For this week’s Painting of the Week here’s a new wall by OS Gemeos in Miami for this year’s Art Basel event.

Photo By: Colin Robison

Were you always interested in art or did it develop later?

I was always interested in drawing and my interest in graffiti developed when I was in my early teens wandering the streets of my hometown. My eyes were drawn to the tags and soon after I discovered a wall in a hidden tunnel next to the trackside. This place opened up a whole new world for me. In 1997 I did my first piece at this very wall. My two best friends were patrolling for me.

This was when I was about 15 and I had just signed my first contract as a soccer player. Signing a contract at that age and entering the world of professional soccer was a big deal. I had to grow up very quickly. So looking back it wasn’t a coincidence that I started tagging in these days. I think I needed an outlet or some sort of relief from all the routine and discipline.

What was your influence to start doing graffiti?

Tags and a Nash piece. Nash painted a complete tunnel in our hometown and that was just amazing to me. I must have visited that tunnel a dozen times to stare at the pieces. I would leave the tunnel inspired by all the colours and I just started sketching in the hope of ever becoming that good.

You recently traveled to several cities to paint canvases incorporated into large murals. What inspired the project?

In March 2012 I started thinking about my work and what I take away from it. I realized that only a handful of the walls that I had done so far were still in tact and the only thing remaining was a picture and a memory. It’s interesting that as a writer you spend a lot of time and effort on a wall, while you know it could be gone within a day without even having any say in it. I then came up with a concept that would put me in control over my own work. I decided to paint one wall in various cities, incorporate canvasses in each wall – so that I could capture some parts of the wall – and to paint the wall back to black once everything had been photographed and documented. In this project, the only thing that remains is a memory, a photo and a movie of the work.

The title ‘Endless Perspectives’ signifies the infinite interpretations and unlimited ways in which art and experiences can be perceived. I named the project ‘Endless Perspectives’ as during the project my perspective evolved continuously. I had to adapt to changes and to new elements that were added to the project. There were quite a few unanticipated hurdles to overcome and I found that these challenges always added something interesting to the project as long as I kept an open mind and a positive attitude. It’s all just a matter of perspective: the viewers’ included.

What cities did you visit during your project? Did you have a favourite city?

I visited Amsterdam, London, Basel, Paris, Melbourne and Sydney. Favourite city was Basel because of Dare’s history and legacy in that city. Sydney and Melbourne helped me get started on a new beginning.

During the project how long did you spend in each city?

I spent two to three days in each city to paint and film.

How would you describe your style of graffiti?

I think my work and style is best known for the bright colour combinations, the details, the clean and strong lines and the balance in the letters.

If you could only paint with 3 colors, what cans would you choose?

I would probably choose black, white and dark orange – specifically Ironlak Dieci Does, my personal colour.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen or experienced while you were out painting?

A few things come to mind. My top 3: 1. Glue sniffing kids who trying to steal my bags and cans in Bogota, Colombia. 2. Painting next to a big tigersnake in Tasmania, Australia. 3. Painting under a bridge in the Bronx in NYC – I was standing on piles of dirt and hundreds of serringes and I came across the people who lived under this bridge.

Another experience that I’ll never forget because it was so terrifying, is the earthquake in Christchurch New Zeeland. My girl and I were there when a 6.8 and a 5.4 aftershock hit the city and 60 little aftershocks followed during the next few hours.

Do you have any funny or embarrassing stories that have to do with painting?

When I first came to Australia I was a bit afraid of all the deadly animals that live in Australia. The Ironlak guys knew this and played me from time to time. When we were doing a wall in Byron Bay one day, there was sudden hysteria when one of the guys jumped on the ground to catch something. I was watching this and all of a sudden a fake snake was thrown at me. That was a funny moment.

What is it like to be part of “Ironlak Family”?

It is great to be a part of this family as they really look after you. I admire the Ironlak team for being so devoted to the writer scene. It hasn’t been easy for them, the competition can be pretty nasty. The guys behind Ironlak try to stay away from all of that negativity and focus on their own goal: make good paint available at low cost for writers all over the world.

What motivates you to keep on writing?

It’s become a way of life, I wouldn’t know any better now. Every year I am challenged by new opportunities.

What is your least favourite aspect of graffiti?

The fact that spray cans aren’t very good for my health.

What would your advice to a new writer be?

The best advice I can give a new writer is to draw and practice a lot. Success doesn’t come overnight, it takes time and you need to put in a lot of effort.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I am creating new work for several upcoming shows and I hope to be able to continue the Endless Perspectives project and visit and document more cities around the globe.

Do you have any last words you’d like to share with the Senses Lost readers?

Ask me anything via:
www.digitaldoes.com
www.facebook.com/digitaldoes
www.twitter.com/Digitaldoes

Boogie is My Friend is a short documentary about the German graffiti artist Boogie living and working in Basel.

Here’s a video of the graffiti artist Kems painting an eight foot plexiglass subway car for Graff Toyz during art Basel 2012 in Miami.

Back at it for December, 2012?s Art Basel, Rime and The Seventh Letter teamed up with Klughaus Gallery and Live From The Streets to bring an out of the box experience to Miami. With rented UHaul trucks to be painted, mobile music performances, and a cache of alcohol, weed, and mushrooms on deck, Rime and crew were able to keep the party going through out the week. Long nights of painting, partying, disappearing people and vehicles, and outwitting cock blocking cops made for hard to forget adventure.

Third destination was undoubtedly Basel, a five hour drive away from the south of Holland. Does’s first visit in 2006 left a deep impression when † Dare gave him a guided tour through the layered tunnel system and the famous Basel line. To this day the Basel line remains an important memorial site and a big drawing card for writers around the world who like to admire the original and sometimes ancient works of other artists from all over the world. Keeping in this atmosphere, Does arranged for a good spot near the trackside to set up and paint his canvasses. Despite Stephan Polman’s BBQ food poisoning, who spent a few days in hospital, this trip was incredible.

Each year in alignment with the Art Basel show, graffiti and street artists from around America and the world descend upon Miami’s Wynwood district to rejuvenate the area with a fresh coat of paint. Following a tradition started by Primary Flight, Wynwood has evolved from a bleak industrial environment into one full of life and culture. In December 2012 Lea Bruno photography traveled to Miami to capture the festivities and find out what it’s all about.

The Fresh Collective crew from New Jersey made their way down to Miami for Art Basel 2012. Check out Elan, Mimik and Chek as they get down in Wynwood, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Springs.

Legend is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but in this case, legend, is the only word that fits. Ron English has been creating his surreal brand of Popaganda since the Seventies; from early, adbusting adventures, sabotaging corporate billboards to subversive parodies of pop icons, English is one of the founding fathers of street art and one of the forerunners of Pop Surrealism. An enigmatic iconoclast, who considers his work a success “if I don’t go to jail”, Ron English continues to surprise and subvert with his savagely humorous take on Pop culture.

This interview was written by James Buxton for Global Street Art, the international street art and graffiti photo archive (www.globalstreetart.com).

Randal Hart

I first started getting involved in doing street art towards the end of the 1970’s, while still a teenager. For a while I was Randal Hart (sounds like “vandal art”, the two words I used to sum up my art.) One day I got a call from a journalist in search of Randal Hart and I told her Randal had died the previous week. I’m not sure why I told her that, I was probably startled she found my number. I didn’t use Randal Hart after that. I didn’t want to be disrespectful of the dead.

I made my first paintings when I was a kid in Illinois. My aunt, Lori was an artist and she sold my first paintings at shows in Normal, Illinois. One art teacher at the college bought my oil painting of Saint Basel’s Cathedral to show her slacker students what an eight year old could do. I also have a master’s degree from UT in Austin.

In high school I did some imitation New York style lettering of fictitious graffiti artists on underpasses in Decatur, Illinois. Other than that I never really pursued graffiti, I thought that was someone else’s thing.

It seems like street art started getting popular about ten years ago, probably in response to the original street art of the 80’s. At first, the second generation street art wasn’t really an art world movement but more of a populist uprising. Since it sprang up outside the cyclical art world it seems to be more deeply embedded than say Neo Geo or Neo Expressionism. Its relationship to society seems to have more in common with sports; something a person grows up participating in and later leaves the activity to the professionals while remaining a fan.

Advertising the Truth: Billboard Liberation

I was interested in billboards because they carried a certain authority as opposed to graffiti on a wall. A billboard ostensibly required an interface with a large, powerful corporation and its self-preserving censors. I depended on no one knowing I had hijacked the space, using the illusion of corporate sanction to buttress the statement. Of course when it became widely known that it was me doing this that illusion was deflated but replaced with the idea that free speech was there for the stealing.

Nowadays I think street art represents a new, more democratic, more engaged relationship between artists and the public that is extremely exciting. It’s like we’ve finally decided to quit listening to the disembowelled babble of the high priests and are engaging directly with the person sitting next to us in the pews.
You ask, how does an artist reconcile working against the system and at the same time make a living as an artist? Well, we all hate air pollution but refusing to breath is not a productive response.

Montana Spray Paint is the New Global Passport

In terms of my key influences, I really liked Keith Haring. I felt like he was a self directed and highly motivated artist that could exist without affirmation. I love artists like Peter Saul and Martin Wong who use extremely personal styles to address larger issues. Someone like Gordon Matta Clark who seemed to have placed few restrictions on his approach to creation was very influential on me. From them I learned to create on my own terms, from finding unique interfaces with the public, to placing few restrictions on my approach to creation, to sustaining with or without affirmation.
Painting on walls has broken down walls between artists and communities, between artists and the police. There is a new equilibrium.

I have painted in a lot of countries and the response is universally positive. I have a lot of characters that are crying out to be animated, that’s something I should probably work on.

Of course there are a multitude of memorable experiences I’ve had creating street art, but for me, the most interesting thing is waking up with a new idea and going to sleep at the end of the day with the idea in the public consciousness.

The New York graffiti artist Ewok has put together a brand new video. The video features Ewok, Aloy and SP.ONE painting a wall in Miami for Art Basel.