Apex interview
Posted: March 2nd, 2009 | Author: graggregator | Filed under: Graf | No Comments »
Do you remember Apex? Thanks to Vito we found him !! Here’s for the Fatcap readers the Apex interview! Enjoy!
Apex’s flickr : HERE!
All the pictures have been shot by Funkandjazz check his flickr, you’ll find gorgeous pictures!!
FC: Where are you from? Tell us about your beginnings and your discovery of graffiti.
i was born and raised in san francisco, california, usa. I entered the world of writing at a very young age, san francisco was saturated with writing in the 80’s, it was great.
FC: What’s the meaning of your name?
a·pex (pks)
n. pl. a·pex·es or a·pi·ces (p-sz, p-)
1. The highest point; the vertex: the apex of a triangle; the apex of a hill.
2. The point of culmination. See Synonyms at summit.
3. The usually pointed end of an object; the tip: the apex of a leaf.
i would just like to see if i could ever reach my apex.
FC: What was the interest in art and what lead you to create all those things?
my interest in art just came to me, i did’nt really look for it. It grew out of me at a very young age. I had to create.
FC: Tell us about the graffiti scene from your town?
San francisco’s writing scene is always changing. A lot of people move here, get up, then leave, and the locals keep doing there thing or not. San francisco is a little New York on the west coast, its dope.
FC: How would you define your work and what inspires you?
The best way to define my work in general writing terms, one can call it superburners. everything in the world inspires me, im just a filter for life to flow threw until it reaches a surface.
FC : Are you in anyway linked to hip hop ?
Hip Hop…well i grew up with it, there are a lot of dope hip hop guys around the San francisco Bay Area that I know. Writing has become one of the elements, so that is another way that im part of hip hop. do i do any other part of hip hop, no, i just stick to what im good at.
Culture:
FC: What are your tastes in movies, books comics?
I like all kinds of movies, books, and pop culture, it just depends on what my mood is. well just one movie, i have to say the matrix, that shit is sick.
FC: Name an artist (or many) whose work you respect and admire.
wow, way to many, the internet has allowed me to see a lot of good work out there. there are architects, sculptures, painters, authors etc…….but; vulcan nyc, phase2, zaha zahid, takashi murakami, jay z….
FC: If your style was a music band or a song? Which one would it be?
aphex twin, for sure
Style and Flow:
FC: Your 3D style is amazing as the choice of colors. When I see some of your pieces I feel like I was lost in a whirlwind!!
Yeah that whirlwind is in my head and must come out. i really like getting into my work, the structure of the letter forms, understanding the architecture of the style(letter) and then exploiting it. As well as, i like to do this same thing with the treatment of colors, really dive into the world that im creating. live in it for a moment, explore it, then move on to the next.
FC:What kind of reaction do you want to evoke from your art?
there is no particular reaction that i want people to have from my art. I just want people to know if it moves them or not, and if so, maybe they can walk away from my work feeling a little better.
FC: How do you organize your paintings? Do you do sketches before?
lol, for a long time i did not do real sketches, i would just put some random ideas down on paper and call it a sketch, you know it was just reference material. But now with the more complicated pieces i plan out more parts, even the random parts are planned random, if that makes since. How ever there are some murals that are completly free style, i allow the style to play with the location and dictate the flow/look of the wall.
I also in my mind have the whole piece layered as if i was working in adobe illustrater or photoshop, it allows me the freedom to mentally move around the different layers of the piece.
FC: Do you feel the work you are doing is something that should be preserved or stayed transcience?
Writing in general has a short life but that all depends on the location. clean train=short life, wall= a little longer life(maybe), canvas= longest life
so in my own work i would like for it to be preserved but i control that more then anyone else could, so some of my work will be around for a long time and others will not. when it comes to my style i think that it will for sure stand the test of time……lets see.
FC:In the street you are more quantity or quality?
both, first quality, then quantity if you have time to do more why not.
FC: What was your most adventurous and dangerous graffiti?
You know, i’ve had some crazy writing chase’s in my life, but I dont know what danger really is, well in comparison to other worldly dangers like real wars. That shit makes anything associated with art seem like a bunny rabbit.
FC: How do you choose your pieces and where they are placed in the street?
if i see a wall that just jumps out at me i have to get it and paint it. If the wall is good enough to call my attention to it then it should catch other peoples eyes once it’s painted.
FC : What’s the characteristique of a APEX piece?
There are several different ones, it ether has to be pushing the limits some how. It could be a 3d piece that has at least 50 colors in it, as well as, it could be very big.
FC : Tell us about your collaboration with Andrew Schoultz …
yeah me and Andrew painted that wall threw a local gallery here in San Francisco, in the tenderloin district of San Francisco. it took us about five days to paint the whole wall. the tenderloin district has some interesting people in it and they defiantly live in that building that we painted.
Apex and Andrew Schoultz
FC: What’s the perfect spot and the perfect graffiti?
writing should be for self first then other people, so the perfect spot and the perfect piece is one that you love. and with that said, for me a nice real flat wall.
FC: Ever have any serious graffiti beef?
No, maybe like 16 years ago, but i was a kid……
FC: What was your best graffiti experience?
wow, i feel lucky, i have a lot of great stories. One good one would be painting live on stage at the fillmore in san francisco during the scratch tour in front of a ton of people with DJ Apollo spining right next to me. it was such a good vibe. i guess you had to be there.
FC: What makes a piece good?
understanding your style first, then understanding your colors, then understanding how they work together start to make a good piece, and finally some secret sauce, i dont know, im just bull shitting here. really a good piece comes from being aware of style and what that means.
FC: Classic question: your views on the legal / illegal?
its all part of the game of getting up. i like all of it. each thing brings out different highlights of writing. anyone that says one is better then the other is crazy, they both have a place.
FC: Do you ever think graffiti being costly for society??
maybe?
FC: What do you think about the European graffiti?
wow, thats a big question. I like a lot of graff coming out of europe and there is some that i dont like, but thats the case anywhere you look. I can think of every country in the eu and find good writers.
I will say a big thank you to all the european paint companys for making such great paint for us. the american company’s have screwed us over for years.
FC: How do you see the street-art in 10 years?
I dont have a clue, i think that it will get bigger then change into something else, like everything else.
FC: What you think about the impact of internet on graffiti?
Well we are talking right now because of the internet, and this is going to be read on the internet, so it has had a big impact on writing. i think that the internet is a good thing. There are artist from around the world that can connect and see one another, where as before, forget about it, stone age shit.
FC:How would you describe street art and what makes it different than graffiti or would you say it all falls under the same umbrella of shit. Don’t you think it’s totally different?
It is totally different. But that is the problem with the outside world naming what is being done on the street. we need to name our own culture not the media, so now street art could be the label put on a traditional writing piece. On this topic, this is why I call graffiti, writing. When the new yorkers that started this would talk about there work it was called writing not graffiti. The word graffiti came about later( the media) and now that is the popular term to explain what we do.
FC: What’s your worst and best habits?
My worst and best habits are the same, i love to sleep, that shit is great, i dont know, it just feels good to relax.lol
FC : Have you been arrested for graffiti ?
no not really, great chase’s tho
FC:Describe a typical day of Apex.
Scheming on how to rule the world,lol. My life is boring, it is only good when im painting, you really dont want to know my typical day.
FC: Do you get to hook up with girls thanks to graffiti? We were told that body painting works pretty well…
i have in the past but i’ve been with my girl now for a long time so i dont know now, but probully if i tried.
FC:What are your plans for the future?
I would like to do bigger and better walls all over the world. i want to see how other people react to my work.
FC:What’s coming up in the next few months? Show etc…
I have some iphone apps coming out, go to the apps store and type in “art hotel gallery” and i have a page in that. Also by time this comes out i will have a profile on www.vimby.com
FC:What’s your real goal?
my real goal is to just live and paint. i just want to see all of my ideas come to life. its simple.
FC:Any words of wisdom?
Stay true to your heart, respect others work, because you know you really want people to respect your work.
FC: Shout out?
To my people in no particular order; vulcan, neonski and jase of montana colors, lyfe, more, jan, mega, black scale, tribal gear, nas, san francisco, the world, peace
Thank you Apex!
Yo Fellaz click here for the last one 
You may have seen it already, but the folks at 
