelona.

Caroline: What excites you about events like the Difusor Festival in Barcelona?

Tristan: I think what's to be applauded with this festival is how they have made links with the local community which is hosting the event. Instead of operating in a bubble - there is a dialogue taking place.

Caroline: For many years, Barcelona has had a strong tradition of public urban art; however the city council is now enforcing a zero tolerance against it. What impact do you think this will have on the whole public art movement?

Tristan: I have been visiting Barcelona once a year for quite a while now so I can feel the difference in the last couple of years. Zero tolerance has meant less graffiti and graffiti tourism particularly in the historic centre. Whereas a few years ago Barcelona attracted artists from across the Europe and the World who came for holidays and left their mark on the graffiti scene (with or without local artists. I think the local scene is strong artistically and politically but today they do less work in the centre of the city or make work in other cities. Another consequence of zero tolerance is that the graffiti in the centre tends be more vandalistic - quick tags as opposed to murals.

If you talk about 'public art' in a more traditional sense - for example commissioned murals and sculptures. Its possible that this pervading conservatism and zero tolerance could lead to less public murals being commissioned. As was discussed in the Difusor talks - cities are becoming grey, homogenous and more commercial spaces where economics are placed first. It would be a shame if Barcelona a city famous for its its Miro sculptures and Gaudi buildings turned into a grey shopping mall.

Caroline: Could events like Difusor make the city rethink its zero tolerance approach to public art?

Tristan: Difusor's main base was at a local community centre with open access - people at grass roots level could experience everything for themselves. The idea was to take away the stigma and mystique surrounding street art - to openly display and promote its creativity.

Events like this provide a focus - bringing people together. While they are great fun for the artists they are a good public relations exercise and an open dialogue. It was nice to witness local people remarking on the new murals which they could see from their windows and to hear them congratulating the artists on their work. If the work is being appreciated by the local community then at least you have made a positive statement to make about graffiti art and artists.

Caroline: In the talk you gave at the festival, you spoke about the strange relation between public art and galleries; do you think street art, graffiti art and all kind of public art should remain in the public space? do they have a place in a gallery?

Tristan: By definition street art and graffiti only exists in public space. The gallery space imposes parameters which are not found in free space therefore altering the context of the work. Price tags are applied to works in commercial galleries, while cultural institutions present art in an formal vacuum. In monetary and cultural terms this changes the work. This is not to say that work created by graffiti artists should not be shown in galleries, just to point out the obvious differences. There have been some successes in presenting new art forms particularly in shows like Street Market and Beautiful Losers which were curated and presented in original ways. Personally I have been to some terrific gallery shows by Graffiti artists such as Blu, Os Gemeos and Barry McGee. The art contained is not 'graffiti art' but what's been learnt on the streets has informed the work presented: Os Gemeos's intricate installations, Barry McGee's innovative use of space and materials and Blu's drawings all have an street influence - alongside many other personal influences.

Caroline: You've seen the walls where the artists have been painting during the Difusor festival, has any particular piece or artist caught your attention? Generally, what did you think of the standard of the work you've seen?

Tristan: Difusor owes some of its history to Stencil Project which was held in Paris in 2004. It was great to see some of the same artists in Barcelona too. It would be unfair to pick out some artists over others but there were some great artists that I didn't know before. I would advise anyone interested to explore the Difusor flickr pool ( www.flickr.com/groups/difusor ) to find their own new favourites.

Caroline: Where would you like to see the next stencil art event take place?

Tristan: I heard a rumour Poland - which would be great.

Caroline: How would you like to see public art evolve in the future?

Tristan: It would be interesting to know what survives in the future. We keep discovering tombs and frescoes from the past, I wonder if anything will be left of spraycan culture in thousands of years time.

Posted by marc at 5:01 AM in Interviews |


January 5, 2006

hopluie.jpg

gepetto.points us to a terrific little interview with Hop Louie on the website Are You Generic?

Posted by marc at 7:14 AM in Interviews |