Guestlist

April 2012

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/63344

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 10 of 55

Issue 38 / APRIL 2012 THE GUESTLIST NETWORK www.guestlist.net 11 From the streets of London to the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, this street artist has been making a name for himself. SICKBOY Tab Taylor tab@guestlist.net Sum up your art in three words? Eye eats brain. What is the story of your relationship with graffiti and street art, how long have you been in the scene? Graffiti was a gift that broke me out of the constraints of formal education and art school, from the age of 15 I've been using graffiti to learn about life and have fun. You have just released your first limited edition print of 2012, 'King of Undesire.' What was the inspiration behind the piece? It was the standout piece from Heaven and Earth. After approving some special print techniques such as gold leaf- ing and spot UV varnishes, it felt great to bring it to life as an editioned print. It was the largest print I've done to date, and thus: disappeared quickly! Is it true that you're a col- lector of American soul and disco from the '60s and '70s? Yes I spend every spare minute searching for, listening to and enjoying rare soul and disco from those years, I love the sound and feel of that music along with the imagery that comes with indepen- dent record label artwork, the whole bundle is of great inspiration to me. Do you feel more at home graffiting on the street or do- ing shows and exhibitions? Both vocations offer different outlets for me. When I paint in the studio, my brain gets more lucidly exercised and a gallery gives you a chance to express yourself within a more widely accepted fine art context. My chaos can be contained within the borders of a canvas and sing on a white wall back- ground, whereas graffiti has always been like exercise to me. A time out from losing myself in the canvas void. I get to test my skills in the meta- characters, I feel very lucky. What has been one of your favourite pieces? The ones I did when I didn't know what I was doing. Tell us about the story be- hind the caged heart instal- lation dropped outside the Tate Modern. What message were you trying to portray with this? This was in 2008 when I felt graffiti was undergoing mass on Millennium Bridge, weeks earlier the Tate had house a 'graffiti exhibition' which was sponsored by Nissan. No art- ists were granted space within the gallery walls, I felt this epitomised what was wrong with the tidal wave of com- mercialism that was sweeping through the scene. What is your work's most important message? My message is up to the viewer to translate. I like to offer the chance for imagina- tion and dreams to come to the forefront of an individual. I use signs and symbolism to offer an ambiguous narrative all served up on a psychedelic platter. tarsals versus fence battle, or gauge the strength of my human night vision goggles, raise my heart rate at 3 A.M. and feel free. What is the best thing about doing what you do? Freedom to do what I do day in day out, I get great satisfac- tion from seeing my work evolve. I also have the pleasure of travelling the world and meeting some very interesting homogenisation and being eaten alive by mainstream media and galleries either wanting a quick buck or to piggy back on someone cool. I decided to launch my own exhibition, 'Stay Free' that expressed my notions of stay- ing true to our movement and remaining independent and staying free creatively. I de- cided to make an intervention in the form if a caged heart and left it outside the Tate You're well known for the iconic image 'Temple', what does it represent for you? It's an extension of signature, its original meaning was to represent an icon of architec- tural beauty to be painted on ugly architectural spaces. I kept the colours constant in red and yellow as they are a combination that make view- ers most happy, its a counter attack to the notion of graffiti needing to be aggressive and ugly. What's next for Sickboy? Over the coming months I am setting up some fantastic col- laborations with some great people! Check out more art at www.thesickboy.com See full festival line-up at www.breakinconvention.com BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND SAT 5 - MON 7 MAY IN BRITISH DANCE" THE TIMES "ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BRAND NAMES In association with Dance Consortium

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of Guestlist - April 2012