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Spraygraphic Interview with Gerardo Yepiz aka Acamonchi Art Studio
By Spraygraphic | October 1, 2008
Spraygraphic Interview with Gerardo Yepiz Acamonchi Art Studio
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
GY: Mexican born and raised in Ensenada Mexico, divorced, have a wonderful 5 year old that lives in Wisconsin, Hyperactive, workaholic, I’m a Vegan, althought I don’t call myself Straight Edge, never got into drugs or drinking. I love cats and I ride bikes more now than I do skateboards.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
GY: North Park, San Diego CA, I spend a lot of time at the studio, that is my full time job.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
GY: Primarely silkscreening t-shirts, posters and stickers but I do paintings too, I mixed silkscreen with spray painted stencils, hand drawn stuff, etc.. I use found materials, left over construction wood,
panels etc I like canvas and paper also, I experiment to get different results.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
GY: I like to drink some coffee, listen to some music and start moving things around. I don’t think too much on what I want to do, I just look at the materials, colors, paint or images around and I go for
it,. I let my intuition do the rest. I improvise a lot it’s all based on one-shot type mentality.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
GY: Go for a ride, walk out of the studio. This rarely happens, When I do get block and unable to think straight it has been because I’m under pressure to read somebody elses mind, to fit what I’m being asked for. Other than that I’m clear all the time I know my shit. Half of the creative process already happened inside my head, so I guess when the time comes to translate I find it very easy, very natural.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
GY: Urban decay, textures, landscape, post consumer society, industrial waste, junk yards, folklore, pop culture, tackyness, injustice, excess. I often feed from negative energy, I’m a punk when it comes to
subjects so tragedies are appealing, medical disasters, morbid subjects, death, testosterone and all that stuff. But I do like to give it a twist and push it differently. I filter my ideas and my feelings into poetical compositions.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
GY: It depends because I’m a graphic designer, a fine artist and a printer, working for the music industry and the action sports, I do support the Contemporary Mexican Art scene especially the Tijuana Art scene. In San Diego, anywhere from street installations, independent artshows, galleries, to museums. I do have t-shirts, books on graffiti, urban art, a custom built Fixed Gear bike, skateboard shoes with Osiris, video animations, video interviews, couple of independent documentaries, to shows in Mexico, Canada, London, Paris, Spain, Netherlands, Japan etc, I’m also part of The Nortec Collective, so anywhere they go, my graphics pop up on the big screens.
SG: Where will it be seen next?
GY: More shows in San Diego, Tijuana and Los Angeles. Hopefully will make it to Sweden next year perhaps.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
GY: It’s already happening, one step at the time. I’d like to have an efficient manager that deals with sales so I can focus 100% on creating instead of doing all the office work myself. Sell my work
overseas would be sick.
SG: What is your favorite color?
GY: They are green, blue and purple and variations of these colors.
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
GY: Pushead.. he was the man that pointed me where should I be. His work is amazing, both music and skateboarding. I got to know his work before he started to design for Metallica.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
GY: Mostly stuff about Veganism and health, riding bikes, bike manuals, safety and stuff.
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
GY: Yes, I’ve done self portraits.. they are on my sketch books. Haven’t
done them in a while.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
GY: With the San Diego bike community, bike rides, Critical Mass, other than that I’m always working.
SG: Any final words of advice?
GY: Honesty, commitment, integrity
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Topics: Bicycle Events, California Art Scene, Graffiti-Art, Sprayblog |
January 10th, 2009 at 5:01 am
[...] Artists include; MIKE MAXWELL, JOSH SHELTON, JOEL P WEST, SANDEE MANUEL, KEIKICHI HONNA, SEAN KELLEY, JEFF FAETH, SEAN CHRISTOPHER, WES BRUCE, ACAMONCHI. [...]