BASELGEDDON: CHRISTOPHER MASLOW Q&A

Q & A with artist Christopher Maslow

Do you write? Are you in a crew?

    Yes and yes, however I'd rather not reveal too much about my graffiti persona on the web. I've been writing since 2003, though the past couple of years my focus has shifted from graffiti to street art and visual art. I rep The Cats Pajamas(TCP) and Vice City Rebels(VCR).

In what city did you start painting in the streets? Do you feel your work has influenced the community in return? If so, how? Is there a relationship between the artist and the community in which they work?

    I first discovered graffiti in the early 2000's when I moved from Florida to Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter I started painting in Los Angeles and Orange County with an inspired emphasis on West coast graffiti letter styles and detailed graffiti productions. For years I bombed and painted productions with other artists all throughout California and Florida. The productions specifically started gaining attention and before long I began taking on commission jobs painting murals and signs, both private and public. Later in 2009, I relocated back to Florida and began spending more time making art in the studio. Although, I was still regularly painting graffiti. I began feeling the drive to combine the two approaches to my art making and decided to paint my fine art on a larger scale in some public murals. These public works undoubtedly influenced the community through the communication of my concept and the public's interpretation of my finished work. While painting these murals I formed brief relationships with the local community but after the artwork was completed, I was gone and the artwork remained. The artwork continued to cause reaction within the people in my absence and transformed into a new kind of relationship, one that is purely through the intentions and execution of my artwork and those that experience it visually. This relationship will last through duration of the murals lifetime.

Did you go to school or are you self taught?

    I attended school for product development and clothing/graphic design. However I have always been self taught in hands-on-art-making like painting and sculpture. I mostly learn by trial and error or by asking questions of friends in the know. Experience and curiosity can often be the best form of education.

How did you get started in the arts and why?

    I was always drawn to the arts and was moderately skilled as a youth. When I was 14 I started painting on surfboards and was offered a part time job doing so. At that moment I was initially introduced to art as a way of making money. As I continued, I realized that I enjoyed painting more than just about anything and at that point it seemed natural to pursue art as a career.

How long have you been working in the streets?

    I have been painting graffiti for more than 10 years. I've been painting public street art murals for the past 4 years.

Who or What inspires you the most?

    I am inspired by nostalgia, symbolism, and objects of beauty, nature, wildlife, pop culture, and societies social issues. I am interested in duality and re-appropriation. Travel and change also provide me with new perspectives and inspiration. I am drawn to those that possess dedication and strong work ethics in their chosen field and I find appreciation in attention to skill and craftsmanship.

What should the general public know about street art? What stereotype about street art/graffiti do you hate the most?

    I believe that the general public has no clear definitive understanding of the difference between street art and graffiti. They simply think it is all the same. Graffiti is an act of vandalism, meaning defacing someone else's property without permission, whether it be a written message, name, or symbol/character. Street art on the contrary is nothing more than public art. It is done with permission and often funded, it is not a criminal act. Since I define street art and graffiti in this manor I don't allow myself to form opinions about the common stereotypes. They are two different things, only overlapping in the tools used and the likelihood that most street artists were at one time or still are graffiti artists.

Are you a full time artist? Do you have a day job? Is it best to be full time artist or not worry about it and make your $$$ elsewhere, that way you can paint what and how you want, which one offers a more creative outlook?

    I am a full time artist, no day job. I'm involved in several aspects of the business, from personal projects, commissioned works, and curating/selling other artists work. The variety helps keep things interesting and provides constant evolution, which I personally prefer. For me this scenario works for well my creative drive. 

What are you working on now?

    I am currently working in the studio on a new painting series. In the next couple of weeks I will be starting a new mural in downtown Miami, and next month I will be curating a show at Viophilia in Wynwood Arts District with one of Miami's most prolific graffiti artists. Please stay tuned...

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish by putting your work in the street?

    The arts are a powerful form of communication. The right piece in the right neighborhood can provoke change, whether that change is a cleaner street corner or an increase in property value. I believe a symbiosis occurs between the artist and the community when a mural or work of art is displayed publicly and I am interested in further exploring the cause and effect of that experiment.

Thanks! Check out more of Christopher's work...

 http://www.christophermaslow.com/

@christophermaslow

I'M IN MIAMI BITCH! Featured on the Leica Blog

The Leica Camera Blog ran a great feature on the blog today about my project on Wynwood. They dig deep to get inside the project that I have spent the last few years working on. It's a great insight into my work process and how I approach the subject of Street Art. Check it out!

http://blog.leica-camera.com/photographers/interviews/andrew-kaufman-documenting-the-disappearing-street-art-of-wynwood/

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I'M IN MIAMI BITCH! AMOS Q&A

January 21, 2014.

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Nip slip.

AK: What do you write? Are you in a crew?

 AM: I'm the Almighty Master Of Style AMOS from the FS, DTT & WGE fraternal orders of fresh. 

AK: In what city did you start painting in the streets? Do you feel your work has influenced the community in return? If so, how? Is there a relationship between the artist and the community in which they work?

AM: I initially started painting the streets of Miami. As far as my work "influencing" the community, I mean, they're not changing the city logo because of me, but as far as the graff community, I see people using more patterns and prints in their work. Although, I didn’t invent the cheetah or zebra print, that’s God's design, so I can't take all the credit. I just incorporate that into my work.  As far as a relationship, everything has a cause and effect. I've seen people walk by my work and take pictures and pose with my pieces and I've seen city employees/ business owners buffing stuff I've done, so, there's that. 

AK: Did you go to school or are you self taught? 

AM: I didn't go to school for art and there's no school for graffiti. I started "writing" when I was really young. But I consider the actual starting point of my graff career when I started writing AMOS which was 1994. I wasn't necessarily self taught either. I looked to the older more experienced writers in my crew for knowledge. But it wasn't a lot of "how do you do that?" or "what should I do here?" it was more observing what they did and how they did it. Because, for whatever reason, we never helped each other like that. No one ever did my fills or my outline. We always tried to burn one another. It was a kinda sink or swim mentality. We still try to burn each other every time we paint. Its competitive, but I think it brings the best outta people. 

 AK: How did you get started in the arts and why?

AM: My start into the "art world" was in 2004 when I did my first gallery show. I still have mixed feelings about that event. I was doing graffiti pieces on canvas and weird designs on mirrors and bullshit. I didn't do any "fine art" for the public after that. I just did  graffiti canvases once or twice a year for friends mostly. It wasn't until 2012 that I started to do canvases again for the public and for sale. 

 AK: How long have you been working in the streets?

AM:  I consider anything legal or illegal to be putting in work. Marker/paint tags, stickers, fill-ins, rollers, pieces etc., its all work. People who do this usually enjoy their work, but it doesn't mean its not work. All that stuff is a mission and requires time and effort. But to answer your question, officially since 1994. 

AK: Who or What inspires you the most?

AM: EVERYTHING, EVERYONE. I look at a cinnamon bun and think "that swirl would be a dope fill." I watch Sponge Bob with my son and think "those colors are fresh together." I see a lady on the bus with a wild pattern on her dress and I think "how can I incorporate that into my work." Nothing is off limits and for me that's fun and liberating. I can do whatever I want, its mine.

AK: What should the general public know about street art? What stereotype about street art/graffiti do you hate the most?

AM: Street art is any art done in the city streets (ie. knitting stop sign poles, hieroglyphics on the side of buildings, graffiti). City landscapes have become the canvas for all types of artist now a days. THAT FACT, can be directly attributed to graffiti. We are the artists that have been doing that and that did it first. Now in saying that I know, for a fact, that some hard core, player, thug types are saying "Maaan, I ain't no muthafucking artist son! I'm a muufucking vandal yo!!" But you're not. You're a fucking artist. You're not going around town, traveling to different cities breaking windows, spray painting dicks on peoples cars, and then taking pictures of it, documenting your breaking windows & dicks on cars career. Be real. You've carefully picked or were given a name, you pick your colors, practice writing it and then risked your freedom to do it. The only reason you're a "vandal" is because it’s illegal to do your art on property that ain't yours. So relax guyyyyy, you're just a rebel artista. 

AK: Are you a full time artist? Do you have a day job? Is it best to be full time artist or not worry about it and make your $$$ elsewhere, that way you can paint what and how you want, which one offers a more creative outlook?

AM: I am a full time artist and I have a job. Is it best to be one or the other or both is a personal question for each individual. Because you have a "day job" won't necessarily make you less creative or vis versa. I paint whatever I want. BUT, if you are a full time artist who just paints what people want and not your own flavor, I don't feel that’s a much of a career. It's all about creative freedom, then again, the almighty dollar dictates a lot of peoples motivation, bills, kids, responsibilities, lifestyle... you know?

AK: What are you working on now? (Please provide a photograph)

 AM: Since 2013 I've been working on a series called "The American Experiment". Its a collection of canvases painted with spray paint, acrylic and liquid wax. I've extracted elements from my experience with graffiti combined it with a pop-fauvist color palette creating a fun retro futuristic feel. I use a variety of designs and colors and an equal amount space for each to coexist and hopefully compliment each other... like the concept of the social salad bowl that is America.  

AK: What do you hope to achieve or accomplish by putting your work in the street?

AM: I use the streets as my personal black book. There isn't a design or character in my canvases that I haven't done on a wall or train first. The street keeps me humble. It reminds me that there is always more to do, more to paint, its never enough. The REAL satisfaction I get from painting in the streets is representing my crews. It's who I truly do it for. Every time we paint we definitely send each other fliks and talk about how lucky the other guy wasn’t there cause he woulda gotten BURNED! 

Peace to all my crews and to the culture, and respect to those who show it,

AMOS

 Check out more of AMOS' work on Instagram

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