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FormatMag.com (Here) just released their new issue containing interviews from PaperMonster, James Jarvis, Brixton, Laurel Nakadate, CreateBuildDestroy, Rehab Chicago, Tittsworth and Jeff Chang. Paper Monster’s interview has some great questions about the current state of street and stencil art as well as what drives and motivates PaperMonster. You can check out some screen grabs from the interview below as well as portions of the interview. For the entire interview visit:
http://www.formatmag.com/art/paper-monster/
Thanks FormatMag!!
For More Visit: http://www.formatmag.com/art/paper-monster/
:::::Excerpt from the interview:::::
Format: Do you feel that having so called ’street art’ in galleries is making it more accessible or less accessible to its intended audience?
PaperMonster: This is really the “million dollar” question. As artists we are not just a product of what we create but we have risen to the level at which we are simply and only through our audience. The public can either make or break who we are. Through buying our work they fund us to progress and grow to different projects. Our audience moves our name and images across countries to a level that we could never do alone. Blek once told me that work in the street versus a gallery is as simple as having one hundred thousand people see your work in one day versus one hundred people viewing your work in a gallery. In both arenas you are touching people in different ways.
The essence of street art is decay and within a confined gallery space there is preservation. If you look at some major projects by two artist: Swoon and Os Gemeos you can see that when they were provided the space (Deitch Projects) they completely created an installation that was a world onto its own. This could never be done on the streets and it really illustrates the need for spaces where artists can grow and take their work to that next level. As artists we all crave recognition and the gallery space seems to provide a means of instant gratification as opposed to the street where in a matter of seconds your work can de destroyed. The solution, while not an exact science, is to maintain a healthy medium between the street and gallery space. If you accomplish and flourish in both, then the question of accessibility is gone. You maintain an audience as long as you keep people wondering “what is he going to do next?” and that is the ultimate goal…..longevity.
Jesse showing off that PaperMonster Tee
I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I did. I truly think they are jaw dropping. I love them.
PaperMonster Stencil Graffiti Artist 