In 1984, at the age of 12, I came into contact with hiphop culture for the first time. This is when I started painting graffiti myself and started rapping and breakdancing. So my roots go way back in the old school hiphop scene.
Over the years my style has changed from graffiti to urban art or muralism as I prefer to call it. However, I still do a lot of my work with spray paint.
Staying with the theme of hiphop and breakdance/b-boying, I didn't want to interpret it too literally, as my current style consists of portraits, animals and flowers, friendly in character and modest use of colors. However, the hiphop vibe is often the opposite. In order to stay close to my style and still be able to apply this theme, I came up with the following.
We decided on a photo that shows me and my wife Nancy in a pose similar to some b-boy freezes, but in a surrealistic imagery and setting by turning the photo 90 degree’s.
In the same way, I replaced the boombox/ghetto blaster, that was cool to carry on the shoulder back then, with a classic gramophone record player. This is also how I make the connection to DJing and scratching. I replaced the speaker horn with a flower.
The flower symbolizes the city of Wuppertal, which grows in a characteristic way through street art, like flowers of every kind and color, just as the Wuppertal community does.
And the bird is just something I like to paint and also stands for freedom of speech and expression.
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