I'M IN MIAMI BITCH! BUK BUK TV

January 18, 2017.

During the Miami Book Fair International 2016 I had a chance to sit down with Anna Dziewit Meller and talk about the Miami street art trilogy(I'M IN MIAMI BITCH!, BASELGEDDON and ARTY GRAS). 

Sit back and soak it in, hear about the beginnings of the project and how Wynwood has transformed these last years. 

http://bukbuk.pl/andrew-kaufman-winwood-miami/

ARTY GRAS: BASIK Q&A

October 7, 2014.

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BASIK on the right with GOLA climbing the scaffold in Wynwood.

What do you write? Are you in a crew?

My alias is Basik. I am not in a crew at the moment. I think that’s something more common within the writing movement than with muralism. I was in a few crews when I wrote my name during the Nineties though.

 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 started in my hometown. I'm from Rimini, Italy. I traveled a lot to paint all around Italy and Europe. I’d say I probably made the majority of my art outside of my town. I guess I didn’t influence my community apart from the fact that average people probably hated my tags and burners, ha ha!

I think that the relationship between an artist and the community in which he works depends primarily on the artist’s work and attitude. I know artists deeply embedded with the environment in which they make art. In addition, I know other people that could easily go on with their artistic concepts in every random city around the globe and they would be absolutely fine with it.

Did you go to school or are you self taught? 

I attended art school which gave me the basis. I also learned a lot of things by having my own experiences as well. My talented friends helped a lot in this self taught process too!

How did you get started in the arts and why?

I always loved to draw ever since I was a child. The real fire starter was when I first saw graffiti at the age of 12 and fell in love immediately with that artistic expression.

How long have you been working in the streets?

I started painting graffiti in 1991-92. More than a decade later I moved progressively to muralism and studio work, leaving letterings behind to focus on the figurative.

Who or What inspires you the most?

I owe a lot to Italian masters from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and onward. I also find true inspiration from several European movements at the end of the 19th century to contemporary. Symbolism, Preraffaellites, Vienna Secessionism, Transavantgarde and german Neo-expressionism, just to name a few.

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

The word “street art” means nothing at all. It’s just an easy and superficial way to catalogue a wide and heterogeneous range of outdoor contemporary art.

 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 currently work with both fine art and commercial illustrations (which are quite different from what I do on canvas), but as long as I use my hands to create something I’m a happy person. I worked for years in an advertising agency and after that experience I realised that I’d prefer to work with my art all the time then being employed and doing random jobs. I’m not limited or compromised by being an artist working with my art.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a commission for a big brand.

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

My paintings do not carry any particular social meaning or criticism. I think that if I can make a bunch of people happy with my works then my mission is complete. I’m a satisfied person myself. I like to focus on canvases and found objects in a studio environment but I think I will always love painting in the streets first.

Go check out more of BASIK'S work... http://www.basik.it

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

BASELGEDDON: PILLAS BROS Q&A

December 23, 2014.

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The PILLAS BROS

TEN QUESTIONS:

What do you write? Are you in a crew?

    MRKA + NKONE = PILLASBROS

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?

    We started painting in Madrid. Influence is a big word, we hope that people who discovered our work have enjoyed it. The relationship between each artist, their message and their community is their own.

Did you go to school or are you self taught? 

    We are self taught.

How did you get started in the arts and why?

    We were always naturally attracted to drawing and everything else just flowed from it. We are always trying to challenge ourselves and push it further.

How long have you been working in the streets?

    Since 2004.

Who or What inspires you the most?

    Life, everything around us.

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

    The term street art itself is pretty annoying, it is too vague of a concept and puts very different genres in the same bag. The public should enjoy any form of art performed in the street that they like.

 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?

    Yes we are full time artists. Sometimes we have to do some commercial work in order to eat. We all do what we can, every artist would like to be able to just focus and live off of his work.  The more time you spend doing something the better you get at it. But reality is different sometimes.

What are you working on now? 

    A mixed media piece that incorporates stickers and resin on wood. It’s 30x60”.

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

    Personal satisfaction, large scale work and interaction with the architecture and the people that see it.

Thank you!

PILLAS

Check out more of their work...

http://pillasbros.blogspot.com/

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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