Interview with Barrett Cook aka Hooded Fang

q)What is your earliest art-related memory?

a)I used to draw war scenes with a friend in school when I was like 8 years old.

They were really violent and over the top. Planes crashing, tanks on fire, piles of dead bodies, pools of blood...fun stuff. I remember being on a road trip in Florida with my family around the age of 15. We were in a mom and pop type restaurant eating lunch. There were these chunks of wood with found objects nailed onto them. I thought it was so cool that the owners were hanging these things on the wall that had chunks of metal, rusty cans and other crazy shit on em. Even though I didn't start making visual art or art with found objects for another 12 years... that memory has always stuck with me.

q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

a)My mother was always encouraging me with any of my hobbies or school projects. She passed away a few years ago but her creativeness and crafty mindset definitely rubbed off on me while growing up.

I discovered Robert Roushenburg several years ago and he really changed my outlook on art. His relationship with found objects was a revelation to me. Seeing Emory Douglas's black panther work for the first time was also mind blowing.

q) What are the main tools of your craft?

a)Exacto knife, gel medium, glue, vintage paper and magazines.

q) Is a formal education important?

a)I can see how it could be important, but I don’t have any formal art education. I think my art naivety plays a big part in my creative process. Both positively and negatively. I like it that way.

q) What is the biggest misconception about art?

a)That it only exists within the confines of museums or art galleries.

q) Which is more important in art - concept or execution?

a)Depends. I'm not too conceptual when it comes to creating collages and my lack of execution can produce some really great happy mistakes. That being said, I think there is always room for great execution weather the work is totally free form or completely conceptualized.

q) What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn too?

a)Honesty, nostalgia, vintage, handmade.

q) What is your favorite piece of art in your home? I don't really have a favorite so

a)I'm going to pick a few.

I have a poster of a Thelonious Monk concert from 1959. I look at it a lot. There are a few art trades I've made with some fellow artists and I have some of their work hanging. Also, a black and white photo of Kirk Gibson playing for the Detroit Tigers in 1984 that I found.

q) If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

a)That's a tough one. I'd love to work with a lot of people who are alive right now..... I would say Kurt Schwitters, Robert Roushenburg, and Ray Johnson wuld be amazing to work with if they weren't dead.

q) Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about?

a)Justin Angelos aka 101301 is doing some amazing stuff.

I really like what the WAFA Collective is up to.

Listening to Dem Hunger, S.Maharba and Forest Swords.

q) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

a)I just took part in my first art show. It was at driftwood salon in SF and it

was a blast.

q) What has been your biggest roadblock?

a)I would have to say marketing or selling my art. It’s a pain in the ass.

q) How do you define success?

a)More happy times than bad times.

q) What will be the name of your autobiography?

a)Don’t Hassle The Hoff:The Autobiography

q)What is the best piece of (art-related) advice you’ve ever been given?

a) Create something every day.

Interview with Michael Viviani

q)What is your earliest art-related memory?

a)When I was 18 years old, Two women drove me to Avignon to see an exhibition, it was the first time I saw big paintings .


q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

a)Nobody has had the greatest influence on my work more than an other one I am influenced by a lot of artist and by all the things around me, by the people, the life.


q) What are the main tools of your craft?

a)The main tools of my craft are the culture and the communication with the world,


q) Is a formal education important?

a)Yes, I think it’s really important.


q) What is the biggest misconception about art?

a)A lot of people things it’s easy,

q) Which is more important in art - concept or execution?

a)I think the both are important, they are essential in art.


q) What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn too?

a)The portrait, i like represented, faces, drawn people.

q) What is your favorite piece of art in your home?

a)I’ve no piece of art in my home i spend my time between london and different cities in France, I move all 3 month.


q) If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

a)I don’t know, if i meet somebody and if there is a good feelings i can collaborate with anyone, I don’t hope to collaborate with somebody particularly.


q) Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about?

a)Dran the french artist from Toulouse.


q) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

a)To see people happy with a piece of my art in their house.


q) What has been your biggest roadblock?

a)For the moment i’ve never met a big roadblock, sometimes there are some problem but for each problem there is a solution, it’s the game of life.


q) How do you define success?

a)The success it’s when I see a smile on a face from somebody who like my work.

q) What will be the name of your autobiography?

a)Choose your life.

Interview with Sérgio Hortelão

q)What is your earliest art-related memory?

a)Well I recall a t-shirt my dad used to wear when I was 5 years old, it was an Maui & Sons shirt with a bad ass illustration of a shark riding surf board.

q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

a)My friends, Tosco, FromtheGrave and Satan of course.

q) What are the main tools of your craft?

a)Black ink pens and markers, watercolors, acrilic paint.

q) Is a formal education important?

a)Yes. I wish I had one.

q) What is the biggest misconception about art?

a)There are no misconceptions about art.

q) Which is more important in art - concept or execution?

a)Execution. If it doens't exist it's worth nothing.

q) What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn too?

a)Anything strange or morbid and cosmic.

q) What is your favorite piece of art in your home?

a)A severed rubber head I keep in my linving room

q) If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

a)Hannibal Lecter.

q) Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about?

a)TOSCO

q) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

a)Being able to dodge success.

q) What has been your biggest roadblock?

a)Hard drugs and alcohol.

q) How do you define success?

a)Money.

q) What will be the name of your autobiography?

a)"He died for nothing!"

q)What is the best piece of (art-related) advice you’ve ever been given?

a)"Don't think, do it."

Interview with Joshua Ben Longo

q)What is your earliest art-related memory?

a)I would ask my mother to draw superheros for me as far as I can remember. When I was around 4 years old I recall my older brother having a play date with some of his friends. My duties as a younger brother included entertaining them and begging for attention. Sooooo...... I drew them a pair of breasts in a lined spiral notebook and snuck it under the door of the room in which they were playing. For one reason or another they were not impressed with my drawing and proceeded to tell my mother. Needless to say I got in trouble.

q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

a)I have had a few great mentors and teachers, but the one stands out is Lenny Bacich. He was a teacher at Pratt Institute and the Bauhaus. He dedicated himself fully to his students and let them make mistakes and learn from themselves. He always said he never taught me anything, but just guided me when I went astray.

q) What are the main tools of your craft?

a)My hands, a needle, thread, scissors, a pencil.

q) Is a formal education important?

a)I went to Pratt Institute for Industrial Design. That degree has allowed me to finance my personal work for the past eight years. I dont think school is necessary for everyone, but I needed the discipline. Art school is a fantastic place to grow as an individual.

q) What is the biggest misconception about art?

a)That anyone can do it. That it is easy. That it is hard. That you need talent to succeed.

q) Which is more important in art - concept or execution?

a)Neither is more important, but a combination of the two allows for art that stands the test of time.

q) What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn too?

a)A good sense of craft draws me in. Beyond craft I enjoy figurative work whether it be representational or abstract.

q) What is your favorite piece of art in your home?

a)The stone fireplace in my bedroom.

q) If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

a)Tony Robbins.

q) Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about?

a)Colin Kilian. http://www.orangeorangeorange.com/live/

q) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

a)Getting the opportunity to teach at Pratt Institute and share what I have learned with others.

q) What has been your biggest roadblock?

a)My own laziness. My bed. The computer.

q) How do you define success?

a)Not having to worry about money. Getting up and making art everyday without the worry of when I'm going to eat next.

q) What will be the name of your autobiography?

a)Handsome & Special, or Does Everyone Love Joshy? , or Goggy : The Joshua Ben Longo Story

q)What is the best piece of (art-related) advice you’ve ever been given?

a)Whatever you decide to do, make sure your the best at it.

Interview with Shannon Crees

q)What is your earliest art-related memory?

a)Painting teapots with my aunt, an artist i look up to.

q) Who has had the greatest influence on your work?

a)My parents who encouraged me to pursue a difficult career and supported me through the really hard bits.

q) What are the main tools of your craft?

a)Computer, van, paint, poska pens, archival ink pens, glue, gloss, hammer, wood, canvas.......

q) Is a formal education important?

a)Education is always important but there are many things that you learn by trial and error on the job.

q) What is the biggest misconception about art?

a)People say 'i cant paint' i think that any one can create art and also enjoy the process.
On the other hand people may devalue a simplistic or abstract work when they are harder to produce than they look.

q) Which is more important in art - concept or execution?

a)They are both important. If you can produce artwork that is strong in both aspects then the sum of the whole becomes greater than the addition of the separate halves.

q) What theme or aesthetic are you most drawn too?

a)Figurative art.

q) What is your favorite piece of art in your home?

a)I have many. I like other peoples art on my walls, I only hang my own to finish them.

q) If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

a)Gustav Klimt of M.C. Escher although i don't know if the masters would be enthused by the prospect.

q) Which emerging artist do you think more people should know about?

a)There are so many, I can't think of just one.

q) What has been your greatest achievement to date?

a)Graduation to professional artist.
It took 7 years of dedication and suddenly i didn't need to do other work to support my art habit, i feel very lucky that my hard work has payed off as I love painting.

q) What has been your biggest roadblock?

a)Money!!!! or lack there of.
It is hard to create quality work without money to buy materials and it also affords you the luxury of time to create them.

q) How do you define success?

a)I think you need to look backwards, every success is a small step so if you look at how far you have come as a whole it encourages you further.

q) What will be the name of your autobiography?

a)I haven't thought about anything like that!

q)What is the best piece of (art-related) advice you’ve ever been given?

a)Work smarter, not harder.