'Neckface has one foot in the streets and one in the gallery. He's one of those quiet little geniuses who drop out of art school and make their own way. While he might be considered an art terrorist leaving his mark – a dripping name and sometimes a crazed, pointy-toothed face – all over New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo, his gallery shows sell out. In contrast to Simon Evans's more cerebral work, which has been supported by a veteran gallery owner, Neck Face has found his own success using medieval themes, working in metal, and creating a raw vibe that fits with his renegade personality and appeals to viewers caught up in a fast-paced world. The Neck Face character is ambiguous yet confrontational, violent, and never boring, but the artist himself is a young man with a dark sense of humor who has been skating since the fourth grade, enjoys a good mystery, and loves to have fun. Remember: people thought Basquiat and Warhol were self-absorbed no-talents.' -- Lori Spears, San Francisco Bay Guardian
'Neckface plays the graffiti card, but he isn’t really that much of a writer, he’s a painter and a drafts man and whether he makes marks on a wall or a train or a piece of paper it’s the same. And that for us is why he is so successful; because it doesn’t look like graffiti, it looks like a drawing and it still looks like a drawing when its on a building, like a big hand claw thing grabbing. Neckface has been able to succeeded where so many have failed (and are still failing); to work out what he is and disseminate that to a large number of people. Shepard Fairey achieves the same thing, but the reason, conversely, why Fairey doesn’t succeed is because even though it looks like a Fairey whether on a galley wall or on the street its sold as pop art appropriation based work and those terms are no longer that interesting, not just because Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein did it already because that’s not necessarily a consideration, but because Fairey’s work is no where near as interesting as what they did.' -- Artlurker
'Deleuze when explaining the genius of Foucault speaks of producing new kinds of statements, Lenin has done so, 1968 has done so, and even Hitler he says, was a great producer of new statements. “New statements can be diabolical” … The idea as Deleuze describes it, is to see something imperceptible, to think at something’s limit, to reach the intolerable, otherwise the statement does not encompass both seeing and speaking. The 25 year old Neckface has reached the intolerable. Perhaps this serves as a reason for the increasing interest of art critics, gallery owners and auction house professionals in the work created by the enigmatic street artist.' -- ArtObserved
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Media
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Interview
from SLAMXHYPE
Did you always want to become an artist?
When I was younger the teacher asked the class what everyone wanted to be when we grew up, she said we could be whatever we wanted. All the other kids said the same dumb shit, fireman, policeman, doctor, etc… When the teacher finally asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told her that I wanted to be a t-rex. I guess I’ve always wanted to fuck shit up.
Your style of work is very dark and deep. Was there something that triggered this?
It’s all I know: dark and deep. That’s how I grew up. When I grew up I used to torture cats just for fun. It’s just natural to me. My family has a very dark sense of humour, so it’s natural that I’m like that.
You’re now established in the gallery scene. Do you think this represents all the work you have done over the years writing on walls and working with streetwear labels, or is it a natural evolution of your work?
I guess it’s natural because I kinda just fell into it. I wasn’t going around showing my work to galleries and shit, it just happened, but I’m very thankful that it happened to me and I know that I’m lucky.
You like to work with many different mediums – walls, canvas, ‘zines, clothing… Is there one that you prefer, or do you believe the diversity has created the artist you are?
I like to work with all mediums; I like to keep it movin’ around here. I get bored with stuff real quick, so I like to try out new shit. But you know what they say; “Trying is the first step to failing.”
How do you spend a regular day; what’s your routine?
I try not to wake up, but that never works. Then I walk to the kitchen and grab some shit out the fridge, probably eggs but recently pancake mix. I make pancakes with smashed up Butterfinger chocolate bars in it, make some kool aid, and eat my breakfast. Then I grab my board and go out for a lil’ skate, come back home, do some work and listen to oldies, and do a couple hours of work. Then I go out at night, and stay out all night. Most of my fucked up ideas come from the night.
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Further
Info on Neckface's Halloween Show in Los Angeles, October 31st
Report on Neckface's 2009 Halloween Show in Miami
Neckface's Top 5
Neckface's book 'Satan's Bride
Neckface interviewed @ AO
Fuck Neckface!
Neckface @ Facebook
Neckface @ New Image Art
Neckface @ Altamont Apparel
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Show
Installations
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Paintings
Misc
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p.s. Hey. Uh, I'm neither worse nor all that much better on the health front today, but I guess that's better news than not. Anyway, I'm still going to be a little vague and stuff today, I think. Sorry. Alert: The great d.l. L@rstonovich's unmissable radio show Skullcrushing Hummingbird is having its Halloween Spooktacular tonight, and you can hear it live from 6 - 10 pm on the West Coast and 9 pm - 1 am on the East Coast and during the wee hours over in Europe by merely clicking this at the appropriate time. I sure the hell will be doing that, 'cos I'm no fool, and please join me. ** L@rstonovich, Listen to you later, man, and thanks a lot, and break every leg as gorily as possible. ** David Ehrenstein, I know. I mean, yeah, I wish I'd had a movie making iPhone back then. Mark Rappaport lives in Paris? Why did I not know that? I love his films. He really deserves a Day here. I'll get on that. The Liberation link seems to be working. I'll page through the facsimile thing and try to find the Chereau section later. Nice. ** Pilgarlic, Candy Claws, okay, I'll go hunt their sound down later today. Thanks for the tip. Wow, that was kind of some dream, man, yikes. ** Creative Massacre, Oh, no, he lost? Wtf! It was super interesting to see the Undertaker talk like a real person, so thanks a lot for that. You think Lesnar might make a little return to the WWE? That's such a good and smart idea, as long as the Undertaker wins, mind you. Anyway, thanks a lot for the news. ** Bollo, You'll get used to the work schedule shift, right? You getting a satisfactory amount of art work in? I'm going up to see the Paul Thek retrospective at the Whitney tomorrow. Very excited. And, dude, totally go for the business cards. Seems like a no brainer. ** The Evil Ghost of JW Veldhoen, Can I be Latoya? Please? Cemetery tour? In NYC or around here? I don't know squat about local cemeteries. There's one on, I think, Long Island or, hm, the Hamptons, where O'Hara and Ted Berrigan and bunch of other cool people are buried, but I forget its name or where it is. ** Steevee, Fingers crossed on the actor front. ** Plexus, You have a cold too? Mine isn't so really that awful yet, at least during the daylight. It's vampiric, I suppose. How about yours? Russia is super intense. So's their pop music. The fastest, most depressing techno ever. Hm, okay, I think I'll download or rent 'Splice' then. I think my imagination can work with it. I hate when monsters have wings, though. I don't know why. Not like 'scared' hate, more like 'hey, that's cheating'. It doesn't make much sense. Please tell me that restaurant job didn't turn out to be so horrible. Can you do that? If not, hit me with its crappiness. I think if you were sitting in their laps, they'd be far too busy eat anyway. Love, sniffle, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Your brother is a serious hero, man. No question about that. ** Andrew, The Volta tour ... I don't remember what she looked like on that tour. Easily enough figured out though. Piece, sent out: cool. ** David, Are you sleeping with it yet? Wow, that sounded ... ** Bill, Hey. Yeah, cold aside, all is well, I guess. Thek tomorrow. I hear the catalogue is just amazing. Have you seen it? ** Nb, What is all this talk about Canvas? I'm confused, but it could be the snake that could have bit me. Yeah, text me about the reading later. I'm pretty sure that I want to go if you're up for it. If I can sort out a time for the Steampunk haunted house trip, I might be able to get us free tickets even, it turns out. We'll see. See you a little later, I hope. ** Sypha, Yes, I've learned to use restraint when it comes to your impending novel announcements. You, Joe Mainstream? Ha ha, dude, please. You're just complicated and more open about your fandom about certain disreputable things than the rest of us. ** Frank Jaffe, Hi, Frank! So, I'm guessing you're back home now, right? Oh, that sounds so familiar: Mark Pariselli's 'After'. Yeah. I must have it or have seen it. Huh. Let me know what you think. No, nothing dramatic with the goat, it just ... you know, dead goats aren't static things, they're decomposing things that look like goats, and ours was, uh, at or just past its expiration by the time of the second show. It's awesome to know you better in person too. You gotta make that long delayed Paris trip one of these days, man. ** Postitbreakup, So great that you're almost free of the pills. I bet that will help your writing habits come back. I think they don't just pop back into place instantly. Reawakened, more like. Patience and trying to write with regularity are the key. I'm telling you: habit is a lot of it. I've never had severe writers block, I don't think. I've had long lulls. It took me a long time to get 'The Marbled Swarm' going. That was tough and kind of painful. But, yeah, drive, just doing it, not questioning it or why you're doing it or thinking too much about it, but just doing it. Thanks, J! ** James, Hey. Peter Ong: good stuff. Yeah, I got the email, and thanks, and just be patient 'cos I'm always slow and I'm really slow when I'm finishing a novel like I am now. My snail mail is: c/o Centre International des Recollets, 150 rue du Faubourg St. Martin, 75010 Paris, France. Take care, man. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. Yeah, my agent has had a really eclectic bunch of clients. Burroughs, Acker, and that kind of writer, and then he used to handle Mario Puzo who wrote the 'Godfather' books and Pallahniuk and, uh, even Moby 'cos I think Moby wrote some vegan cook books or something. I think maybe I got a cold from one of the dancers, Rico, who has or had a cold for the first few shows. I heard 'The Lovely Bones' movie was bad, yeah. Chris Cochrane, who does the music for 'Them', is color blind too. Do you see the colors in your dreams that you can't see when you're awake? Sorry your friend's friend's husband is a dick, but it sounds like you hardly ever see him. And now you know, and that's good, I guess. Maybe that'll explain things. My day: I drank a bunch of coffee to ward of cold-related sluggishness, and then I taxied up to Harper Collins/ Perennial and had lunch with my editor Michael. He's really cool, so that was fun. He said if I can finish 'TMS' in six weeks, and if he likes and accepts it, it might be able to come out next fall, so I'm going to try really hard to get the novel finished by then. And then I got a special badge so I could go into the HC/HP offices themselves, and I visited with the people I know there like Carrie, who runs HP, and Cal Morgan, who's the editor of all sorts of interesting people from Blake Butler to Jerry Lee Lewis. Nice stuff. Then I taxied back here. I was hoping to visit with Lynne Tillman, but our timing was off. So I worked on the novel and started feeling more sick/ bleah, which made the novel too hard for me, so I did some blog stuff and texted with some friends trying to make meeting plans. It was Yury's birthday yesterday, so I called him -- well, we talk every day, but it was a birthday-inflected call -- and he was kind of predictably having birthday blues, but I think he made it through the day okay. I felt worse and worse, so I just kind of ate food and diddled around until I was ready to go to sleep. That's it. Tuesday on your end? ** Empty Frame, Hey, man. Yeah, the French riots and stuff aren't easing up that much at all, and it sounds things are going to get pretty seriously crazy around the time I get back, which is cool, although I'm a little worried about how I'm going to get home from the airport. Yeah, I did read some stuff about the Tories' shit. How was the demo? Nice set of music shows you got lined up there. I haven't seen Caribou since they stopped wearing animal costumes, but I bet they're still really good live. I don't think Sedaris is really about having claws. I haven't read the later books of his, but I quite like the first few, and he's an old pal, even if we both live in Paris and never ever see each other. Plan re: English publisher? Uh, I guess find one that might want my new novel. I don't have high hopes. My agent thinks it's a decent chance maybe. English publishers just don't like my stuff. Granta used to really dislike my work, but I don't know they feel nowadays. Anyway, tell me what's going on inside you and outside you. ** Jake, Hey. I only just now read 'he' once quickly, but it's beautiful. I like it a lot! What a pleasure. Let me ... Everyone, d.l. Jake is a wonderful writer, and we rarely get to see new work by him, and he's just posted the first new piece of writing on his blog in almost a year, and it's a beautiful short new fiction, and I highly recommend that you check it out by clicking this. Well, me being me, I think the line between scary and sexy is an excellent strategy, of course. Maybe you can go dressed as one of the those guys who frisk suspicious looking people at airports and just hope he dresses as someone or something suspicious, which seems like a pretty good bet. ** Misanthrope, Hey, Georgey. Oh, Plexus got me sick? Damn him. He promised. Good Lord, that's a complicated anti-cold regimen. I'll try, but ... no, I'll do it. ** Scunnard, Our aligning colds are getting pretty eerie. I would say that I must keep touching something that you touched when you were in Paris, but I'm not even there. But you probably touched all sorts of things in NYC, come to think of it. I think my cold is going to be mildish. What about yours? ** Allesfliesst, Hey, K. We have, uh, five shows left unless the venue asks us add an extra one or two, which has vaguely been discussed. I have until tomorrow evening to stop talking like Elmer Fudd. Catholics are really into their rituals. It's crazy, from what I've seen. I really like slow moving things, from Bresson films to Japanese porn to whatever, but not when they smell like incense. And maybe not when they echo. (I'm trying to be imaginative or something with a head cold here, sorry.) ** JoeM, Well, then perhaps you'll want a prize that helps ward off exhaustion? I await your orders. ** Finis again. I thought I'd combine Halloween and skate culture and bad boy behavior today and see what happened. To wit, Neckface. Enjoy it, I hope. See you tomorrow.
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