Interview with
$UPAKITCH

_1__You're back from the Sonar festival in Barcelona. Have you discovered good music or artists there ?

[supakitch] Puppetmastaz, a group of puppets very funky which were rapping on HIP-HOP/Electro sounds. I was really surprised... and I adore that. The idea is very good, they really are innovative, they bring something to hip Hop.

They are so many interresting people at the Sonar, which is also very visual. The video live of “Moment Factory” on Bjork music was a good mix.

During the sonar, I met some graffiti artists like PEZ,Chanoir, Birdie, El xupet, Ritmo.. we paint all together and it was great. Thank you ekosystem.


_2__And did you enjoy the city ?

[supakitch] Right ! I love this town, I feel free, you can paint outside in the center in a really good ambiance ! Also, If like me, you simply like to hang out in the streets, to observe, to chill, in barcelone, it’s so like that. It’s the city of the logo, any little shop has its logo. This city is full of charm, by his colors, his size, his geographic position, his culture, his weather... Spanish people are well known to be friendly and jovial fellow . there is always something to do, I think it’s a town where i’d love to live.

_3__We know you mainly for your characters, but you also do that printed circuits. Can you tell us more about them ?

[supakitch] I’ve always loved the support of printed circuit. I find it beautiful, for his matte rand for everything you can do with. This object is omnipresent in our lives, often hidden, it makes things for our better living, work .
Nowadays, my printed circuits look like “telecran”, and it’s under that pseudo that I live through them. You can bring your telecran everywhere and draw with it. It really matches with the image i wanted to give to my circuits. A toy to use on my favourite playground, the streets and capacity to begin a propaganda counters media handling (like the advertizing for example) by putting in scene a robot, symbol of the toys and social "sheep". Because you are toys!
At present I make really the distinction between my identity of Supakitch with my painting and my identity of Telecran with this support. Perhaps that a day these two styles will speak each other...

_4__Where did the name Supakitch comme from ?

[supakitch] Everything started in 1842, in a little street in Manhattan, it was around 3.56 PM when a huge octopus walk towards me. Coming up from a sewer, she had a ghettoblaster under her tentacle, a big spicy hotdog in the other, a pink ball of wool, in an another one and 3 pairs of nike air jordan on the other tentacles. She walked me with ... with a funny way, bah.. an octopus way and asked me if I’d seen a fox with a fridge on hisback ?!?

I already felt that she wanted to bother me, so I smoked a big one on my blunt, picked up my supakrylon ... and Kitch in the eye !!




pic with Abject


_5__About your characters, they look like a little bit like the one Bando. Did a long time ago. I particularly think about 1tox magazine cover. Is it an influence to you ?

[supakitch] Of course Bando is important in my graffiti culture, and I think that it’s a flattering comparison. At the time of this cover, I was quite young and so interrested by graffiti. To answer your question Eko, no I didn’t inspire from this. This little monster is born from my collection of toys and from hours in front of my TV, watching Dragon Ball and Hayaho Miyazaki’s movies from Ghibli Studios

_6__Who were some of your earliest influences ?
[supakitch] I think that my first influences come from the street. When I was younger, i used to draw punks I saw in the street, and also my toys or characters from cartoons... then I discovered graffiti and I became really fond of Typography, I then came to graphism and illustrations.

_7__Whose work do you like at present ?
[supakitch]In fact, I really appreciate many people’s work Koralie, Prayer, Gum, TT crew, Pez, Ekopez, La guibole, WK, Kaws, Obey Giant,
East Erik, Zeus, Space invader, Sixe, La mano, 9e concept/109, Le cover, Above, 1980 crew..... I stop here but the list is long. But I’m sensitive to images in general. I appreciate many graphists/illustrators work
(Designers Republic, Nando costa, Pictoplasma, 123 clan, Buro destruct, Lodown...), toy designers (Michael Lau, Eric So, Toy2R...), photographers (Lachapelle, Spencer Tunick, Natacha Meritt, Hazy...), tatoo artists (Chiken...), architects (Gaudi, Renzo Piano...), movie makers (Terry Gillian, Andrew Blake...)

_8__Do you do any illustration or graphic design work ?
[supakitch] Yes, I’ve been painting on urban advertising supports support since 2 years.I made a few exhibitions, and for the moment, the money I raised like that that helps me to pay the main elements to build my telecrans. After painting, there is graphism and disc covers. I love to work on sounds and meet people to express this way. Not long ago, I met Dj VINCIL from Toulouse, and ONLY A TASTE (an electro compilation from Montpellier).


_9__I think it's not a secret that you live with Koralie who also paints. Do you often paint together ?
[supakitch] Of course! As often as possible, I really like his little geisha and to paint with her. It’s so cool to share that with my girlfriend, it’s funny to make our characters live together. It’s another exercise i like.

 

_10__What is the hottest thing in Montpellier right now - except you ?

[supakitch] The sun



_11__Every year there's a festival in Montpellier called "Attitude". Many graffiti artists were invited (André, La mano, Sixe, Zeus...) Is it something you wait every summer ?


[supakitch] Yes, I think it’s good, for some reasons : you can see in the work in gallery of well known artists, to meet some, it’s makes things move in Montpellier. This year, I could see graffiti artists like Seak, Daim and Loomit , I really appreciated Seak’s work.

_12__What was the first thing in your life that you remember being really passionate about ?
[supakitch] To draw and my telecran !! I’ve always drew, it’s a passion for me that i’ll never lose. I’m born with, I’ll die with.When somebody offered me a telecran (I was a dwarf), I discovered an another way of drawing, more graphic. And it’s a toy quite perfect for me, i could bring everywhere, it has the size of a book, you can hide it in your school bag. It’s the ancestor of vector drawing, my first computer with illustrator.

_13__What are you goals in graffiti ?
Having fun, feeling free, my pleasure, to surprise people in the street, being surprised myself, to move, meet interresting people, share walls, ideas, to share, to chill in the streets, to observe, to act, to go over my limits, to create, to leave something, to discover new cities... graffiti is for me a way of life, when I walk in the streets, I cant help watching anyplace which is beautiful, where there would be a little tag behind a rain pipe or any place where I could put something, a telecran...I love that. Thats all. I like to satisfy my vices.



_14__Do you have a new projects comming up soon that you can tell us about ?

I work with Koralie on an art book since a few month, it’s an interresting project. I will talk a little more about that later, It’s still too early...


_15__Any final comments ?

" Toys are in the city. Let's play to graffiti !"

Telecran's fotolog




ekosystem
august 2003