href="http://www.woostercollective.com/flowerguy.jpg"> src="http://www.woostercollective.com/flowerguy.jpg" WIDTH= "175" Align="left"
hspace="4">When people start noticing the abundance of street art in
downtown Manhattan, they’ll usually mention as one of their favorites, a series
of bold flowers that can be found on lampposts, mailboxes, and construction
sites. We should include ourselves in that group, as the flowers of "http://www.mdefeo.com/">Michael DeFeo (aka “The Flower Guy”) were some of
the first street iconography that really turned us on. Michael’s one of the most
prolific artists working downtown, creating not only the flower posters but also
a terrific set of map paintings that pop up from time to time.  In the hands of
someone less skilled (and creative), this much art by one person could be a
problem. But in the hands of Michael, it’s a blessing.  As Michael heads over to
Amsterdam this week for a one
man show at 90 Square Meters, he was
kind enough to answer our five questions.

Wooster: How did
you get started in creating art for the street?

Flower Guy: It
was a natural progression from doing a ton of silk screening back in school. I
loved and still love the ease of screen printing reproduction and how it retains
a hand made quality. As identical as each print seems, they’re all different. I
wanted to share the prints and the street was the perfect place to do it.
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Wooster: What originally inspired you to do the flowers?

/>Flower Guy: It came out of a series of flower drawings I did with black
acrylic paint… it just jumped out at me from the others. I used that drawing
to make the screen…That was ten years ago.

Wooster: What
other street artists do you most admire and why?

Flower Guy:
I love the no name random stuff I find all over the city…the things that raise
your curiosity because you have no idea where it came from. The element of
surprise and wonder. If I had to name names…there are so many…I’d say say href= "http://www.keithharing.com/">Haring, Basquiat, Cristo, "http://www.bway.net/~danwitz/">Dan Witz, "http://www.thelondonpolice.com/">The London Police, "http://www.davewarnke.com/intro.swf">Dave Warnke, "http://www.eltono.com/">eltono, "http://www.kawsone.com/">Kaws, "http://www.bansky.co.uk">Banksy, Space-Invader...anyone who questions our environment and has
fun exploring.

Wooster:  What’s your favorite city,
neighborhood, or block, to post and/or to see street art?

Flower
Guy: New York City is and always will be my favorite. No place on earth has
the diversity that this place can offer. There’s street art all over this town.
Occasionally, I do some paste ups in an area like Central Park West just because
it has so few street art related things. Areas like that get buffed real quick
but I don’t
care. It’s all about having fun and spreading the smiles.
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Wooster: What inspires you now?

Flower Guy:
Everything and everyone. Knowing that there’s more to learn and discover every
day.