Five Questions with HUSH

UK-based Hush is just a few days away from his debut exhibition in the Big Apple – opening on November 19, 2010. To prepare, we caught up with him for a short Q&A.

A bit about the upcoming exhibition -

White Walls is pleased to present Found, the New York debut exhibition by UK-based artist, Hush. The artist continues his examination of the vitality and transient nature of mark making, tagging and graffiti.  Transitioning these street art practices to the studio setting, the artist creates a body of work that brings to light the essence of “action painting” and “pure expressionism”.  The new collection of work is comprised of 25 mixed-media works ranging from small to large sized pieces and installation, and a limited edition hand embellished print (50).  The momentous three-day event is produced by renowned San Francisco gallery, White Walls, a recognized leader in the Urban Contemporary genre on the West Coast. The opening reception for Found will be held at Angels Orensanz Foundation, For Contemporary Art on Friday, November 19, 2010 from 7–10PM. The exhibition will be on display through November 21, 2010 and is free and open to the public.

Hit the jump to check out our interview with Hush.

CR: New York debut – how does that feel?

HUSH: Unreal, Humbling, Exciting, ****ing Scary. I suppose New York is the place.

CR: What was the process like preparing for the exhibit on, “Found”? How do you begin pieces and what were you drawing from (in terms of inspiration) when embarking on this work?

HUSH: When making work I play with lots of ideas in the paintings i make and like to reference  a lot of movements, past and present. I have always loved that old graf rule about a throw can go over a tag, a dub over a throw, a piece over a dub and so on.

Also love the transient way in which work on the street evolves and usually looks more at home the longer it settles, gets going over, degrades and fades. I try to create all these actions and mistakes in the studio.

I always work on 2 of the same paintings every time i create a piece, partly for the fact that i will take more risks on one so my work progresses, there does come a point where i will only finish one as it becomes obvious which one is working.

I also do this so when i make a new painting i can go over the discarded painting and leave remains of it visible to the viewer. I kind of take pleasure in known that there was a good piece and lots of work underneath a painting. It always feels uncomfortable working on a clean canvas, i like the feel and textures of a worked on canvas. It gives it some life straight away.

I see graffiti, especially tagging as a form of expressionism and when lots of them are seen in one place and on the street that creates a visual image like nothing else I can compare it to. It’s beautiful.

Take that from the street and apply it to work you make in the gallery setting is difficult. That’s why I approach it as action painting, it could easily be determined as abstract expressionism also. You need to capture that instantaneous decision to make the mark. That’s why I have canvases continuously around the studio. I throw everything at them, tag them, throws, the lot. It feels like it carrys a bit of that excitement. It also places this movement into a category that is continuing to build on past art movements which every new movement does.

CR: I’m interested in the sort of “East meets West” tone of your work. What does this stem from and what do you think accounts for the successful reaction from viewers and the buying public?

HUSH: Asia was an extremely important influence on my life both philosophically and visually i spent several years traveling and living all over asia . The way the East, especially the youth, adopt western styles and cultural influences but struggle with holding onto traditional values is of interest to me and my work.

It did get me thinking about a combination of factors and when you add my interpretation of this, we end up with a very eclectic mix.

I like to depict this through using the female form in art, which can symbolize so many messages.

I try to capture and contradict these cross cultural differences and influences in my work.

I feel privileged that my work is accepted and embarrassed by people from lots of different backgrounds and cultures.

People have probably embraced this movement and the artists working within it because it is very relevant and accessible, it makes sense to alot of people and people actually get excited by art again.

CR: How do you balance street and gallery work? What do you feel is necessary to keep a solid connection between two quite different canvases?

HUSH: I’ve never been a prolific street artist, to be honest, I’m more inspired by it, especially the action of tagging and the mentality. It is and always has been a buzz though, doing something your not supposed to always is, especially when you get away with it.

Both of these practices influence each other and constantly reference each other, the work would not move forward without the each other. I also like the idea of people passing by and commenting either out loud or to themselves.

Also making people look at art, you have to comment whether your interested or not.

CR: You’ve exhibited already on the West Coast… tell me a little about your reaction to the gallery scene out there vs. the UK and Europe… and also NY… I’m interested in how you feel the reaction to street art changes in different markets.

HUSH: In the galleries wherever you are it’s always a real positive vibe, everyone has the passion that’s for sure. The states for street work seems to be more embracing, more accepting from my experiences anyway. I’ve been in both LA and SF painting on the street and every passer by seems to be interested.

The people that follow this scene are committed and that seems to be international.

CR: What’s next?

HUSH: LA, SF, UK, AUSTRALIA, when? You’ll see:)
Thank you very much…….   HUSH