Sorry for posting old stuff, but Luke Chueh is one of my most favourite artists and I just stumbled upon this great interview from February on dailyDuJour. If you don't know Luke, you should definitely check out his website cause his art work is incredible!
[On the eve of Luke Chueh’s ‘Contemptorary Art’ opening @ Corey Helford, we’re pleased to bring you Amanda Erlanson’s insightful interview with Luke, done as part of the Heroes and Villains project. It’s an excellent read which delves into the complexities of the man behind ‘the bear’.] Amanda Erlanson: You’ve described growing up in Fresno, California as a kind of hell on earth. Tell me a bit about your family and your upbringing. Was there anywhere you could go that served as a refuge from your isolation, fear and confusion? ...
The Swedish fine artist, illustrator, and mural artist, Ekta, was interviewed by Juxtapoz magazine. Among other things, he talks about his background, his discovery of art, his name, his works, and why he doesn't do outside work at the moment. It's a great interview!
Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got started? I was born in 1978 in a small coastal town in the south of Sweden. When I was 18 I moved to London with my best friend to skate and ended up staying there for 9 years. Art came through skateboarding and somewhere around the millennium painting and drawing became more important to me than skating. Some early influences in art were people like Mark Gonzales and Neil Blender. In 2005 my personal life was not so good and not having money to pay the expensive London bills, I decided to try my luck back in Sweden and moved to Gothenburg, where I’ve been since....
BIO
Estria began spray painting in Hawai'i in 1984 and has since painted hundreds of murals. He was an influential leader of the "Golden Age" of graffiti (1980´s) in San Francisco, pioneering painting techniques of characters and scenes. He is also one of the originators of the stencil tip, a modified cap used by graffiti writers to create thin airbrush-like lines. Estria has painted in Peru, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Honduras, New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Charlotte and San Francisco. Since 1993 he has taught graffiti classes and lectured at universities on graffiti´s social and political impact. He garnered national attention with his arrest for graffiti in 1994; appearing in CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, and the National Enquirer. Estria co-founded Tumis Design in Oakland, California, which develops graphic communications and web applications for non-profits and foundations. Estria´s clients prior to Tumis include Sega America, MTV, Toyota, McKesson Corporation, Nokia, the Mills Corporation, President Clinton, and McDonald´s. Estria also co-founded Visual Element, the EastSide Arts Alliance´s free mural workshop that develops youth as a voice of the People. He has served the community through his cultural work for over 25 years. Samurai Graphix is a custom screen-printing company in San Leandro, CA, founded by Estria in 2007 to serve local businesses, bands and schools. He is currently creating screen prints for Hip Hop concerts.Links, Pictures and more after the break... ...