Last month, I saw an installation by MOMO here in Philadelphia at Space 1026. Seeing the installation made me fall in love with MOMO all over again. Some of the first pieces of street art I ever noticed around London were his abstract wheatpastes, which stood out among a sea of logos and figures as something different and fresh. Since then, MOMO has been the artist whose work I think best exemplifies successful abstract street art. With street art, there is a tendency for galleries, blogs, festivals and magazines to stick to “easy” art, but MOMO doesn’t make art that you can look at for two seconds and leave alone. He changes environments. MOMO isn’t just putting up a photoshopped Batman stencil or whatever the kids are doing these days to get some hype. Nevertheless, MOMO has worked with Papermonster, FAME Festival, The Underbelly Project, Anno Domini and more. While staying just outside of this culture’s mainstream, it seems that MOMO has a lot of fans who, like me, keep him in the back of their mind at all times for his ability to push post-graffiti and street art forward and make spaces beautiful. That is to say, here’s an interview with MOMO after the jump… Continue reading “MOMO is the man”
Happy almost Halloween. It’s been a week of wasted energy, or so it seems. A potential legal wall that I was organizing has fallen through for the time being, but hopefully things are just delayed rather than cancelled. Here’s some of what I should have posted about this week:
Reported, this sculpture at Occupy London was made and left there by Banksy, but that claim is unconfirmed by Banksy so far. Nonetheless, Zeus added this modification to the piece. And Above has also made some work in solidarity with the Occupy movement. Similarly to K-Guy’s work at Occupy London, I’m conflicted here. On the one hand, it’s great when artists who know how to get headlines do so in solidarity with a political movement of sorts, but on the other hand these artists are of course latching on to the movement and associating themselves with it in a way that they know will get headlines and potentially help them sell some paintings. Of course the same could be said of many of the celebrity speakers who have been generally well-received at Occupy events. So there’s that dilemma to think about.
Last time I was in NYC, I saw this billboard for Hennessy cognac with designs by Kaws. Just interesting to see the flip from a decade ago when Kaws would have modified that billboard illegal to insert his work onto it in an effort to associate with the Hennessy brand, and now Hennessy pays Kaws to associate with their brand. Also, this new Kaws/Snoopy toy goes on sale today on Kaws’ website. Okay, one last bit of Kaws news: I love this new painting by him.
Earlier this year, in August to be precise, 72 artists descended on Bristol for See No Evil. Equipped with over 13,000 spray cans they set about transforming Nelson Street into a massive outdoor art gallery. Hurricane Media were on hand to film the whole event and this is the outcome, a fantastic documentary short on the event and the rise of the global street art movement.
Self portrait by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer
Not many people can say that they have a tunnel named after them. Chris Pape aka Freedom aka Gen II can say that. He painted what is now known as the Freedom Tunnel between 1980 and 1996. Over the last few decades, this tunnel underneath the Upper West Side of New York City has become an icon for the urban exploring and graffiti communities. While graffiti has always been influenced by other art movements, Freedom made this more evident that most writers by skillfully recreating and explicitly referencing great art throughout history (from Renaissance art to pop art). Over the years, he turned the tunnel into his own personal hall of fame.
Since Freedom has a show on online at Dirty Pilot and he’ll be signing books this weekend at the NY Art Book Fair, it seemed like a particularly good time to speak with Freedom about his work, as well as his thoughts on graffiti and art in general.
RJ: Freedom is one of my all-time favorite artist pseudonyms. Where did the name come from? What does it mean to you?
Chris Pape: I wish I had a great story as to how I got the name but I don’t. What I can say is that when I returned to writing in 1979 I didn’t want to be GEN 2 anymore, that name held no weight to it and was more about being a teenager, FREEDOM was more message oriented.
Chris painting in 1985. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape
What inspired you to go from writing graffiti on trains to painting non-letter based work in a relatively private environment?
I wasn’t a very good graffiti artist, I didn’t steal paint and that meant I was never going to king anything. I used a lot of silver and black because you could stretch it. I began doing tonal work on the sides of trains and realized I could draw with paint, this was still while doing letters. I began doing portraits in the park above the Freedom Tunnel which were pretty bad. One day coming out of the park I looked through the grating above and realized that that was the place for the paintings, that the early works were monochromatic was a fluke, it just happened that the walls were too porous for color – the idea of priming a wall had never occurred to me.
I’ve asked writers the difference between street art and graffiti, and my favorite answer is that graffiti is a sport and street art is art. While I don’t think these two categories are mutually exclusive, it seems like you moved more towards the street art side of that definition once you began painting in the tunnel. How did you think about your work in the tunnel? Did you view it as graffiti, something closer to what would now be called street art or something else entirely?
It is weird that I ended up in the street art world, I had a very graffiti centric mentality. While I was around the early street art movement ie: Fekner, Ahearn and Haring I always considered myself a writer – still do.
Ted Williams baseball card, circa 1988. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape
Most people probably don’t realize that Freedom and GenII are the same person. How and why do you separate your identities of Freedom, the tunnel painter; Freedom/Chris Pape, the gallery artist; and GenII, the graffiti writer?
I think that you think I’m the new GEN 2 who has gotten up extensively – that’s not me. At the age of 14 and 15 I wrote the name GEN 2 on the streets of Manhattan and Queens, I wasn’t up much because of my age, but it was a nice introduction to the graff world. While painting in the tunnel I would like to say that I took a lot more chances, there was absolutely nothing at stake, few people knew the works were there and they had no intrinsic value, I could fail consistently and did – if I was lucky I made art. OF course you could easily argue that the failures are art as well because without them I wouldn’t have gotten to the next level. As a gallery artist I’m more conservative. I have a responsibility to the gallery to include a few images that I know will sell, out of 10 paintings 2 of them will be proven winners, the other 8 are where I get to take risks. I can live with that percentage for now.
Yep. My mistake about confusing two different Gen II’s. Sorry. When Amtrak reopened the tunnel in the 1990’s, your art became linked in the minds of the public with the men and women living there who were kicked out. How would you describe the relationship between yourself, your art and the people living near it?
Luckily for me I was there first, I started in 1980, the homeless that I knew moved in in 1986. They had a natural curiosity of me and my paintings and we eventually became quite close. Early on I would only go in the tunnel if I was going to paint, by the late 80’s I was there hanging out and documenting the people. Towards the end I was involved in getting some of the people out. I would call them friends.
The Freedom Tunnel, 2011. Photo by an urban explorer
How did going to the La Guardia High School of Music and Art impact your graffiti?
It ended my days as a teenage graffiti writer. I was writing because of the urban competition part, I loved that. At LaGuardia the talent was limitless and you could draw with your friends all day – that’s where all of my energy went.
What was it like to revisit the tunnel recently with The New York Times?
I felt old because I had a problem getting over a fence that I used to be able to leap over – it’s been 11 years. I still love the environment but once they sealed the whole thing off and got rid of the homeless it was time to go. I left on a high point.
The Freedom Tunnel, 2011. Photo by an urban explorer
I’ve heard it said that, when graffiti moves indoors, it is a still life. How have you transitioned your art to an indoor setting?
It wasn’t easy. When I started in the tunnel I was 19 years old and homeless. By the time I left I was 35, had an apartment and a degree in visual journalism from the School of Visual Arts, I knew how to paint and draw and had a criteria for what I believed art was. I had a series of images to paint – that’s the good news. Everything I’ve done based on the tunnel works are diluted. Once you’ve reconciled yourself to that it becomes liberating because your no longer tied into the exact image in the tunnel, or the textures or the lighting etc. That feeling of liberation allows you to go down different paths and explore earlier ideas in a different way. They’re two separate experiences. The key thing is knowing that their two separate animals, that took a long time for me to figure out.
Artwork by Freedom, circa 1995. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape
You’ve been involved in several cycles of graffiti’s waxing and waning popularity in galleries. What do you think about the art market’s influence on graffiti?
It’s a larger question about money. A booming economy drove the art market in the 80’s which allowed for a larger amount of galleries and a new client base looking to get rich off the next Haring or Basquiat. When the crash came in 1987 the galleries closed and the client base dried up, everyone got hit across the board. Graffiti’s success in the galleries today is tied in with the larger success of street art and Banksy in particular. It’s happening during a bad economy which bodes well for the artists involved. Having said that, I don’t think the art world has any impact on real writers.
Portraits of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer
Do you see any moral issues about selling artwork in galleries based on your graffiti art that is linked to a disenfranchised homeless population?
None whatsoever. Having said that, there are 3 different portraits of the homeless on the walls of the tunnel, two have been transferred to canvas, nobody wants them. Even if I felt I were dealing in a grey area morally and decided to give 50 percent of the earnings from the canvasses to Bob and Bernard (the models for the paintings), I can tell you that people don’t want to look at homeless people. They don’t want to see them on the street and they certainly don’t want them on their wall.
Murals by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer.
What is your relationship like today with graffiti, both old and new?
I have a very small relationship with new graffiti, it is a fault of mine. To me there is only the train era from 1969 to 1989. I’m at the point where I’m done archiving my collection, lately I’ve ben trying to get writers to talk about their trains and what they remember about specific events.
What have you got planned for the future?
I have another biography of a famous graffiti writer almost finished. I have a sketchbook being published. And the documentary Wall Writers should be coming out. I’m proud of all three projects. I also plan to sleep a lot.
Photos courtesy of Chris Pape and an anonymous urban explorer
Reka (also an original member of the Everfresh crew) is another of Melbourne’s street art pioneers. Reka has been decorating the streets of Melbourne and surrounds since 2002 and is another of my favourite Melbourne artists.
Reka has traveled and painted across America, Asia and South East Asia, including San Francisco, New York, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
I’ve watched Reka’s style evolve dramatically over the years, and I love what I see. From the older days with black and white paste-ups and pieces featuring Reka’s infamous characters to his newer painting styles. His last show at Backwoods gallery, ‘Down Low Too Slow‘, was a smasher and featured pieces painted in 3D (glasses required to take in the full effect).
I caught up with Reka at Everfresh Studios. This is what we talked about…
LM: You must be excited about ‘Young and Free‘. What do you think about this amazing opportunity and the impact it will have on the awareness of Melbourne, and Australian, street art, graffiti and artists?
Reka: I’m privileged and honoured to be part of this amazing show. The line-up of artists is seriously the creme of the crop coming out of Australia right now: a nice balance of traditional graffiti writers, street artists and pop artists. I think Melbourne and Australia has a really healthy scene, but I don’t think it has enough international exposure. I think ‘Young and Free’ will put Australia on the map, if its not there already! I’m really not sure of the impact that this show will make but I know at the very least it is positive and it’s an important start.
LM: Tell me about your background. How did you get into street art?
Reka: I actually came from a graffiti background. Mainly just doing stupid delinquent shit like tagging on pretty much anything I could find. I was ruthless and lacking style, but we all did when we started. Growing up next to a major train-line in Melbourne really opened my eyes to graffiti and different styles. In the early 2000’s I made the shift to street art. Though, at that time the name street art didn’t exist. I just liked doing characters and other abstract things. I just wanted to do my own thing and not follow what others were doing. The process was the same to graffiti – I was still getting up, but wanted to take my name and my work in a different direction. These days I explore graffiti and street art separately but I find both are a very important part of my creative journey.
LM: What does your name mean?
Reka: When I started graff in the late 90’s I came up with ‘REKA’ to match my enthusiasm of literally “wrecking” shit and destroying. I also wanted to find a combination of letters that I liked and that I was comfortable to write. I like how the ‘R’ and the ‘K’ compliment each other. The same goes with the ‘E’ and the ‘A’. Over the years the meaning of my name has dramatically changed, but my core ethics have stayed the same. In the end I always push style over anything else and rely on that that people can identify with rather than to have to put ‘Reka’ next to everything I do.
LM: What do you enjoy most about the whole street art process? The creation, the night missions, etc?
Reka: Street art has always been about the process: the exploration and the action. When I’m out bombing, whether it’s painting my characters, catching tags or sticking up posters, the end result is very secondary to me. What’s most important is the feeling I get. I do it for myself. It’s very selfish! Don’t get me wrong, I love people seeing my work and knowing that I did that illegally, but it’s a different felling I get from that. I also love painting legal walls and try to push my work on a large scale. Creating is very important to me too, but I still find it different to my illegal work. I get bored doing the same shit over and over again so that’s why I find it important to keep my work on the street illegally and also paint large scale commissioned walls. Using different mediums is a very important part of my practice. It keeps it fresh and exciting. I just like exploring in every sense of the word.
LM: Who or what inspires you?
Reka: I find and source inspiration from everything. Often it’s not from other artists but from nature and my surroundings, whether it’s patterns created from rusted metal, animals, rubbish etc. I keep my senses open and try to take it all in. I have to say that my studio, Everfresh, is a big inspiration and constant motivation for me. I find that it’s very important to surround yourself with creative people. Even if there is no actual dialogue or communication, just seeing them paint and create is very inspiring for me.
LM: Which artists are you into at the moment? Local and International?
Reka: I have to say that Roa and Blu are two artists that I have been looking at a bit recently. Not stylistically but my interest into their process and application of their art onto walls. My focus has shifted to painting large-scale murals and to see these two paint monster size works on the side of buildings is very inspiring. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to find walls like these in Australia. No one is really doing this compared to what I’ve seen in Europe and the USA. This is something that I want to fix.
LM: Where do you work from and what is your studio space like?
Reka: I mentioned I’m part of the Everfresh studio. We created this studio nearly eight years ago. Everfresh consists of mainly street artists that have come together with similar interests and their passion to paint but also to create artworks and push their work in the galleries and the fine-art world. The actual studio is a visual mess consisting of pretty much anything we have found and collected over the years. Although we all work separately on our own projects, whether it’s commercial work, walls, artwork etc., our essential core is that we all collaborate and work together too. I think that’s what separates us from other studios. My own studio is a blend of stuff I’ve collected including rusted spray cans, weird toys and of course my art and paints/materials etc.
LM: What is always in your “toolkit”?
Reka: Pens, markers, laptop, brushes, my black-book, NY fat-caps, spray paint, a lighter and acrylic paint.
LM: What has been the highlight (or highlights) of your career to date?
Reka: Honestly this ‘Young and Free’ show is pretty much up there. Exhibiting my work and also painting walls with artists that I have admired and have looked up to is a great privilege and honour to have been involved in. I haven’t been involved in too many international exhibitions yet – it’s something that I am just starting to do now. The NGA (National Gallery of Australia) recently acquisitioned some pieces of mine and had a recent touring exhibition around Australia. It is a great honour to have work in your country’s national gallery collection. I was also involved in a month long residency at the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) in Melbourne. I really didn’t think my work would end up in galleries, let alone these kinds of institutions.
LM: Tell me about your last show, ‘Down Low Too Slow’, in March.
Reka: I always love staging exhibitions in my home city Melbourne. I guess that’s where I have generated most of my work both in galleries and on the street. ‘Down Low Too Slow’ was an exploration into the inner child in all of us. The theme was very playful and I had a lot of fun creating this body of work. I actually made some of my works to be viewed in 3d with those old-school blue and red glasses. It was fun to watch the straight-edge art collectors have a giggle viewing my work wearing the 3d glasses.
LM: I’m also interested in the way your style has evolved over the years. How has evolution this come about?
Reka: My style has definitely changed over the years. It has never been a conscious decision or has been intentionally pushed, it’s just something that has come very naturally. I guess I’m looking for something that I haven’t found yet. Actually… to be honest, I don’t want to find what I’m looking for. I think the worst thing to happen to a creative person is to get too comfortable. If you are not evolving then there’s a major problem. I find the journey of being an artist very important. I like looking back on earlier work and cringing, but also love seeing where I have come from and how I have evolved. Back in the day my style was very bold and cartoony. These days my style is a lot looser and dynamic. I am viewing textures and mediums in a new light. I actually want to start creating sculptures and 3D objects. I don’t want to limit myself to just painting pretty pictures.
For the last few years I have rather admired Ludo’s art – a surreal mash up of nature and technology. So I was rather happy when I heard he was headed over to London to put on his first solo show in the city at one of my favourite galleries, High Roller Society. Eager to see his work I popped along a couple of hours before the gallery doors opened to meet Ludo and to have a chat about his work, bus stops and Thrasher magazine…
Hey Ludo, welcome to London. Having had a browse of your website, the thing that perhaps struck me most, alongside you art of course, was a quote by the founder of Surrealism, André Breton.
“Collage allows people with no technique to make works of art, to express themselves in a visual way.”
But I’m sure that many would argue that you have a fantastic artistic technique, so why the quote and why do you choose to produce collages and paste ups?
I think the quote is more about saying something. I mean, everyone can say something with whatever they want. So it’s not about technique, or about a nice style. And I like things that say something, so I don’t really care about the technique, it’s all about the message. Collage and paste ups give me allow me to do that. It’s a technique that just suits me.
Great Outdoors. Photo by Ludo.
Well you have certainly mastered the art of the paste up. Did you ever go to art school or college?
I did some studies in Milan. Doing some graphic and design stuff.
So do you come from a more graphic background then?
Yeah.
But being a street artist did you ever start out tagging, following the more traditional graffiti route?
Yeah, I started tagging when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I used to write on trains and everything, I used to love that kind of thing. But it’s just visual, it’s just writing your name. I felt there was less depth to it, I couldn’t say as much as I can with paste-ups.
Do you still go tagging now?
No, not any more. I still like it but my style has evolved and I just stick to that.
The Mercenary. Photo by Ludo.
Much of your work is encompassed by the term Nature’s Revenge. Can you tell me a little about it and why did you choose to juxtapose machinery and mechanical objects with natural ones?
Honestly I don’t know why. It just started one day and I continued with it. I like to play with art, and I like to contrast things – curves and squares, straight lines and organic shapes, cold and hard, grey and colour.
So it’s more about the contrast rather than the content?
Exactly, and it means I can say whatever I want. I feel like I don’t need anything else to portray what I want to say.
The Duke of Cambridge. Photo by Ludo.
I personally really like the fact that your work is in an urban setting. It’s almost like nature is re-claiming back space that was once green but has now been covered in concrete.
Of course, but perhaps it’s more about putting something in front of someone. Making nature really common, making you ask; who cares about nature? Who cares about the flower? I know its stupid to say that, but I like making things really big, violent and sort of rough. A mix of nature and domestic things, making people think.
I wanted to ask about the use of the colour green in your work? You have almost become famous for the ‘Ludo green’. Why did you choose green and why only one colour?
I don’t really know! I think it’s because I don’t like too much colour in my work. I started with grey and then just added one colour. And I thought “Yeah I’m happy with that.” But I don’t really have any reason for green, I just like the colour and it’s maybe a bit unusual.
The Green Hornet Vs Co-Branding. Photo by Ludo.
Your “co-branding” project was based around re-appropriating advertising. Do you have anything against advertising in particular? And why did you concentrate on adverts in bus stops?
I think it’s more about trying to use the spaces within the bus stops. I don’t have anything against advertising, and as artists I think we also do advertising in a way when we step outside. But when I see a commercial, I will think how I could re-create it. I will take an advert and change it and put it in my way. But I like the space they have, I like the bus shelters, it’s maybe more about the space than the advertising.
How long do you find these bus stops advert hacks tend to last? Are they removed instantly or do they go unnoticed by the authorities for at least a few days?
Oh, it depends. I know when they change the adverts and billboards, so I try to be clever and go the day after. At least then I know that the piece should last for six days until they are changed again. I do the same for bus shelters. And during the weekends the authorities don’t work so I will go on a Friday night because then you know you will have your work up for at least two or three days.
The Green Hornet Vs Co-Branding. Photo by Ludo.
And the same with your paste-up pieces, how long do you find they last when up on a wall?
Again, it depends. I saw some in Paris the other day that have been there for over a year, but then some just go the day after I put them up.
Is this because the authorities remove them or do people steal them?
I actually think it’s to steal them. I once saw someone taking one.
But I like to see people’s reaction to my work when I change billboards and adverts. I like them to think; “What, what, what?! There is a collage, a commercial, what is it for? Is it new?” And when you have used a Nike logo, they think, “What are they saying? But ok, they have used that logo so it must be a commercial. So it might be something new?”
I like just staying and watching. I like the reaction, and to see how people think. I find it funny, especially that people think it has to be selling something.
Reebok Diptych. Photo by Ludo.
Perhaps it’s because in the modern society there is that expectancy that everything is actually trying to sell you something?
Yeah, exactly. I actually once had someone that asked me to pay to put up work.
Really?
Yeah, he came out of his shop and said, “Do you know you have to pay to put things up there? Usually you have to pay.” But why? You can’t rent public space!
Ha ha, I hope you didn’t pay! Having been to London a couple of times now, what do you think of the graffiti and street art here and how does it differ from Paris, or perhaps other places you have travelled to?
I think in general its more quiet now, which is good. And there are some people here that I really like and respect. In Paris, it’s perhaps more decorative, which is not always that good. And then New York is maybe a bit more rough and I like working there. I really like the vibes, they are great and I like it a lot. But I think London is actually between the two, a mix of both.
Ludo in London. Photo by Ludo.
Moving onto your gallery work, High Roller Society is playing host to Metamorphosis, your first solo show in London. Can you explain a bit about it, your influences and thinking behind the pieces?
It’s really about what I have listened to, or what I did, or things I’m still doing. Like the Thrasher piece I have done. I really loved the old colours from the 80s in the magazine, all the graphics and images, I was really into all that kind of stuff. So the show is about that and other simple things that reflect my simple life. Nothing too political or too social.
So it’s a bit of a retrospective of your life?
Yeah, yeah. It’s all about remembering moments.
Metamorphosis at High Roller Society. Photo by Ludo.Thrasher. Photo by High Roller Society.
When you move from the streets into your studio and the gallery do you find your way of thinking and ways of producing your art changes? Is there a different mentality?
Of course, my thinking changes but my technique does too. Outside I use acrylic and inside I use oil. And my pieces inside are aimed to work inside. When you go outside you try to use the space the best you can and so it would be stupid to work inside in the same way. But you must also grab the chance to show your stuff inside, you have to make sure it is interesting and try to improve your work.
Obviously that’s where your sculptural work comes in.
And the house we built in the gallery, I think it’s great to have the chance to do that. My sculptures started as I though it would just be nice to do one and try it, but then I stopped for years as I was more into doing stuff outside. I would just go out everyday and put my work up. But now, I want to do more, I really like making them. I want to do bigger pieces and to progress, but I also want to progress outside, I was to improve all the time and hopefully I will do.
Ludo's laboratory at Metamorphosis. Photo by High Roller Society.Tsing Tsing Fly. Photo by Severed Frequencies.
If you want to check out Ludo’s newly built house and sculptures for yourself, alongside his fantastic graphite drawings, then head over to High Roller Society sometime before October 7th. It is well worth the trip, especially as you have a chance of catching some of Ludo’s freshly pasted pieces on the streets. Have a hunt around Shoreditch and Hackney and see what you can see.
Vexta, originally from Sydney, is another of Melbourne’s favourite street artists. Vexta’s neon drenched street paintings, paste ups and stencils can be seen in and around the suburbs of Melbourne. Her stencils are filled with carefully selected bright colours and are intricately cut, they lighten up any dark alleyway in Melbourne.
Vexta has traveled and painted around the world including Paris, Berlin, London, Sydney, Brisbane and Bogota. Her recent show “Across Neon Lights” at Goodtime Studios In Carlton (Melbourne) was beautiful, showing off her renowned neon colours and detailed mix of painting and stencil print skills.
I caught up with Vexta to talk about the upcoming show in SF, Young and Free, and her art in general.
LM: You must be excited about ‘Young and Free’. What do you think about this amazing opportunity and the impact it will have on the awareness of Melbourne, and Australian, street art and artists?
Vexta: I can’t wait to get over there, I really love San Francisco so its super exciting to be showing there. San Francisco has such a rich history of street art and murals and 941 Gallery is a massive warehouse space so it’s going to be lots of fun for all of us to hang out and make work there. It’s a total honour to be showing alongside so many fine Australian street artists as well. I think Young & Free will help to show that Australian street art is just like other street art from the southern hemisphere, in that its just as great as what happening in the north of the world.
LM: Tell me about your background. How did you get into street art?
Vexta: Well, I was doing quite a lot of travel in the early 2000s. After an massive trip traveling across the Australian outback and SE Asia, I arrived back in Melbourne just when street art was beginning to boom. I guess from traveling I was really aware of landscapes and the interplay of elements in our physical environments so the art just jumped out at me. I loved the stencil aesthetic and so I started creating my own pieces, wandering the back laneways of the city late at night, painting. From there I met other street artists and we started doing shows together and going out painting together. Emptyshows were the best – where a group of us would take over an empty/disused building, install art and hold an illegal exhibition.
LM: What does your name mean?
Vexta: It’s just who I am, it’s a bunch of nicknames put together. A good friend use to call me “vex” when we were teenagers growing up together. Adding a “ta” or “ka” to the end of a name is a Czech tradition, My father came here from the Czech Republic so I’m use to my family doing that.
LM: What do you enjoy most about the whole street art process? The creation, the night missions etc?
Vexta: I just love making art in the street. The streets are the heart of any city… it’s the truly free space. It is the space of the people. It’s the place where ideas and interactions happen. I love making work that is free for the people of the city and to be found unexpectedly. Right now, I’m into making work that is more gentle and subtle than the advertising, signage and modern architecture that surround us in our modern cities. I also like leaving these small pieces of art that connect together into a larger story when put them together later in exhibitions. I also have a bit of a thing for underground spaces. I love all of it. Making work in the studio, painting on walls in the sunshine, drawing on walls in the dark of night, driving around wheat pasting, stickering…
LM: Who or what inspires you?
Vexta: I’m inspired by a lot of things – art, music, science, nature. In particular I’m interested in winged creatures, dream states, hallucinations, the night, taking photos and pattern/repeated painting. My friends constantly inspire me with their support and the work they make, people like Kill Pixie, Tai Snaith, Al Stark, Miso not too mention all the Y&F artists…
LM: Which artists are you into at the moment? Local and International.
Vexta: Ah there’s too many to list! Right now I’m hanging out to see Mike Mills’s new film, I love his work. Bjork’s Crystalline app is pretty exciting in the way it mixes art, music and science. Shida is making beautiful work on the local street art front.
LM: Where do you work from and what is your studio space like?
Vexta: At the moment I’m making my work on the fly, travelling for a while. I have a small space in Melbourne and I’m in the process of fixing up a shack in a bit of remnant forest at my family’s house in North Sydney as a studio space and I’ll probably set one up for big work in the inner city for the summer too.
LM: What is always in your “toolkit”?
Vexta: Depends what I’m doing but I always seem to have stickers, markers & caps in my bag….other that – spray paint, acrylic paint, blades, brushes and a glove that I’ve been wearing for about 5 years to keep spray paint off my skin are fairly essential items… oh, and my ipod.
LM: What has been the highlight (or highlights) of your career to date?
LM: Your recent show “Across Neon Lights” featured some of your best pieces yet, it was a great show. Tell me about the show and your recent work, I noticed your recent stuff features lots of feathers and butterflies/moths.
Vexta: Thanks, Across Neon Nights was pretty site-specific in some ways I really liked installing the works down in the basement of Goodtime Studios, it was great to use a different space that’s not a traditional gallery for a show. The paintings focused on an ongoing exploration of dreams, hallucinations, nights and the way we relate to the dark…our subconscious states, sex and night creatures like bats & moths. Making the light sculpture, bone installation and the sound loop was super fun. I want to do more of that.
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For our second interview in the lead-up to Young & Free at 941 Geary (opening September 10th), I spoke with Anthony Lister. Outside of Australia, Lister is without a doubt the best-known Australian street artist, and he also helped curate Young & Free. On the surface, his work is pretty simple to describe (mostly loosely painted superheroes), but words can’t convey the energy and passion with which Lister makes art, and there’s a lot more to each image than what first meets the eye. He strikes a difficult balance between high and low brow. Speaking with him, it’s clear that Lister is an intelligent guy who knows his art, but his work is equally accessible to those in the know and teenagers who just want to see cool pictures of tits and superheroes. A few years ago, a friend explained Lister to me something like this, “Anthony can paint with the best of them. His hand is up there with Bacon and all the greats. He just happened to take to using spray cans more than paint brushes.” Lister has blazed a trail in the Australian street art community both with is work and his approach to spreading it. For many, he has been the ambassador of Australian street art. For Young and Free, he continues that role by opening up the floodgates and bringing his friends with him to America.
RJ: Where are you right now?
Lister: I’m in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m in a cab to the airport, to go to Sydney.
RJ: It seems like you’re always traveling. You’ve traveled all around the world and you even lived in New York at one point. What keeps you coming back to Australia?
Lister: Gosh, I don’t know. I go to places that I enjoy where I can be around people that I know, and I enjoy meeting new people, but I guess I just go where I’m invited.
Photo by Lord Jim
RJ: You’re an extremely energetic guy, and it seems like a lot of that energy goes going creating an immense amount of work. How do you stay so prolific and at that energy level?
Lister: I’m an adventure painter, so I’m trying to break through to the other side. I’m into experiment and development, and I wanna paint for me, so I just have that much inside and I constantly have to be making changes, editing. I feel like I’m only as smart as my last decision; I’m only as good as my last production, so I’m trying to make better paintings than I did yesterday, today.
Photo by Birdman Photos
RJ: What’s an adventure painter?
Lister: There’ve been a lot of adventure painters. Francis Bacon was an adventure painter. Robert Rauchenburg was an adventure painter. Australian adventure painters… Brett Whiley was an adventure painter. This is just a thing, it’s a term to describe the energy involved with the journey which is being a visual practitioner: Conceptually, objectually, subjectually.
Photo by brandon shigeta
RJ: How would you describe Australian street art and graffiti?
Lister: It’s out in the wild over here, okay? It’s the same story, different city. When you travel and you’re involved in say skateboarding or graffiti or fine dining for that matter, these restaurants are in every city. The flavors change because of the style beef that’s there and then it becomes an atmosphere thing. It’s just that: The product of one’s efforts over here has been developed over a different atmosphere, so I’m not sure there’s a definitive difference, but I’m sure there’s definitely talent going into it. It’s a really amazing and wonderful thing that’s going on.
RJ: As you say, there’s a lot of talent in Australia, but I don’t think any Australians were included in Art in the Streets at MOCA? Am I wrong about that?
Lister: Yeah. There were no Australian artists in it. Martha Cooper shot of a photo of me, and I think that was in there, but no artists, no artwork. I feel pretty lucky to be at the forefront of all that, and also that book Beyond The Street, to be the only Australian artist in that 100-artist lineup, so I feel really fortunate.
RJ: You can look at Very Nearly Almost, and those guys are looking at Australian street art, but otherwise it seems to be something that a lot of bloggers, including myself, don’t follow closely enough, and it’s a bit of a shame. There’s a lot of talent out there.
Lister: And as an artist, you have to make an effort too. I’ve been traveling the world for nearly 10 years, and going back to places. It’s not like you just go to Rome once. I go to places and develop relationships. Everyone’s into what everyone else is doing.
Lister and Haculla. Photo by RJ Rushmore
RJ: How would you describe the importance, for you, of Young and Free?
Lister: It’s a nice thing to be able to put a package together. This is the Australia package, and I had some involvement in the choice of artists who are going, and I’m really happy to be involved in it. It’s not like anyone’s gone and done it. It’s not like this show would be easy just for a group of artists to put on. It’s a tricky thing, even for a gallery. You’ve got to focus all your energy. It’s reaching a new level. It kinda feels like the way that Futura described to me one day how Jeffrey Deitch flying him and a bunch of dudes over to Japan in the 80’s and doing art and shit and it just being crazy. It’s awesome.
RJ: What’s your relationship with the other artists in Young and Free?
Lister: Yeah, I do know all of them except for maybe one guy, although I don’t know how or why. Ben Frost, Kid Zoom, Sofles, Dabs and Myla, Rone… It’s these guys I’ve been developing relationships with. It’s not like I’ve even just met them once. These are people I’ve been hanging out with for the seven years. Some not so much; some are younger or came from different areas and they’ve just gotten up by the quality of their work. This is a really great, rounded, quality group of artists who are from graffiti, you know, trainpainters to fine artists like myself, and everything in between.
RJ: Definitely. When I first saw the lineup, I was excited because it was pretty much everybody I would have included, plus some guys that I didn’t know, which was great to see. But are their any Australian artists in particular that Vandalog readers should check out who aren’t in the show?
Lister: Oh yeah. There’s a lot of people who aren’t in the show. Real, quality artists. But it’s just one of those things. And what I’m interested in isn’t necessarily what is gonna be better for a particular audience. You know, as a curator you have to consider your audience, an American audience. There’s not a lot of things out there that really turn me on. I see things I like, but when I’m making work, I’m trying to make work that really turns me on. An artist who does that, to drop a name, would be Magnus McTavish. He’s an abstract fellow adventure painter, and there’s so many names here, there’s so many great artists over here. It’s really fun. It’s exciting and fun.
Photo by brandon shigeta
RJ: What have you made for this show?
Lister: I made a painting, and I plan on making a few more paintings and some mask pieces.
RJ: Great. I love the mask pieces. Are there going to be any walls or murals painted for the show?
Lister: Yeah, I believe there are. There’s definitely gonna be installation and site-specific, in-situ pieces being made. It’s getting pretty exciting getting all these people together. A lot of people made work for the show, but a lot of people haven’t, so that’s a part of this whole traveling, in-situ art game right now. It’s a beautiful thing because you really get work that vibrates strongest when you’re making work in-situ. Artists support each other, it’s great. Everyone’s been training for so long. This is really the product of what is great and going on over here right now, and everywhere in the world for that matter. I just came through Berlin. I just came through LA. I just came through London. It’s all really great. Everyone’s really positive and making quality work.
Photo by unusualimage
RJ: Speaking of London, you just had a print a Pictures on Walls. Can you describe what the process was like, making work for that show?
Lister: Well for that one, I worked pretty closely with the print team, and I wanted to make sure they were unique. The boss over there was into me taking my time, and we made something beautiful. And the show itself was an extension and a growth of what I’ve been working on. I was really excited. It was really great.
A note from the editor: This interview is the first in a series of interviews with some of the Australian artists in the Young & Free show opening next week at 941 Geary in San Fransisco. Over the next week or so, Luke McManus and I (well, almost entirely Luke) will be interviewing a number of artists involved in the show. Hopefully, this will take Vandalog a step in the right direction towards better recognition of the thriving Australian street art scene. I’m pleased that we can start this series off with Luke’s interview with Rone, a member of Melbourne’s much-respected Everfresh Crew. – RJ
Rone (Everfresh) is one of the most well known and recognised street artists in Melbourne. Rone’s iconic girl face paste ups have adorned many of Melbourne’s underpasses, intersections and unused billboards as well as numerous walls for as long as I have loved street art. Rone has also hit walls in cities around the world including Los Angeles, New York, London, Toyko, Barcelona and Hong Kong. One of the girls was featured in Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Rone’s recent show ‘L’inconnue de la Rue’ (The unknown girl of the street) at Backwoods gallery in Collingwood (Melbourne) was a huge hit and possibly the show of the year so far. Every painting was sold before the exhibition opened.
I caught up with Rone recently to ask him a couple of questions. This is what he said.
LM: You must be excited about ‘Young and Free’. What do you think about this amazing opportunity and the impact it will have on the awareness of Melbourne, and Australian, street art and artists?
Rone: I’m stoked to be involved in this exhibition not just to get myself out there but to let people know about how strong the graffiti and street art community is in Melbourne and all over Australia. We have had so many internationals come here over the years and be amazed about how much we have going on but because we aren’t New York or London we unfortunately don’t get noticed as often.
LM: Tell me about your background. How did you get into street art?
Rone: I moved to Melbourne around 2000 to study graphic design. I was fascinated by the stencil works by HA-HA, Sync & Psalm that was around at the time. I started painting at skate spots with friends I skated with. Finding spots to skate soon turned into finding spots to paint.
LM: What does your name mean?
Rone: Nothing really, just a nick name that stuck.
LM: What do you enjoy most about the whole street art process? The creation, the night missions etc?
Rone: Hard to say one thing, I guess there is nothing better than seeing your work up a long way from home. I think that’s what a lot of graffiti is about- I was here, I did this.
LM: Who or what inspires you?
Rone: The noise on the walls is what I’ve been looking at lately. The way things decay on the street, rotting & ripped posters, buffed walls etc. The constant battle between artists, bill posters and the buff. I want my artwork to feel like that.
LM: Which artists are you into at the moment? Local and International.
Rone: Locally; Many of the crew on the Y&F line are huge inspirations but i’m always in awe of the work of Merda, Phibs, Twoone & Al stark. International; JR, Blu & ROA are all doing amazing things.
LM: Where do you work from and what is your studio space like?
Rone: I work from Everfresh Studio, the studio looks like a 15 year old vandals dream. I’ve set up a screen printing area to make posters and a bit of a space to paint from.
LM: I’ve been loving your recent work a lot. Tell me about your evolved style and also your recent show “L’inconnue de la Rue”.
Rone: “L’inconnue de la Rue” was my first solo exhibition so I wanted to bring the feel of my work on the street into the gallery. I screen printed a series of posters that became the background for the stenciled portraits. (Video). The idea was to create works the were quite rough and unrefined that contrast against the beauty of the girl. “L’inconnue de la Rue” was inspired by the story of L’Inconnue de la Seine, in which the body of an unknown girl was pulled out of the Seine River in Paris. Her peaceful expression added to the mystery surrounding her death. L’inconnue de la rue was my adaption of the story.
"L’inconnue de la Rue""L’inconnue de la Rue"Work from "L’inconnue de la Rue" - NWork from "L’inconnue de la Rue" - Pain & GuiltWork from "L’inconnue de la Rue" - ColereClose upsClose upsClose upsEarly Rone (Melbourne ~2004)Rone (Melbourne ~2009)Rone (Flinders Street station, Melbourne ~2007)Rone (New York ~2011)
I’m baking alive here in Atlanta for Living Walls, but damn things are coming along nicely. Nanook and Gaia have finished a couple of walls, including this one. But Living Walls is a busy event, so I’ve been missing out on a lot this week, including some big news from Banksy. Check all that out here…
The schedule for Living Walls is up and finalized. Festivities start tonight. If you’re in Atlanta, I hope to see you there.
Channel4 in the UK has two films of note being shown this weekend: Banksy’s tv special Antics Roadshow (it’s about people behaving badly in public) and Graffiti Wars, which is that Robbo (get well soon man) documentary that people have been talking about for a while.
