April 2009: London with Rich Simmons

I arrived in London one day too late to catch this shoot. By the time I made it to Leak St., artist Rich Simmons’s work had already been tagged over with a swirl of lime green paint (thanks, toys.). Fortunately, Simmons documented his process extensively. Today, we’ll hear about his work, the shoot, and the bigger picture behind his art. 

“I’ve only done street art in London a couple of times. I wanted to learn my craft and get better in my own space at home before going off and doing work on the street. I don’t want to put up something that I’m not happy with. I would love to get out more, ravel through my art, and paint in cities all over the world, but that’s still in the pipeline.” 

“I’ m still learning how to improve my stencils and working on new ideas for pieces all the time. I have a deal with a clothing label in LA called Goodie Two sleeves. I have to create a bunch of new stuff for a range of merch so I’m always trying to come up with cool ideas. Recently, I’ve been painting a bunch of posters using existing stencils I have of skeletons, Einstein and The Queen, which has been fun. I love finding new ways to utilize my existing pieces.”  

“I started Art Is The Cure in February 2008 to try and get art therapy into the public spotlight more. A lot of people go through so many problems in life. From my own experiences, I found that using art and creativity as a form of therapy is a positive release for that negativity. Since I set it up, the organization has snowballed and gained huge support from people all over the world who have also found a cure through art.” 
“The photo shoot I did in London was also a video shoot. The footage is for a new short film we’re making for Art Is The Cure. The first video we made helped AITC to grow loads and has had over 15,000 views on YouTube. We’re trying to improve on that and follow it up with something better by incorporating a lot of my new artwork.” 
“Using art as a form of creative release to deal with problems is saving lives all over the world. I’ve heard hundreds of stories from people who credit AITC with changing their lives and helping them deal with problems ranging from depression, addiction, eating disorders, autism, anger, stress, bereavement and self-harming. Please check out the MySpace page and join the community online to learn more about AITC.” 

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