Post by dot on May 9, 2015 12:42:15 GMT
From timeout Beijing ....
Adam Neate in the hot seat
Innovative artist talks about his hatred of selfies, Zombie Formalism and more
Sarah Lee
First published on 6 May 2015. Updated on 6 May 2015.
British street artist turned boundary-pushing painter was recently in Beijing for his exhibition at the Agricultural Exhibition Center. Before his visit we managed to pin him down to find out why he hates selfies, his thoughts on commercial art and the 'Zombie Formalism' movement.
From the turn of the millennium, Neate was a big part of London’s street art scene. For years he would paint dozens of works a night, distributing them around the streets of London for free, leaning against lampposts and bins in an ‘open exhibition’.
In 2007, he was discovered by gallery Elms Lesters and became an instant hit, selling his first painting, ‘Suicide Bomber’, at Sotheby’s for almost 800,000RMB. More recently, he’s better known for his forward-thinking ‘Dimensional Painting’ technique where space itself is the medium.
You’ve long moved on from your days as a street artist. Is the movement dead?
It’s difficult. I think it’s become an established movement. You know, there’s always going to be walls, there’s always going to be spray cans and there’s always going to be young people with something to say. [But] I think it’s more there now to perpetuate itself.
So moving away from street art was a conscious decision?
Before I was a street artist, I just always liked painting and drawing. My heroes were people like Picasso and David Hockney. You see in their body of work how they changed styles and evolved through their lives. I keep referring to what my grandma used to say: ‘You should always stop eating when the food tastes the nicest’.
As soon as I came indoors to work in the gallery, I decided to stop the street art. I believe street art is in the street; as soon as you bring it indoors it loses its essence.
Does the commercial element suck the fun – or even the integrity – out of it?
I think unfortunately or fortunately – it depends how you look at it – in a capitalist construct, money [needs] to be invested in the arts for it to continue. So it’s a positive from a negative for me.
I think if you start pandering to the market it becomes another thing. You’re already seeing it in America. There’s this new kind of genre called ‘Zombie Formalism’, where people and art advisors buy paintings that might look good in people’s houses. It’s entering a world where paintings need to be a certain size and ‘oh these colours look nice, it goes with your sofa’.
A trait in your recent work is your ‘Dimensional Painting’ style. What is it?
I think now, where you’ve got 3D cinema and Instagram, it’s such a visual culture that it’s almost dumbed down people’s senses. Within my Dimensional work, you have to experience it in the real, to walk around it, to see it change: the colour changes, the form changes, light and shadow alter – the meaning of the painting can change as you walk around it. So it’s something you have to see in the real to get a full understanding. That’s another thing which has been lost now – people see so much stuff online, they feel they don’t need to go to a thing to experience it.
The work ‘Selfie’ feels like a scathing comment on online personas.
It’s like we’re now living in our super egos. You had your alter ego, now the super ego has been created where you can edit the best picture of yourself. Take ten photos of yourself at the beach, but choose the one where you think you look the best. This generation of kids now are so self-aware of themselves.
I had an Instagram account, [but] got to the point where I was thinking: It’s kind of weird where you’re having to share your life with whoever’s watching. I don’t know when it became normal to show photos of what you’ve eaten as if the world cares. And it perpetuates continuously, because if you’re not showing yourself, you’re not even existing as such.
What are your thoughts on Ai Weiwei’s work?
The good thing with his work, like ‘Sunflower Seeds’, is the afterthought – he gets you thinking about the meaning behind certain things. But what is it going to mean in 100 years when people have forgotten about [the politics]? I like to look at something and get a feeling, an emotional response.
I think art fails if there has to be a piece of paper to explain what it means. Art should communicate without language barriers. I mean, that’s why I love going to the Far East to show my work, because you don’t have the language barriers, the cultural barriers. You can just show something on a wall, and people like it or don’t like it, but you’re communicating.
Lee Williamson
Adam Neate in the hot seat
Innovative artist talks about his hatred of selfies, Zombie Formalism and more
Sarah Lee
First published on 6 May 2015. Updated on 6 May 2015.
British street artist turned boundary-pushing painter was recently in Beijing for his exhibition at the Agricultural Exhibition Center. Before his visit we managed to pin him down to find out why he hates selfies, his thoughts on commercial art and the 'Zombie Formalism' movement.
From the turn of the millennium, Neate was a big part of London’s street art scene. For years he would paint dozens of works a night, distributing them around the streets of London for free, leaning against lampposts and bins in an ‘open exhibition’.
In 2007, he was discovered by gallery Elms Lesters and became an instant hit, selling his first painting, ‘Suicide Bomber’, at Sotheby’s for almost 800,000RMB. More recently, he’s better known for his forward-thinking ‘Dimensional Painting’ technique where space itself is the medium.
You’ve long moved on from your days as a street artist. Is the movement dead?
It’s difficult. I think it’s become an established movement. You know, there’s always going to be walls, there’s always going to be spray cans and there’s always going to be young people with something to say. [But] I think it’s more there now to perpetuate itself.
So moving away from street art was a conscious decision?
Before I was a street artist, I just always liked painting and drawing. My heroes were people like Picasso and David Hockney. You see in their body of work how they changed styles and evolved through their lives. I keep referring to what my grandma used to say: ‘You should always stop eating when the food tastes the nicest’.
As soon as I came indoors to work in the gallery, I decided to stop the street art. I believe street art is in the street; as soon as you bring it indoors it loses its essence.
Does the commercial element suck the fun – or even the integrity – out of it?
I think unfortunately or fortunately – it depends how you look at it – in a capitalist construct, money [needs] to be invested in the arts for it to continue. So it’s a positive from a negative for me.
I think if you start pandering to the market it becomes another thing. You’re already seeing it in America. There’s this new kind of genre called ‘Zombie Formalism’, where people and art advisors buy paintings that might look good in people’s houses. It’s entering a world where paintings need to be a certain size and ‘oh these colours look nice, it goes with your sofa’.
A trait in your recent work is your ‘Dimensional Painting’ style. What is it?
I think now, where you’ve got 3D cinema and Instagram, it’s such a visual culture that it’s almost dumbed down people’s senses. Within my Dimensional work, you have to experience it in the real, to walk around it, to see it change: the colour changes, the form changes, light and shadow alter – the meaning of the painting can change as you walk around it. So it’s something you have to see in the real to get a full understanding. That’s another thing which has been lost now – people see so much stuff online, they feel they don’t need to go to a thing to experience it.
The work ‘Selfie’ feels like a scathing comment on online personas.
It’s like we’re now living in our super egos. You had your alter ego, now the super ego has been created where you can edit the best picture of yourself. Take ten photos of yourself at the beach, but choose the one where you think you look the best. This generation of kids now are so self-aware of themselves.
I had an Instagram account, [but] got to the point where I was thinking: It’s kind of weird where you’re having to share your life with whoever’s watching. I don’t know when it became normal to show photos of what you’ve eaten as if the world cares. And it perpetuates continuously, because if you’re not showing yourself, you’re not even existing as such.
What are your thoughts on Ai Weiwei’s work?
The good thing with his work, like ‘Sunflower Seeds’, is the afterthought – he gets you thinking about the meaning behind certain things. But what is it going to mean in 100 years when people have forgotten about [the politics]? I like to look at something and get a feeling, an emotional response.
I think art fails if there has to be a piece of paper to explain what it means. Art should communicate without language barriers. I mean, that’s why I love going to the Far East to show my work, because you don’t have the language barriers, the cultural barriers. You can just show something on a wall, and people like it or don’t like it, but you’re communicating.
Lee Williamson
