Street Arts
Probing the memories of silent time so serpentine and careworn focus dripping wisps of the sublime, German artist ECB has truly taken monumental portraiture to the next level. Painting abstract stories of earthy reality into the creases and peeling back shrouded identity from the furrowed brows, his faces have become deeply iconic as vast bastions of complex humanity burning strands of individuation into the cold concrete. Broken faces of a fractured hue of monochrome peer beyond the facades as rigid typography contrasts image against word, mathematics against intuition, sky against earth as his superb technique and depth of feeling whisper lost fragments of fleeting wholes into the seemingly anonymous cityscape and the vortices of urban loneliness...
How did you first begin painting and when did your mind’s eye and your technique begin to synchronize?
I started in 1989 with classical graffiti, but within a short while changed to more of a unique approach. Back then my concepts where more focused on graphical shapes whereas nowadays the ideas of my work have more of a fine art approach focusing on textures, showing expression within my portraits through a more painterly means rather than just using spray.
How much did civilian service affect your trajectory?
Back then everybody had to do it, so it didn’t really have a big effect from a personal standpoint.
Where is the line between creation and destruction in graffiti?
I do think there are certain places where graffiti belongs and others where it is misplaced. In my opinion it kind of takes care of all the forgotten, unnoticed and run down places of a city.
Why does the topography and landscape of graffiti have such resonance for you?
From day one I was looking for something and I found it in graffiti. Ever since then it has never changed.
How does the art of open spaces translate to a gallery?
That is the main difference. While working in open and public space the work always interacts with both the space and the public. With a mutual affection this is the major advantage I see in working outdoors. Working in a sheltered space like a museum or gallery needs a different visual language, a different approach to capture the energies and essence of the street.
- Tik Tok Clean The Block By Dirk Robertson
“I wish I hadn’t written my name so large.” She has her back to me, scrubbing the wall of the public convenience, in the park. Two other girls are doing the same thing. They are sound. I like them, They’re not gangsters, crooks or nutters....
- Niels Shoe Meulman (nsm) - Calligraffiti Upside Down Tour 2012
Niels Shoe Meulman (NSM) is a Dutch artist, born, raised and based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As Shoe, NSM earned his stripes in the global graffiti scene in the 80’s through his pioneering style, adding a distinct European approach to the discipline....
- Otto Schade 'urban Schade' 20th Jan - 5th Feb
Friend of LSD Magazine 'Otto' is having another show this month and well worth a visit. Otto works can be found all over East London and other parts of the UK. Otto is a sound fella with a keen eye and great skills...We interviewed him in...
- Lsd Magazine Interviews Ian Phenna (issue 7)
Lashing a passionately poignant prism of portraiture to the end of his spray can and letting fly with the visual poetry of textured metaphor, Ian Phenna is coughing up some seriously sublime slices of figurative art. As the line between ‘street’ and...
- Lsd Magazine Interviews - Rero (issue 5)
Consciously sidestepping an image based aesthetic to combat the visual saturation of our generation, French artist Rero uses his minimalist Verdana texts to challenge accepted notions of private property and the lines of ownership we draw around places,...
Street Arts
LSD Magazine interviews German Artist ECB
Probing the memories of silent time so serpentine and careworn focus dripping wisps of the sublime, German artist ECB has truly taken monumental portraiture to the next level. Painting abstract stories of earthy reality into the creases and peeling back shrouded identity from the furrowed brows, his faces have become deeply iconic as vast bastions of complex humanity burning strands of individuation into the cold concrete. Broken faces of a fractured hue of monochrome peer beyond the facades as rigid typography contrasts image against word, mathematics against intuition, sky against earth as his superb technique and depth of feeling whisper lost fragments of fleeting wholes into the seemingly anonymous cityscape and the vortices of urban loneliness...
How did you first begin painting and when did your mind’s eye and your technique begin to synchronize?
I started in 1989 with classical graffiti, but within a short while changed to more of a unique approach. Back then my concepts where more focused on graphical shapes whereas nowadays the ideas of my work have more of a fine art approach focusing on textures, showing expression within my portraits through a more painterly means rather than just using spray.
How much did civilian service affect your trajectory?
Back then everybody had to do it, so it didn’t really have a big effect from a personal standpoint.
Where is the line between creation and destruction in graffiti?
I do think there are certain places where graffiti belongs and others where it is misplaced. In my opinion it kind of takes care of all the forgotten, unnoticed and run down places of a city.
Why does the topography and landscape of graffiti have such resonance for you?
From day one I was looking for something and I found it in graffiti. Ever since then it has never changed.
How does the art of open spaces translate to a gallery?
That is the main difference. While working in open and public space the work always interacts with both the space and the public. With a mutual affection this is the major advantage I see in working outdoors. Working in a sheltered space like a museum or gallery needs a different visual language, a different approach to capture the energies and essence of the street.
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- Tik Tok Clean The Block By Dirk Robertson
“I wish I hadn’t written my name so large.” She has her back to me, scrubbing the wall of the public convenience, in the park. Two other girls are doing the same thing. They are sound. I like them, They’re not gangsters, crooks or nutters....
- Niels Shoe Meulman (nsm) - Calligraffiti Upside Down Tour 2012
Niels Shoe Meulman (NSM) is a Dutch artist, born, raised and based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As Shoe, NSM earned his stripes in the global graffiti scene in the 80’s through his pioneering style, adding a distinct European approach to the discipline....
- Otto Schade 'urban Schade' 20th Jan - 5th Feb
Friend of LSD Magazine 'Otto' is having another show this month and well worth a visit. Otto works can be found all over East London and other parts of the UK. Otto is a sound fella with a keen eye and great skills...We interviewed him in...
- Lsd Magazine Interviews Ian Phenna (issue 7)
Lashing a passionately poignant prism of portraiture to the end of his spray can and letting fly with the visual poetry of textured metaphor, Ian Phenna is coughing up some seriously sublime slices of figurative art. As the line between ‘street’ and...
- Lsd Magazine Interviews - Rero (issue 5)
Consciously sidestepping an image based aesthetic to combat the visual saturation of our generation, French artist Rero uses his minimalist Verdana texts to challenge accepted notions of private property and the lines of ownership we draw around places,...