I came across the inscrutable street artist, Stinkfish, hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, while browsing the Wooster Collective website.   Immediately struck by his vibrant hues of electric blue and fuchsia, the artist used the gritty walls of Guatemala’s urban landscape in hues that paralleled the colorful textiles the country produced.  His stark visual language and  unique style grew to represent the South and Central American streets which he uses regularly as a canvas for his work.

EM:  What neighborhood do you closely identify with?  What makes your community so unique?
I identify a lot with the neighborhood in which I live here in Bogotá: Chapinero. It is an area of high traffic, trade, street vending, graffiti. Is in constant motion at night and during the day. You can find underground environments and quite fashionable. Never get bored.

EM:  What’s your favorite city to use as a canvas for your work? And what makes it ideal for your style?
I think any city is ideal for paint over it, all have interesting and blank spaces. Of that I have known believe that Mexico City is the most I liked is a huge city full of graffiti, with a lot of life, millions of images that go from side to side.

EM: How often do you travel and what was an interesting experience that you went through while traveling abroad?
I do not usually plan my trips, usually travel with invitations to events and projects. I love to travel, wish I could make much more. I travel at least once or twice a year.

An interesting experience was my recent trip to Guatemala, a country with a huge tradition and population indigenous, with much color and dramatic landscapes, volcanoes, textile, and very little graffiti, a nice place to paint.

EM: If you could live anywhere else besides Bogota, Columbia where would it be? And why?
I think it would be in Mexico City, is a city that never stops to meet with many atmospheres, impressive graphics, delicious food and a very large and interesting urban art.

EM: What is the defining creative inspiration behind your work?
Daily life, children, street noise, love, what I see when I walk, I hear. I think that what I do is mix it all in a wall.

EM:  Where are your favorite local spots to leisurely hang out with friends when you’re not painting?
I love walking the streets, to me is the place to be alone or accompanied. Here in Bogota I love walking by Chapinero the Downtown, lost for hours in places of all kinds. I especially love the places of used objects, books, magazines, toys.

EM:  What songs would you have on the soundtrack of one of your painting sessions?
Many!  But some of these are my favorite:

Asi son mis días :: Control Machete (Mexico)

Asi está la cosa :: Actitud Maria Marta (Argentina)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/friends/

El Fantasma de la Rana :: Sekta Core (México)

Lazy Lover :: Brazilian girls

Ectoplasma :: 1280 almas ( Colombia)

EM:  What is your current bedside read or favorite website to browse?
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE:
http://www.woostercollective.com/

EKOSYSTEM:
http://www.ekosystem.org/

EM:  What new projects you are building on right now?
Now I’m working  on a exposition project of  memory from the graffiti here in Bogota, which will open in July this year. It is also about a possible trip to Ecuador in May to participate in a festival of urban art in Quito.

***
www.stink.tk

via EM Staff, 24 March 2009 10:20am | 1 |