M-CITY - he depicts the city as an organism, utopian visions of machines and houses, sprayed and multiplied through stencils into large groups, appear on the walls of houses as if they possessed a strange demonic magic; the aesthetics of black and white immediately catch the eye with their simple power.





M-CITY - interview
©namesfest.net



1. Please, introduce yourself and tell us when and how did you start doing stencils?

M-City, Gdansk, Poland. I stared so long ago that I can hardly remember. What I have been doing all those years has been changing constantly, though; it became settled a bit recently. I studied Photography at the high school and I have a degree in Graphic Design from the Academy of Fine Arts where I was slightly opposed to what the school presented. Apart from painting I make my living as a freelance graphic designer.

2. Your name and the main theme of your work is the city. How did you come to painting "a city on the city"?

I have been using the urban-industrial motif in my work from the very beginning. It might be because I live in an industrial city with a very diverse architecture. My early works were always restricted in size. The stencil technique allowed me to enlarge the picture in an unlimited way by duplicating several motifs and this is how m-city started.

3. Are you connected to the writing scene in your town in any way?

In fact, there is no street art scene in Poland and the local one is even worse, although, there are a lot of colour paintings outside the city.
I sometimes paint with local writers, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. My black&white style doesn’t go very well with letters and doesn’t combine with strikingly colourful works by other writers either. The best thing is to be alone on a big wall.

4. Why do you think street art is so popular with general public today?

Street art is popular because it is simple and transparent for an average audience. It embodies various graphics techniques and it is not bound by a single style or technique. The motifs are easily recognizable, decorativeness prevails. When I last came to Prague, I saw a postcard with Dolk’s work at the Charles Bridge. That really makes you think hard about popularity. The person who sells the postcards probably doesn’t have clue who Dolk is but has somehow come to the conclusion that his postcard will sell.

5. You have already been to Prague. What do you like most about the city and which wall would you like to paint here?

I have been to Prague several times. The city has a good climate, beer and fried breaded cheese. As far as painting, I have no special wish. I like sites situated in interesting surroundings with rich history and significant architecture.



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Links:
http://www.m-city.org