Cultblender: Joey Monsoon

Works by Joey Monsoon

junior

 

ohio style

 

pointy

 

redcollar

 

superfoe

 

gut hole

 

Q&A with Joey

Streetart used to be the anarchy in the artworld, anonymous artists making sometimes brilliant stuf in public places, without any menas of placing financial value on a piece. But, somewhere along the line, commercial thinkers managed to draw that exotic and independent artform into the galleries and white cubes.

That doens't have to be bad persé. It also means that talented street artists galso get the opportunity to develop themselves and earn a living of what they love to do most. And a lot of great artist manage to remain 'edgy';  and keep 'street cred' for what that's worth. One of those credible, edgy, but incredibly talented street artists is Joey Monsoon. We're very proud of the fact that he was willing to correspond with us for his exposition page.

Q: It's proven to be difficult for me to find some information on the artist Joey Monsoon, even on your websites you mainly let your works speak for themselves. Do you intentionally keep a low profile?
A: No, I'm just not very good at talking about myself. I could talk for hours about other people's art, but talking about my own is a bit weird. I guess you could say that I let the works speak for themselves, but not because I'm trying to say anything profound. It's more likely that I usually just don't know what to say.

Q. I hate categorizing art, but it sometimes does make our lives a little easier, so I'll just go ahead and classify your work as street art.
If you see a piece on the street, you usually don't get a bio of the artist either. Do you feel it's important to know more about the artist 'behind' the work?
A: I think I've been influenced by a lot of street art of the last 30 years, but none of my current art is done on the street. Art is a very significant part of my life. And I don't just mean my own art. I have a large collection of art books that are very important to me. I spend a lot of time on the web looking at art. So being a curious admirer of art, it's interests me to try to learn more about the artist who created the work. This isn't because I'm trying to get a deeper meaning of the work, but more because I wonder if they like the same music that I like.

Q: People are curious (or even nosy), so can you give us a bit of information about how and why you became an artist?
A: Like a lot of people, I was always drawing a lot as a child. I just never stopped. I grew up reading and collecting comic books and in my late teens I became interested in graffiti. In my early 20's I discovered the art of Robert Williams and this had a huge impact on me. It expanded my idea of what it meant to be an artist. It was contemporary art that I understood. At this point I realized that I needed to learn how to paint. That was 15 years or so ago, and I'm still trying to learn how to paint.

Q: What artists have influenced you in your work?
A: I love this question: Egon Schiele, Futura, Bill Sienkiewicz, Doze Green, Barry McGee, Daniel Clowes, David Choe, Barron Storey, Jeff Soto, Alberto Giacometti, Travis Millard and Kevin Taylor. I could go on for hours, but I'll stop there.

Q: Since Banksy became a big selling name (whether he likes it or not), it looks like the traditional art circuits of museums and galleries have finally taken a serious interest in 'street art. Do you think the 'streetart' world and 'institutionalized art'world will influence/ change each other?
A: For the record, I find it hard not be influenced by Banksy. That dude is a fucking genius. But back to the point... I think the greatest part of the popularity of "street/skateboard/lowbrow" art is the emergence of new art galleries. Just as there are a lot of inspiring artists making art, there are a lot of inspiring young gallery owners creating the right venue for this type of art. As an artist, and as a collector it makes me very happy to know there are galleries out there showing the kind of art that I love. So it may be that the "street art" world doesn't need to gain influence in the "institutionalized" art world because it has found it's own venue.

Q: Have you noticed the growing popularity of street art yourself?
A: Of course. I'm not sure that street art could get any more popular than it already is. And I couldn't be happier about it. Artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Blu, WK Interact, and Os Gemeos  deserve all the attention they get. From my perspective Woostercollective had a lot to do with the attention that street art has received. I know that they've turned me on to many many artists that I would never have discovered on my own.

Q: Your works usually feature people. It could be that you either love or dislike people, or perhaps you just think the human form is interesting... or it can be just a coïncidence? So what I'm actually asking is: is there some sort of message you would like to communicate to the world?
A: I have no deep message to communicate to the world with my art. I just like to draw. I draw and paint people in particular because the expression of the form and face interest me. The way an ear tilts, or an eye droops, or a finger bends creates a subtle expression. I like how lines can fall together to create a sort of personality. See? This is why I don't talk a lot about my own art.

As a last personal note to you, dear reader, I am very glad Joey did talk about his own art this time.