STAK - interview
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1. Please, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little something about Stak.

I am known under the name "Stak", Olivier Stak. First graffiti piece in the west Parisian suburbs at the end of the 80's. Today I am working under my real full name, and mostly in art spaces in France and abroad.

2. You use some kind of logo, mostly painted in black. It looks a bit like a head, but it isn't. Could you describe it, and what does it mean?

I did my first logo in 1995, because I was tired of doing "classical" graffiti. But this is an old story ….

3. You travel around and paint on walls and at the same time you do shows in galleries. I think you bring graffiti and the hype around it to a conceptual level. Could it be that graff lifestyle is an inspiration for your work inside the galleries?

You know I am a guy from the city, I mean I never lived in the countryside. I used to live in the suburbs of Paris, and painting on wall was sport. My artworks of today comes from that side, it comes from my graffiti past, but also from my love/hate to the city where I use to live. The urban space is my main theme in my everyday work.

4. You are the producer of really cool mag called Worldsigns, later Nusigns. For sure it is not easy to run something like this. At the same time I wonder, street art is really popular now, some of the artists works sell for astronomical prices. How do you see it from the perspective of a magazine publisher?

Worldsigns and Nusigns are dead now. I am not a mag publisher or a journalist, for me doing a magazine is just a peripheral project to my main activity that is doing art. A magazine is just a kind of platform, an art space where I can support artists I like. Money is a complex thing. To be short I have no problem with money. To win money with what you love is a perfect deal to me. But yes sometimes I am a little bit surprised, and I did not often understand.

5. You have been to Praha a couple of times. Is there something that you would like to revisit while you are here?

… I keep that secret!



Links:
http://www.olivierkostathefaine.com