Vantagepoint Radio

EP 170 – SANDREW Feb 02, 2025

Sandra Powell and Andrew King better known globally as SANDREW began collecting street art, or as they accurately like to specify, “artwork made by street artists” in mid 2000’s. What started out as a frenetic fascination has grown into a long obsession and lifestyle shift which has resulted in the accumulation of Australia’s largest collection of street art and has them in the running for possibly the largest worldwide. Their passion and enthusiasm, not only for the artwork but also the artists who make it, has endeared them to the scene which has embraced them as one of their own. Their motivation for collecting has nothing to do with acquiring financial assets but rather supporting the artists and the scene as a whole with the ultimate goal of making the work permanently accessible to the public so that more people can enjoy it. In that vein, they’ve just opened the doors to an exhibition in their home town of Melbourne Australia called The Oustiders Melbourne, which houses over two hundred works (less than 10% of their collection) from street art titans such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Rone, and Swoon along side mid-level artists and local favourites of their own.

EP 169 – BEN FROST Jan 01, 2025

The cartoon characters of your childhood, just like you, have grown up, lived life, experienced trauma, succumbed to addiction, found Jesus, have deviant fantasies, and just like you… they’re working on it. This is the world that Australian pop artist Ben Frost has created over his 30 year art career. His hybrid art intertwines pop art aesthetics, (flat colors and pop culture imagery) with a dark social commentary that reaches his fans on multiple levels. Just like the feeling one gets from the drugs he references in his work, the viewer feels soothed and dirty at the same time when experiencing a Frost piece. With over 40 solo shows in various spots around the globe, coupled with the inevitable controversy here and there that his work tends to generate, Ben has cultivated a thriving career maintaining an impressively high output without watering down the product, a feat many other artists find very hard to attain.

EP 168 – IT’S A LIVING Dec 01, 2024

Mexican born artist Ricardo González, better know by his artists name ‘It’s A Living’ has been traveling and painting around the globe for a very long time. From a small town in central northern Mexico he headed to Canada to study graphic design, followed by a post graduate degree in Typeface Design in New York City. With a solid foundation established, he naturally took a job as a graphic designer but quickly began to pull away from his desk job lifestyle in exchange for a more global existence and increasingly spent his time traveling and painting murals around the US and Europe. González developed a unique hybrid style combining his typographical background with tools and aesthetics of graffiti and tagging. At a time when the mural art scene was exploding and mural festivals popped up all over the world, It’s a Living was in high demand and could be found on lineups everywhere. As his stature in the mural scene grew so to did his desire for the fine art world and he began producing prints, canvases and even sculptures which hang in gallery walls and collectors homes across the world. González now lives in Mexico City and balances his time between studio work, murals, client work, skateboarding, and running various other sneaky businesses around town.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 8 Nov 02, 2024

MVP back again. basically when we cross paths with past guests, we sit them down and catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them. This time recorded during Wall to Wall festival in Mordialloc in Victoria, Australia in 2024, this interview series is loose, irreverent and occasionally drunken. This episode features SMUG, JASON PARKER, DREZ and GEORGE ROSE.

EP 167 – CLAUDE BLO RICCI Oct 01, 2024

As a member of the world renowned DMV collective (Da Mental Vaporz) BLO hit the urban art scene with the momentum of a freight train. His stylised figurative work was sweet and dark, cute and grotesque, and heavily influenced by his background in graffiti. A few years after moving from Paris to Berlin however, a shift emerged in his work. The figures and representational elements faded and a much more intuitive form of abstract art emerged, influenced heavily by the German art scene he found himself engulfed by. As BLO’s work changed, so did his name. In an effort to distance himself from an urban art scene that he no longer recognised himself in, he took on his birth name and as Claude BLO Ricci he cemented his place in the contemporary art world. From canvas work to murals and now even large public metal sculptures, Ricci is always pushing forward and branching into new arenas.

EP 166 – ZOER / FRED BATTLE Sep 03, 2024

Somewhere between reality and a dream, the work of French artist ZOER defies the laws of physics, pushing the viewer just slightly beyond the point of comfort, which is exactly what makes his work so exciting. His color palette and forced perspectives challenge you to bend your understanding of what ‘should be’ and simply accept its beauty for what it is. Playing with themes of urban sprawl, consumerism and excess, ZOER highlights the human impact on nature with the delicacy of a sledge hammer. The skill and drama he displays in his paintings and murals is mirrored in his impressively ambitious installations which often include full size automobiles reimagined at art materials. His approach to, and love of art making is inspirational and ever evolving, making ZOER one of the most exciting artist to keep your eyes on.

EP 165 – TOMMY DAY III Aug 01, 2024

Aboriginal artist Tommy Day carries a heavy load that might be too much for most artists to manage. His rich personal heritage and upbringing however have embedded him with the strength and grace that make him the perfect person for the task. As a contemporary artists working within traditional Aboriginal frameworks going back tens of thousands of years, Day encapsulates his culture and their values, stories, and aesthetics while embracing contemporary tools and methods such as large scale mural projects and collaborations. Although he does not consider himself a political artists, his presence in the contemporary art world and position between traditional culture and modern Australian institutions is inherently political in nature, an orientation he embraces without hesitation.

EP164-INSANE 51 Jul 01, 2024

Insane51 has developed a mind bending painting style that incorporates double exposure images painted exclusively in red and blue (pink and cyan to be exact) showing two images at once. When viewed through a red or blue filter, like the two lenses of traditional 1950’s style 3D movie glasses, the viewer is able to isolate parts of the painting while everything else becomes invisible. By flipping back and forth between the red and blue filters one is able to see two different images in his art. Although he was not the fist to play with this trick of light and color, Insane51 harnessed the illusion in a very interesting and unique way, by turning the red and blue 3d glasses into an X-Ray machine. Focusing mainly on human portraiture, his figures beautifully painted in one color seem to be unaware that their inner skeletal structure illuminates out to the viewer in the opposite color. His instantly recognisable murals are in high demand and have taken him around the globe and back numerous times and gained him a monstrous following on social media with over 400,000 followers on instagram alone. Never satisfied however, Insane51 is always looking to take his art to the next level wether through interesting collaborations with established commercial brands or moving his personal work into new materials and dimensions.

EP 163 – ADNATE Jun 01, 2024

One of Australia’s most recognisable muralist and contemporary artists Adnate, has managed to thread a needle that few other artists have been able to pull off with such grace. As a non-native person, Adnate’s paintings and large scale murals focus mainly on indigenous people and culture, a combination with inherent potential for conflict or misstep. His sensitive approach and altruistic intent however, are such that over the past decade of creating art on these themes, he has been embraced by Australia’s First Nations people as well as indigenous people beyond Australian borders. By working together with communities, collaborating with indigenous artists, raising funds, asking questions and most importantly listening, Adnate has endeared himself to the culture and continues to promote ideas of acceptance and empowerment through his work. His skill painting portraiture is undeniable and the scale of his work, sometimes reaching heights of 20-25 stories, leaves no doubt of his excellence and with highly sought after studio paintings and countless murals still to come, Adnate’s future continues to be bright.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 7 May 28, 2024

MVP back again. basically when we cross paths with past guests, we sit them down and catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them. This time recorded during a short visit to the rural town of Benalla in Victoria, Australia in 2024, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken. This episode features BUFF DISS, DXTR and REKA.

EP 162 – SOFLES May 01, 2024

To see someone paint a graffiti piece with no prior planning and no sketch and have it turn out really good at the end is impressive no matter how familiar you are with writing graffiti. But to paint a large scale mural from a lift with no sketch, no plan, using both hands, and filming yourself while you do it… and have it turn out really good and proportionally accurate… that’s other worldly. Sofles is a cyborg. There’s no other way to explain it. A well oiled machine that can paint anything in almost any style, with speed, confidence, and accuracy. The plethora of videos on his YouTube page and all over the internet prove this to be true. His short film titled “Limitless” from 2013 with director Selina Miles, with over 13 million views, is one of the most impressive displays of wall painting you will ever see. From photorealistic portraiture, to vast seascapes, intricate design and pattern work, Inovative letter and hand styles, and of course just straight up grimy trackside graffiti for the heads, Sofles has concurred it all. His prowess and talent are only matched by his thirst and curiosity for what comes next which thankfully keeps the engine running and the innovations coming.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 6 Apr 16, 2024

MVP back again after a hiatus.. basically when we cross paths with past guests, we sit them down and catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them. Recorded during the inaugural Vantagepoint Group exhibition at Denverwalls 2022, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken. This episode features DULK and Squidlicker. Needless to say, this is the drunken part of the night.. its loud, unruly and general chaos..

EP 161 – GEORGE F BAKER III Apr 01, 2024

The only thing more delightful and colorful than the work of George F. Baker III is the huge smile and good energy the man himself brings into every room he enters. His artwork reflects his personality, bounding with intricate design and color and full of positivity and witty life affirmations. After a successful but unfulfilling career as a graphic designer in Atlanta, GFB3 abruptly shifted gears from digital client work to painting murals and personal studio work. In his first year, with no real training in mural painting, he set out to paint as many murals as possible and honed in on his craft through sheer bruit force and dedication. What emerged was a highly stylized and unique combination of character illustration and text with so much energy that it seems to pulsate on the wall.

EP 160 – ACHES Mar 01, 2024

Dublin’s finest, ACHES is a man of many talents. As one of the leading graffiti artists in Ireland, ACHES has been pushing the art form in new and Inovative directions for years, incorporating his graphic design training and embracing technology to access new creative avenues conceptually in his work. Around 2017 ACHES began incorporating a bit of realistic portraiture into his graffiti, painting a quick portrait of whatever painting mate joined him that day next to his otherwise traditional graffiti letter styles. This act sparked a new direction for the artist and set him ablaze burning through the mural art scene with as much fuel and drive as one could imagine. Borrowing techniques he had perfected in his graffiti years before, ACHES has become best known for his color separated portraits where the main figure is divided into a rainbow of color as if filtered through a prism. His creativity and skill are as thick and satisfying as his Irish accent and there seems to be no limit to what we should expect from ACHES in the future.

EP 159 – KIMCHI JUICE Feb 01, 2024

With a name like Kimchi Juice you just can’t go wrong. The young artists from Washington DC, much like the name she’s given herself, leaves you with more questions than answers the longer you speak with her… but in all the best ways. From the age of 13, Kimchi Juice knew with full determination that she was an artist, so much so that she sidestepped high school in order to homeschool herself to free up more time to concentrate on making art on her own. Her focus and confidence has not wained over the past decade and has paid off big time. The 24 year old has shown her work in galleries and museums, painted murals from DC to Florida, to LA and as far as Seoul South Korea. She’s curated group shows in LA and Wasington DC and even has some of her art in the permanent collection with the Smithsonian. Her contemporary portrayal of traditional Korean motifs with feminist undertones speak to the artist’s upbringing and personal beliefs and continues to expand and evolve as it moves from walls to canvas to 3D objects and beyond.

EP 158 – DETOUR Jan 01, 2024

Much like a human Swiss Army knife, Denver based artist Detour has a tool or a solution for any situation… and if he doesn’t, then he’s damn sure going to find one or even better, simply invent one himself. Growing up in a military family and bouncing around from city to city, country to country every few years, one learns from an early age how to adapt to new and unfamiliar situations. Detour took this aspect of his childhood and turned it into his super power, using his interest in sports and then breakdancing and eventually art making as a means to find his place in every new community. As his focus concentrated in on fine art his thirst for experimentation and discovery only grew. As a professional artists Detour glides effortlessly between painting murals, designing and building sculptural work, developing full immersion art installations, and even conceptualising and inventing new experimental art tools and methods. Through his highly popular YouTube channel, and powerful social media presence, Detour continues to share his wealth of knowledge with other artists around the world, further utilising his skills and interests to grow his community.

EP 157 – JEREMY FISH Dec 02, 2023

In the days before the internet spread information and culture like it does today, Jeremy Fish first cemented his place in the art world through designing skateboard graphics in San Francisco back in the late 90s and early 2000s. His unique aesthetic quickly gained the attention of publications such as Juxtapoz Magazine which sent his work around the globe. Always maintaining a balance between fine art and consumer products such as vinyl toys, tee-shirts, and brand collaborations, Fish has been able to create an ever growing audience and maintain a freshness within his output. Originally from upstate New York, Fish has been living in and making art about his adopted home town of San Francisco for nearly three decades. His success in and influence on the Golden Gate city and the larger art world is undeniable despite the fact, or possibly because of the fact, that his approach to art making has virtually stayed the same all this time… to feverishly produce work that is thematically captivating and approachable to a wide audience. Never one for the elitist art world, Fish takes great pride in his wide appeal and accessibility and with values such as these and a motor as revved up as his there’s no limit to where his career will go over the next 30 years.

EP 156 – ILL.DES Nov 02, 2023

Denver based artist ILL.DES creates abstract universes of geometry and dimension that unapologetically nod to his background as a computer engineer. The soft, almost pastel color palette that unifies his work brings a playfulness to the otherwise quite rigid forms and complex designs. From digital work, to canvas, animation, and large scale murals, the work is striking and clean and instantly identifiable. Recently, Ill.DES teamed up with artist and lead director A.L. Grime to launch the highly touted Denver Walls mural festival which is where we sat down with him to discuss art and life and what it’s like to be in the eye of a mural festival storm.

EP 155 – A.L. GRIME Oct 02, 2023

Producing and directing a large scale mural festival while simultaneously being one of the featured muralist in the festival is undoubtedly no easy feat, but artist A. L. Grime with her background in the music industry (running a record label, producing events, and managing artists) and more recently her thriving career as a mural painter and studio artist, is uniquely qualified for the job. As the lead director of the Denver Walls Mural Festival, Grime’s skill set and responsibilities are vast. As an artist she has quickly risen to be one of the most recognizable muralists in Denver. Her stark black and white graphics illuminate her love of the digital world and computers while her passions for issues such as feminism and equality fill her work with meaning and depth. Grime’s thirst to embraces technology such as AI to push her work in new and Inovative directions enables her to evolve and stay current with contemporary trends.

EP 154 – DVATE Sep 01, 2023

A legend in the Australian graffiti scene for nearly three decades, Jimmy DVATE is a master with a spray can. From letter forms to photorealistic portraits of native flora and fauna, his skill set is applicable to nearly any subject. The once graffiti obsessed teenager grew into a graffiti obsessed adult with ambitions of a flourishing art career. Taking the skills he’d acquired from graffiti combined with his love of nature and native Australian wildlife, DVATE cemented his path into a commercial mural art career. Focusing heavily on endangered species and conservation issues, he uses his public art to educate and promote a healthy balance between man and nature, all the while subversively, and often not so subversively, integrating graffiti aesthetics and letter forms into his work in an effort to educate the older generations on the roots of the modern mural scene and its connection to graffiti.

EP 153 – TAYLA BROEKMAN Aug 01, 2023

“It all starts with a pencil, a piece of paper, and a feeling.” So it is said by Melbourne based artist Tayla Broekman about the creative process. By her account, all emotions fall somewhere between love and fear, and tapping into those emotions and being able to visualize the sensation of an emotion is what gives Tayla her super power as an artist. What starts as a pencil drawing, usually of a female figure or an animal, comes to life through her unique color combinations and illustrative flare. Whether on a wall with spray paint or on canvas with acrylic or gouache, her army of bad ass female warriors and felines is steadily growing as Tayla settles into her new creative space at the legendary Everfresh studios alongside an expanding group of talented Melbourne based artists leading the charge in the Australian art scene.

EP 152 – GEORGE ROSE Jul 01, 2023

Is it the ‘sweet sweet fades’ that lure you in first, or the mesmerizing botanical patterns? Maybe it’s the explosion of color or catchy word play that she integrates into some of her work. Regardless of what gets you there, the world of Melbourne based artist George Rose will draw you in and offer you plenty to discover while you’re there. Her walls and immersive interior murals play with scale and space, dense with bold patterns and bright colors. At first the work can seem overbearing but her clean finishes and sharp edges pared with a playful quality give everything a sense of order and fun that puts the viewer right at ease. This push and pull of lighthearted drama is what makes Rose’s work so engaging and enjoyable. It’s no surprise therefore that Rose is one of the most prolific and sought after mural artists on the Australian scene and nothing seems to indicate that things will be slowing down any time soon.

EP 151 – RONE Jun 01, 2023

It would be nearly impossible to overstate the level of thought, commitment and detail that goes into Rone’s work. The Australian artist has been ‘levelling up’ project by project the past 5-10 years at such a pace that he’s nearly morphed into a completely different artist. What started as wheat pasted and stencilled portraits around Melbourne gave way, not surprisingly, to brush painted murals and in the early 2010’s Rone had already cemented his place as a headliner in the early days of the traveling mural festival circuit. But somewhere around 2015 the artists began to take steps towards a massive shift in his work and general trajectory of his life. Rone’s focus these days is on the creation of some of the most complex and large-scale art installations one could imagine. From the activation of an abandoned 1920s art nouveau theatre for a solo show of his photography, to the total takeover and reimagining of a multilevel 1930s art deco mansion into a fictional time-capsule window to the life of some of Australia’s opulent elite… all completely made up out of the artist mind. As Rone wrapped up the final weeks of his current installation ‘Time’ in Melbourne’s city centre, where he’s converted an abandoned train station into an eerie glimpse of post WW2 Australian work life, JB and Tom had the pleasure to catch up with our old buddy for a chat which unfortunately only scratches the surface of what this amazing talent is all about.

EP 150 – TES ONE May 01, 2023

For 30 years TesOne has been cultivating an impressive body of work that spans the worlds of graffiti, fine art, murals, and graphic design. His ability to seamlessly blend these different aesthetics is what makes his work sing. Dialing up the volume on one and down on another depending on what the project calls for, TesOne effortlessly and simultaneously creates work commercially for the likes of Nike and Architectural Digest as well as fine art pieces for galleries and collectors, all the while keeping a consistent visual voice that stays true to his roots. Born and raised in St. Petersburg Florida, TesOne has left his mark on his city in many ways, not the least of which is by being one of the original braintrust that started the highly respected and long running Shine Mural Festival which is where we were when we had the pleasure of sitting down with the man himself to discuss it all.

EP 149 – GRAFFITI EGYPT Apr 01, 2023

Believing in oneself and fully committing to one’s own artistic impulses without regard to outside opinions is the unattainable goal of countless artists. Others however settle quite naturally into this paradigm of thinking. Such is the case for nomadic artist Graffiti Egypt. As she journeys through life relocating her homebase from city to city every few years she moves with a mature confidence that betrays her young age. The portraits she paints on city walls and canvases document her state of mind at any given time while also paying respect to her past and cultural heritage. Her stark black stencil like portraits contrast with the soft color palette and unique pattern work in the background giving each piece a dynamic boldness that is the trademark of Egypt’s work.

EP148 – PALEHORSE Mar 01, 2023

Chris Parks, better known as ‘Palehorse’ has been producing personal and commercial art for nearly two decades with a level of output that is almost unbelievable. He has designed imagery for some of the biggest bands and corporations in the world, while conversely maintaining a deep intimacy in his personal work that reflects his individuality and spirituality on so many levels it’s hard to count. Parks’s work really began to solidify a number of years ago when his new found interest in psychedelics and meditation began to redefine his focus and intention in his art and life in general. Now singularly focused on spirituality and meditation Parks has combined his art practice with his quest for higher consciousness. Through his ‘Seekers of the Eternal’ podcast and guided meditations that he leads out of his Florida studio, combined with his ongoing and impressive output of paintings, installations, NFTs and murals, Parks has built a community of devoted followers and collectors. Together with his brother Matt who joined Palehorse a few years ago, the Parks brothers are blurring the lines between art, technology, spirituality and what it means to be a mindful seeker in todays society.

EP 147 – BEN JOHNSTON Feb 01, 2023

Aside from his brilliance as a designer, Ben Johnston’s real talent lies in his ability to offer a creative, sometimes alternative meaning to a word or phrase simply based on it’s presentation on a page, canvas, or wall. The way he bends and twists letters and words gives life and story to the forms far beyond the meaning of the words themselves. Raised in Cape Town, Johnston left South Africa after a short stint at university studying industrial design for a new life in Toronto Canada as an independent artist straddling the worlds of commercial design and fine art. These days Johnston focuses his energies on public work and murals as well as paintings and sculptures destined for galleries and private collectors.

VantagePoint was lucky enough to share billing with Johnston at the Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg Florida where we sat down with him and and heard all about it straight from the man himself.

EP 146 – REGINALD O’NEAL Jan 01, 2023

VantagePoint listeners first met Reginald O’Neal back in 2014 on episode 023 with artists Axel Void. At the time, Reginald (known then as L.E.O.) was as apprentice to Axel and traveling through Europe with his mentor. What may seem as a typical relationship throughout art history is undoubtedly unusual by today’s standards and what unfolded throughout the one hour interview was, and remains to be, one of the most touching and inspirational artist relationships we’ve come across over a decade of doing VantagePoint. Imagine our joy then, when 8 years later Reginald O’Neal is booked to the same mural festival as us and we have the opportunity to check back in with him as he now navigates through the contemporary art world as an independent artist making big moves and bringing his unique voice and point of view to walls, galleries, and art fares across the globe.

EP 145 – 123KLAN Dec 01, 2022

Few could have predicted the enormous global ripple effects that the meeting of two young artists in the early 90’s would have on the world of graffiti, design, and branding, but 30 years later we should all be thankful that the world works in such mysterious ways. French husband and wife duo Klor and Scien formed 123Klan in 1992 as a way to focus their group of friends around their common interests in art and technology. Over the ensuing decades they established themselves as one of the most authentic voices bridging the gap between their hard-earned graffiti roots and aesthetics with the budding industries of web design, streetwear, branding, and video game design. Their greatest asset, aside from their impeccable taste and eye for design, could well be their ability to work not as a duo but as one unified artist, motivating and inspiring each other and always moving towards one common goal. In 2007 after developing countless designs for leading streetwear brands 123Klan launched their own label ‘Bandit1$m’ with huge success. Whether painting murals, graffiti, or canvas… or working on any one of their numerous digital outlets, Klor and Scien have built a career off of a simple philosophy that we should all try to follow, ‘Only do work that you dig and always have fun doing it’.

EP 144 – SHINE FESTIVAL Nov 01, 2022

In it’s 8th year of operation, the Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg Florida continues to be one of the leaders in the pack of well respected, heavy hitting mural festivals around the globe. The roster of big name international and national artists that Shine has hosted over the past 8 years implies a huge organization with a massive backing. The reality however, is that with just a handful of intensely dedicated people and the support of a local arts counsel, Shine has managed to become a globally recognized powerhouse project while maintaining the small town intimate vibe that builds a sense of family among everyone involved, including artist (local and international), organizers, volunteers, and community members. A feat that most other mural festivals attempt to model themselves after with varying degrees of success.

Organizers Michelle Tannu and Jenee Priebe explain what it takes to start up a mural festival and keep it running for all these years with the continued support of the community while upholding a responsibility to represent a diversity of styles and backgrounds, both artistic and personal, of its participants and community members. They outline the qualities they look for in the artists they offer invitations to each year and we discuss the challenges a project of this kind faces to become and remain relevant in such a competitive landscape of mural festivals popping up in every city across the country.

EP 143 – GEORGIA HILL Oct 01, 2022

Georgia Hill’s background in graphic design is immediately obvious by her ability to communicate felling and tone so powerfully with a rather minimal amount of artistic elements. Mostly black and white and aggressively flat dimensionally, Hill’s work would seem stark if it weren’t for her captivating use of pulsating repetition, clever optical illusions, ominous and suggestive incorporation of text and the sheer size and scale at which her work is often presented. Based in Sydney Australia, Hill has spent the past decade traveling the globe painting murals, often times from one project to the next with breaks in between just long enough to produce enough studio work for a solo show before hitting the road again. A lifestyle that seems an odd choice for the self-proclaimed introvert, but her tireless efforts and work ethic have landed her as one of the most identifiable artists on the scene in Australia and abroad.

EP 142 – NAFIR Sep 01, 2022

Iranian artist Nafir creates work that combines traditional hand crafts from around the world with modern street art painting techniques to create works that are both beautiful and subversive at the same time. Tying cultural traditions of the past to modern techniques and aesthetics allows Nafir to layer multiple meanings and interpretations into his work, simultaneously paying respect to and commenting on ideas and traditions from past generations. Living in Tehran, Iran presents challenges that most other artists around the globe do not deal with but this hasn’t stopped Nafir from traveling and exhibiting his work across Europe and beyond in addition to the streets and galleries of his native Iran.

EP 141 – GOLDIE Aug 01, 2022

Goldie needs no introduction… that is to say, it is nearly impossible to give a proper introduction to such a prolific and successful cultural shapeshifter as Goldie. From his early days in the 80s as a b-boy and graffiti writer in England and New York (where he first joined forces with the legendary Tats Crew), to the mid 90s when he founded one of the most influential record labels in Britain (Metalheadz) and become an international musical icon and eventually becoming a household name globally through acting in tv and films such as Snatch and James Bond, you’d be hard-pressed to come across anyone who hasn’t been touched by Goldie in one way or another. In 2020 Goldie embarked on his newest endeavor with the launching of Aurum Art Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand showcasing his own paintings and sculptures alongside some of the most sought after street and urban artists from around the globe. We sat down with Goldie in Berlin after a long and late night DJ gig to discuss the enormity of his life so far and how creating art seems to be the golden thread tying all of his varied interests and successes together.

EP 140 – MR JUNE Jul 01, 2022

Mr. June has been painting on walls since 1985 and in the nearly 40 years since then much has changed but his core love of graffiti and painting has not. After graduating with a Graphic Design degree from the Royal School of Arts in his native Holland Mr. June started his own design firm in Amsterdam which he ran with great success until his desire to work for clients gave way to his need for artistic freedom and independence. By combining his graffiti background with his design knowledge he condensed decades of training down into one single shape upon which he has developed an entire fine art career spanning over a decade. With the humble hexagon as the starting point for every piece of art he makes, Mr. June is forced to pull inspiration from elsewhere. Guided by the architecture and environments in which he paints or simply expanding on ideas from his past works, Mr. June finds endless design possibilities and offers them up to the viewer wrapped in his trademark bands of gradient color.

EP 139 – DREZ Jun 01, 2022

DREZ is making big waves with his bold colorful murals across his native Australia and beyond. Monumental bands of gradient color, which the artist calls “Chromatic Pulse”, designed to mirror the existing architecture of a space, vibrate with glowing energy and engulf any viewer that enters their orbit. As a departure from his roots in the music scene and graffiti, DREZ’s murals and studio work lean hard into the world or abstract and even minimalism. Rather than subject matter, it’s the emphasis on space and color that become the focal point of his work and with intense effectiveness. A relative newcomer on the mural scene, DREZ’s understanding of his own path in the art world is surprisingly mature and we expect big things from him in the future.

EP 138 – PHIBS May 01, 2022

Widely considered one of the seminal figures in the Australian graffiti scene, Phibs has enjoyed a crossover career spanning decades and cross-pollinating artistic borders from graffiti, to corporate work, to curation, muralism and gallery work. As a long time key member of the globally recognized Everfresh studio in Melbourne Phibs has been a household name to street art fans for a very long time. Whether painting figurative work, letter styles, animals, plants, or just abstract, his distinctive use of densely detailed twisting organic shapes trapped with thick black outlines give his work an instantly identifiable quality regardless of subject matter.

EP 137 – YANOE x ZOUEH Apr 01, 2022

Artists Ryan ‘Yanoe’ Sarfati and Eric ‘Zoueh’ Skotnes joined forces a few years ago and have quietly established themselves as one of the most respected mural painting duos on the scene. Together they’ve clocked a handful of the largest and most impressive murals form the past couple years including the The Majestic in Tulsa Oklahoma which has been deemed the ‘largest augmented reality mural in the world’. Yanoe and Zoueh first encountered each other in the LA graffiti scene as teenagers in rival crews. Fate eventually brought them together years later and they quickly developed a friendship which grew into a working partnership. Their murals combine the two artist’s styles seamlessly and incorporate a nice balance of contemporary art with their graffiti backgrounds. Technology is a big part of their work as well with nearly every mural getting augmented digitally and the duo has now entered the NFT world with digital versions of their Majestic mural. The sky is the limit with these two both individually and as a duo and we at VantagePoint are extremely excited to be along for the ride.

EP 136 – TATI Mar 01, 2022

The world of Tatiana Suarez is inhabited by exotic figures that float somewhere in the realm between human, animal, and plant life. Their oversized eyes concealing truths while emitting emotion. Wether with watercolor, oil, or spray paint, Tati creates milky dreamlike environments that allow her ladies to be simultaneously dark and soft, creepy and lovely, powerfully feminine and unapologetically erotic. Tati’s unique voice and aesthetic have thrust her into the global mural art scene with walls in Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Jamaica, and throughout the US including the prestigious Wynwood Walls in her hometown of Miami.

EP 135 – ATOMIK Feb 01, 2022

Few artists if any are more synonymous with the city in which they live than Miami’s Atomik. His iconic Orange character is visible in every corner of the city, from walls to street signs to tee-shirts and beyond . It could be argued that there is not a single spot in Wynwood where you can stand and not have an Atomik orange within your line of vision. Surprisingly however, the thing that sets Atomik apart from other graffiti writers is not how prolific he is, but rather how much the city has embraced him and adopted his character as the unofficial mascot of Miami. Most graffiti communicates in a coded language speaking only to those who understand the source code leaving the majority of society out of the conversation. Atomik’s orange on the other hand speaks directly to the people of the city drawing on historical and sentimental imagery and presented in a way that inspires pride and ownership within the community.

Beyond the orange, Atomik is a staple in the Miami art and graffiti scene with his fingers in many different pies. Decades of painting graffiti in just about every corner of the world has led him to running galleries, producing his own original toys and merchandise, organizing local youth art events through his shared studio space and still finding time for his family and his own professional art practice.

EP 134 – ALEX YANES Jan 01, 2022

Miami native Alex Yanes has developed a unique blend of painting and sculpture that combines urban art aesthetics with pop imagery and a sunshiny tropical vibe. His imagery, featuring a mix of abstract geometry with tropical plants and animals woven between text and uplifting messages, is reminiscent of a life spent in the sunshine state. For nearly a decade his colorful sculptures, wall hanging relief paintings, and installations have been gracing galleries and art fares around the globe. While in town for Miami Art Week, VantagePoint sat down with Yanes to get a local perspective on the Miami art scene and what the craziness of Art Basel and the other art fairs has done for the city of Miami and the careers of local artists.

EP 133 – OXKING Dec 01, 2021

Sydney based artist The Ox King has positioned himself as a leading mural painter in Australia through his stylised pop imagery influenced heavily by his obsession with manga as a kid. His strong emphasis on color and design make his work immediately recognizable and easily accessible to the public.

EP 132 – ALLISON SOMMERS Nov 01, 2021

The paintings and drawings of Berlin based American artist Allison Sommers act as a portal to a universe very similar to our own but in which some evil genius has altered a few lines of the code. Grotesque in subject matter but handled with exquisite artistic attention, the viewer is left struggling to decide whether they should turn away in disgust or give into the urge to explore the endless details of oozing contorted flesh and sticky tissue. Sommers’ work expands tonally and dimensionally with her mixed media assemblage pieces and sculptures, hinting more perhaps to her degree in history than her two dimensional work does. After recently moving from New York to Berlin her artistic outlook and output have come to a crossroads and it was a pleasure to speak with her at this pivotal time in her career.

EP 131 – LADY AIKO Oct 01, 2021

Lady Aiko has been a hugely influential force in the “urban art” scene for significantly longer than there has even been an “urban art” scene. Since moving from Tokyo to New York in the early 90s Aiko has been a constant presence and has collaborated with or even played a pivotal roll in the early careers of industry giants such as Takashi Murakami, Faile, Banksy, and Martha Cooper just to name a few. Her solo work focuses primarily on hand cut stencils for which she has developed an instantly recognizable technique. Mixing Japanese aesthetics with images from her travels and life experience as well as pop culture, her work speaks to themes of Feminism, innocence and love. It was a great pleasure to sit down with Aiko during her short trip to Berlin to paint a collaborative mural with Martha Cooper on the facade of the Urban Nation Museum.

EP 130 – MR PARADOX PARADISE Sep 01, 2021

It is not at all an over exaggeration to say that Paradox (Mr. ParadoxParadise) is one of the most prolific, most unique, and most visible graffiti writer in Berlin, a city full of prolific and unique graffiti writers. Because of that however, they are extremely secretive and anonymous which is why this episode of VantagePoint is so special. Paradox exploded into public consciousness through the development and implementation of a special technique of painting graffiti that involves repelling down from the roof of a building and hitting parts of walls that are otherwise completely inaccessible. Because of this special (and insane) technique his graffiti is vertical rather than horizontal which only adds to it’s uniqueness. Furthermore, the lettering style Paradox has developed is unlike any other. What appears to most people as a long lost alien language only reveals itself as letters and words to those who take the time to decipher the code. Recently Mr. Paradox has branched into new methods of output including apparel and fine art sculptures as well as self producing and directing a new feature length film documenting his story (four years in the making) titled “SPIRITUAL LETTERS”. It was an extreme honor and thrill to finally get to talk to the person behind the mask for this VantagePoint exclusive.

EP 129 – RAWS Aug 01, 2021

For some people, turning your hobby into your career can suck all of the fun and passion out of it. For others, it allows them to do what they love every day and adds an extra level of excitement and motivation. RAWS stands confidently in the second group. As a teenager he discovered his love for graffiti. At university he studied graphic design. But it wasn’t until after finishing his studies that he realized his true calling fell somewhere between the two. By blending his design and graffiti aesthetics RAWS has created a specific and unique artistic voice that can be appreciated by people across a wide spectrum. His decision to shift his focus from commercial work to fine art has proven to be a wise one with galleries and collectors seeking him out and solo shows lining up one after another.

EP128 – KKADE Jul 01, 2021

Kkade discovered his love of letters while writing graffiti in his youth. His love became an obsession when studying graphic design at school and realizing that the middle point between letter styles and design is typography. From his small city in Switzerland, Kkade as gained global recognition for his ultra clean and stylized typographical designs and logos as well as his graffiti and murals both individually and as a member of the Schwarzmaler Crew. Continuing in the rich history of Swiss designers and typography heavy-hitters, Kkade has cemented his place as the ‘go to guy’ for logos and corporate identity from tattoo and streetwear companies to high end restaurants and beyond.

EP 127 – SCOTT NAGY & KRIMSONE Jun 01, 2021

Krimsone and Scott Nagy formed a friendship as kids and dove headfirst into the local graffiti scene together. Years later they casually joined forces and have spent most of the past few years painting full time as a mural duo. Their explosive use of bold colors and beautifully composed scenes depicting a wide range of native Australian plants and animals have the strange effect of feeling both surreal and familiar at the same time. The two young artists have had a ton of success acquiring walls and projects across Australia and beyond while developing their skills and artistic voice and are poised to be a real force to reckon with on the mural scene moving forward.

EP 126 – HOXXOH May 01, 2021

I am driving with windows down late at night through the sticky Miami heat to meet an artist who has the name of a sci-fi creature and who’s work deals with portals and dimensions of time and space… I have no idea what to expect. When I arrive at HOXXOH’s house what I find is a super laid back guy with a lot to say and a small but aggressive dog who wants me to know right off the bat who the real boss is. As we sit and talk about his work and journey through the art world I realize this space creature’s super power is his drive and thrust for experimentation. Known mostly for his large-scale murals depicting abstracted colorful circular portals painted with his trademark “flare” marking, it’s actually his studio work where the real magic is found. Countless hours of experimenting with mechanisms and techniques lead to discoveries that eventually turn into beautifully complex works of art. Over the next 60 minutes HOXXOH walks me through his fascinating story including a moment of intense tragedy on the job a few years ago and how that moment and all the others in the past decade have lead him to this exact moment in space and time.

EP 125 – LI-HILL Apr 01, 2021

Li-Hill was born and raised in Canada but it was while living in Brooklyn that he made his bones in the art world. His rare ability to translate his work across mediums and scale and from 2D to 3D sets him apart and makes him the envy of many artists. From small studio paintings and sculptures to massive murals and public art installations, Li-Hill’s work illustrates the intersection between the natural and man-mad world through a beautifully unique and energetic visual language. Although the subject of his work is the relationship between opposite forces such as technology and the natural world, or man vs. animal, ironically it is the beautiful symmetry and symbiotic relationship between these opposing elements that the viewer experiences through his work.

EP 124 – AKUT Mar 01, 2021

In the late 90s Akut together with two friends formed a crew that would become one of the most influential crews in one of the largest art movements in the history of art. It sounds like an insane statement to make, but the fact is that Akut and the MaClaim crew were expanding the boundaries of what could be done with a spray can and inspiring countless numbers of artists who would later go on to form the beginnings of the new muralism and urban contemporary art scene. In just 4 years they managed to introduce a level of photorealism into the graffiti scene that hadn’t been seen before and even had a hand in designing one of the most popular and respected spray paint brands in the world. In 2004 Akut transitioned into a new chapter of his career when he linked up with fellow german artist Hera and formed the powerhouse duo Herakut which quickly became one of the most respected and sought after names in the urban contemporary world. With high profile gallery shows and landmark murals across the globe and a 20 year career under his belt, it was an incredible honor and pleasure to sit down with Akut in his Berlin studio for a coffee and a chat.

EP 123 – BEASTMAN Feb 01, 2021

Brad Eastman, better known as Beastman, has spent the past decade cementing his place as a leading figure in the Sydney art scene. Although murals and studio work have always been the core of Eastman’s career, the diversity of his work and output is perhaps his most impressive superpower. His ability to balance high-profile commercial campaigns with international brands against intimate gallery exhibitions and community projects is a skill often overlooked in the art world. In the past 10 years his work has slowly evolved from very illustrative creature based paintings with strong black outlines to bright geometrical abstract work seemingly void of figure at all. The diversity of his visual world is paralleled by the diversity of media he uses to create it. From aerosol and acrylic to sight specific installation with found objects and a wide range of digital work including video and mapping, Eastman remains consistent and authentic across the board.

EP 122 – MODE2 Jan 01, 2021

To say that Mode2 is a pioneer of graffiti is a monumental understatement. His aesthetic in the early 80s and the crews he formed and associated with would influence the way that graffiti and especially graffiti characters would look for the next 40 years. In 1987 his work was chosen to be on the cover of Spaycan Art, a book that would become something of a bible within the graffiti world and helped spread the art form around the globe making Mode2 a household name within the scene. His experience and intellect have him widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on graffiti and hip hop culture and when speaking with him one gets a sense that he has forgotten more about painting and writing than most of us will ever have the chance to learn.

EP 121 – FINTAN MAGEE Dec 01, 2020

Fintan Magee has often been referred to as one of Australia’s leading muralists but the truth is he’s been at the top of the heap globally for nearly a decade and gets nothing but the utmost respect from every other painter around the world. Although humans are the central imagery in his somewhat surreal paintings, the thought and meaning behind each piece go far beyond portraiture. With themes touching on a wide range of social and environmental topics Magee’s work is powerful and meaningful without being overt or accusatory. Through his uniquely beautiful technique of mixing loose suggestive brushstrokes with tighter fully rendered areas, he allows the viewer to have a reaction to the underlying themes while still experiencing the beauty and skill of the artwork.
Mysteriously Magee somehow maintains a thriving studio and gallery practice with shows all over the world, while perpetually having one of the busiest travel schedules in the scene.

EP 120 – KAILI SMITH Nov 01, 2020

Born in the Netherlands, raised in Australia, and educated in New York City, the diverse backstory of Kaili Smith parallels the diversity of the work he makes. He first entered the VantagePoint radar a few years ago when his large narrative paintings of urban youth began popping up all over social media. The work had a strength and confidence about it and brilliantly straddled the space between contemporary and classical painting. Upon further investigation however, one quickly realizes that painting is just one aspect of this multifaceted and accomplished artist. At the ripe age of just 25 he has experience in writing and directing films, installation art, oil painting, performance art, graffiti, photography, acting, and documentary films. The future is bright for Mr. Smith and it was a pleasure to sit down with him for a transcontinental interview coinciding with the opening of his current solo show “A Utopia Where The Problems Art Not Fixed” at Thinkspace Gallery in LA.

EP 119 – JEFF SOTO Nov 01, 2020

Southern California legend Jeff Soto found big success in the early 2000’s with his mashup style combining graffiti and illustrative imagery with traditional painting techniques. His very distinctive artistic voice eventually caught the attention of Juxtapoz magazine and in 2004 landed him on the cover which introduced the world outside of California to his work and things really took off from there. High profile gallery shows and murals coinciding with the rise in popularity of street art blogs and magazines put Jeff in the drivers seat as one of the leading artists of the movement. Over a 20 year career Jeff has weathered the ups and downs of the art market and weaved in and out of various parallel careers such as commercial illustration and teaching at Universities. One thing that has not changed over that time is his love for and devotion to creating art. His work continues to evolve and inspire and it was an honor to finally have him on VantagePoint.

EP 118 – AUGUSTINE KOFIE Oct 01, 2020

The work of Los Angeles based painter Augustine Kofie is visual jazz… an improvised expression of a moment in time, and possibly the artist himself, laid down with a technical precision and delicate subtlety only he is capable of. His paintings are an amalgamation of experiences and influences absorbed over decades of being acutely tuned in to his environment. With no formal training, Kofie found his entrance into the arts through graffiti as a teenager, eventually feeling the limitations of the letter forms he began to expand and abstract his work. Before long the letters were nearly unrecognizable if not gone all together, replaced by undefined fields of colour washes and geometric structure. In the early 2000’s it became clear that artists all over the globe were having similar thoughts… to take this one common influence of graffiti and twist it and blow it out into something completely different. By 2010 Kofie and a handful of other artists were at the helm of a driving movement known as Graffuturism inspiring a new generation of artists to approach art making in a whole new light. With an impressive catalogue of international exhibitions and an ever expanding collector base Kofie continues to push his work and keep it fresh experimenting with materials and textures in his own ‘retro-futuristic’ way.

EP 117 – ELLE Sep 01, 2020

Psychedelic spiritual journeys in the Mexican jungle… beach bumming on the Australian coast… snowy vandal missions blasting 2 story high fire extinguisher tags on Brooklyn rooftops, to ELLE it’s all part of the same story, a mission to compile a life and livelyhood out of a continuous string of momentous adventures. A keen eye will notice the same evolution in her work over the past decade. Years of experimentation and absorbing techniques and ideas has lead ELLE through various stages and styles in her career. A few years ago however, her true artistic voice began to emerge and as no surprise to anyone manifested itself into what can only be described as collage… just without any actual collage. A collection of visual elements from a vast range of influences brought together to form a single image painted almost exclusively with spray paint on walls and large canvases. With powerful feminine themes and an intensely bold color palette, ELLE’s work is deeply biographic but to the viewer remains universal and anonymous, a feat not easily accomplished.

EP 116 – DREW MERRITT Jul 01, 2020

The work of Drew Merritt appears to have been created by the hand of a classically trained painter well versed in the techniques and methods of the Old Masters but the reality of the situation, much like his work, is far more complicated than it seems. Drew’s training and introduction to the arts came through graffiti covered freight trains wizzing past while he sat on horseback in the New Mexico desert. From graffiti to oil paint, Drew’s artistic evolution eventually led him to leave his small town lifestyle for the cut-throat art scene of LA and eventually cemented him as one of the leading artists in the Urban Contemporary scene. With the unusual ability to translate his very detailed and painterly work from canvas to massive walls and from oil to spray paint, his work is immediately identifiable wherever it’s found. Merritt’s somewhat challenging subject matter can be both shocking and mesmerizing which is exactly how he likes it.

EP 115 – MICHAEL REEDER Jun 01, 2020

Michael Reeder is one of the hottest artists in the Urban Contemporary movement at the moment hands down. With roots in graffiti from his upbringing in Dallas Texas paired with a New York City art school education at SVA, Reeder is the perfect example of what the term Urban Contemporary tries to describe. His forward-thinking approach to materials and color schemes combined with a jarringly powerful and recognizable universe of imagery has given him an artistic voice that is entirely unique and incredibly sought-after by collectors across all spectrums of the art market. Whether on walls, in the studio, or through commercial collaborations with fashion and sports brands, Reeder’s work never fails to impress and can’t help but hint at the modest genius of the man who creates it.

EP 114 – RABI May 01, 2020

Entering a room inhabited by RABI is like being beamed up into an alien spacecraft. His energy sucks you in and any attempt to divert your attention is futile. It is unclear at any time whether you should be taking this mysterious character seriously or if you’ve somehow slipped into a parallel universe. His artwork holds the same powers; a mystifying soup of themes and imagery clearly projecting a deeper philosophy wrapped in a clean and polished package, but somehow, like an exquisitely written novel with some of the pages missing, it’s just vague enough to keep it interesting. As former co-founder and art director of the highly regarded collective CYRCLE, Rabi experienced a decade of success with gallery shows, installations, brand and artists collaborations, murals and many other endeavors. In 2019 Cyrcle disbanded to pursue individual solo careers and giving Rabi the first chance in quite some time to really spread his wings and show us all what he’s made of. The Vantagepoint boys sat down with Rabi in his home town of Las Angeles to discuss his past, his future, and the transition from one chapter of an artists career to the next.

EP 113 – MATT GONDEK Apr 01, 2020

“Deconstructed Pop Art” is the term used by Matt Gondek to describe his work which features familiar cartoon characters in various stages of decay and disarray. His special blend of appropriation and branding have gained him a massive global following especially in Asia. What started as works on canvases and walls has transitioned into 3D vinyl figures and beyond. With a dedicated team of assistants in his glossy downtown LA studio he has established himself as a major player in the collectable new age pop art scene. Not content to keep things simple, Gondek started a new thread of his art career 3 years ago with the introduction of a new art and business podcast called Clean Break with himself as the host. Between podcasting, painting, designing toys, traveling and painting murals, running a busy studio, and walking his dog, we were happy to steal a bit of his time for a chat with VantagePoint in the Clean Break studios in downtown Los Angeles.

EP 112 – GREG ‘CRAOLA’ SIMKINS Mar 01, 2020

Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins has accomplished something that many have attempted but only few have succeeded in doing. He crossed over from the graffiti world into the fine art world with huge success and very little compromise, and in doing so has influenced a generation of artists to attempt to follow his lead. His work is highly sought after and sits in some of the most respectable collections around the globe. His acrylic paintings dance in the space between the real world and the imaginary with an unmatched level of craftsmanship. Bursting at the seems with creative energy, Craola’s imagination can hardly be contained within the borders of a canvas. He has branched out to clothing, sculpture, animation, among other things and has his sights set on a few new endeavors he couldn’t talk about publicly just yet. It was an honor to have Mr. Simkins sit down with us during our time in LA and we are very happy to be able to present his thoughts and knowledge to our listeners.

EP 111 – JOHANNES MUNDINGER Feb 01, 2020

Johannes Mundinger is a staple of the Berlin mural and contemporary art scene. His abstract murals play color against shape while taking influence from the surrounding environment to inform the direction for the artwork during it’s creation process. His studio work, much like his murals, can be at times fully experimental and at others more controlled and exact, but almost always feeding off the space in which it is displayed. As a long standing resident of the famous Urban Spree studios in the heart of Berlin, Mundinger is at the center of the Berlin art scene and one of the most genuine people you’ll ever have the pleasure of talking to.

EP 110 – FRAU ISA Jan 01, 2020

Like a cup of coffee on a frosty winter morning in Austria, Frau Isa has a warm and relaxed energy beaming from her that brings a smile to everyone’s face in the room. Her artwork can be described in exactly the same way… subtle, clever, sweet, funny, and distinctively her own. As the only female member of the legendary Weird Crew, Isa rose to fame about 10 years ago when the crew was founded and shot onto the mural scene like a rocket, but her art roots go back much further. In her home town of Vienna Austria she sharpened her skills painting character based graffiti on the streets for years before the public knew the name Frau Isa. These days she juggles a highly demanded illustration company, a fine art career which includes traveling and painting murals as well as her studio work, and her newest job as a mother. We sat down with Isa in Sweden during Artscape Festival to hear her very interesting and quite unique perspective on the world of art and the life of an artist.

EP 109 – THOMAS TURNER Dec 01, 2019

The surrealist paintings of Atlanta based Thomas Turner depict scenes from the natural world if the laws of physics didn’t apply. Things such as gravity, color, time and space are solely held in Turners control and he alone decides what is or isn’t. Although widely considered a studio painter, Turner has spent the last few years branching out and painting murals with great success, landing big commission jobs around Atlanta including some with the major league sports teams in town. For the past two years he has also worked as the assistant for VantagePoint host James Bullough on all of his major mural projects including one in Sweden for Artscape Festival which is where we sat down with Thomas for an interview about life as an emerging artists, making the transition from studio painting to murals, the pros and cons of working as an assistant and where he sees things going for him in the future.

EP 108 – BEAU STANTON Nov 01, 2019

Beau Stanton has cultivated and very unique and specific visual voice within the urban contemporary art scent. One that feels both “old timey” and contemporary at the same time with hints of Greek mythology and nautical themes. Weather painting murals on walls or working in other mediums such as mosaic, stained glass, or light installation, Stanton’s work can be found throughout the globe. His work often incorporates sight specific historical imagery and deals with issues close to his heart such as climate change. We sat down with Beau in Gothenburg Sweden during Artscape Festival and had a fascinating discussion on many topics including his 5 years working as Ron English’s assistant, and the highly publicized controversy over his mural in Las Angeles which lead to a much larger discussion of artistic freedom in public art and censorship.

EP 107 – AUTO64 Oct 01, 2019

‘Tom AUTO64’ is the brains and energy behind VantagePoint radio. Along with co-hosting, he handles all of the behind the scenes operations which make it possible for you to find and listen to us. Outside of VantagePoint however Tom, better know as AUTO64, is a man of many other talents. From music video production, to sculpture, to fine art video installation pieces and a wide range of music production in many different styles, Tom really is a Swiss-army knife of talent. After tons of requests from listeners to know more about the quiet co-host we decided to flip the mics around and dive deep into Tom’s history in the arts, how and why he got involved with VantagePoint, all the different things he does to keep the show alive and growing, how VantagePoint has changed over the years, and what he does with himself outside of the show.

EP 106 – SMUG Sep 01, 2019

SMUG is, and has been for many years, one of the leaders in the clubhouse when it comes to realistic portrait murals. His output is beyond impressive and the number of murals he paints in a year is almost unbelievable, but to him… “it’s just what I do.” His massive portraits can span anywhere from one story to 14 stories high but the detail and crispness of the image is the same every time. Over decades of painting walls, SMUG has developed a distinctive and immediately recognizable style which is not always easy for someone who paints realistically. His selection of slightly unconventional models and more importantly his very specific use of light and shadow are undeniably SMUG and exquisitely executed every time.

It has been a hope of this podcast for a long time to have SMUG join us for an interview and as luck would have it we recently found ourselves locked in a hotel room in rural Sweden with a couple of microphones and a bunch of beers. Big thanks to the cast and crew of the Artscape SAGA festival for bringing us all together.

EP 105 – CAPTAIN KRIS Aug 01, 2019

Captain Kris is a New Zealand born London based character artists and designer. Best known in the streets for his iconic Captain character, Kris balances his time between traveling and painting walls with commercial design work and illustration. We sat down with him in Sweden during ‘Artscape Festival’ to discuss the positive and negative aspects of maintaining two separate artistic identities, how to maintain a livelihood as a freelance artists in one of the worlds most expensive cities, and how he seems to be at a transitional phase of his artistic career.

EP 104 – ARTSCAPE Jul 01, 2019

Daniel Wakeham and Tor Hedendahl are the creative minds and driving forces behind Artscape Festival,. Swedens largest and most visible mural festival has been running for 5 years and is one of the rare festivals that travels from city to city every year rather than continuing operations in the same place every time which would certainly make things far easier. We discuss the highlights and pitfalls that come with putting on such a massive project and what the local communities, organizers and artists get out all the hard work that they put in. Daniel and Tor explain, among other things, where the money for such a massive project comes from as well as how they approach curating just 10 or 20 artists from a pool of thousands of talented and capable painters from around the world and how each project has it’s own personality which helps narrow down the field. Our interview took place in Gothenburg Sweden during Artscape SAGA, the most recent iteration of the festival, and we were very happy to be invited and bring VantagePoint to scandinavia for the first time.

EP 103 – HRVB Jun 01, 2019

Herr Von Bias is possibly the most talented, most original, and most prolific painter you’ve never heard of. A full on legend in Berlin and throughout certain circles in Europe, HRVB has developed a style completely his own in which his totally tripped out characters and environments morph effortlessly into seemingly impossible shapes and contortions. The level of detail and cleanliness in his work is somehow inconceivable and his bold yet elegant use of color will stop you in your tracks and force you to come in for a closer look. All of this however, is just the icing on the cake because it’s the imagery that he creates that really sucks you in. His murals and illustrations feel like they come straight out of the mind of a cartoon character on a bad LSD trip and will have you staring for much longer than you’d expect trying to decipher the scene and figure out whats gong on… all while drooling and giggling like a school kid. A member of the famous WEIRD Crew, HRVB keeps mostly to himself in terms of painting walls, preferring to paint with friends or on projects he develops himself rather than chasing down the fame and notoriety most seem to be after in the international mural festival circuit. It took JB and Tom over 5 years of asking before he finally agreed to come on VantagePoint but it was a massive pleasure to finally get to sit down with the man himself and pick his brain.

EP 102 – JASON PARKER May 01, 2019

Jason Parker is a portrait painter from New Zealand who’s work is more about capturing the individual inside the skin rather than their appearance on the outside. His exceptionally stylized portraits display brilliant technical skill as well as an understanding of his subjects and a tuned in sensitivity to the human condition. His models, although often blanketed in foliage or other elements of the natural world, seem to live in a fantasy space where nothing else exists beyond the thoughts immediately I their head that that very moment. In todays ever shrinking global community, travel and relocation seem to be an increasingly important aspect of the artist experience and growth. Jason has embraced this tradition and talks to JB and Tom about his motivation for moving from New Zealand to Australia and then from Australia to Berlin as well as how his work has evolved over time and his personal thoughts behind what he makes and how he makes it.

EP 101 – VARIOUS AND GOULD Apr 01, 2019

The German duo ‘Various and Gould’ are some of the most thoughtful street artists on the scene with their very own particular blend of conceptual street art. Active collectively for nearly two decades, they began working on the streets of Berlin in the early 2000’s, a time when the city was exploding with creativity and artists were afforded (for multiple reasons) an abundance of freedom to experiment in the streets and cultivate their voices. Their street education paired with their formal art training at the Berlin Weissensee School has afforded them a perspective unlike many others in the urban contemporary world. Their ongoing projects cantered on social issues and their ever changing use of materials and techniques keeps their work fresh and meaningful and a favourite among street art enthusiasts as well as galleries and the wider art world.

EP 100 – BUST Mar 01, 2019

BUST discovered his love of art much like a backpacker tracking through the African jungle ‘discovers’ West Nile Virus. Graffiti bit into him in his early teens and it instantly took over his life. Growing up in Basel Switzerland, painting trains and writing graffiti was all that mattered to the young artists, but it wasn’t until many years later that he recognized what he was doing as making art. He quickly began experimenting with every method of putting art in the streets from posters to stencils, installations and fake campaigns, and anything else he could come up with. The work that BUST makes today is visual history lesson of all the things he has done in his past. A mash-up of styles and media all constructed with the precision and craftmanship only a Swiss guy is capable of.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 5 Feb 16, 2019

MVP, or More Vantage Point, we catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them on Vantagepoint. Recorded after hours at Pow Wow Hawaii 2016, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken. This episode features Andrew Hosner from Thinkspace and Sandra Chevrier. Needless to say, this is the drunken part of the night.. its loud, unruly and general chaos..

EP 99 – WOES MARTIN Feb 01, 2019

Aaron “Woes” Martin is a man of many talents. Best known globally for his paintings, sculptures and murals of cuddly yet ferocious pandas Woes has carved out a life for himself that pretty much anyone would be envious of. He travels the world creating art that people universally love, He lives in both southern California and Hawaii where he was born and raised, and he maintaining an active roll in the hip hop and dj scene that he credits for having a massive influence on the man he is today. On top of all that, or maybe because of all that, he’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and definitely one of the most fun to talk to. We were fortunate to sit down with Woes in his home city of Honolulu during Pow Wow Hawaii 2018 to discuss a bit of art in-between a heavy discussion of Hip Hop.

EP 98 – ROYYAL DOG Jan 01, 2019

Royyal Dog is a mysterious and complexed dude. With his humble art beginnings as a graffiti writer in Seoul South Korea and a cultivated love of all things hip hop, Royyal Dog spends nearly all of his time these days traveling and painting intensely realistic portrait murals that mix hip hop imagery with his traditional Korean roots and a splash of Christian messaging… a combination unlike anything anyone else on the scene is doing and which sets him apart from the rest of the pack. His skill with a spray can is incredibly impressive but it’s his strong Christian faith that he feels makes him special. We were very pleased to have the chance to sit down with an artists as interesting as Royyal Dog while in Honolulu for Pow Wow Hawaii 2018.

EP 97 – DULK Dec 01, 2018

Dulk is one of the hottest artists on the mural scene these days and seems to be part of more projects than one man should be able to handle. His incredibly detailed murals and studio works are based on the animal world but have a mystical air to them that challenges reality. His murals focuses on animals native to the places he paints and mix brushwork with spray paint in a way that seems to give him a larger range of colors then the rest of us. Based in Valencia Spain, the work he creates in his studio, just two blocks form the ocean, is no less impressive. Whether sculpture or canvas work, the clean and precise images are full of color and fantasy. We were very excited to sit down with Dulk during Pow Wow Hawaii to discuss all of it.

EP 96 – LAUREN YS Nov 01, 2018

Lauren YS, also known as Lolo, is a ball of fire and creativity. Originally from Hawaii, now based in the Bay area of northern California, she spends most of her time these days traveling the world painting her own very specific style of psychedelic imagery featuring strong feminine themes and mind bending dream-like scenes. Her personality and punk-rock identity within the artworld give no indication to the surprising path she took to get here, but with a helpful spark from VantagePoint alumni Nychos a few years ago, Lauren stormed into the global mural scene and has showed no signs of slowing. After a few beers in the Lana Lane studios one evening during Pow Wow Hawaii 2018, we switched on the mics and recorded one of the most fun interviews we’ve had on VantagePoint with the wonderful Lauren YS.

EP 95 – SPENSER LITTLE Oct 01, 2018

Spencer Little is one of the most exciting artists we’ve met on VantagePoint in a very long time. At 6 foot 5 inches and over 250 pounds he is a big dude but his size is not what impresses you most, it’s his enormous personality, intelligence, and creativity that hits you from the first moment you meet him. His wire sculptures which are actually more like 3D drawings dripping in wit and satire, are constructed from one single continuous piece of wire without a sketch and are absolutely some of the most impressive and intelligent pieces of art you’re bound to see. Little has been doing his own form of street art in southern California basically hidden away from the rest of the world for quite some time but we have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot about him in the near future. We sat down with Spencer during PowWow Hawaii for one of the most psychedelic whirlwind interviews we’ve ever done that will bend your mind like a wire.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 4 Sep 15, 2018

Part 4 of a 4 part series, recorded with special guest Host FinDAC.. we catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them on Vantagepoint. Recorded on the day of the opening of Urban Nation in Berlin, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken.

The final episode features Dave the Chimp, Caratoes, Jaz and Borondo

Keep an ear our for unexpected 1UP appearance also .. although its more just chaos than any actual interview..

Needless to say, this is the drunken part of the night.. its loud, unruly and general chaos..

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 3 Sep 01, 2018

Part 3 of a 4 part series, recorded with special guest Host FinDAC.. we catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them on Vantagepoint. Recorded on the day of the opening of Urban Nation in Berlin, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken.
This episode features Roland Henry, Vidam the Weird, DXTR the Weird and Base23
Even more beer has been consumed, the looser the better..

EP 94 – MILLO Aug 01, 2018

Millo is a quiet guy trying his best to fly completely under the radar, silently going about his business without accidentally stepping into any spotlight along the way. Unfortunately for him, the business he ‘goes about’ is far from under the radar. As one of the most prolific mural painters on the planet, and specializing in big walls… i mean REALLY big walls, Millo’s imagery is some of the most recognizable in the entire scene. The Italian painter, aided by his “take no bullshit” partner, travels from project to project focusing almost exclusively on mural painting rather than juggling studio work or commercial work like most others in the game. The calm and gentle nature of his murals, with their simplified mostly black and white color palette and playful giants seemingly unaware and unconcerned about their gross disproportion to the worlds they inhabit, speak volumes to the nature of the artist himself and it was an absolute honor to get this rare interview with him on VantagePoint.

EP 93 – MARK BODE Jun 01, 2018

Mark Bodé is the son of Vaughn Bodé, creator of the iconic Cheeech Wizard character and possibly the biggest aesthetic influence on the first wave of graffiti writers and therefor all graffiti writers. Mark has picked up his fathers torch and among his other artistic endeavors, continues to breath life into the world of illustration his father created nearly 50 years ago. For the entirety of the time that graffiti has been around Cheech Wizard, The Lizard, and the Bodé influence continues to be seen and respected and it’s influence through all genres of art and music is immeasurable.

EP 92 – HOT TEA May 15, 2018

Although his roots are in graffiti and train writing, Hot Tea is far from your typical street artists. He’s not out for fame and tends to shy away from the spotlight but these traits are part of what make him such a captivating artist. He still writes graffiti and is constantly developing new ways to push and evolve the idea of what graffiti is, but these days he is primarily recognized for his sight specific installations using unconventional materials… mainly yarn. We were extremely fortunate to meet up with “HOT TEA during a fascinating transitional period of his life and career and recorded our most personal and introspective interview in VantagePoint history, and to be honest, with Hot Tea as the guest, it was never really going to end up any other way.

EP 91 – RICKY WATTS May 01, 2018

San Fransisco based Ricky Watts has been working his way to his current artistic practice for many years and through many different forms of art making. From his early days writing graffiti into years of academic study of design, illustration, and architecture he somehow worked his way into focusing on abstract work. His whirling compositions of undulating colors twisting in and out of themselves are both precisely thought out and pre planned and totally loose and freestyled in the moment. We sat down with Ricky during his week long collaborative mural with VantagePoint’s very own JB at the Pow Wow festival in Hawaii to learn all about where he’s been and where he’s going.

EP 90 – PIXEL PANCHO Apr 15, 2018

As one of the most prolific muralist in the world, Italian artist Pixel Pancho has hammered his mark onto the scene with authority and set a pace that is unmatched by most. His work deals with the universal ideas of humanity and personal human struggle and growth wrapped up neatly within the metaphor of decaying robots and is some of the most original and identifiable work out there. Within the scene Pixel has a reputation as being a “don’t hold back, say it like you mean it” kind of guy and our interview with him was no different. After recently relocating his life from Europe to the US his work continues to evolve as it has from the beginning and is currently transitioning (back) into the realm of sculpture. With so much to talk about and a personality as big as Pixel’s we knew we had to get him on the show so during the opening of Urban Nation last September we made sure not to miss the opportunity.

EP 89 – MARTIN WHATSON Apr 01, 2018

The work of Norwegian artist Martin Whatson is in very high demand even at it’s relatively lofty price-point, and for good reason. As one of the leading figures in the scandinavian street art scene and a founding member of the notorious WOLF crew, Whatson has cultivated an artistic style over many years which is part stencil, part vandalism, extremely accessible to your every day art collector but sophisticated enough that even high end collectors can’t get enough. We grabbed Martin directly off of a wall in Berlin during the opening week of the Urban Nation Museum and had a chat about how he got to the point in his career that he’s at now, how creating ‘multiples’ of a single image rather than “one offs” can be beneficial to an artist, the struggles of juggling a busy career as a self employed artists with his roll as father of two, and loads more.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 2 Mar 15, 2018

Part 2 of a 4 part series, recorded with special guest Host FinDAC.. we catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them on Vantagepoint. Recorded on the day of the opening of Urban Nation in Berlin, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken.

Broken into 4 parts.. tune in mid month over the next 4 months for more..

This episode features Snik, Seth Globepainter (who was randomly walking past) and Vantagepoint host James Bullough (incase he didn’t get enough airtime as it was)

More beer has been consumed, the looser the better..

EP 88 – LOUIS MASAI Mar 15, 2018

Obsession can sometimes be a good thing, when that obsessive energy is directed towards positivity and change for the better. Louis Masai is a London based artists who is laser focused on creating positive change in the world through his art and various projects he has organizes around the world. It is rare to see an artists put all of his collective energy and livelihood into one cause, but Masai is without a doubt one seriously passionate dude. His work talks specifically about humanities negative impact on animals and endangered species but within that specific theme, he allows himself room to explore and experiment artistically with techniques and styles to keep his work fresh and exciting. During a very short but busy trip to Berlin Louis sat down with us between his 2nd and 3rd murals of the week to discuss his life, his work, the sate of our delicate global ecosystem, and our shared love of bass music.

EP 87 – JASPER WONG / KAMEA HADAR Mar 01, 2018

As two of the main people behind one of the worlds biggest and most widely recognized mural festivals Jasper Wong and Kamea Hadar know a thing or two about making things go. Both help to run the ever growing Pow Wow festivals which in 8 short years have spread to over 10 cities around the globe and have expanded to include art installations, Gallery/museum shows, lecture series, and even the Pow Wow School of Music.
Both practicing artists and fathers, these two guys have a lot on their hands so it was a pleasure for us to sit down with them while in Hawaii for Pow Wow 2018.

SPECIAL – VANTAGEPOINT MVP PART 1 Feb 15, 2018

First of a 4 part series, recorded with special guest Host FinDAC.. we catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni and catch up on what they been doing since we last spoke to them on Vantagepoint. Recorded on the day of the opening of Urban Nation in Berlin, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken.

Broken into 4 parts.. tune in mid month over the next 4 months for more..

This episode features Dal East, Steve Harrington and Jaime Rojo from Brooklyn Street Art and Christian Rothenhagen (DeerBLN)

Strap yourself in .. shit is loose.. intentionally.

EP 86 – SANDRA CHEVRIER Feb 01, 2018

The work of French Canadian powerhouse Sandra Chevrier grabs you with it’s boldness and beauty, while simultaneously challenging you to wrestle with ideas of gender rolls and stereotypes. Her work is highly regarded and sought after and within a very short amount of time Chevrier has risen to the top of the contemporary art world, selling out shows and occupying space in some of the scenes most important collections

EP 83 – RON ENGLISH Nov 01, 2017

Ron English needs no introduction. If you listen to this show, you know who he is. As one of the Godfathers of street art and the coiner of the phrase “POPaganda” Ron has been laying the groundwork for this scene since most of us in it today were still in diapers. In the contemporary art world he basically does it all… oil painting, sculpture, toy design, books, movies, TV (he was even featured on The Simpsons), and now he’s just come out with a new rock opera album called “The Rabbits in Delusionville” with his newly formed band The Rabbits Band. We grabbed him during a short visit in Berlin to have a chat about it all from the old to the new and everything in between.

EP 82 – HUEMAN Oct 01, 2017

Oakland based artists Allison Tinati, better known as Hueman has mastered the delicate balance that so many are striving to achieve in the current art world. With her work in high demand across multiple disciplines she successfully divides her time between gallery work, collaborative and design work, and a heavy travel and mural painting schedule. In a scene that demands so much from it’s artists, it’s not always easy to translate one’s work from the gallery to the streets and back while maintaining the integrity of the work, but for Hueman it seems to be no problem at all. Her distinctive style and crazy work ethic keeps her at the top of the heap in the urban contemporary scene and her bold color pallets and unique instinctive painting method keep her work fresh and constantly evolving no matter what the surface may be.

EP 81 – ONUR Sep 01, 2017

Onur Dinc, better known simply as ONUR is a bit of a puzzle. Whether with his art or with the man himself, at first glance you think you know what you’ve got, but upon further inspection you realize there’s actually so much more to the story. Raised in Sweden, he now lives in Germany, but is actually Turkish. Physically he is a giant, towering over the rest of us with a strong intimidating presence but on the inside he’s gentile, goofy, and exceptionally eager to help others and give advice.
Onus’s artwork is no different with ever growing levels of complexity. His realist paintings and murals, are painted mostly with paint rollers rather than brushes or spray cans, and straddle the line between the real and the surreal. His work often has double meanings and even double images, which he achieves by laying multiple images over each other with experimental materials such as solvents or UV light sensitive paint. Known both for his solo work and his collaborative efforts with long time partner WES21, Onur is hitting on all cylinders at the moment and is one of the rising stars of the Urban Contemporary scene.

EP 80 – CINZAH Aug 01, 2017

Cinzah Merkens lives in a small town on a small island in a small country on the far end of the globe but his heart, drive, and talent are as big as they come. With many hats to wear Cinzah confidently balances life as a fine artist, muralist, curator, and father, as well as being one of the founding members and lead directors of the Napier Sea Walls mural festival in Napier New Zealand, which is where we grabbed him and sat him down for a chat about life in Hawks Bay NZ, what it takes to plan and lead a massive international mural festival in your home town, his connection to the Pangeaseed foundation and Sea Walls project who put the event on, and of course his personal work, life and everything else.

EP 79 – CYPTIK Jul 01, 2017

The name says it all… Cryptik! Not one for the spotlight, Cryptik doesn’t give many interviews so it was an honor to be able to sit down with him and dig deep inside his mind for this VantagePoint exclusive.
Known for his insanely clean and mesmerizing script and calligraphy, Cryptik credits his childhood in Los Angeles for exposing him to the latin style script graffiti which was so prevalent throughout LA and southern California during the early days of the graffiti boom and beyond. In an ever growing scene of calligraphy (or Caligrafitti) artists in both the mural and fine art worlds today, Cryptik has set himself apart with a style all to his own. With influences from all types of cultures and languages, the elegance of his letters and overall style can be so overwhelming and intoxicating that it often masks the deeper spiritual nature and message of his work.
VantagePoint would like to send a BIG thank you out to Pangeaseed and the Sea Walls project for bringing us all together and giving us the opportunity to finally get Cryptik in the hot seat for a little VP one on one.

EP 078 – BERST Jun 01, 2017

When it comes to New Zealand Graffiti and the major players in the scene today, Berst is without a doubt one of the first names that comes to mind. With endless style and some of the cleanest lines you’ll ever see, he gets mad love from all around the globe. The complexity of composition in his work as well as insane color combinations are proof of decades of practice and refined skills. Away from the wall, Berst is pushing the limits of possibilities as well. Organizing paint jams and events, teaching university classes to budding artists while finishing up his own higher level studies, and working on experimental multimedia projects are just some of the things he does in his “free time”. He’s even got his own YouTube channel where he constantly produces (conceptualizes, films, edits, and promotes all himself) numerous video series mostly based on the craft of graffiti which are some of the best reference out there for people trying to wrap their heads around the history, culture, and techniques of graffiti. While VantagePoint and Berst were both in Napier, New Zealand for Pangeaseed’s Sea Walls project we plucked the man right off his wall and sat him down for a very interesting chat.

EP 77 – SETH GLOBEPAINTER May 01, 2017

Julian Malland, better known as SETH moves through the world with a careless ease and fierce determination that seems to be completely contradictory. Nicknamed the “Globepainter”, his thirst for travel powers his art and vice-versa leaving a trail of murals in his wake that span the globe. Often taking the road less traveled, Seth’s work can be found in extremely remote locations as well as the big city. Whether through cultural references to the area in which he’s painting, or incorporating the physical aspects of the space into his work, the environment always plays a big roll in his murals.
While in Napier, New Zealand for the Sea Walls festival Seth sat down with us to discuss it all on VantagePoint. Big thanks to Pangeaseed and the Sea Walls crew for helping make it happen.

EP 76 – TRE PACKARD Apr 01, 2017

Of all the mural festivals on this circuit, few focus on the topics further than the wall and the paint..
this months guest however is using the medium of Mural to raise awareness about the plight of our oceans
and sealife.. Tre Packard from Pangeaseed foundation has been fighting the good fight and using
some of the biggest names in the game to help him along the way. In March we hopped over
to Napier in New Zealand to cover the Seawalls project, one of Pangeaseed’s many projects, to see how
painting on walls and ocean conservation fit together.. With names like Cryptik, Onur and Vantagepoints own
James Bullough on the roster, the quality of the work was super high with over 20 artists participating.
We grabbed a bunch of interviews which we will bring you
over the coming months, but we thought we would start off with the man himself, Tre Packard to set the scene and
get a bit of insight into this project, its motivation and how painting walls and savings oceans
found common ground.

EP 75 – POET73 Mar 01, 2017

Today Berlin is considered one of the graffiti capitals of the world with entire districts of the city covered in paint at every corner. The story of how it all happened however is unlike that of any other city. With The Wall dividing Berlin in two as graffiti culture exploded across Europe in the 80’s, Berlin writers in the east and the west were creating their own ideas of graffiti both aesthetically and ideologically. No district in the city embraced graffiti and punk rock culture more than Kreuzberg, the home town and playground to our guest POET. Few cities in the world have gone through more changes since the birth of graffiti and POET has been there, can in hand, through it all.

EP 74 – TRISTAN EATON Feb 01, 2017

Its hard to look anywhere on the Urban contemporary scene without being blown away by this months guest.. Tristan Eaton’s career stretches over as many years
as it does disciplines.. From his iconic Dunny and Munny vinyl series with Kid Robot, design work, installations and for the last 4 years crushing the mural circuit ..
Tristan’s energy pushes everything forward and is reflected in the scale and breadth his body of work..
Over in Europe touring and dropping his new Montana Black can… we were amped to finally lock him down for a few beers at the end of a long day..

EP 73 – STEREOHEAT Jan 01, 2017

Kicking off the year by bringing it back to Berlin once more, this time with STEREOHEAT.. If you have been paying any attention at all to graffiti in Europe over the past few years you no doubt would recognise his work and distinctive characters.

Key to his style is clean lines and vector styled murals, which then are reflected in his design and illustration work. Based in Berlin and part of the SBB crew (Super Bad Boys), STEREOHEAT is all over Europe when it comes to painting.. Definitely one to check.

EP 72 – 2501 Dec 15, 2016

Never 2501 is an Italian artist working in all facets of the art world. From hi-end ceramic sculptures and canvas works, to large scale murals spread all around the globe and everything in between. Known mostly for his black and white (and gold) line work and ability to create form and dimension using simple lines repeated across a surface, he gracefully delivers work time and time again in multiple mediums that straddles between minimalism and the complex but always identifiably 2501.
On a visit to berlin to unveil his newly designed hybrid interactive sound art hybrid machine at Urban Nation during the Project M10 curated by Instagrafite, he sat down with us to talk about it all.

EP 71 – WESR Nov 15, 2016

In Peru, WESR was a pioneer of the graffiti scene in the 90’s and gained massive recognition for his clean letter styles but it was his figurative work that would eventually lead him into the galleries and allow him to break out onto the international scene. His trademark character, which he takes from Peruvian folklore, is as versatile as his letter styles and wether he works with acrylic, spray-paint, ink, water colors, tattoo gun, or pen his work is always evolving and always fresh.

EP 70 – BORONDO Oct 15, 2016

Spanish artist Borondo is among the exciting wave of modern mural painters bringing classical aesthetics and traditional techniques into the streets while simultaneously bringing the grit and power of the streets into his highly sought after gallery work. Borondo’s often challenging imagery can be seen as unsettling by some due to the subject matter and perhaps also his handling of materials which has been described as loose, painterly, and sometimes even unfinished looking. Nothing however, seems to slow him from producing an impressive amount of work including large scale pieces in very public settings and always completely on his own terms.
We were very lucky to sit down with Borondo during production of what would later become a very controversial mural in Berlin for Project M9 with Urban Nation, StreetArtNews, and JUSTKIDS.

SPECIAL – HEERLEN MURALS Sep 15, 2016

In the last few years the Mural circuit has popped up all over the world, with cities large and small inviting some of the worlds leading artists to come and paint their cities. Heerlen Murals, in the city of Heerlen in The Netherlands is one such city. A post industrial city trying to find its way after the local mining industry closed down, Heerlen Murals feels less an attempt at gentrification, but more a way to reinvigorate a city centre which otherwise is a bulk standard non descript Dutch city. Heerlen was once known for Gambling, Prostitution and also a pretty serious Heroin problem, but visiting Heerlen now you can sense its a city which has managed to turn itself around and is trying to find its feet. Vantagepointradio.com was invited down to cover the festival and report back.. Over 2 days they held panel discussions with guests ranging from Ben Eine, Good Guy Boris, Pascal Feucher from Urban Spree and Camillo Tarozzi, who recently became somewhat of a controversial figure after restoring and preserving a BLU mural against BLU’s wishes, leading to BLU painting over all his works in Bologna. The panels covered topics of the value of street art, its preservation and also who actually owns art thats meant to be free. This is less a standard episode, more a Vantagepoint Special..
Day 1
Camillo Tarozzi, Stijn Huijts, Barry Braeken, Pascal Feucher and Nicole Blommers

Day 2
Peter Bengtsen, Maurice Hermans, Ben EINE and Good Guy Boris..

Moderator Theo Ploeg

EP 69 – VERMIBUS Aug 25, 2016

Vermibus is one of he most original and underrated players in the game today. The spanish born, Berlin based artists, has been aggressively working in the streets for years across Europe and the US attacking public advertising and the fashion industry by fucking with their imagery and redirecting their message. Armed with a handful of homemade tools, some super toxic solvents, and a commitment to his beliefs, Vermibus hacks into advertising displays at bus stops and subway stations, helps himself to the contents inside, and then begins the work of dissolving the image and stylistically repainting it using only the ink provided in the poster itself. These ‘remixed’ adds are then replaced back into the streets where they live on as some strange hybrid creature containing elements of advertising, street art, and the grotesque all wrapped up in an elegant and beautifully painted fine art piece with a undercurrent of anarchy and vandalism.

EP 68 – FAITH47 Aug 17, 2016

For over two decades Faith47 has been traveling the globe painting walls and working with social commentary in public spaces. Far before the current trend of mural festivals popping off in every city, it was artists like her who were drawing the attention of the masses with their provocative work and paving the way for the hoards of artists doing the same today. Coming from South Africa, a place not commonly thought of on an international scale as having a blistering urban contemporary art scene, Faith holds a profoundly original perspective and marries it with a global understanding of the human condition attainted through years of travel and observation. This combination gives her one of the most original and exciting voices in the scene today. Through her street pieces, both sanctioned and not, and diverse gallery work which includes painting, illustration, collage, installation and an increasing amount of digital media, Faith47 shows no signs of slowing and continues to captivate her audience in new ways year after year.

EP 67 – ASKEWONE Aug 01, 2016

New Zealand is far away. Very far away. And as a result, we dont often get Kiwi’s as guests on Vantagepointradio. Fortunately for us, one of Auckland’s leading Graf and Muralists ASKEW ONE just happened to be in Berlin recently so we made sure we managed to lock him down for a chat. With over 20 years in the game, ASKEW ONE’s style is both unique and bold, with both his mural and graf standing out against the rest of the field. Not to mention he is also part of the legendary LA crew MSK.. Definitely not a show to miss.

EP 66 – MARINA ZUMI Jul 18, 2016

Marina Zumi is not a fireball of energy, she’s a flamethrower attacking life and the art world like very few others can. Originally from Argentina, Zumi lives most of her life these days on the road, moving from project to project, city to city, and embracing life as it comes at her. From her colorful pastel landscape paintings inhabited by cuddly pandas and serene forest animals, to her gigantic full wrapped building murals of endless cosmos and geometry, Zumi, with her larger than life personality, has earned a reputation as a force to be reckoned with on the mural scene and one of the hardest working painters in the game.

EP 65 – THE LONDON POLICE Jul 04, 2016

Straight out of Amsterdam, the London Police is a collective of artists piloted by Bob and Chaz, two of the more colorful and pleasant people you are likely to meet in the Urban Contemporary art world today. Known mostly for their signature black and white landscape paintings and illustrations inhabited by the ever present LAD characters, their work can be found on gallery walls and large scale murals throughout the world. It was the lesser known aspects of the now famous London Police however that caught our attention and made for one of the most interesting interviews in VantagePoint history including the first ever live musical performance of not one… but TWO original London Police “dog songs”.
Intrigued? We know you are. So have a listen because these boys do not disappoint.

EP 64 – DFACE Jun 20, 2016

D*face is in a league of his own when it comes to this urban contemporary post graffiti world.. Especially in hometown of London, there isnt many artists more known for their volume and quality of their work. Its hard to imagine how he finds time to conceive, let alone produce the work he outputs.. From giant inflatable zombie hello Kitty, crushed police cars, prints, paintings and of course massive murals.. this is only part of the machine that is D*face..

For over 10 years he has also run the massively influential Stolenspace Gallery on Bricklane in Shoreditch, and more recently just opened his latest project The Rebels Alliance, a Motorcycle repair shop / Coffee shop / Clothing store .. D*Face has so many
fingers in so many pies its hard to imagine he even sleeps. We caught up with D*face when we were in London last and are so stoked to have sat down with one of the biggest names in the game.

EP 63 – ABOVE Jun 06, 2016

Armed with only five letters, one simple word, and one very basic shape… The mysterious artist known only as ABOVE has shown the world that with a creative mind and a relentless motor, there are no limitations in the art game. Born in California, ABOVE has spent the last decade or so traveling the globe like a virus infecting the culture with his iconography and subliminal messages. Known primarily for his unmistakable upward facing arrow logo and bright bold color pallet, ABOVE constantly finds new ways to reinvent himself and keep things fresh. From screen-printing to sculpture, murals to videos, creative word play interventions and elaborate stencil portraits, there really doesn’t seem to be much that he can’t do.

In this rare and candid interview with a normally illusive artist VantagePoint gets deep inside the mind of ABOVE to find out where he’s been, what he’s up to now, and what we can expect in the future.

EP 62 – JAMES BULLOUGH May 22, 2016

Back in Miami over a few beers, FIN DAC and Tom AUTO64 hatched a plan to flip the tables on Vantagpeoint co-host James Bullough
and put him on the other side of the microphone for once.. it took a few months of wrangling, but recently when the boys were in London,
after a very long 48 hours of interviews, drinking, and basically no sleep, They managed somehow to drag James into Fin’s Kitchen at 7:30am
for this interview.

Now, in the lead up to his opening at Thinkspace in LA later this week, we decided now is the best time to invite you into the hot mess that is
Vantagepoint vs James Bullough.. with special host FIN DAC..

EP 61 – RYLSEE May 02, 2016

Rylsee is a Swiss born Berlin artists and master with words and design. His mind bending letter illustrations and incredibly creative word plays have boiled him up a ton of notoriety on-line and by doing so Rylsee has managed to chisel out his very own little niche somewhere between the design, urban art, and illustration worlds. Having just launched his new clothing line ‘SNEER’ and working tirelessly on his new book coming out next year with Moleskine, the timing seemed just right to sit him down for an interview. As one of the key players in Berlin, the home-town of VantagePoint, it brings us great pleasure to bring you our very own… Rylsee.

EP 60 – REMI ROUGH Apr 18, 2016

Since the very birth of graffiti, artists have been in a constant battle to push and evolve themselves toward the freshest and most original styles. In many ways, it’s the entire point. In the early 2000’s a handful of artists took an interesting an unexpected turn towards abstraction and minimalism sometimes leaving the idea of letter forms behind all together. After years of train writing and traditional graffiti Remi Rough found himself at the tip of this abstraction sword and nearly a decade later continues to push and refine the style today.

As one of the leaders of the so called “Graffuturism” movement Rough has found himself in high demand over the years on both walls and in galleries. Together with Augustine Kofie, Jaybo Monk (VantagePoint guest episode 057) and a handful of others, Rough formed the artist collective Agents of Change which has produced some of the most interesting projects we have seen including the now famous Ghost Village Project.

JB and Tom couldn’t resist the opportunity so they popped up to London for the weekend to visit this legend in his south London studio for a chat and an update on all things ROUGH!

EP 59 – SHOK-1 Apr 04, 2016

Shok1 holds a mysterious position in the mural world. Absolutely everyone knows his work and holds him in the highest regard… but nearly nobody actually knows him. The illusive artists has been painting walls in London since the early 80s and seems to move throughout the city with very few people knowing what he’s up to. Effortlessly changing from one style to another every few years it’s nearly impossible to pin him down and figure him out. Known for his technical precision and mastery of the spray can as a tool, Shok1 dropped jaws worldwide a few years ago when he debuted his newest X-Ray technique, without a doubt cementing his place in the scene as one of the leaders of the pack when it comes to technical skill, originality, and creativity.

Shok1 rarely does interviews if ever, so it was a great honor to sit down with him and dig inside his massively complexed and thoughtful brain. Strap in and hold on… this one is a wild ride.

EP 58 – CARATOES Mar 15, 2016

Fresh from having work in the XX exhibition in London’s Saatchi gallery, and technically still on a painting tour that has lasted at least 12 months.. We managed to sit down with CARATOES to find out what its all about, how she manages to keep going at this rate and where she is headed.

Also need to give a huge shout to Dan London Graffiti for letting us once again take over his place to record these shows..

EP 57 – JAYBO MONK Feb 29, 2016

Talk to just about anyone in the contemporary art world these days and mention the name Jaybo and the response you get is always the same… upmost respect and recognition of a true artist. With roots in graffiti, hip hop, commercial art directing, and even street performing, the french born, Berlin based artists has focused his attention for the past decade mostly on painting and sculpture and in doing so has cemented his place in the global contemporary art market. His paintings are expressive and emotional, abstract and figurative, loose and tight, bold and subtle… basically everything you could ever want all combined seamlessly and effortlessly into every piece. His sculptures are simple but extremely smart and even comical at times but somehow still relate perfectly back to his paintings which is surely no easy task. The only thing better than seeing Jaybo’s work in person is watching him paint live, and the only thing better than that is to sit down for an hour and listen to him explain it all, which is exactly what we did recently in his studio on a cold winter day in the Berlin.

EP 56 – JIMMY C Feb 16, 2016

VantagePoint crosses borders again this week and travels to London where we the boys were graciously invited into the live-in studio of Jimmy C. Known best for his drip paintings which use colored dots of spray paint to create impressionist style portraits, the Austrailian born London based artists talks us through his journey of discovery which brought him to his signature style and what it’s like to live and create art in London.

EP 055 – EVOCA1 Feb 02, 2016

Evoca 1 is riding the front edge of a strong wave of mural artists at the moment pushing really high level fine art aesthetics in what has traditionally been mostly a more graphic and illustrative art form. Using brushes and acrylic paint for his murals rather than spray cans, Evoca treats his walls no different than his canvas giving them the same level of concideration, attention, and value. His imagery is heavy and charged at times but the delicate and refined nature with which he paints lulls the viewer into enjoying the work while subliminally feeding them his message like a punch to the gut. His studio work is no different and he proves himself time and again to be one of the most talented newcomers in the scene today.

EP 54 – PUSH STYROCUTS Jan 18, 2016

In a small frigid smokey basement hidden beneath an unassuming building somewhere the legendary St. Pauli district of Hamburg Germany, three mates grind away on materials they “found” in the streets with machines they made by hand. Through toxic fumes of melting Styrofoam and mountains of used sandpaper the collective known only as PUSH create elaborate and beautifully refined sculptures which later find their home in deliberately selected locations around the streets.

EP 53 – GREG MIKE Jan 05, 2016

Greg Mike is one of those artists who seems to have more hours in his days then the rest of us. Painter, Illustrator, Muralist, Art director… the guy even founded his own agency and gallery called ABV putting on shows and projects around the US giving other artists opportunities to do their thing. His immediately recognizable imagery merges the raw spirit of graffiti with the precision and bold color usage of commercial illustration. Greg Mike’s iconic Loudmouf character with his bugged out eyes and chipped tooth can be found on walls and in galleries around the US and beyond. We sat down with the man inside of his Heineken Mobil Art Lounge amongst utter madness during this years Art Basel Week in Miami. Recorded live on Friday night from the epicenter of the Wynwood Arts District surrounded by thousands of art fans and partygoers, this interview was bound to get crazy.

EP 51 – NYCHOS Nov 30, 2015

Anyone who has even a casual interest in Graffiti, Muralism and contemporary urban art will know the work of this weeks guest, NYCHOS.. reppin for Jukebox Cowboys, Lords Crew and of course The Weird, NYCHOS is one of the busiest painters on the scene constantly smashing out walls, gallery shows and feature films, you cant watch the world of graffiti without coming across his work.

In Miami painting a wall in Wynwood, The boys caught up with NYCHOS and kicked of the Vantagepoint on tour in Miami shows with one of the true masters of the art.

EP 50 – FLYING FÖRTRESS Nov 09, 2015

Flying Fortress is a legend in the streets and in Hamburg where he lives, he is considered royalty. Heavily active in the Graffiti game, the street-art game, and the gallery game all at the same time, he has amassed an army of loyal fans and followers over a career that spends decades. His iconic TeddyTrooper is recognizable worldwide and can be found on trains, in murals, in Vinyl toy form, on prints, skate decks, wheat-past, canvases… you name it.
For our milestone 50th episode of VantagePoint, the boys decided to go big and hop the train to Hamburg to track down the elusive Flying Fortress once and for all.

EP 49 – FIN DAC Oct 25, 2015

His calm, mature demeanor gives the impression of a laid back “go with the flow” kind of guy, but make no mistake, Fin DAC is a man who does things his own way. From his instantly recognizable subject matter and trademark “paint spitting” stencil technique which helped rocket him into the public consciousness a few years back to the way he approaches and manages his career, Fin DAC blazes his own path, actively avoiding the typical model laid out by so many artists before him.

Although technically based in London, Fin DAC spends all of his time on the road. Bouncing from city to city leaving his masked geishas everywhere he goes as if building a global army of beauties for some diabolical secret future plot. As he moves across the globe expanding his reach and perfecting his technique (transitioning away from using stencils), Fin DAC sticks mainly to independent projects rather than jumping on the bandwagon of mural festivals and open rotating wall projects so common these days. With such strong imagery and laser focus, there doesn’t seem to be anything that can slow him down.

EP 48 – JARUS Oct 12, 2015

In Toronto Canada a young train writer has rapidly risen to the top of the mural scene and is taking the world by storm. Known, not for a crazy letter style or the number of lines he’s hit, but rather for his incredibly stylized realistic portraits not commonly seen painted on trains. The work of young JARUS is immediately recognizable by the painterly quality of his stroke and the attention to light and shadow on his figures. Characteristics more often associated with master oil painters rather than a train bomber using a New York Fat cap. The speed and ease with which he paints his trademark portraits is in sharp contrast to their soft and delicate nature leaving his fans and fellow painters asking… “how does he do it”?
After an exhausting two weeks of hard work in the “2015 Roskilde Graff-Camp” at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, Denmark (which included a three day trip back to Canada to paint a quick commission job before returning to the festival) JARUS sat down with the boys from VantagePoint for a little Q & A and some much needed relaxation.

EP 47 – TELMOMIEL Sep 28, 2015

This weeks show is with the unstoppable duo of TELMOMIEL out of the Netherlands.Falling somewhere between pop art, surrealism and graffiti, the work of TELMOMIEL is quiet unlike anything on the mural circuit at the moment. Seamlessly mixing content, genre and imagery in what often appears to be a random selection of things, its only when viewed as a whole does the work present a coherent and considered theme.Meeting on the first day of university, TELMOMIEL have been working ever since, leaving a trail of unique and colourful walls and buildings in their wake. Recently in Berlin for the Lollapalooza Europe festival, we managed to sit them down after a long day on the lift for an interview.. and we are so glad we did.

EP 46 – KWEST Sep 07, 2015

An absolute OG of Canadian graffiti, KWEST has been in the game longer than most and has hit it harder than most… and doesn’t show any signs of stoping any time soon. As part of VangagePoint’s coverage of the 2015 ‘Roskilde Graff Camp’ at this years Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen, we had the extreme pleasure of sitting down with the top dog at camp just after he put the final touches on his EPIC graffiti letter sculpture (the largest in the world in fact), weeks in the making. Normally KWEST lets his work speak for it’s self and rarely gives interviews but the illusive artists dug right in with VantagePoint and explained how he got from his humble beginnings as a train writer in Canada to one of the most respected graffiti artists worldwide continuing to push the boundaries of what graffiti is and can be.

EP 45 – DXTR Aug 24, 2015

Like most young german boys growing up in the 80s and 90s, DXTR got started writing graffiti at a very early age in his small hometown in central Germany. This passion for color and creation led him to study fine art and classical painting, but it was his skill and attraction to contemporary graphic design that would eventually draw him into a life as a full time artist. Eventually DXTR came back strong into the graffiti and street art scene, this time with more of a designer’s aesthetic and a concentration on characters. As was one of the founding members of the hugely respected The Weird along side artist such as Nychos, Herr Von Bias, and past VantagePoint guests Vidam, Look, and the Low Bros, DXTR now balances his time between his own successful one man design firm, studio work, and a steady output of murals many of which are collaborative efforts with his fellow The Weird members and other leading painters in the scene.As he puts down the final touches on a new body of work for the upcoming The Weird exhibition in New York, we sit down with DXTR in his Berlin studio to hear about it all straight from the man himself.

EP 44 – BOOGIE Aug 10, 2015

Sometimes the name says it all. Boogie.

You may know him for his unmistakably bold and juicy letter style or for having some of the freshest color combinations and cleanest lines you’ll ever see, but if you’ve ever actually met him, you probably know him for being the happiest and most fun guy in the room. Boogie brings the bounce and the party back to graffiti that seems to be missing sometimes these days. He’s not afraid to incorporate shiny candy or drippy fast-food into his work and it’s refreshing to see someone simultaneously be an absolute professional and also not take himself too seriously at the same time. This guy pulls massive respect in the graf scene and it’s no wonder why when you see his work

In another installment of VantagePoint’s exclusive coverage of the Roskilde Graf Camp 2015 we sit down with one of the hardest working names in graffiti… Boogie.

EP 43 – SNIK Jul 27, 2015

Vantagepoint travelled to London’s to sit down with one half of the artist couple SNIK..
In the world of Street art and Graffiti, Stencil art often can get a bit of a bad rap as the easy way to get an image out there, yet sitting down with SNIK and hearing the way they approach their work and how many hours, weeks and months in some cases it takes to produce a single image, its clear that stencils are way more than a simple cut out.
Snik’s work combines photorealistic imagery with a more loose graffiti aesthetic which produces strikingly emotive imagery which works both in a large scale street context and in a smaller scale gallery work, a feat which is not often easily accomplished.
Also a Big shout out to London Graffiti for letting us use his kitchen, putting us up and for keeping the beer flowing..

EP 42 – LARS PEDERSEN & WELIN Jul 13, 2015

Organising a paint festival with over 18 countries represented at one of the largest music festivals in the world is no small task, but this weeks guest does it every year like it aint no thing.. Lars Pedersen is the head honcho and curator at Roskilde Festival Graffiti and we managed to get him to stay in one place long enough to do an interview with him to talk graffiti and Roskilde, its history, its future and basically everything else..

Sitting in this week also we had WELIN, one of the camps youngest painters and arguably one of the most busy. Smashing out 13 pieces and murals in the short time he was at camp, WELIN paints with a ease and skill of a seasoned veteran. Yet at only 22 years of age, he has a bright future ahead of him.
We thought it would be good to show the full spectrum of the festival from the history to the future..

EP 41 – MR CENZ Jun 29, 2015

This weeks show comes straight from base camp at Roskilde Graffiti Festival, the graffiti project tasked with decorating the massive festival grounds.

Vantagepoint was invited up to cover the festival and some of the 40 artists who have come to work. First off the bat we sat down with London own MR CENZ. With almost 30 years of experience, this seasoned artist’s style continues to evolve and easily sits beside some many contemporaries around London and all over the world.
Keep tuned to Vantagepoint radio in coming weeks to hear more feature interviews from Roskilde Graffiti Festival 2015..

EP 40 – LOWBROS Jun 01, 2015

It has been said that all artwork is to some degree self biographical. Whether it’s a landscape painting, a hand crafted piece of furniture, or an avant-garde performance piece, inevitably much of an artist’s life and personality finds its way into their work. It may not be obvious at first glance but this is perhaps especially the case with the brother duo from Hamburg Germany, The Low Bros. Much like most young German boys growing up in late 80s and early 90s, Chris and Flo spent most of their time skating and writing graffiti under the names Qbrk and Nerd. Eventually the decision to combine their efforts was made and The Low Bros were formed. Never straying too far from their roots, even now over a decade later skateboarding, basketball, hip hop, and a strong 90s vibe and color pallet are the defining elements of their work. Although animals and architecture seem to be the main subject matter, it’s the strong design and completely original style that sets them apart and has gained them massive respect in the art world across the board.As the final touches were being added to the last few pieces destined for their much anticipated debut American solo show at Thinkspace Gallery in LA, VantagePoint was invited over to the Low Bros studio for a few beers and a chat about the past, the present, and the very bright future.

EP 39 – SPECTER May 26, 2015

The strength of some artists lies in their mastery of a medium, technique, subject matter, or style. Other artists thrive off of diversity and exploration across many different artistic endeavors. Brooklyn based SPECTER definitely falls into the latter category. Wheat-pastes, public ad-busting and takeovers, photography, painting, sculpture, architectural and social intervention, murals… you name it, he’s done it… and done it really well. If you’ve never heard of Specter you may not be alone, but that’s only because he bounces around so much, and is most likely precisely his reason for doing so. By the time the public catches wind of one project he’s working no, he’s off to the next thing. An ever-changing creature evolving faster than most of us in the art world are comfortable with. But those of us who do know about Specter know that he’s the real deal and in many ways, leaves the rest of us to shame.

EP 38 – MONEYLESS May 11, 2015

As an artist grows and progresses though their career they constantly search for new ways to break the rules and make discoveries. Italian artists Moneyless has made a name for himself doing exactly that. As a teenager growing up in Milan he hit the streets with the rest of his friends writing his name and studying graffiti culture. Soon enough however, his focus shifted from doing what everyone else was doing to finding his own path. Flat letters trapped inside a wall gave way to experimental sight-specific sculptures and makeshift tools which allowed him to create work unlike anyone else. Through experimentation discoveries are born, and eventually Moneyless had created a voice and a vision all of his own. Regarded now as one of the leading and most prolific abstract street artists in the game, his walls and canvasses are immediately recognizable by the his trademark repeating circle pattern. But in an ever-growing field of talented artists hitting the streets more and more every day, Moneyless continues to evolve and change, looking for new ways to stand out in the crowd.

EP 37 – ICY AND SOT Apr 27, 2015

Growing up in Iran in the 90s and early 00’s presented challenges for a young man that most of us around the world could not even imagine. Icy and Sot, two brothers separated in age by 6 years compounded these challenges when they took up street art as teenagers and then later more seriously and professionally as young adults. In a place where voicing your opinion and going against the grain was not only frowned upon but was downright dangerous, the young brothers flew their flag, hitting the streets with stencils and making their ideas known, all the while developing their voice and their own personal style. Over time however, the pair reached their breaking point and made the tough decision to leave their friends and family in Iran behind and claim political asylum in the United States.For the past few years Icy and Sot have lived as political refugees in Brooklyn but in a very short time have seemingly had no trouble making their mark on the over saturated New York art scene. Through their stark highly political and highly political stencils, sometimes reaching multiple stories high, the brothers came out strong and demanded that the scene take notice. These days their work is recognizable in the streets and galleries of major cities throughout Europe and the US. With invitations to major festivals around the world steadily coming in and a newly gained freedom to travel unrestricted to most countries, big things are on the horizon for these two and they show no signs of slowing down any time soon.

EP 36 – LOOK Apr 13, 2015

Coming off of a strong year of huge projects including a solo show in Berlin and mural projects spanning the globe from Miami, to Chennai India and numerous points in between, LOOK appears to be attacking the art world with both eyes wide open.

As one of the founding members of Peachbeach (a successful design firm with partner and VantagePoint episode 001 guest artist Vidam) and an original member of the highly respected Weird Crew, Look appears to have no problem keeping himself busy… real busy. Known primarily for his character based murals and other worldly acrylic paintings, his work is unmistakable. The can control and color usage seen in his murals allude to years and years of graffiti and bombing but his linework and subject matter are much more sophisticated and seem to take their inspiration from sic-fi films and psychedelic rock posters. With so many different influences and projects going on it was impossible to jam it all into one hour but we did our best and jumped at the chance to visit him in his Berlin studio for a chat with VantagePoint.

EP 35 – BROOKLYN STREET ART Apr 06, 2015

As the world submits to the undeniable fact that the internet has changed how we live our lives and how we perceive and interact with the world around us, it has become glaringly evident that the people shaping this online world have great influence over how and what we see and base our opinions on. This “information food chain” is just as present in the art world as it is anywhere else in our lives. Blogs and other websites compartmentalize the vastness of the art world into smaller, more easily digestible genres and disseminate images and information out to the masses. This position as “gatekeeper” between the art(ists) and the public can hold great power and has created a very interesting relationship over the past few years.

Brooklyn Street Art (www.brooklynstreetart.com) is one such website with over 90,000 followers on Instagram and 170,000 on Facebook they seem to have the attention and eyes of the public. Jamie and Steve, the two guys behind BSA were in Berlin to curate Project M7 at Urban Nation and agreed to sit down with VantagePoint to discuss the origins of their website, the state of the art scene in Brooklyn, and how they perceive and deal with their roll as the bridge between the art and the public.

EP 34 – GAIA Mar 30, 2015

It’s hard to imagine that at such a young age one artist could accomplish as much in the contemporary art and mural scene as Gaia has. As one of the go to names in the early days of the mural explosion, Gaia cemented himself as a major player from very early on. His work can be found all over the globe, he has participated in some of the largest and most respected projects the urban art scene has to offer, he curated and oversaw two major street art festivals and has even had a major museum show at the Baltimore Museum of Art and all by the age of 25.

To speak to Gaia can sometimes feel like speaking to a creature from another planet. His vocabulary and knowledge base is so impressively vast and seemingly limitless that it can be hard to keep up. It is this higher level of thought and consideration however that sets his artwork apart from the rest of the crowd. In line with the early traditions of mural making, Gaia fills his wall paintings with historic symbolism and locally significant references, a concept that seems to have lost it’s importance amongst most of todays mural artists. It was very much because of his thoughtfulness and individual take on art and the concept of what mural making should be that we were excited to sit down with him for a chat, and as expected, few interviews on VantagePoint Radio have dipped into the mind of the artist and shed light on their inner thoughts quite like this one with Gaia.

EP 33 – ANDREA WAN Mar 16, 2015

On the second floor of one of Berlin’s most lively and rambunctious event spaces lies something quite beautiful and special. Through the beer soaked exhibition hall which has housed some of Berlin’s greatest urban art and graffiti shows of the past few years, past the bathrooms so plastered with stickers that it is anyones best guess what the actual color of the walls and tiles is, up the graffiti covered stairs which read like a “who’s who” of the Berlin street art scene, and down a dangerously lightless hallway there is a door which opens up to an entirely different world… that of Andrea Wan.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, Wan moved to Berlin four years ago and wasted no time letting people know who she was and that she means business. Between her impressively full schedule of solo shows and illustration work for magazines and other clients it’s a wonder how she manages to get it all done. There is no wonder however, why she is in such high demand once you’ve seen her work. Described by the artist as self portraiture, Wan tells the story of her life through surreal scenes of an alternate world where animal and plant life make up their own rules. Young expressionless girls break apart and dissolve into their surroundings or rather become consumed by them. Her signature acrylic ink paintings, although wild and chaotic at times, are painted with a delicacy and femininity which seems to bring a calm relaxing balance to the work. With so much momentum built up around her and no signs of slowing anytime soon, the future looks bright for Andrea Wan and we were thrilled to get the chance to sit down with her in her studio in Berlin’s iconic ‘Urban Spree’ for a chat on VantagePoint.

EP 32 – JEF AEROSOL Mar 02, 2015

As one of the OG’s of stencil art and street art in general, Jef Aerosol knows a thing or two about urban art and how to stay relevant over long periods of time. Inspired by punk rock music and the French contemporary art scene at the time, Jef began cutting and painting stencils throughout his small town in central france as early as 1982. Still active today over three decades later, it is no wonder that he is considered to be one of the pioneers of stencil art. What is quite interesting however, is to hear his views on the subject of stencils. In his own words, “I don’t really care about stencils. A stencil for the sake of itself has no interest to me. It is only a tool.”

In a contemporary art scene filled to the brim with street artists of every kind pushing the boundaries in countless ways, it is refreshing and somewhat humbling to go back over 30 years with Jef and hear what it was like then and what motivated him to begin making art in this way and stick with it for such a long time. As he continues to work in both the streets and in the studio and show across the globe it is clear that we’ve all got a thing or two to learn from those who paved the way for street art as we know it now.

EP 31 – STOHEAD Feb 16, 2015

Floating somewhere between the straight up graffiti scene and the high end gallery art market Stohead has managed to blow up in the last few years while remaining somewhat anonymous at the same time. Known primarily for his drip heavy hand-styles and square format text driven paintings, the Berlin based Stohead has quietly taken his place among the Urban Art elite, specifically those commonly labeled as Graffuturists. His studio practice consists of a heavy mix of invention (he custom builds many of his own art making tools), experimentation, and strict quality control. With a recipe such as this, it is easy to see how and why his work is constantly progressing and evolving month after month. Rather than comfortably ride the wave of success as many artist tend to do, repeating the work that got him recognized in the first place, Stohead continues to push himself and branch out into new areas of abstraction sometimes completely abandoning the letters and text that he is so well know for.

EP 30 – JONATHAN LEVINE Feb 02, 2015

With a previous career in New York’s punk rock music scene Jonathan LeVine gained an early feel for outsider art and the underground. It would be this same sensibility that would a few years later fuel his fire to open his own art gallery featuring visual art with a punk rock vibe. A few years and a handful of smart moves later Jonathan Levine Gallery is one of the highest regarded galleries in the urban-contemporary art world. With two gallery locations in the prestigious Chelsea district of New York City, he represents some of the scenes leading stars bridging the gap between street and urban art and high end gallery work.

In contrast to the normal guest on VantagePoint, Jonathan’s perspective into the art world is from the other side, that of the gallerist and curator. In an effort to cover all angles of the scene and bring insight to how things work and different peoples opinions, we were honored to be invited to his hotel room for a couple of beers and a chance to pick his brain. If you’re a budding artists trying to crack the code of the gallery scene, you’ll not want to miss this one.

EP 29 – JULIA BENZ Jan 28, 2015

As one of Berlin’s leading young female painters, Julia Benz has a thirst for life and experience which seems to be perfectly matched to her determination and dedication to her craft. Taking on new projects in unfamiliar territory seems to have been the theme of the last two years for Benz but all the while holding strong to her diehard work ethic and hours upon hours of studio time. Between trips oversees and massive projects like painting a boat and giving art workshops in Africa, Benz still somehow manages to keep up with the high demand for her studio work as well.Her secret no doubt, is the long days she spends in her Berlin studio smashing away at 4 or 5 paintings at a time. From massive canvas works to much smaller delicate pieces, her paintings are electric. Layers upon layers of color and pattern weave together somehow perfectly driven by nothing more than impulse, experience and intuition.The colorfulness and vibrancy of her personality shines through in her work and it was an absolute pleasure to sit with Julia and talk it all over this week on VantagePoint.

EP 28 – DAN WITZ Jan 15, 2015

Imagine a “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” type situation where a young punk rock kid from Brooklyn finds himself time traveling back to 17th century Holland and stumbles into the painting studio of one of the classic Dutch Masters. Accepting this odd twist of fate, he dutifully studies the teachings and techniques of his mentor and eventually breaks out on his own, painting images of his earlier life in the future. Pure fiction perhaps, but the result is all real. Dan Witz has been painting just such work in his New York studio for decades.

Masterfully composed scenes of epic mosh pits pieced together from reference photos take by the artist himself at punk-rock shows are painted with the detail and delicacy he cultivated during his studies as a classical painter. To the trained eye, one can spot extreme consideration for lighting and geometry in his works painted with the buttery goodness typical of oil paint. To everyone else, they’re just dope paintings of cool shit!

What’s possibly most impressive about Dan is his ability to straddle the high-end gallery market and the ever changing street art world without compromising either one and still managing to make all the work relate and stay consistent.

Where most artist have a “thing” they are best known for, Dan seems to create a new “thing” every couple of years. From his mosh pit paintings, to his street sign “interventions” and lamp-post candle vigils, to his genius series of “caged” people trapped behind vents and hidden throughout the city, the work of Dan Witz is nothing short of spectacular and promises to only get better with time.

EP 27 – YEAR IN REVIEW Dec 15, 2014

At the beginning of January of 2014, two guys in Berlin set out to document the Urban Contemporary art world armed with little more than a few microphones and a Zoom recorder. The plan seemed simple enough… “Lets find some artists, sit them down for an hour and talk to them about their work. We’ll record the whole thing and release an episode to the public every other week.”

In the 12 months and 26 episodes that followed, JB and Tom have continued to push forward improving recording quality and putting together a list of guests that reads like a who’s who of leading artists and gallerists in the Urban Contemporary scene both internationally and locally.

To Celebrate hitting the one year mark, we’ve decided to take a look back at the first year of VantagePoint. In this YEAR IN REVIEW show you’ll hear highlights of some of our favorite moments and others that exemplify what the show is all about and why we continue to put it out there for all of you to hear.

2014 was a very big year for us and we plan to continue to improve and expand the show in the new year. Thank you to all of our listeners and followers for your support and help spreading the word about our show. We truly appreciate you all.

EP 26 – DAL EAST Dec 01, 2014

‘Armature’ is the english word for the skeletal structure upon which a sculpture is constructed. When all detail and mass have been stripped away, the Armature is all that remains.

Likely as a result of his early training as a sculptor, the work of Chinese born, South Africa based painter Dal East resembles that of a metal or wooden armature. The animals that he creates however seem unsatisfied or unaware of their fragile structure and often spring free of their rigidity, breaking their form completely and in some cases creating new life from their explosion. With a steady output of quality work and a busy schedule of studio and travel, Dal keeps himself in high demand through seemingly countless mural projects and exhibitions at galleries such as Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York City.

It was a great pleaser to sit down with Dal East during a stop off in Berlin for a nice relaxed early morning chat about art, travel, culture, and life.

EP 25 – KLONE Nov 15, 2014

It has been said that Graffiti and street art is the most widespread and influential art movement in history. A lot of the worldwide reach that graffiti has enjoyed has much to do with with it’s timing and connection to the birth of the internet age but before that even, Kids around the globe were catching the graffiti virus through obscure graff-magazines and books like Martha Cooper’s Subway Art. Few people currently active in today’s urban contemporary art scene exemplify this more than Tel Aviv’s own KLONE. In the late 80’s and early 90’s the graffiti scene in Israel’s capitol city was virtually nonexistent, that is until a handful of kids inspired by visions of New York and LA began treating these magazines like textbooks, following the rules laid out within them to the letter. Klone, like most of the others at the time, first cultivated his addiction to graffiti by writing letter styles on walls and abandoned spaces around his city. With almost no attention from the authorities, this very small group of writers in Tel Aviv enjoyed the freedom to experiment and progress their skills and artistic voices. Eventually however, Klone’s visual language would transform away from letters and into a whimsical universe of animals, plant-life, and and vast landscapes. Currently he balances his time between travel and projects around the globe, and life as a dedicated studio artists in his hometown. It was a pleasure to talk with Klone about his background, the current state of the art world in Tel Aviv, and where he sees things for himself in the future.

EP 24 – OLEK Nov 01, 2014

Her story plays out like a hollywood film… strong, independent thinking young girl grows up in suppressive socialist Poland only to find herself rebelling agains everything around her. She eventually scraps together enough money and guts to buy a one way ticket to New York City where she arrives with hardly more than a few dollars in her pocket and a “Failure is not an option” attitude. A handful of really smart decisions and a few years later Olek is one of the most sought after Urban Contemporary artists in the hi-end gallery circuit and without a doubt the coolest thing to happen to the crochet world in… well… ever.

As a young girl in Poland, Olek learned how to crochet in school (the process of creating fabric from yarn using a crochet hook). This skill came back to her as an adult in her work as a costume designer/maker and then again as she left the world of costumes to pursue an independent career in the fine arts. Her street interventions and “transformations” have caught the attention of the street art community while her impressive and provocative gallery installations keep her in high demand with collectors and gallerists.

The only thing more bold and colorful that her work is her personality and it was an extreme pleasure to sit down with Olek for this interview on VantagePoint.

EP 23 – AXEL VOID Oct 15, 2014

Axel Void is a true child of mother earth. With ancestral roots in Spain and Haiti, he has moved around a lot in life. Born in America, raised in Spain, Axel even called Berlin home for some time before moving back to Miami where he currently resides during his down time from a life of travel and exploration. The effect of this travel on the artists is obvious. His warm and almost sponge-like personality seems to suck up a bit of culture and life from everywhere he goes and everyone he meets. This magnetic nature shows in his work with murals that comment on the sometimes mundane nature of daily life for people in a particular place where he visits. We were lucky enough to catch up with Axel on a short stop in Berlin with his travel and painting companion, the young Leo. The relationship between the two and the story behind how they came together and what they are doing is both heartwarming and inspirational… but you’ll have to listen to the show to hear that story.

EP 22 – MARK LYKEN Oct 01, 2014

Possibly more than any other guest on VantagePoint to date, Mark Lyken epitomizes the connection that visual art and music can and very often do have. As an accomplished artist in both fields Lyken bounces back and forth between the two with an ease that is more impressive than he may be willing to admit. What’s more, is that if one were to stand before a Lyken painting and listen to one of his songs at the same time, the aesthetic relationship between the two would be undeniable. light, airy, ambient, abstract… beautiful.

It was a pleasure to sit down with the man from Glasgow during his visit to Berlin to participate in Urban Nation’s Project M5 (curated by VNA magazine) and discuss his thoughts and methods for creating art and music and the ability to balance both.

EP 21 – PAOLA DELFIN Sep 15, 2014

An artist’s journey is often full of surprises and unexpected turns. One opportunity can lead to another and to another and next thing you know, you’ve got a solo show in a gallery half way across the world. Such is the story of Paola Delfin. In her home town of Mexico City, Paola has been painting for many many years, but an opportunity a few years ago to paint a big wall in a very short amount of time after never doing such a thing before created an interesting dilemma for the artist… “how can I fill so much space in so little time?”Her answer to this question would turn out to be a stylistic discovery of how to paint the female figure in a way that was completely her own. Women consumed by their own exaggerated flowing hair, wrapped up in it like a blanket, and hidden behind it like a mask. This imagery paired with a lot of hard work and some world travel have gained Paola a lot of attention including that of Berlin’s Open Walls gallery where she will have her first European solo show this month (Sept 2014). Although her work has evolved away from the stylistic luscious hair that we knew her for last year, her current collection explores the female form in new and very interesting ways while still maintaining the feel and aesthetic that first brought her to our attention. Look for big things from Ms. Delfin in the coming months and years.

EP 20 – LUSHSUX Sep 01, 2014

Take everything you know about graffiti and street art dudes and throw that right out the window.

This guys approach is unlike anything you’ve seen before. At first glance it appears that he absolutely does not give a fuck about anything or anyone and could not care less what you think about him or his work. But the more you talk to him and the more you look at what he’s been up to the last few years, the more it becomes clear that LUSH may in fact be one of the most thoughtful and hardest working artists out there today.

Love him or hate him (and there are plenty of people on either side of that coin) Lush is making big noise world wide with his unique view on contemporary art. From his seemingly juvenile drawings and model-train dioramas, to his wildly simple yet intelligent graffiti and conceptual videos, Lush pushes the boundaries of street art, always looking just past the limits of what everyone else is doing. Sometimes provocative and violent, sometimes vulgar and overtly sexual, but always smart.

He is one of the most polarising figures in the game today and nowhere will you get a better understanding of him and his work than right here… straight from his mouth, in his own words… we give you… LUSH.

EP 19 – 1UP CREW Aug 15, 2014

it’s 3:00pm on a tuesday afternoon at a crowded train station in Berlin. A young lady tucks her newspaper under her arm as her train pulls into the station to take her home. From the corner of her eye she sees something move in the bushes just past the end of the train platform. She gasps. It’s a dude with a ski mask over his face carrying a bag and jumping up onto the platform. He’s followed by 9 others all dressed in similar gear. As the train comes to a complete stop, all 10 drop their bags, pull out two massive spray paint cans (one for each hand), and proceed to get busy. The group moves without words but with an ironic speed, precision, and order not entirely unlike that of the german transit authority. In moments the entire train car is covered with paint. A cloud of dust hangs in the air as the commuters stand stunned and frozen, not getting on or off of the train. In a flash, the group gathers up their shit and bolts back down the platform, into the bushes, and are gone forever. As the dust cloud settles the young lady turns back to look at the train. Where she just moments ago saw the doors and windows of a train car, she now sees her own reflection looking back at her from within three massive chrome letters… 1 U P

Join JB and Tom this week for a very special eppisode of VantagePoint with the mysterious and fascinating 1UP crew

EP 18 – ROLAND HENRY VNA MAGAZINE Aug 01, 2014

Now a days in the art world it can seem as though marketing and a strong (social) media game are just as important as artistic vision and talent. It can also sometimes seem that those who run the scene’s blogs and print media hold supreme power over who does and does not succeed and rise to the top. Because of this, we here at VantagePoint welcome the opportunity, when it presents itself, to sit down with and pick the brain of those inside the scene with a perspective other than that of the artist. This week we did just that.

As managing editor of VNA Magazine Roland Henry has his fingers in many different pies. As if overseeing one of street art and graffiti’s leading and most highly regarded publications wasn’t enough, he seems to be taking on more and more every month. The title of ‘Curator’ is the most recent that he adds to his resume as this month sees the opening of Project M5, the much anticipated collaborative exhibition between Urban Nation and VNA Magazine, curated by none other than Mr. Henry himself. While in Berlin Henry was kind enough to sit down with us and have a chat.

EP 17 – BEN EINE Jul 15, 2014

Here on VantagePoint we like to have fun and few shows were more fun to record than this one. A bottle of Jameson , a room full of beers, and our very first ever live studio audience surely set the tone for this weeks show. For episode 017 of VanteagPoint we are very happy to bring to you, from the dirty streets of London straight to your ear drums… Streetart Royalty… Sir BEN EINE!

EINE got an early jump into the graffiti game as a London teen and quickly became obsessed with painting his name on walls, trains and anything else he could get at. A bit of trouble with the police followed by a bit more may have helped motivate him to discover a new technique and approach that eventually transformed him into one of “Street art’s” most sought after muralists. His bold and crisp typographical murals can be seen in countless cities around the world making Ben a well traveled artist in very high demand. During a swing through Berlin to participate in Urban Nation’s ProjectM5 curated by Roland Henry from VNA magazine we grabbed Ben, strapped him into a chair, and hit record.

EP 16 – BASE23 Jul 01, 2014

Any close observer of the work of German artists BASE23 can easily see the connection between the boxy geometric characters that he paints and the 70′s era Japanese toys and robots that he’s been obsessively collecting for decades. His effortless understanding of shape, form, color, and perspective speak to his background in graphic design. The clean straight lines and nearly perfect execution of his wall paintings tells you that this guy has been painting for a LONG time (since the late 80′s in fact), and has mastered his craft…

In fact, it would be safe to say that he’s been cultivating his artistic voice for his entire life and may have inadvertently created the perfect storm to develop a style all of his own.

Although he splits his time between Germany’s two ‘Capitols of Cool’, Berlin and Hambug, BASE23 made time in his busy schedule to sit down with VantagePoint on a hot summer night, drink a couple of beers, and talk about it all.

EP 15 – TWOONE Jun 15, 2014

To step into the studio of TWOONE is to step into the reality that some artists are simply able to shine in multiple mediums and make it look easy. Painting, sculpture, murals, etchings… there’s very little that this guy doesn’t do and do well.

Born in Japan, and aged like a fine wine in Australia, TWOONE is now making a heavy presence in his new home of Berlin Germany. Upon arrival (literally in the first week he arrived) he actually painted a 1000+ square meter mural organized by the crew at Urban Nation. These days TWOONE is working hard in his new studio gearing up for two solo shows at both StolenSpace gallery in London and Backwoods gallery in Melbourne.

As busy as he is at the moment, it didn’t stop him from inviting JB and Tom over for a chat about everything that’s going on in his life these days, how he’s taking to his new home and his third major international relocation, and what we can expect from him in the future.

EP 14 – WORD TO MOTHER Jun 01, 2014

At well over 6 feet tall and built like a MACK truck, when he enters the room, he’s hard to miss. Covered in tattoos and sporting a thick Hastings accent, it’s easy to jump to the assumption that this guy is more likely a cage fighter than an artist. Within seconds of talking with him however, you realize that Word To Mother is one very chilled out, genuine, down to earth dude with a great outlook on life and his place in the art world.

With a stronghold in the urban contemporary art scene going back almost a decade (to well before there even was an “urban contemporary” art scene) and ongoing relationships with some of the scenes leading galleries such as Stolenspace (LDN), Thinkspace (LA), and White Walls (SF), Word To Mother seems to be doing everything right. When asked what his secret is, the answer he gives is so honest and “bullshit free” that it’s almost surprising to hear it… “right place, right time… and just try to be nice to people.”

Join JB and Tom this week as we hear straight from the man himself about how deep friendships, selling sneakers, smoking weed, and listening to a lot of Nas’s 1994 classic album ‘Illmatic‘ could just be the perfect recipe for fame and glory in the street-art game.

EP 13 – JAZ May 15, 2014

Around the globe he’s known as JAZ but to his friends and family in his native Argentina his name is Franco. Regardless of what you might know him by, there’s a good chance that some of his work has popped up on a wall in your city at some point in the last few years.

JAZ is one of the most sought after names in the urban contemporary art scene these days and he seems to be on the line up for just about every street art festival, of which there are many. He rides the mural circuit like a rock start on tour, leaving his home for months at a time flying from city to city leaving his mark wherever he lands. When you meet him, it’s no wonder why he is so popular. His work is powerful, original, creative, deep, symbolic and gives the viewer a strong sense of Franco’s culture and his Buenos Aires upbringing… and on top of all that, he’s a super nice guy.

JAZ’s work can be found indoors as well as out. His acrylic works on canvas have graced the walls of an increasingly impressive list of galleries worldwide with more and more solo shows coming up each year. JB and Tom caught up with Franco on a short stop in Berlin for his one man show at BC Gallery to talk about his work, his transition from graffiti to fine art, and what it takes to keep oneself in such high demand.

EP 12 – LAKE May 01, 2014

Early in his “working class” upbringing in one of East Berlin’s more challenging neighborhoods, LAKE hit the streets and started what would become a lifelong painting career that has already spanned over three decades and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Adding rock climbing and studio artwork to his list of hobbies only increased his desire to travel the world and create. Any visitor to Germany’s capitol city has surely seen a LAKE piece and those who live here can’t help but see them just about every day.

This week JB and Tom sit down with Berlin’s most prolific muralists, LAKE for a very enlightening conversation. Among other fascinating topics such as how his hobby of rock climbing gives him a distinct advantage over other mural painters, Lake gives us his first hand account of what the East vs. West Berlin graffiti scene was like during and after the fall of the Wall.

EP 11 – THINKSPACE Apr 15, 2014

Thinkspace Gallery first opened it’s doors in 2005 and quickly became a force to recon with in the Los Angeles contemporary art scene. In the past decade the gallery, run by husband and wife duo Andrew and Shawn Hosner along with partner L. Croskey, has helped launch the careers of many of todays contemporary art stars. Aside from their Culver City gallery, Thinkspace also curates exhibitions and festivals around the world taking their impressive roster of artists on the road.

Recently the duo was in Berlin for their highly anticipated pop up show titled LAX/TXL while simultaneously overseeing the fourth installment of the Project M series, both hosted by Urban Nation, curated by Thinkspace, and opening on the same night on opposite sides of the street. It was a whirlwind of a week to say the least but thankfully Andrew and Shawn were kind enough to set aside an hour of their valuable time to sit down and talk with JB and Tom and give our VantagePoint listeners a little insight into all things Thinkspace.

EP 10 – BUFF MONSTER Apr 01, 2014

Any good investment advisor will tell you that the safest and smartest way to invest in your future is to have a diverse portfolio. If this is also true in the art game then Buff Monster has a bright future. With over 10 years rockin and successful ventures into everything from gallery shows, toy design, murals, apparel, collectables, and a client list with names such as Coca-Cola, Converse, MTV, and Disney… Buff Monster seems to have figured out what it takes to keep the ball rolling.

While on a short visit to Berlin for a quick one man exhibition and to give a talk at a big art conference, Buff Monster agreed to sit down with JB and Tom in a small dark hallway and answer a few questions.

EP 9 – MIMI SCHOLZ Mar 15, 2014

With roots in illustration and character design and a previous career in animation Mimi Scholz has been developing her artistic vision for a very long time. Her large scale, one off, digital paintings are surprisingly fully constructed in photoshop and can take multiple months to create. The scenes she develops, densely populated with mischievous females and cuddly monsters, can be overwhelming at first glance while simultaneously impossible to look away from.

EP 8 – DAVE THE CHIMP Mar 10, 2014

Our goal here at VantagePoint, above everything else, is to create a window with each episode into the mind of our guest artist and give our listeners a greater understanding of what makes them tick… to somehow bridge the gap between the visual work we see from an artist, and the mind that created that work… Well this week ladies and gentlemen, we strapped in tight, closed our eyes, and jump with both feet into the wild mind of Dave the Chimp.
Originally from an undisclosed village in Britain, skateboarding was the Chimps first love and the vehicle that would eventually lead him to becoming an active participant in London’s street art scene. His unique brand of “cartoon-ish” imagery and social satire takes many different forms and continues to expand. Dave likes to keep busy and has his fingers in many different pies. He’s constantly creating work in just about every type of art making process one can think of and has collaborated with an impressively long list of artists including his fellow Visual Rockstars counterpart Flying Fortress.
To even scratch the surface of everything this guy is involved in we would have needed way more than a one hour show, but here it is anyway, a chaotic and hyperactive ride through the world of Dave the Chimp.

EP 7 – YASHA YOUNG / URBAN NATION Mar 01, 2014

There has been a lot of buzz in the last year throughout the internet about a mysterious new institution materializing in Berlin. What has been written about Urban Nation as it is now known, has left most of us with more questions than answers . But fear not loyal VantagePoint listeners… we’ve got you covered.
This week JB and Tom sit down with director and curator Yasha Young in her UN head office to answer some of the many questions surrounding Urban Nation and it’s ongoing series of equally mysterious yet star-studded Project M events.

EP 6 – TANKPETROL Feb 15, 2014

Tankpetrol is a Polish stencil artist living and working in Manchester. His stunningly detailed and military themed imagery of strong women are both powerful and beautiful at the same time making him a fast rising star in the street/urban art festival circuit.
JB and Tom caught up with Tank during a short trip Berlin where he was invited to paint a mural at the head offices of the UN (Urban Nation). Along side of his song selection of dub-ed out reggae and african vibes, Tank talks about the long and grueling process of creating his stencils and the symbolism embedded within his work.

EP 4 – MATTHIAS & FELIX GEPHART Feb 01, 2014

Episode 4 is a banger with two artists for the price of one. Matthias and Felix Gephart have been making noise in Berlin for years with various projects which span the artistic spectrum from illustration and graphic design to music, photography and murals. The pair got their start in the late 80′s on the streets of their home town of Bochum painting graffiti styles and characters side by side. Nearly 25 years later the brothers hold down individual careers as artists but continue to collaborate as often as possible.
Join JB and Tom in Matthias’s Berlin studio to get inside the heads of these two artists and as always get a taste of the music that inspires them.

EP 3 – DEERBLN Jan 15, 2014

Christian Rothenhagen is a master of illustration and the man behind DeerBLN (pronounced ‘Deer Berlin’). With an incredible eye for architecture and the metropolitan spaces in which we live, Rothenhagen produces incredibly detailed and stylized drawings/paintings that masterfully seem to capture the underlying personality of the space they depict.

Listen along as we hear how traveling plays such a large role in Christian’s work and how growing up in Berlin and becoming an artist while your home town turns into one of the leading art capitols of Europe can have it’s ups and downs. As always, we will also take a closer look inside the mind of the artist as he shares some songs that relate to his work and inspire him as he creates.

EP 2 – BUFF DISS Jan 10, 2014

Buff Diss is a leading name in the street art scene and a pioneer of the relatively new surge of artists using tape as their medium. JB and Tom sit down with him this week and find out how he stumbled across such an unusual medium and was able to make it work so well.

His wildly eclectic mix of tracks that he brought along with him is sure to raise some eyebrows, as will his touching stories of how music and the unpredictable nature of life inspires and drives his art.

EP 1 – VIDAM Jan 01, 2014

As co-founder of the Berlin based art and design company Peachbeach, VIDAM and his partner LOOK have been making big noise in Germany for years. In 2011 things got even more interesting when the pair joined up with Nychos, HrVB, and the Low Brows among others to form the mighty Weird Crew and demanded that the rest of the world take notice.

Aside from being a painter, illustrator, designer, and muralist… Vidam somehow finds the time to produce music as well. His steady release of tracks is impressive and big things are sure to come from Vidam in 2014.

Join James and Tom as we learn more about Vidam from the man himself and get an exclusive sneak peak at some of his unreleased tracks on the first episode of Vantage Point.

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