An Interview with Adnate

Adnate's entry for the Archibald prize
Adnate’s entry for the Archibald prize. Photo courtesy of Adnate.

Adnate‘s work is some of my absolute favourite in Melbourne right now and has been for a while. He has been hitting the streets hard lately, both solo and in multiple collaborations with AWOL Crew and others. Adnate started out painting graffiti and letters over 10 years ago. More recently he has moved into painting beautifully detailed characters, which also still incorporate some of his tags and lettering, which I love. His characters are not only amazingly detailed, most of them also have a story, which make them even more special. Last year Adnate had his solo show “Lost Culture” at RTIST Gallery and exhibited alongside the rest of the AWOL crew at their collective show “Fabric”. Adnate has also traveled the world painting and exhibiting in cities such as Barcelona, Mumbai, New York, Paris and Berlin.

I sat down with Adnate recently and this is what we talked about.

LM: I mentioned above that many of your characters have a story, which I learned by talking to you at some of your shows and while watching you paint. Tell us about some of them? 

Adnate: Most of the subjects in my paintings are of people that I have met and personally photographed. It’s important that I know the subjects as I am always trying to communicate certain emotions and stories through my portraits.

With the aboriginal portraits, which I feel are my strongest, I spent the last years getting to know local and national Indigenous Australians. It has been a crazy journey meeting and learning about these incredible people, particularly the current and past climate of their survival.

SAM_2761edit-1-e1365623205974
Photo courtesy of Adnate

LM: Apart from your solo and AWOL group shows, give us a recap of what you got up to in 2012? 

Adnate: Last year was the first year that I went bigger and higher with my portraits. It’s a great feeling being elevated that high in the air whilst painting and although I only managed two walls on this scale for 2012 they were definitely a highlight. When painting on the ground you get all sorts of distractions but being up high it’s just you and a few birds (one almost flew into my head recently).

I had some great opportunities to travel around Australia too. I got to travel through the western desert and met some of the oldest indigenous Australians alive. You wouldn’t believe what’s out there, that’s what you call “real country”.

no-surprises-640x923
Photo courtesy of Adnate

LM: I read in a recent interview on artshub your work is “Inspired by Renaissance artists such as Da Vinci and Caravaggio, Adnate taught himself classical chiaroscuro techniques to communicate drama and emotion in his subjects”. This is quite an evolution from tagging and letters, what brought about this change in style? 

Adnate: I worked on making my own style for 10 years and it was time to try something new. So I flipped my work on its head and began trying to reach a level of portrait realism that’s second to a photo. I’ve never been a big sketcher, so when I was painting letters I did so in a free flowing manner from the beginning to the end. Now with portraits I reference a photo, spending just as much time studying the photo as I do the painting. There is always a point in which I battle with the painting and the photo to make things as realistic as possible. It’s a completely different method of painting that I am used to and I think that’s what I love about it. It’s important to stay stimulated and challenge myself wherever possible.

Judith-by-Adnate-e1365623367762
Photo courtesy of Adnate

LM: Tell me about some of the other work you do using your art? 

Adnate: Over the years I’ve done regular youth work using graffiti art as a way to sway them off drugs and hard crime. I’m currently doing most of this now in a Juvenile Prison that houses the most volatile and “at risk” young boys and girls in the state. It’s an awesome job and the best part is getting to know these guys, they all have the craziest stories to tell and its really rewarding when you get to make their day. Plus there are some really talented writers and artists in there, which is definitely inspiring.

Photo by David Russell
Photo by David Russell

LM: Tell me about your background. How did you get into graff? 

Adnate: Well I didn’t grow up on a train line, so my first memories were being a little gromit skater and studying all the designs on the clothes and decks. When I hit high school I begun to travel around Melbourne on the trains, in particular the Hurstbridge Line and I got to see all the WCA productions. This blew my mind and I quickly dropped off from skating and graff became my life.

Adnate & Shida. Photo courtesy of Adnate.
Adnate & Shida. Photo courtesy of Adnate.

LM: What does your name mean? 

Adnate: ad·nate [ad-neyt] adjective Biology: grown fast to something; congenitally attached.

I get asked this all the time and to be honest I didn’t choose it for the meaning but simply for the letter structure. I was 16 when I choose it from a dictionary and I loved it because it was a word that gave me lots of kicks and flares with my tags.

Continue reading “An Interview with Adnate”

Adnate – Lost Culture at RTIST Gallery Prahran

I dropped into RTIST Gallery yesterday to check out Adnate‘s show Lost Culture. WOW. Very impressed. Another member of the renowned AWOL Crew doing great things.

Combining his amazing hand style and painting skills he explores different cultures through a series of amazing portraits incorporating both ancient typography and his signature lettering.

From the RTIST website:

Adnate has established himself as a unique Street-Portrait Artist. His realistic style is the signature to his work, using spray paint as his main medium.”

Beginning as a graffiti writer more than 10 years ago, Adnate spent most of his youth painting the streets of Melbourne with his letters. He has continued to paint walls in multiple continents, flourishing as an internationally recognised street artist.

In recent years Adnate broke from his obsession of painting letters and begun to study the human form. It was then he quickly realized his passion for portraiture. Inspired by Renaissance artists such as Da Vinci and Caravaggio, he taught himself classical chiaroscuro techniques to communicate drama and emotion in his subjects.

For his most recent exhibition ‘Point of View’ in Berlin, Germany, he took inspiration from his travels through India and Europe. “I’ve seen a lot of faces that have been burnt into my memory. Particularly the kids that experience the lives of adults in India, to people losing their faces in clubs in Berlin. Each piece was an interpretation of a person I saw or met.”

Adnate’s next exhibition will be held at the renowned RTIST Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. This time he has chosen to focus on the historical cultures of Tibetan, Persian and Indigenous Australian. Each with their own alluring beauty and spirituality, they have surpassed cultural genocides due to the depth of their rich culture.

Lost Culture is open now through June 24th.

Photos by Lukey

SOFLES – “Fragments of Consciouness” at RTIST Gallery Prahran

Sofles, originally from Brisbane, has his first Melbourne solo show at RTIST Gallery in Prahran (Melbourne). Traditionally known for his graff skills, Sofles is a multi talented artist with works showcasing his illustration, aerosol and more traditional painting styles.

Another great show by RTIST. When I arrived, Sofles was painting the wall outside the gallery, later in the evening he painted a mocked up train at the rear of the gallery.. Enjoy.

SOFLES
RTIST Gallery
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES
SOFLES

Urbancakelady exhibition at RTIST Gallery Prahran (Melbourne)

This New Zealand born street artist recently appeared out of nowhere on the streets of Melbourne. I became an instant fan, as did many other Melbourne street art lovers.

Her pieces feature an iconic red hooded lady with striped stockings and a hidden face, giving them an air of beauty and mystery.  Spend some time to check out some of her street work, just amazing!!

This is urbancakelady‘s first solo show and it has definitely been worth the wait. RTIST Gallery (Prahran) and urbancakelady have done a great job.. Check out the photos.

urbancakelady
urbancakelady
urbancakelady

More after the jump… Continue reading “Urbancakelady exhibition at RTIST Gallery Prahran (Melbourne)”