[caption id=”attachment_1989” align=”aligncenter” width=”540” caption=”L.E.T., You are Beautiful, stencil on wood / 120x100cm / for the “nacht der museen”, Damenundherren Gallery, Düsseldorf, april.09, copyright L.E.T.”]
[/caption] More after the bump! _source __stencilhistoryx_ **Where does your name come from? ** My name comes from Jean Cocteau´s prose book “Les Enfants Terribles” from 1929. I liked to use this name/title for a contemporary art form. **What is the story of a French guy living in Germany ? ** I was born in Düsseldorf but moved 6 month later to Costa Rica for the next 10 years. My father was a development aid worker and had a job there. After that, 1-2 years to Grenoble, my mother’s family lived there and than back to Düsseldorf. In 92-94 I lived in Berlin to start my studies at the UDK, the art university. A long time ago… At that not so many stencils or paste up could be seen on the streets. And then I spent the 1995-2000 in Hannover, art & Design University. Now I live in Düsseldorf.
When and how did you come to stencil? I started with graffiti in the late 80´s. 2-3 years later I begun to notice political stencils (Che & Castro stuff ) on the streets. I was fascinated to do the same, only with my own words & works. The very first time you sprayed a stencil outdoor? I´m not so sure anymore, but it must be around 92. I started with “skateboard focuses stencils”. I still have one stencil print of that time. Very funny to see it nowadays.
The very first time you sold a piece of art? ** My first sold “artwork” was in secondary school to my art teacher. But it has nothing to do with stencils or graffiti. It was a pop-art “oriented” work, 25 coffee cups glued on a wood board. **You work with black shadows in the mean time than more intricate stencils. What about your technique? ** Sometimes I only want to transport a feeling with my works, so I reduce it all to a minimum to focus it to the emotion. **My favourite piece by yours is the snipper. Could you tell about? ** I saw a documentary on TV with some snipers and thought directly to put them in flower pots. These guys are my homegrow army, haha! **The placements have been so great with this one. How and where did you do that ? Is it something important to you? The placement is very important. You could “destroy” your work with a wrong placement. Sometimes I paint the background days before I spray or paste my works. Have you ever met the police because of Street Art? Only one time. I was just finished and took some pics with flashlight. 10 sec later 3 civil policemen stopped behind me and scaned me and my bag. They didn´t understand why I pasted a huge handpainted “poster” like. They never saw something like these before. At the end I gave them some invitations for my next show and my paste up stayed there on the wall. A very curious & funny situation. How did you choose your images? Many works, 50%, are autobiographical. The other 50% are themes or stories around me. You could find them everywhere, in tv, in the newspaper, on the streets, in the museum…’ How big is the Banksy influence in your work? We think a lot about him when we look at the “forget it…..!” or the a.t. antique. Are those pieces a kind of dialogue with him? I enjoy his work. He´s a icon, but I don´t look at him to find my influence or themes. i try to bring my feelings & ideas on the street, but I like the idea with the dialogue, perhaps in future. Who do you dream to swap with? ** My dreams look a bit different, haha. But some artists I would love to swap are Bast, Swoon, Gaia, David Choe, El Bocho, Judith Supine, Wk, Chris Stain,…. too many! **What event of Street art did you most like in 2008-2009 you’ve been there or not? I really enjoyed my weekend at the Upfest Festival in Bristol. A giant bunch of great people. I´m looking forward for the next upfest, 2010.
Who is the artist who recently impressed you most? Why? Warhol absolutely. His influence for all later artists are enormous. He opened a lot of doors for all of us. Could you describe the place you work in ? Have you got a studio? ** I have a studio in my house. In summer I work a lot in my garden. It´s great to be “in the green” and do a work you love. **What is your favourite Street Art book (Stencil History X excepted of course)? I don´t have a nr. book. I really like Herakut´s book, Banksy´s wall & piece, Slinkachu´s little people….., and I´m looking forward for Vhils scratching the surface book. - _source __stencilhistoryx_ [gallery orderby=”rand”]