venerdì 13 aprile 2012

Interview with Wagner Olino






q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)My name is Wagner Olino, I’m 22 years old and I was born and currently live in São Paulo, Brazil.


q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?


a)I’ve been interested in art since I was a kid and saw cartoons, comic books and paintings that were done in the streets of my neighborhood during the World Cup time.
But, I’ve only started to consider been a visual artist when I was in high school and was introduced to the works of Salvador Dalí and the Dada’s artists.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.


a)My production deals with the perverse and manic side of mass consumption. That’s why I’m interested in showing the other side of comic books characters and brands as I mix them with sex and violence, or try to be ironic about their morality. I’m interested in exploring the questions brought up by living in a third world country, in a city in which the north american influence is really strong. And, of course, I’m part of a generation that has been experiencing globalization in a really aggressive manner, and I think that growing up in a world that want to keep you a teenager forever is not easy.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?


a)Yeah! I enjoy listening to all kind of rock and electronic music while I’m doing my stuff.
If I had to pick a genre or two, I’d say that Powerviolence or Grunge is my favorite.



q) How would you describe your work to someone?


a)I think that it’s brute, aggressive and ironic look at the consumption society. And that is reflected in every choice I do during my creative process, in which I prefer to use poor materials and a really simple almost childish graphic style.



q) Influences?

a)I love the work of the Chapman brothers, Paul Mccarthy, Thomas Hirschhorn, Jean Michel Basquiat, David Choe, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Tom Sachs, Kenny Scharf, and many others.
Recently, I’ve been digging a lot of stuff I see from young artists in Flickr, and I think that there’s where the most amazing works are, sometimes I spent hours looking for some new artists.



q) Describe your process for creating new work.


a)I don’t really have a fixed process. It all starts with some kind of research about something I’m interested on. It can be a film, a book, an image, a conversation and a concert, whatever. After that, it takes me some days to start working on something, but it’s really natural and I just let it flow.
But, I’m really aware of what I’m doing and what I want to achieve with a certain image. I believe that a work must be a result of a half conscious and a half unconscious process.



q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)I don’t have any.


q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I’ve been reading “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi and recommend it to everyone. Great book.


q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)The chaos and the ugliness.



q) Best way to spend a day off?


a)Going out with some pretty girls


q) Upcoming shows/ projects?


a)I was invited to have a solo show somewhere between July and August, so right now, I’m working on it.


q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?


a)On my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wagolino/
feel free to contact me if you will.