Hey Funky people, today you’ll meet Alexandros Vasmoulakis, a great street artist. Huge work, unique characters, beautilful style! He did some extraordinary painting on buildings and it’s just the begining! Alexandros is also fond of dirty spots… just like us! Here’s for the Fatcap readers, an interview and some pictures of his work. Enjoy!

Alexandros Vasmoulakis ’s official website

FC: Where are you from? What’s your background?
I was born in Greece and studied at the Athens school of fine arts.

FC: What was the interest in art and what lead you to create all those things?
It’s so very vague!! Sometimes i just see that things happen by themselves. Our real decisions seem to be quite weak!

FC: How would you define your work and what inspires you?
It could be defined as an attempt to link different aspects of our perceptions. Good sex and good sleep seem to be the great sources of inspiration!

FC: What kind of reaction do you want to evoke from your art?
The reaction is the point! Negative or possitive it doesn’t really matter. And when there are quite different reactions for what you have done, you can start feeling happy! Ambiguity is always needed, wherever.

FC: How did you create your own characters?

The faces of my characters are made by fragments of other faces, usually from magazines’ photos. One mouth from here and two eyes from there come closer making a new face. Destroying in order to create..

FC: Sometimes I don’t know if they are sad or Happy, it’s like ” une mélancolie heureuse” (in french) a happy sadness or happy melancholy…
Your uncertainty is one of my goals! Most of the times i work on the same character in different moods and usually this is revealed in the end.

FC: How do you choose your images and where they are placed in the street?
I do love the dirty spots!! As dirty as possible, feel that there is an additional reason to do something…

FC: Some of your pieces are HUGE, How many time do you need to finish it?
It depends on the circumstances, you know, the weather, the height of the building, my mood, etc. Usually two or three weeks are required. I prefer to take my time!

FC: What the next challenge now? To Paint a whole hood? a whole city?
To make better and stronger pieces, their format is not the priority. My recent purpose is to divide myself and my work in two or even more main parts. It’s more than good to have an identity in your work, a style which is recognisable, but oftentimes that becomes a trap which prevents you from pushing your own boundaries.

FC: Tell us more about your street installations. It’s a different work.
All of them are made with found objects and garbage. I am interested in exploring what we get rid of… Dumps smell death but can reveal much about our lives.

FC: Name an artist (or many) whose work you respect and admire.
This list is always changing but Fischli&Weiss and Theo Jansen remain on top!

FC: Which media/support and tools do you prefer? Bombs, stencils, walls, ads, wheatpaste, wood, paper?
Whatever!

FC: If your style was a music band or a song? Which one would it be?
Something from 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Maybe Boogie woogie!!

FC: Do you feel the work you are doing is something that should be preserved or stayed transcience?
Let it live and die free!!

FC: Are you in a crew, do you work with other artists?
Usually i do things with my friend Paris Koutsikos. Check out his website: http://parisko.com/

FC: What do you think about the street art hype?
I am just curious to see its conclusion..

FC: How do you feel about the commercialization of street art in recent years?
Since we live in a capitalistic society the commercialization of every field is simply uncontrollable. Actually I don’t believe in the existence of the underground.. Once it appears, makes its first steps and comes to maturity then the market comes and swallows it with pleasure!

Contextual street art!

FC: What’s coming up in the next few months? Show, travels… etc…
Currently i work in Berlin preparing my first solo show. I couldn’t imagine how demanding a solo exhibition is! Future plans are pretty loose for the moment. We will see!

FC: What’s your real goal?
Still searching..

FC: Any words of wisdom?
Have fun.

Thank you Alexandros!

Here’s some of D.billy work:

More D.Billy ?

Do you want more JR ?

Hey Party people! Today you’ll meet THEN (AIDS, LCF, MOK). Then is a fresh graffiti artist. I discovered his work on flickr, and I loved it. Pure letters, funky characters, this guy is from the true school. Realize and recognize!

FC:Where are you from?
I was born in Paris, France but raised here in America.

FC:What was the interest in art and what lead you to create all those things?
My Interest in art stems from watching cartoons and reading comic books as a kid…I always tried to re-draw the characters that I saw in the comic books and cartoons but adding my own twist to them. I still have some of the drawings, they are pretty funny looking.

FC:Are you quantity or quality? Legal or illegal?
I am for all of the above quantity, quality, legal & illegal. You have to be well rounded at what you do, if you are only good at one portion of something that encompasses many things you will be looked at as weaker than someone who has it all down.

FC:How would you define your work and what inspires you?
I personally couldn’t define my own work, I’d like to believe it is good but sometimes I can’t. As an artists you are your own worst critic…sometimes I can love what I’ve done and wake up the next morning hating it. I get inspired by many things but couldn’t say one thing more than another, music is always good though.

FC:What’s the most relevant for you: letters, Characters, or colours?
I am a character who loves letters and colours, but I would have to say all of them are just as important as the next.

FC:What kind of reaction do you want to evoke from your art?
I would like to evoke a positive reaction, give someone the opportunity to offer constructive criticism or even negative criticism I like to be able to see all sides of how my work has affected someone.

FC:How did you create your own characters… the dickheadz :)?
It’s pretty random, I just draw them based on characters in my life. It can be an angry boss, or a passerby on the subway anything that strikes me as a good subject to re-create in my style.

FC:How do you choose your images and where they are placed in the street? Do you prepare it or are you more freestyle?

The images I choose are usually spontaneous, I don’t ever really carry a sketch on me but I have some sort of an idea based on the spot if it will be larger more ledgible lettering or more complex lettering or even a character. It’s based on the spot chosen, the more visible by the public the better.

FC:Tell us more about the people who do art with you? Are you in a crew? How did you meet them? What’s the spirit of your crew?
I am part of a couple of crews, AIDS CREW, LCF CREW & MOK CREW. The AIDS crew is the one I have been a part of the longest, prior to that I painted alone (not in a crew). We met in about 2005 through a close friend of mine that I painted with, and I had seen alot of their work and they had seen mine and we just clicked really well with the same goals in mind as far as painting so it was just a matter of time I guess that I was invited to be a part of the crew. The Crew itself is a group of very different people from all different backgrounds but all creative as hell. I am always pushed by what they accomplish and we share eachothers hunger for creativity. Everyone has their own story to tell in the crew but the common bond is to paint as much as possible, be humble about it and crush everything in sight. A shout to the LCF crew as well who took me in like one of their own a few years ago on one of my trips to California. I met them through a friend and fellow painter OLAH. I chilled with him and the LCF guys evertime I went out to Cali and we also had the same mindset about painting and life so a few years later they invited me to be a part of their crew as well which I also greatly appreciate.

FC:How is the graffiti scene in your town?
The graffti scene in the state I live in has it’s ups and it’s downs, lately more downs than ups but I try and keep my head out of the scene and focused on what I need to do for myself and with my crew. The scene is for people with too much time on their hands.

FC:What kind of books do your read? What’s you favorite music?
I like to read many different forms of writing, I just read Siddartha which was good. As far as music goes I couldn’t say I like just one type of music but I’ll listen to everything from Heavy Metal to Hip-hop, Johnny Cash to Gangstarr.

FC:What are your three favourite websites?
Well I surf through tons of websites every day but I would have to say www.Fatcap.com , www.ateamart.wordpress.com , and www.thenoneart.wordpress.com it’s funny how mine feel into that lineup.

FC:Describe a typical day of Then?
I wake up to the sweet smell of success, then I brush my teeth and look into the mirror and say to myself you get’em champ. I get dressed and walk out the door but before I take my first step I take a deep breath and just enjoy that mildly polluted air give a small cough and proceed towards the office where I will bask in the lovely rays of flourescent lighting for 8 hours pondering what might be taking place later that night. I get some designs finished for some clients because I am a graphic designer and thats what I do. I get home call the guys and see if anyone is up for a cold beer. After a few pints I go home add some finishing details to a painting for an upcoming art show. I then call it a night and get ready for tomorrow. (partially fictional, mostly true)

FC:Tell us more about your work as a designer, (t-shirts, skate decks…)
I have been designing for some years now and have met many people along the way. I have been fortunate enough to have people like my work enough to pay me to do it which includes some skateboard companies, clothing companies, magazines, clubs and event planners. I love to design on many different levels from painting to graphic design, and I alwals feel lucky to have such opportunities. It is a great feeling to walk down a street in New York, which is such a large city and see someone wearing or using one of your designs. It’s a good feeling.

FC:Any favorite stories to tell us about your art adventures?
Well one time myself and 2 friends went on a trip to California to chill and paint. I knew it was going to be a crazy trip from the second we walked into the airport. As a result of the unfortunate events of 9-11 we had to be at the airport 4 hours in advance so being that our flight left at 7 we had to be there at 3 which meant leaving the bar early enough to get to the airport (it was a Friday). We were all laughing up a storm and getting our printouts to give to the front desk when one of the guys forgot his. We tried to get him to log into his email to get the itinerary but he forgot his password and it began to get frustrating but we couldn’t stop laughing because we wee drunk. so we are on this massive line already people don’t seem to happy with us and the icing on the cake….My friend opens his suite case to see if the itinerary is in there and there is nothing but about 150 fucking markers, around 2000 stickers and a skateboard in there. The people on the line looked like they were about to call security and my other friend and I laughed so hard we were practically crying all while thinking that we were about to be subject to a full cavity search. Ahhhh good times.

FC:What’s coming up in the next few months? Show, travels… etc…
Well in the next few months I have a few art shows that I am participating in. I am trying to travel but there is too much work right now an of course paint as much as possible. You can find all the info for the upcoming shows for myself and the Aids Crew at the following site: THEN

FC:What’s your real goal?
My real goal is to be appreciated as an artist for my work. You can see more of it at www.flickr.com/then

FC:Any words of wisdom?
Soak it all in, every moment good or bad you’ll learn something from it or get a good laugh out of it. Also work hard at what you love, life is full of gimicks we don’t need another one, and a shout out to Werds see you soon brother!

Thank’s THEN!

Then’s website

Then’s Flickr

You’ll find what you need Big up to Jan for this work!

Stencils.ch has been created out of love for stencil art and as such aims to collect them from all over the world.

“Trick or treating at the Mcains!”

“What goes up must come down”

“Skool of Hard knocks”

Hey fellaz,

As we told you HERE, we like the site Graffgirlz. Thank’s to the graffgirlz team, you’ll have the pleasure to read on fatcap many interviews of female graffiti artists. Here’s an interview of HEIR. She’s from Perth, Australia.

Big up to her! Australian Graffiti!

Presentation ( age, city, how long painting, crews…) :
Early 20s. Born and bred in Perth, Australia. Got serious about painting in 2000. Crew - AFC (Featured crew in the (honey) Stylefile. Originated in Altona, Hamburg and extended to two Australia members).

How did you first get into graffiti ? Why this mode of expression?
Saw my cousin sketching and bombing on paper when I was about 12 and I was instantly drawn to it.

What is your definition of graffiti? Do you living it daily? How do you see the world of graffiti today? Why do you love graffiti?
Graffiti is art. For me it’s about doing something I love, doing it my way and doing it for myself. I used to live graffiti excessively and now it’s at a healthy level.

What are your sources of inspiration, and your references in graffiti?
Style. Flow. Funk.

Do you have supports of predilection, preferred environments? What do you think of the use of canvas?
I’ve been through stages of liking walls, then rolling stock and finaly canvas. Canvas is the only option for graffiti artists to preserve their art.

Do you make vandals sessions regularly? If not why? If yes How you feel when you are doing illegal graffiti? What is different between the experience of doing illegal and legal walls? Do you get the same satisfaction?
I used to paint almost every week but not so much now (2007), I have a lot going on this year. Im more satisfied in taking my time on a piece, trying to perfect my style and technique rather than quickly slapping scraps up…I’ve done enough of those that I’m not happy with.

A good souvenir? A bad one?
Good…painting emu’s in perth. Bad…a chase that caused permanent damage to my knee (at least we got away).

How do you wish to evolve in graffiti, what are your projects (exibitions, trips, new supports…)?
I want to paint more high quality production murals and hope to finish at least one canvas haha.

According to you, being a woman in graffiti which is a world mainly masculine, it is an asset, or a difficulty? How are you perceived by the male writers? Do you have privileged contacts with the other females writers?
It swings both ways. I prefer to be recognised as a good artist, not as a good female artist.

Any last words or shout outs?
Thanks everyone who has supported me and burned me, you’ve made me stronger

More Heir?

Only tag for your eyes. Realize and recognize!!

Yeah that’s straight! DAGE

Stunning letters by YEEMA

uhmmm absolutely gorgeous! NEPO

Booom, I ‘m sure your eyes are bleeding. Golf, Suicid, Koner,Hock,Moper.

Pure! SHONE and OLOCOS