BRUISED FOR LIFE

Bruised for life tracked down West country Street artist SPQR to ask him some questions about the meaning behind his art, the upcoming solo show and a few things inbetween.

Here are the results.......

BFL: With your first London solo show will you be giving us a classic dollop of SPQR or will we see you going in a different direction?
SPQR: The themes and content will be pretty much along the lines of what you would expect from me
.......classic SPQR with a few off-shoots into new territory......collage - giclee - lots of stencils, hopefully less of a 'dollop' and more a 'serving'

BFL: Can we expect to see any screen prints?
SPQR: Yep, there will be a selection of screen prints printed by myself , getting my hands inky in the truest sense of the word - do it yourself punk ethic through and through. You cant beat the smell of fresh ink

BFL: That's good to hear, is the whole creative process important to you in your work? or is it all just a means to an end?
SPQR : Absolutely - its all about the creative process. the end result is the by-product, arriving at the destination isn't the best part of any journey, its the steps that get you there that holds my fascination,
that's not to take anything away from the end result.

Its like once created, my part in that piece is finished and its time to start the next journey.
I have a lot of love for the final pieces , and its hard to let them go , I suppose that is what leads to a sort of detachment process once the artwork is finished, the journey that leads me there is the part which i have active involvement in and is therefore the part in the life of the artwork which i have the closest relationship to.

BFL: The joy of getting up and the journey that leads you there?
SPQR: Getting up is another thing altogether .. I think there is an equal measure of joy and excitement in the act of getting up and the pleasure of passing by something painted on the street that you know you did the night before !

BFL: With streetart what are you views on the perspex brigade and the over zealous preservation of some street art
SPQR: I don't believe in perspex/protecting street art
if the artist wanted a piece of art to last then they would of painted it somewhere very hard to get to - or on the usual canvas/board/metal etc.

Street art is beautiful because it is ephemeral......here today and gone tomorrow, the life and joy is sucked out of a piece once you know it's a permanent fixture.
Knowing a piece still stands because it is respected by other artists/vandals means so much more than if it is still standing because nobody can get to it.

BFL: Which can also lead to resentment from peers towards the artist even though they never asked for the perspex or varnish etc
SPQR: Totally ...it is divisive, it creates a rift.
who can make a subjective decision on what to save and what to destroy? why should one man's work be saved and his neighbours work be worthless?
BFL: With a big dose of hypocrisy from the people preserving it normally.
SPQR: Yep. one vandal is in court being prosecuted and possible incarceration for their artistic endeavours whilst another gets lauded in the press and praised on TV , accepted into the fold so to speak.

It isn't any fault of the artist's,but a symptom of the hypocrisy within the system. I think we know which artists are asking to dance and which are reluctant partners.

BFL: Should all work on the street be pretty pictures and acceptable?
SPQR: Pretty pictures ? god no! in a world governed by the corrupt, in a world where greed and selfishness is seen as endearing qualities , in a world where the need to consume means millions of others go without....
Pretty pictures should be the last thing anyone wants to paint, of course there are times and places where it would be wrong to depict the inhumanity of modern society. Just as there are times when a pretty picture would be like a kick in the teeth but i feel it is the street artist's / graffiti artist's job to use the art as a voice against all that is wrong and unjust.
BFL: Something that is very apparent in your work
SPQR: I mostly try to use my work as a way to vocalise my dissent, but I do attempt to temper that occasionally with less in your face politics.
BFL: less about slogans or more about provoking thought?
SPQR: For me the perfect piece is something that can be pleasing visually and can be left at that - but which can also lead you down many paths of thought if the viewer wants to, like a not quite subliminal message.

BFL: Who inspires you to pick up a can when the sofa gets too comfy?
SPQR: Its difficult to pinpoint........ but one of the biggest driving forces for me is the fact that no-one else is saying what i think should be said. (well when i say no-one i mean very few)

BFL: Are you a "Street art" all the way man or do you like all forms of spray paint work?
SPQR: Umm .. do you mean like air brush work ? I'm not a big fan of airbrush look !
BFL: So you don't own a silky jacket with wolves howling in the mist on it?
SPQR: Heh! no .. only a chunky knitted jumper with a full moon and leaping dolphins.

BFL: Traditional graff., tagging? all in your heart?

SPQR I love old school graffiti and tagging .. prefer to see that anyday rather than a grey wall or worse a billboard advertising crap I dont need or want.

BFL: Its strange that a 40 foot billboard that nobody asked for is acceptable but some letters on a wall is an outrage to a lot of people

SPQR: That's cos society has been brainwashed into accepting what is good for the capitalist state and to shun those things that cannot be commodified.
how it can be acceptable to anyone to be forced to see adverts all day long i will never understand.
I think it is sao paolo that has banned outside advertising a few years ago now and from the photos I've seen it looks like they got it right .. just waiting for the rest of us to catch up now !

anymore questions? favourite colour?

BFL: Go on then lets do a smash hits style bit

SPQR: Heh!

BFL: Influences old and new?
SPQR: Influences - tony hart . new influences - all the Bristol graffiti and street artists

BFL: There seems to be a lot of creativity coming out of Bristol, do you think that is down to the social upbringing or just people bouncing off each other

SPQR: Bristol is a real melting pot and hot spot for all things art and graffiti related, the city attracts people in from all sorts of places , it has a rich history.
I think the communities of writers are more open and accessible in Bristol than it seems elsewhere which helps to cultivate the next generation, I could be wrong there - having not lived in any other cities......but that is how it feels.

BFL: Who would you like to paint with given the chance?
SPQR: Ummm... tough question I enjoy painting with other people, collaborations can lead to new content and styles.
There are alot of amazing ground breaking artist i would love to see at work......I would like to paint with any of them !

BFL: Whay did you think of the recent wall in NYC that Amaze and Twist did?
SPQR: Yep, the wall with all the tags? would love to see that in person
BFL: Reading comments online that wall seems to of shifted some people opinions on tags
SPQR: I thought it was odd seeing so many tags on one wall which were neatly laid out rather than layered over and over each other, but I think it was that juxtaposition of the tag and the neat layout that kinda worked for me.

Tags are a real art form - no doubt about that, but they have a bad press as people think of it as simple mindless vandalism - but nothing could be further from the truth, there's a lot of thought and alot of practice behind the best tags.
No-one wants to find someone has painted JIM WOZ ERE on their car .. that is what leads to the tagging culture having a bad name.
For me the tag is the thing that cuts through all the crap, its simple.

Sabeth718's Flickr

BFL:Could the same could be said for the attitude some writers have towards street artists
SPQR: Aaaah ! the whole street art - old school writers debate.
Personally I do not understand the division - I mean I think I understand why the old school graffiti world dislike the new school street art world.. but there should not be such a chasm between the two schools.
It detracts from the unity of the sub culture.

divided we fall

At the end of the day I think its simply that the old schoolers feel very territorial about their thing and no one likes to see new comers tramping all over the thing you love,personally i believe in acceptance, though I have seen cases where it seems little respect has been shown to the old school graffiti, which only leads to creating anonymity.

As long as the 'rules of the game' are adhered to - don't go over a piece with a poxy little stencil , don't put a paste up in the middle of a production etc etc

then there shouldn't be any problem...... likewise - don't tag across the middle of a nice bit of street art!

BFL: In the same respect with more and more legal spots coming up do you think that some people are lacking recognition for there pieces because they are being compared to people that mostly do legal walls and commission where they have days to paint a spot rather than hanging off a rooftop with 5 minutes to complete it
SPQR: Absolutely yeah , but the recognition that counts comes from within the community and fellow artists know the score.I n the short term there are people taking shortcuts but in the long term hard work and persistence always pays off.

I prefer to see an illegal rooftop reach than a legal wall which someone has spent days carefully painting
there is so much more vitality to the quick hit

BFL: Thanks for taking the time to talk, when and where is the show on?

SPQR: Thanks for being interested enough to bother asking questions
somewhere in London - sometime this month

(oh OK .. if you insist - Signal Gallery 16th Sept)

BFL: Being a big London gallery can we expect a little something for every pocket?
SPQR: I hope so ... there will even be some thing you can pick up for free .. like stickers ! so .. yep .. something for everyone
BFL: Nice one and hopefully a beer or two all round on opening night?
SPQR: I hope so too, i will be needing a beer or tow by then !
BFL: Thanks again and see you at Signal on the 16th
SPQR: You're welcome