cap twice. Maybe it’s me rejecting it because I can’t really participate the way I used to. Perhaps that’s my wrath as an old Graffiti writer, you know? Haha. MC So, would you consider graffiti still a fragment of your personality? It sounds like, by your definition, graffiti has to be illegal. Are you doing something different now? CM Well, I am always tipping my hat to graffiti, and I still have a significant role in NYC with my crew wreaking havoc on its walls. I am an ambassador of this culture, and I take that very seriously. It would be fun to go out at night, get that adrenaline and then drive around and look at your stuff. I love that; it’s so fun. Real graffiti to me is illegal, and that’s what I’m a real fan of. ↑ Who said outlines need to be black? Sometimes, a nice pastel palette can do the job. ↓ Memorial portrait on a storefront. I’m in this business realm where I deal with people who would never paint graffiti MC Isn’t that argument more or less an external attribution? Obviously, circumstances create different parameters for painting. CM Apparently, the audience senses a throwback when they see my stuff. Responses are often, “Oh, I remember when I was a kid, I used to see that everywhere.” But is it graffiti? No. Not if I’m standing out there, on a ladder, two o’clock in the afternoon with an assistant. 46 Artist in focus / Interview CLAWMONEY
legal. I don’t think it’s right. MC Kind of a luxury you can afford to say no to these kinds of jobs. Where does this integrity come from? What’s your view on the scene as a New Yorker, being from the birthplace of the culture? ↑ Outlaws can wear crowns, too. ↘ That’s right! Miss 17 and Claw, an infamous duo in the streets of New York City. All street art comes from graffiti. Street art owes everything to graffiti, let’s face it. MC Sure. At what point did you recognize a transition into the art realm? CM Probably when Graffiti used to be sold in galleries from the 1980s on but for myself, officially when I was invited to Art Basel the first time, graffiti was dominating again in the early 2000s. Years later, I realized that street art had taken over the popularity in its vast expanses in murals in Miami. Graffiti brought everyone’s focus there. Then street art came, which was more illustrative. People shifted away from letters because it is an ask. When you are writing, you’re asking the audience to read something. In contrast, street art has a lot of illustrations and iconography that might be quickly processed. I think that’s one reason why street art dominates in Miami. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an art lover, and there’s a lot of skill involved. I have my role, but I’m always giving a big nod to graffiti — the mother of this mural culture. CM New York’s the best! Writers from here are the best: the mothers and fathers, the innovators, the architects. I hate to say it; in a way, it’s not true. Technically, European writers are some of the most advanced. But, New York makes you very aggressive as a person because you have to live here. So, of course, graffiti is the perfect sport for this type of competitiveness. There’s competition in business; there’s competition everywhere. This is the New York ethos. If I wasn’t from New York, I don’t know if I would be painting graffiti. Everybody from here used to write at some point in their childhood. It’s rooted within the youth culture. But it is universal. Let’s say you go upstate New York for a hike, and once you reach the top of the mountain, there are a million people who carved their names into the rock in 1896. Pointing at your mere existence is a very human experience.“I was here.” Spray painting your name on a fire hydrant is all the same thing. Often, street artists, would see graffiti on a wall and then wheat paste right on top of the work MC I think many writers hated street art due to a feeling of cultural appropriation. CM Often, street artists, would see graffiti on a wall and then wheat paste right on top of the work. Initially, they’d be like, Oh, this is a good wall. We can paint on it because nobody’s cleaned this up yet. They’re not respecting what’s on the wall, whereas Graffiti writers know the rules. You don’t just come in to take the space unless you are prepared to have some sort of battle. That’s a reason why a lot of the street art walls get capped immediately. And that’s why I often decline when people offer me to paint their storefronts. There’s already a big throw-up on there; I can’t go over that for a Artist in focus / Interview CLAWMONEY 47
o ne of these events is the biennia
← Not a single element was not th
Recap Teenage Kicks 101
Is it a piece, or is it a throw-up?
Production SWEET UNO 105
A Athens-based artist INSANE51 is f
Artist in focus Insane51 109
“Lust”, the finished mural as s
↑ Oceans of messages. Some litera
In the form of a traveling mural fe
eduction of plastic waste are envir
← A balance of positive and negat
Recap Sea Walls Boston 121
Based on the actions of their art c
↓ Life in the ocean from the pers
Recap SEA CHANGE 127
“Passage” Mural by LOW BROS The
The completed work PASSAGE stands p
„LE BASSIN“ / ANNECY, FRANCE An
Child-friendly wolves look over as
Production Low Bros 137
That is unless you add world-class
↑ A stunning point where black me
↓ Palm trees, and smily faces. La
↓ Shine brightly or fade out? Wit
↓ Claiming number 1, Felipe PANTO
↑ Precision time. After the large
← Nearly every element of a can h
F.A.Q. Frequently asked Questions W
3 GOLD True Tone Swatch Color Chart
9 1 x RUN Collabo Can Blue Magic Th
15 Black ArTist Edition Cloakwork B
3 2 4 6 1 CREME 2 HOMBRE 3 KNOWS (W
9 10 12 8 MINA 9 CLOAK 10 TAPS 11 F
#GERMANSPRAYPAINT
LOOKBOOK / EDITION #07 / 2022 WWW.M
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
MONTANA-CANS | Copyright © 2022 | all rights reserved