April 2009: Tijuana with Luchuk

I hope to do some traveling this summer and Mexico is near the top of my list. Guess I should get a book and work on my Spanish, ja? I'd love to see some of these stickers if I go. Luchuk, a street artist from Tijuana, Mexico, shares his thoughts and stories about his work today. He writes:

“My name is Eder ‘Luchuk’ C.L. and I am from Tijuana, Mexico. I’ve studied graphic design and drawing since I was small. I always knew I wanted to devote myself to art. I draw fan art, comics, and cartoons. I’ve been doing street art for about four or five years. It’s addictive!” “When I’m not painting on the streets, I personally love painting in my room because it has everything I like. My small studio space is where everything comes to life.”  “Fortunately, I have never been caught, jaja! Getting away with it creates the rush you feel when you’re painting or gluing things in the street.I think the street is a giant canvas. It is the best space where you can express yourself and show your stuff to hundreds of people. Obviously, I respect locations like homes or private places.” 

 “I feel that if my characters express something. They express my feelings or emotions when I am sad, frustrated, angry, or melancholy. However, I want people to view them the way they want to see, not the way that makes sense to me.”

“I feel that here in Tijuana there's not much support for street art. However, there is a lot of good talent. My goal for the future is to expand to other areas and to do collaborations with other artists.”

“Right now, I'm doing a lot of large stencils, new sticker designs, wheat pasting posters, artwork made by pasting cardboard, decorating beer and wine bottles, drawing portraits for friends.” 

All images courtesy of Luchuk. For more information, visit his MySpace or blog.

Luchuk, gracias por su contribución! Me encantó sus fotos y historias. I'm off to New York tonight to visit my ladies and my favorite Ghanian will actually be in attendance! However, I promise to have your Friday ProFile ready and raring to go. Well, perhaps a little later in the morning than usual. We'll see. Have a good one!

Friday ProFiles: Erwin/Crackrock

Erwin (formerly known as Crackrock) hasn’t tagged any ridiculous locations like “UFO's, midgets, jet-fighters, or something crazy like that,” but his style is all over the place. His pen and ink drawings bear resemblance to a variety of wild beasts (ManBearPig, anyone?). As part of the dynamic Dutch duo Betamaxx, he produced stickers of traditional tags as well as disemboweled pandas. Armed with a pen and a sketchbook, this Eindhoven native has taken his work from the streets of the Netherlands to galleries and urban spaces worldwide.

While he currently goes by his given name, Erwin originally hit the streets as Crackrock.. “Some of my friends went to NYC in the early ‘90s,” he recalls. “They got a little wild, smoked crack for three weeks, and came back all fucked up. Trying to do something positive with the stories they told me, I changed my name to Crackrock.” Spurred by the graffiti in tunnels close to home, he cites Josh, Freaky, York, Yaki, and Ace as some of his initial inspirations.

Back in the day, Erwin recalls, “I was more of a bomber than someone who could do great pieces. From there on out, I moved on to art school. When I returned, I combined the two backgrounds with the stuff Baschz, the co-founder of Betamaxx, and me were doing. The result was crazy and experimental and kind of wacky in a good way.” Graffiti was personal and creative but also social for Erwin. Teaming up with The Shoarma Crew led to collaborations and lifelong friendships. “My crew is my family. We’ve all been friends for over 20 years now and I see them as my brothers and sisters.”

Fear of arrest made Erwin slightly nervous as a young writer. “Getting caught by the police would have meant a bottle of whoop-ass from my father, but it was like PeeWee’s Big Adventure in the end,” he jokes. One hazy night combining booze, bombing, and the boys in blue led to a collaboration further down the road. “In the early ‘90s, my boys Phet, Circle, and I met two writers from Denmark. We had a great time together: got drunk, went out bombing, got caught by the police. In the end, we went our separate ways. About 15 years later, I received an e-mail in the Betamaxxx account from a guy asking if I knew Phet and myself. The Danish writers Googled us and found the Betamaxxx website. The renewed contact led to a show at Copenhagen’s Gallery Ebbesen; it was a great experience.” Erwin cites differences between street art and graffiti. “Graffiti and street art are two completely different things to me,” he insists. “The similarity lies in the fact that they’re both forms of expression on the streets of the city. But graffiti is a different, more hardcore thing with different rules and a specific form of expression.” Street art, on the other hand, is more free form. “To me it’s just art,” he adds, “whether it be in a museum, a gallery, or on the streets; if I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't.” While he’s been getting up since 1985, Erwin first created specific street art projects in the late ‘90s.

When he’s not getting up, Erwin freelances at MU, an art space in Eindhoven. In this creative arena, he’s worked on exhibits featuring Geoff McFethridge, Miranda July, The Changes, and Henrik Vibskoy. While Erwin spends more time indoors these days, he’s still as prolific as ever. Currently, he’s working on a solo show set to open by May. Keeping himself on point, he pushes himself to develop new skills and ideas. He says, “My ultimate goal is to have people see the world through a different perspective after they encounter my work. I’ll use anything if it helps to get my point across. I think everything should be possible.”

All photos courtesy of Erwin. For more photos and information, check out his website at www.powerblastmovement.com.

Thanks, Erwin! To all my Dutch readers and everyone else worldwide, Hebben een goed weekend!

Friday ProFiles: Stormie

Nestled in between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Range, the city of Perth is a cultural enclave in western Australia. Located nearly 4,000 kilometers from the country’s east coast, the city is closer geographically to East Timor and Indonesia than Melbourne or Sydney. However, this isolated urban area serves as a nurturing environment for creative endeavors.  Beginning with small personal pieces, Perth native Stormie’s notoriety spread from block to block. Today, his work on the streets and in galleries attracts fans worldwide.

Harsh criticism at a young age could’ve preemptively squashed Stormie’s career. “As a child, my mum sent one of my drawings to an aunt who taught art at a UK university,” he recalls. “Upon critiquing the drawing, she told my mum I was damaged.” Fortunately, Stormie was a resilient youngster who ignored his relative’s grim diagnosis. Painting on paper and canvas boards, he found his way to the streets in 1984 and fell in love with graffiti. When he started bombing, Stormie insists, “There was no real concept or understanding of what I was doing. I was that weird kid doing something nobody really understood! Fears only came later on: fear of what I did not being any good, of being judged according to other people’s criteria.” Using a childhood nickname alluding to his hot temper, Stormie channeled his passionate personality into art. 

Out on the streets, writers were quick to judge this fresh-faced newcomer. After throwing up his first piece (drips and all), a fellow writer called him a toy, arguing that he’d read Subway Art and the piece “wasn’t how it was supposed to be done.” Though he didn’t let the comment discourage him, Stormie says, “I went through a huge learning curve to get a handle on spray paint and mixed media. I learned to paint graffiti and large scale stuff. Then, while filtering ideas through my adult eyes, I applied these techniques to my childhood style.” Driven by his desire to improve and communicate with others, Stormie constantly pushes his style in new directions.

Although many artists influence him, Stormie’s original inspiration stems from record covers. “One of my cousins was heavily into punk,” he explains, “and that ideology of self-made punk manufacturing prompted me to go out and reclaim spaces through painting. “Bombing connected him with other likeminded artists who invited him to join their crews. As a proud member of ADS and AWR, he believes “Collaborations expand people’s work by pushing them out of their comfort zones. Plus, it’s great to have people that are always up for painting.” While Stormie’s style has evolved since his early graff days, he insists that old-school techniques are still relevant. “Tags are extremely powerful statements that shouldn’t be underrated,” he insists. “A tag tells you a lot about people, how they manage their environment, and the stresses of bombing. You can’t fake getting up like that.”

Today, Stormie’s work explores what it means to be human. He says, “It’s about people being isolated and alone. It’s the dirt under the fingernails and the beauty within decay. I believe all of these things are paintings of true grit, of inner strengths that come from having to face adversity. I’m creating depictions of the superhero inside.”

Stormie’s pieces run the gamet in terms of subject matter and style. In one photo, Hokusai-inspired waves toss playful koi fish to and fro. In another, blood-red spray paint sketches a grimacing face labeled ‘Everyone’s screaming.” His current characters share many common traits: a sullen face, stooped shoulders, a general gloom about them. Whether they’re wearing fish jackets, boxing gloves, or nothing at all, these solitary figures express the isolation Stormie describes.

Unlike his characters, Stormie leads a busy social life. From bombing with Rough and System in the UK to collaborating with YelloWoozy at Greece’s Chromopolis tour, street art has transported Stormie to all corners of the globe. “I’ve been very lucky,” he explains, “and I’ve worked really hard to be where I am right now. I travel a lot and I work all over the world. Like Albert Facey, I have a ‘fortunate life.’ My life is my greatest adventure.” 

Fabulous, Stormie! Thanks so much. For more on Stormie, check out his website here.

I am so excited for next week that it's hard not to post on Saturday and Sunday, too. We've got stuff coming in from Italy, Mexico, France, Russia, Japan, and even the Philippines. (Shout out to all my readers in Cebu, Tacloban, and everyone else across that lovely country!). Get ready for an international array of artists, photos, and stories. Have a great weekend!