Franco Fasoli aka JAZ, started out as a graffiti writer in the late 90s, and was one of the major graffiti artists who worked in the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His style evolved from the letter based to experimenting with figurative art, inspired by the Argentinean Culture.
Street Art UnitedStates (SAUS) was able to send the artist, who is in Europe, a few questions, through the help of the BC Gallery and Steinmeyer PR.
Could you tell us a litt
le about yourself? Where are you from? And how or when did you start doing street art?
Hello , my name is Franco Fasoli , AKA JAZ , from Buenos Aires, Argentina , i started painting in the street in 1998.
Do you have a formal education?
my Formation was in art school since i am a kid , and then i study stage design , and painting with different artists.
Being an artist is not always easy, where sometimes there is little support from family and friends. How was it for you starting up?
Almost all my family on both sides are artists , so for me it was very easy. Since I am young I am in contact with different kinds of art , and always supported.
Who are your favorite classic artists and from what era and why?
I think i don’t have just one favorite artist , I like so much Lucian Freud, Merlene Dumas, Francis Bacon, GOYA, the Pre Raphaelians, and many many more.
Is there a message in your art?
It is not a specific message, but of course is a lot of history, some Latin American references, concoctions with Argentinean culture. The materials and the confrontations between the inside and the outside , the private and the public space are also a big reference in my work , the identity of the street artist , the cult to the character.
How do you feel about the role of the Internet and social media in making your work more accessible to the public?
The internet and social network are fundamental for the street art, it is like a virtual street, where the information in shared like in the streets , not only by the ephemeral role of the street art. The social medias, internet, filming, etc… is fundamental, because it is not only paintings and installations on the streets, but there are also stories, travels, and a lot of information to share with the public space living.
Street art is still considered vandalism, how is it for you to go out and paint in the street? Did you ever have any problems with the law?
The term Vandalism for street art is only valuable in 1st world countries, where every little thing in the public space is so controlled. That’s why it becomes so important in political terms also in anarchy terms. In South America , South Africa or those other countries are to much easier to do art on the street , but at the same time it doesn’t have the same impact, because they compete with the natural chaos of the city.
I never had a problem with the police, because I grow my art in that kind of city chaos, so the street art is nothing in the life of the cops.
What is the best advice you have ever had about how to be creative?
NOT BE OBVIOUS!
What are your plans in the near future?
To continue my trip around Europe , for a next show in Austria , and then a festival in Istanbul, and then back home and take care of my dogs till the time i go to Brazil for another project.
Any words of advice for aspiring new artists?
NOT BE OBVIOUS!
Thank you JAZ for your time and special thanks to Vik at Steinmeyer PR and the BC Gallery for making this interview happen.
Franco JAZ Fasoli
[email protected]
http://www.francofasoli.com.ar
facebook
