Eric Jordan

Via: Format

Eric Jordan's paintings are intense. At face value, you may get the impression that his personality projects the same type of mood as what's exhibited through artwork. But it's quite the contrary. He's very intelligent, and strategic, and those traits are balanced out with this extreme artistic hunger embedded in his psyche.

The beauty of Eric's artwork is its rawness. It displays hip-hop for what it really is. There is nothing minstrel, or sadistic about his work. It's a graphic revelation of the evolution, ...

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Eric Jordan

Via: Format

Eric Jordan's paintings are intense. At face value, you may get the impression that his personality projects the same type of mood as what's exhibited through artwork. But it's quite the contrary. He's very intelligent, and strategic, and those traits are balanced out with this extreme artistic hunger embedded in his psyche.

The beauty of Eric's artwork is its rawness. It displays hip-hop for what it really is. There is nothing minstrel, or sadistic about his work. It's a graphic revelation of the evolution, and the grassroots of all things that encompass the world of hip-hop, as dark as it may seem. And the music that he listens to while creating is the tool that facilitates the direction that the final product takes. So, if it just so happens that his hip-hop inspired paintings appear to be heavily intense, now you know why.

"The next piece is always better than the last, and something may seem impossible at first, but it's important to look at it as a great challenge."

Format: How did you land your gig with XXL Magazine?
Eric Jordan: Basically, I landed the XXL job with pure persistence. When I was trying to get a break, I was sending my images out to Art Directors for a lot of different publications. Before XXL, I had a full page in VIBE magazine, but I was determined to get more work. What made my experience worthwhile with XXL, was the fact that the Art Director challenged my work. She was tough, and I literally had to go back to the "pencil and paper" method. She said she would keep me in mind for work, but I had to work on my "likeness." The same day after we spoke, I started a painting of Big Pun.

I was still in school, so it took me a bit longer than usual to finish the piece, but when I was done I emailed her a jpeg, and called her to get her opinion; she said I made a major improvement and that I had reached her standards. I'm very thankful for that opportunity.

Format: Have you ever created an amazing piece by mistake?
Eric Jordan: Actually, it was a piece that I had done of 50 Cent. I didn't do thumbnails or sketches or even have a plan prior to doing it. It was also the first time that I had ever used Corel Painter, which is the program I use to paint the portraits before I switch to Photoshop for the backgrounds. As I worked, the piece began to emerge. Now, it's the foundation of my current style.

Format: Where is the strangest place that an idea came to you, and what happens if you don't have the tools to extract it?
Eric Jordan: Probably the shower! Sorry if you're a visual reader like me! There are always artistic ideas running through me. What made this crazy was the fact that I couldn't document it. My process is usually logging the idea on my laptop or in my phone to help me keep track, then I'll go execute it when I am ready. But, while I was in the shower, I obviously couldn't do that. I used my finger to write on the shower curtain with the water that bounced on it (the shower curtain!)

Format: What's your philosophy on following a formula where "creating" is concerned?
Eric Jordan: The next piece is always better than the last, and something may seem impossible at first, but it's important to look at it as a great challenge. Another important thing to remember is that art is based on originality.

Format: What did attending The University of the Arts teach you?
Eric Jordan: One major thing Art School taught me is that competition will always surround you. There is no time to relax because at that point, your opponent will rise and may even take your place. In conjunction, it's extremely important to separate yourself from any other artist. Like I said before, originality and individual style are the most important to success.

Format: Are there other avenues in the arts that you would like to venture in?
Eric Jordan: I would like to move onto more commercial illustrations; large advertisements, like, billboards, or large posters displayed on buildings in New York. I'd probably lose my mind when and if that ever happens. But I'm into all types of work. Other than that, I have a great interest in films. I'm currently devising a plan on how to fuse my illustrative style with film

Format: Are you interested in venturing outside of hip-hop inspired illustrations?
Eric Jordan: Of course! Hip-hop was my starting point because of my love for it and my personal connection to it, but, the passion I have for art exceeds just one subject matter. Like I said earlier, I just finished a piece of Barack Obama and I have an Ann Frank piece in my portfolio

Being new and fresh while keeping personal style and creativity is what is important to me. With that, it's critical for me to take an interest in a myriad of different topics, genres and subject matter. 

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Nicholas Ganz

Graffiti World (Click on image for more)

Artist, photographer, and author Nicholas Ganz is the creative genius behind Graffiti World, released in 2004. The book is 376 pages of kaleidoscopic images showing the best mural work from graffiti writers worldwide. The follow up, Graffiti Women, released in 2006, introduces readers to 276 pages of women who are just as vital to the contribution of the graffiti art movement.

"My own decision of not continuing graffiti books for now was […] my love to pick up my own cans and paint walls rather than wri...

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Nicholas Ganz

Graffiti World (Click on image for more)

Artist, photographer, and author Nicholas Ganz is the creative genius behind Graffiti World, released in 2004. The book is 376 pages of kaleidoscopic images showing the best mural work from graffiti writers worldwide. The follow up, Graffiti Women, released in 2006, introduces readers to 276 pages of women who are just as vital to the contribution of the graffiti art movement.

"My own decision of not continuing graffiti books for now was […] my love to pick up my own cans and paint walls rather than writing about it.."

Format: Your background is from the punk movement, how did you get into graffiti?

Nicholas Ganz:  I came to graffiti almost naturally. I wrote political slogans in the streets and painted punk logos in the restrooms. With graffiti I was able to paint my messages much bigger and was able to reach the people more directly.

Format: Graffiti is not necessarily connected with hip-hop. Why, in your opinion, has graffiti become incorporated into the elements of hip-hop culture?

Nicholas Ganz: It is true, when graffiti started there was no hip-hop, [or even] punk rock. The [graffiti] writers listened to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Hip-hop incorporated graffiti into its own culture, but graffiti was, and still is independent and not related to any type of music. Why hip-hop needed graffiti I really can not answer, since I am not an expert in hip-hop.

Format: I think because of the fact that you're from Europe, which is a continent deep rooted in culture, your books tend to give detail about the history and meaning of graffiti. What was your initial intent when you decided to make graffiti world?


Nicholas Ganz: I am not sure if the graffiti books in Europe are more about the meaning of graffiti. My intention with Graffiti World was to show the variety of graffiti around the whole world. Most books at that time described local scenes and I wanted to give a picture of the whole world. So I started with my work and the result was this book.

Format: In the book and in interviews you separate graffiti and street art. What do you feel the difference between the two is?

Nicholas Ganz: Actually in my opinion, there is no difference between graffiti and street art. Graffiti is art made in the streets, so it is street art. Street art is art made in the streets, so it is graffiti. The separation in Graffiti Women was only to include some artists who have a different opinion on that specific issue and disagree with me. I wanted to include them in my book, so I made this compromise. The word "street art" in my opinion is an attempt to divide the movement into an ugly (tags, throw-ups) part - the graffiti and the nice and arty part (posters, stencils) – street art.

Format: What was the motivation for your follow-up Graffiti Women?

Nicholas Ganz: I made Graffiti Women, because there had always been a lack of female graffiti artists in the past prints. The intention of Graffiti Women was to give them a feature, and show that this movement is actually not that male dominated as people think. No female artist asked about the lack of women in Graffiti World, because there had been several women included. But I personally saw so many great women out there to dedicate a whole book to them. While starting the project, I got bombarded by graffiti women, who wanted to be in that book.

Format: Your Graffiti World compilation is very successful, but I read some previous articles where you said that you stepped down because graffiti books have become a trend. Do you have any regrets making the books?

Nicholas Ganz: I did not stop working on graffiti books because it has become a trend. It is true, today a graffiti book gets less attention because there are so many of them on the market. My own decision of not continuing graffiti books for now was (and I might always do another graffiti related book, since I still take a lot of photos of graffiti throughout this world) my love to pick up my own cans and paint walls rather than writing about it. Otherwise, writing and making photos almost became a passion for me. But my life includes more things than graffiti, so I can go on with my passion of taking photos and include more parts of my own life and interests. No regrets for my books, I love them as they are.

Format: Besides graffiti, you do so many other things. I understand that you are working on the events inside Burma.

Nicholas Ganz: Indeed, I am working on Burma with all its facades that the country has to offer. Your imagination can paint a greater picture how life in a paranoid military dictatorship with a civil-war raging in the frontier areas actually could be. From this picture I am trying to receive my information to write an honest and deep book with my girlfriend Elena Jotow.

Format: What medium do you prefer to use to get your statement across to the masses?

Nicholas Ganz: In the past I painted a lot of graffiti to bring my message out. Today I am writing articles and I take photos. I try to publish them in books or magazines. Tomorrow, I might paint on canvas or do a movie documentation. I really do not know what the best way to reach the masses is, so I [just] try studying.

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Fahamu Pecou

by Jordan Chalifoux - Format

(click on image for more) 

At 32, Fahamu Pecou, a Brooklyn born artist who moved to South Carolina at five-years-old, lives close to his studio, but drives his 1997 Nissan pickup truck to work, because "Atlanta is not a walking place," says Pecou.

Pecou's NEOPOP project captures the vanity and folly of rap celebrity while provoking questions that Pecou struggles with himself: when people comment on Pecou's communication skills and oral delivery, as a black man, he says, "Why wouldn't I be a...

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Fahamu Pecou

by Jordan Chalifoux - Format

(click on image for more) 

At 32, Fahamu Pecou, a Brooklyn born artist who moved to South Carolina at five-years-old, lives close to his studio, but drives his 1997 Nissan pickup truck to work, because "Atlanta is not a walking place," says Pecou.

Pecou's NEOPOP project captures the vanity and folly of rap celebrity while provoking questions that Pecou struggles with himself: when people comment on Pecou's communication skills and oral delivery, as a black man, he says, "Why wouldn't I be articulate?" (Pecou's painting So Clean and Articulate comments on Senator Joe Biden's comments on Barack Obama – clean, articulate and attractive black man – and the one time a curator said, "Oh my God, I can't believe how articulate you are!")

In September, Pecou's first solo New York gallery show was a success; "More than anything, I recognize that if you can do it in New York you can do it anywhere," says Pecou

"I think that is irresponsible on the part of society to have children lead us."

Format: You're educated and live in Atlanta. How has Atlanta influenced your creative process and final creations?

Fahamu Pecou: The thing that keeps me grounded in Atlanta is that the pace is slow enough that you can really enjoy quality of life and that is an attraction for me. The city is one of those places where it is not difficult for you to make a big name for yourself. There is a lot of fertile ground work and all kinds of ideas and projects to get light compared to a New York or L.A. where there are a million people thinking like you are. Being in Atlanta played a major role in how quickly this body of work has caught on. If I lived in New York doing this, it might not have caught light the way it did in Atlanta.

Format: What was your reaction to T.I.'s recent charges?

Fahamu Pecou: I was disappointed. I'm a fan. I think he's a really great artist and he exhibits a really positive image through his marketing. This incident that happened was really stupid, for lack of a better word. I expected more.

Format: The majority of artists face humble beginnings. What are some hardships you've persevered through, in the early years of your career?

Fahamu Pecou: I think most of my hardships came in my childhood. By the time I got to adulthood I figured out how to stretch a dollar out. One of the biggest hardships at the start of my career was trying to navigate a career. That was something that was not taught to me in school. I learned some hard lessons and got knocked around a bit to figure it out. I won't say that I'm a starving artist. I've always had a hustle, a way to make things work for me. As far as childhood, those hardships were more severe; I lost both my parents when I was four and then I was adopted. I went through finding my voice as an artist and art has been more of a salvation.

Format: In a past interview, you say, "People are really intimidated by my bodyguards and don't know if it's OK to talk to me or approach me, so I often catch someone staring." Why do you need bodyguards?

Fahamu Pecou: It's just part of the performance. I hire professional bodyguards, because I want everything to be legit. No one has ever tried to hurt me. When you think about celebrity presence, a lot of times a person does not have to act or say anything, but the presence they create moves people in a certain kind of way. The bodyguard, the models, all that is about presence – it's about shifting people's perception of me before they have a chance to encounter me.

Format: Before you do your performances, do you have mental preparation to put you in character?

Fahamu Pecou: Yeah, it's really affirmation. The real me is pretty shy and laid back, so I have to hype myself up to get in the frame of mind to do the character. It's funny, because my friends are usually the ones trying to get me hyped up. They're more into the character than I am.

Format: Please explain how your sticker and poster campaign, "Fahamu Pecou is the shit," materialized.

Fahamu Pecou: When I first came up with the title of the campaign, I was trying to figure out how to get people to recognize my name. I was at the point of sending materials to galleries and applying for shows and never getting feedback. I wanted a way to put my name out there so people would recognize my name and appear larger than what I was. I started by posting posters up that read 'Fahamu Pecou is the shit' and it didn't say why or what it was I did, it was just my name and a graphic of me with my shirt off. People started reacting to it by saying things like, 'Hey you're that guy.' I did grab people's attentions and started to pick it up a notch with ad campaigns and T-shirts.

Format: Your canvases are six to seven feet in height. What are the challenges of working on such a large scale?

Fahamu Pecou: The challenges were far greater when I had a Honda Civic!

Format: Rap's responsibly to cultures and communities is larger than any other music genre. Do you think there is too much responsibly placed on rap music?

Fahamu Pecou: I think it's interesting that rap is used as a scapegoat for the ills of society. It's reflective of our culture and society. It's been traditional to place blame on poor black people for crime and drugs. Hip-hop is a thing people love to hate. It makes so much people so much money, but they have nothing vested in it; if it generates money for them, good, if it generates money for them when it's doing bad, good. I think too much responsibility is placed on hip-hop artists. If you think about there are very few rappers who are over the age of 30 who are still making music and selling records. The majority of the rappers are young kids in their late teens or early 20s. Most of them have not experienced what will shape who they'll be as men and women, and we're expecting them to lead the masses of people. I think that is irresponsible on the part of society to have children lead us.

Format: Often, mainstream media sources like CNN project negative coverage on rap music by examining rap music through BET. In your opinion, should BET act as a gatekeeper to what kind of imagery and message rap music projects to the public?

Fahamu Pecou: It's interesting you ask that. I do a series of hip-hop roundtable discussions and one of the issues that often comes up is that corporations and media are controlling the gates of what people are able to hear or see in hip-hop. I don't think BET or MTV are equipped enough to be the appropriate keepers of the music or culture, partly, because they have commercial interest in it so they're not interested in promoting an artist whose content is contradictory to what their agenda is. They'll put their energy behind whoever is making the most money. I think a lot of times there are a lot of great artists that don't get any kind of coverage, because of what these corporations' agendas are. What's reported as far as hip-hop in the media is also an issue. They don't talk about David Banner's community programs, he does positive stuff, but you don't hear about that. Instead, they talk about T.I. getting busted with guns.

Format: Please explain the message in your painting Die Standing.

Fahamu Pecou: There is a Mexican revolutionary named Emiliano Zapata who is coined by saying, 'It's better to die standing than to live on your knees.' It really illustrates my philosophy about life and my work. Rather than wait or beg or ask permission, just stand up and take it. Not doing what the system expects you to do.

Format: NEOPOP uses real magazine names for your faux magazine covers. Have you experienced legal action against your use of these magazine names for NEOPOP?

Fahamu Pecou: No. As a matter of fact, most magazines contact me and ask me to do a cover. I have not had issues regarding names.

Format: When creating your NEOPOP character, who are the celebrities that you tried to project through your character?

Fahamu Pecou: In the beginning it was a mockery of 50 Cent, but since then it's all kinds of celebrities rolled into one. The character evolved a life of its own. I don't know what a lot of what I'm doing with the creation of the character is really conscious.

Format: Please explain the message in your painting So Clean and Articulate.

Fahamu Pecou: That was a crack at Joe Biden commenting on Barack Obama being a clean, articulate and good looking black man. As a black man, it's one of those weird compliments that people give you from time to time: you can put sentences together without cursing every word, why wouldn't I be articulate? I did a presentation at a public art project that I did and when I finished speaking, a curator that I knew for a long time was said, 'Oh my God, I can't believe how articulate you are!' It was kind of a joke back at that, too.

Format: CNN and other news sources are covering whether Barack Obama is black enough. What is your reaction to their coverage on that subject?

Fahamu Pecou: America has a really big problem in the way it deals with black people. Often, the way it deals with black people is to faction them into different groups: dark skinned blacks, light skinned blacks; ghetto blacks, educated blacks; or black men verses black women. It's pitting people against each other. To me, it's one of those things where as long as we're fighting ourselves, we cannot fight the real enemy: oppression, racism, classism and everything else that affects the community. That's how I feel about the 'Is Barack Obama black enough?' To me, it shouldn't be an issue. He's running for President of the United States so our question should be, 'Is he a person that can lead this country?' not 'Is he black enough to attract a black vote?' If you split the black vote between Obama and Clinton, while the GOP is running their one candidate while everyone aligned behind their one candidate, who wins?

Format: In September, you had your first solo New York gallery exhibition. How was the experience and is the pressure of a New York exhibition different than your past exhibitions in smaller cities?

Fahamu Pecou: I won't front and say I wasn't intimidated by it, but I realized that it was my audience for what I'm doing. I haven't had a solo show in New York, but I did a couple groups shows and each time I did really well. More than anything, I recognize that if you can do it in New York you can do it anywhere. I was more nervous by that. Whatever I said, I wanted it to be my A game.

Format: Do you find the reactions to your shows are different based on geographic location?

Fahamu Pecou: No. I think, for the most part, wherever I am the idea is that I still resonate in all those places. The most interesting thing that occurs is the type of crowds that I get at the shows. Not people reacting differently, but the people who come out are different. In Dallas, a lot of people came to the opening reception and they were mostly older white people. In the closing reception it was mostly black people my age. It was kind of odd, because most of those people have not been to an art gallery before. I get that a lot, too. People come out who may not be into the day to day art gallery dealings, but they're inspired by my work and show up.

Format: Please explain the message in your painting King Kong Ain't Got Shit On Me.

Fahamu Pecou: That's just bravado, that's me talking shit. The line comes from Training Day. Part of my character is about bravado and sticking his chest out.

Format: What impact has NEOPOP's message had on its audience?

Fahamu Pecou: To meet another one of the greatest things was to meet another young black person that is interested in art after seeing my work. That is a great feeling for me. I didn't grow up going to galleries or museums. I just didn't have the resources. I think in America, a lot of black people feel that art is something for white people. Most of my collectors are middle-aged white couples. I can count two or three black people that have bought my work. I think a lot of people can react to my work, because the messages I'm dealing with are universal.

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