Interview with Anoush Abrar

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)It is always difficult to talk about myself.
I was born in Iran and I came in Switzerland when I was 5-6. I studied there and entered the University of Art in Lausanne (ECAL).
I wanted to go in the industrial design section but I quickly understood that it wasn’t for me.
Then I decided to study graphic design but at the same time I was frustrated because I spent too much time in front of my computer, in fact I saw that photography was more made for me and my curiosity.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)Absolutely not ! I was supposed to become an engineer. Actually my father wanted me to become an engineer, a doctor or a dentist.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I like working on large format camera. I think it's because you can construct your image and take the time to take the picture. Of course you can do it with digital camera but it is not the same thing with the film.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Not conventional. I try to!

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)I usually do things and afterwards I think about it. It is a very instinctive way to produce a work.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)I am spending too much time on my commercial work and it is really time now to come back to my first love, my personal work.
There is always this balance between commercial and art work and it has been 2 years now that the weight is on the commercial side.
I need to reconfigure this balance so I will continue my art work this summer.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)I am very attracted now in images in movements or/and movements in the image.

q) What are some of your obsessions?
a)Perfectionist

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I Was presented in many galleries but I'm not going to name theme. You can find the list on my website.
I don’t contact the galleries because I am not in the process of presenting my work but more of doing my work.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)By email


q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Never forget the fun in your work. Work for yourself and not for the others.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)Sandrine Pelletier, David Lynch, Michael Man, Philip-Lorca diCorcia

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a)The Fountainhead by Ayan Rand + Andrea Gursky catalogue (last exhibition in Basel)

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)I am not indulgent with weaknesses, sorry!

q)...your contacts…

a)Anoush Abrar,
http://www.anoush.ch/,
anoush@anoush.ch

Interview with Jack Crossing

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a) My name's Jack Crossing, I'm 21 years old and I'm a graphic design student from Great Britain, currently in my final year at university.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a) I've always wanted to be part of something creative, as long as I can remember. failing that I'd like to be a professional footballer!

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a) Since studying at university I have been able to work alot with silkscreen printing, sometimes the best medium is pencil and paper as it leads to better ideas.

q) How would you describe your style?

a) Typographic + simply graphic. I enjoy the type design process and making my own typefaces, even if no one ever gets to see them. I also enjoy working with symbols and producing repeat patterns, there's something nice about seeing a set of graphics again and again.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your
work?

a) It's more or less the same everytime, Research, ideas, development (In that order)

q) What are you working on at present?

a) I'm currently working with Andy Topelsik, design, on a project which will see 500 limited edition silkscreen prints given away for free at an event later in the year, the idea is that 10 designers/illustrators/artists will print an edition of 50 prints in attempt to promote the method of silkscreen printing. I'm also working towards a book of photographs of LA, I'm going out to the states in the next few weeks and will be photographing LA and presenting the photographs in a large format french fold book.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a) Recently I've been looking at the work of Wim Crouwel, the dutch typographer. I've been hooked into this blog called ffffound, it's a site which displays the members favorite images that have been bookmarked, It's really nice to see what everyones getting up to.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a) producing work exactly the same way I see it in my head, sometimes I wish I could take the image from my head and just put it straight to paper. Life would be so much easier.
q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to
show at?

a) I haven't had to privilidge of my work being shown at a gallery, though I was part of an exhibition held in Bath, which saw a group of designers and illustrators produce a designed chair.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a) By email, it's alot easier to take in first thing in the morning.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting
out?

a) don't worry what everyone else is working on and make sure whatever your doing, to just enjoy it otherwise there is no point doing it.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a) SEA, Wim Crouwel, Vince Frost, New Future graphics, Evan Hecox and Eboy.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a) The books on my desk right now are a copy of IDN magazine, Frost (vince frost), Altitude and Dos Logos. All of which will be somewhere else tommorow and replaced by others.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a) -
q)..your contacts.

a) http://jackcrossing@hotmail.co.uk

Interview with D. Dominick Lombardi

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a) I am an artist all my life. I have written over 300 reviews of exhibitions over the last twelve years, and I have curated exhibitions since 1978. Right now, to support my art making, I work about half the year with the scenic artists for the television show Law & Order (Special Victims Unit). I am married to Diane, and I have one child, Lora.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a) The first time I saw Picasso's Guernica I was hooked. I was about three years old, and a picture of that painting was published in the new encyclopedia set my parents bought for my brother and I in 1957. Since then, I've wanted to make a painting that was as meaningful as that.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a) I work in all media and fields, it just depends on what I am looking for and maybe how big something will be or how long I want it to take.

q) How would you describe your style?

a) Post Apocalyptic Tattoo - a mix of tattoo, graffiti, comic book, a lot of low brow art influence. Line comes first and is now emphasized as a prime element.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your
work?

a) Not really - I hit the studio running. Sometimes I work best with my pants off.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)Two things. I am working on a big, freestanding sculpture that turns a pile of junk into one of my characters Beachcomber. I am also working on a painting that will have a yellow ochre Graffoo instead of a black one. A Graffoo is a mixture of tattoo and graffiti.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a) I am inspired by the youthful esthetic that surrounds me, and the concern I have for us as human beings. How we are guinea pigs that eat what big businesses want us to eat, and breath and drink what they want us to inhale and drink.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a) Time consuming techniques - things that are slow and difficult. I even like repetition within the creative process, if that makes any sense. It's the rhythm of expression, I guess you could call it.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to
show at?

a) I've shown at over 100 galleries. As of this writing, my work is in or about to be in three one person exhibitions: in San Antonio, Texas my work is at Blue Star Contemporary Art Center; ADA Gallery in Richmond, Virginia just opened last week, and I am packing up a show for Gallery Milieu in Tokyo, Japan. I would love to be represented by a mid level gallery in New York City that has its home in Chelsea.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a) It's best to go through my website.
http://www.ddlombardi.com/
There is a contact link for my email. But they should go through the web site first .

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting
out?

a) Be as busy as possible. Write, curate, do whatever you can to add to the field of art. Give as much as you can and something good will happen. And go to openings, meet as many people as possible - try to get on the inside.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a) Dead, I would have to say Hieronymus Bosch, Philip Guston, Tintoretto, Elizabeth Murray, Francis Bacon, R.B. Kitaj - real painters. Living ones, I like Sue Williams, Sue Coe, Martin Puryear and many more.

q) What books are on your night-stand?

a) The catalog for the exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: I want to Believe - I am writing a review of that show for Art in Asia. That show is at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Otherwise, I prefer short stories - usually by someone like Philip K Dick or the like.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a) Twenty years ago, I would have said beer, wine, scotch, vodka, but now two drinks gives me a headache. I guess right now it's sleep. I never get enough sleep because I am always working.

q)...your contacts.

a)email:
ddlombardi@optonline.net

address:
P.O. Box 108
Valhalla, Ny 10595 USA

Interview with Erlend Mørk

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)I am a symbolist photographer of some sort, twenty-four years old and living in Norway.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)I don't call myself an artist, and I never will. I never planned to create images or anything else. This was not discovered until recent years.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I use cameras and computers because this is what I have learned to use. But I hope to expand to more tools.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Currently my web site states “dark symbolism” as these words seems accurate to me. Surrealist and symbolist by content, and horror, gothic or simply dark might describe the visual style. If there is a word to say vehemently opposed to modern art and human folly, this would be it.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)I spend a lot of time just thinking about abstract concepts. I try to probe deeply into the essence of existence with as little as possible regard to previous conceptions. What I am trying to say is that I am hammering my head in the wall, and it somehow becomes ideas and pictures in the end.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)I am always working on the next image. No particular projects. Currently three images are in the works, and a larger number are waiting and developing in the back of my head.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)The music of Die Form, Nick Cave and Ataraxie.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)Knowledge, clarity. To be able to think unaffected by personal desires.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)So far Galleri Frie Kunster in Oslo is worth mentioning. I have no particular galleries in mind for the future. Wherever interested people would show up is where I'd like to exhibit. But I think I might be better of long-term by concentrating more on my actual creative work just now.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)E-mail or telephone are probably the easiest ways to get in touch. My web site lists these details which might change occasionally.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Study your subject matter, constantly rethink what you are doing, be focused and your worst critic. Don't give in to what is considered correct art by the art authorities in your time/place.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)Nerdrum, Giger and Rembrandt. I also have a great appreciation for music, literature and movies. Other forms of expression but they are all the same to me.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a)No nightstand, but scattered around are Promethean Ambitions (Newman), Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance (Pirsig), Themes (Nerdrum), Dream (Santerineross) and Going back (Richards). I read too many books simultaneously.. And I fail to finish many of them.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)Apathy. More planning than action.

q)….your contacts…

a)http://www.erlendmork.com/