Nychos

from OPEN COLOR - The Vision Issue

by OPEN COLOR

Jillian Evelyn

A LOOK INSIDE & OUT

BY GABBY LOVAZZANO

Nychos has an imagination roughly the same size as the walls he paints on, which are massive! Once you see his larger than life Paintings you will realize one thing, besides the fact that they are astounding, they are everywhere. He has carved a massive place for himself in the world of contemporary urban artists. He has proven to be a stand out artist in a realm of masters, Consistanly pushing the boundries of what can be done with a few cans of spray paint. Inbetween conquering walls in all the major cities on earth, his gallery work is just as stunning. Nychos sat with Open Color to discuss his inspiration, life , and art, on and off the streets.

Dinosaurs, sharks, snakes, and wolves are just a handful of characters you like to draw. And you’re depicting them in their complete form; anatomy is often included in your composition. What inspired you to come up with this unique style and where did you truly master it? I probably drew my first inspiration from very early childhood memories. Since I grew up in a family of hunters in the southeast of Austria, I was confronted with the anatomy of animals at a very young age. I watched my father and grandfather gut their prey and since skulls and bones are kept as trophies, I had the chance to carefully study them all day. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by anatomy and the way things function inside all of us. While watching cartoons – an activity that critically fueled my urge to draw – I was wondering how Disney’s Little Mermaid might look like underneath her fish tail and asked myself if she had legs or fishbones. So yeah, anatomy is a topic that has been keeping me busy ever since. Therefore, it doesn’t feel like I “came up” with a unique style. If you ask me, style is something that’s already there from the very beginning. It originates from your very first stroke and ends with your last one. For style to emerge, all you got to do is to sit down and work – or go out and paint. So, I’d rather say I’ve been mastering my skills over the years, not my style. And a crucial amount of it occurred on the streets.

Can you describe that AH-Ha moment you had, the moment when you realized what direction you were going to take with your art? I don’t remember having an Ah-Ha moment, probably for the same reason I just pointed out above. For me, it never felt like being in search of direction or style. What I’ve been experiencing over all the years is that if you’re honestly communicating with yourself and don’t lose the connection to the person you were as a child and the dreams you had back then, the direction – and the style – will show automatically. Throughout my career, I definitely had moments when things were getting more sophisticated,

more elaborated. These points always came along with phases of deep self-reflection and hard work. There have also been moments in which I felt I’m losing my track. And finding back is hard work, too. In any case, I figured out that when you’re looking for directions, you’re welladvised to take a closer look at what’s always been there.

It’s one thing to draw in a sketchbook, and another to paint a mural. Describe your creative process when executing both. My sketchbook is for taking quick notes, developing thoughts, capturing ideas. It’s liberated from the interaction that happens between a mural and the people in the public space. On the streets, my work is embedded in an already existing context, which I have to take into account of course. Workwise, I very often feel like my art needs large-scale surfaces, which is why painting murals gives me a greater satisfaction. I love that I can go wild on the wall. A sketchbook is limited in size, frame and capacity, but vital to me as a companion. And vital to my murals, since all my sketches emerge in there.

Out of curiosity, what kind of music do you like? Do you listen to anything in particular when you are working? Right now, I’m really into music, that fueled me when I was about 17. I’m rediscovering bands like Tool and Deftones and figured out how important they were (and still are) to me.

Do you remember your first large piece? If so what was it, where was it and do you know if it is still up today? That’s a good question. I keep pushing them until they get bigger and bigger, so I can’t really say. I invite you to share more about the business side of art. Did you shape your career with financial stability in mind, or did your process start off as a hobby and evolve into a profession?

It started as a passion that naturally evolved into a profession. As a kid, I wanted to become an animator working at the Disney Animation Studios. Even though my carrier has developed slightly differently – haha – it has always been clear to me that I’ll follow the artistic path, wherever it may take me. Somehow, I ended up earning my living with my art works and happened to run my own company on two different continents. Even though financial stability is an essential ingredient in my career, I often wish I could do without it. It’s dangerous to let it shape one’s artistic pursuit. The business side of art can be tough – and it has a nasty habit: it likes to mess up the creative flow. I’m really lucky to have a great team, and a badass manager who supports me and all my mad ideas.

What fueled you to expand in 2005 and start the brand Rabbit Eye Movement (REM)? Originally, I started Rabbit Eye Movement as a mission – a movement that’s happening on the streets, dedicated to all those who are active in the Urban Art scene, no matter what kind of mission they are following. That was in 2005. Over the years, it developed into sort of a network, connecting the people and boosting the scene. That’s why I decided to give it a home. In 2012, we established an Art Space in Vienna, which is now a full-time agency. We started to work on prints and designs and this is how the brand developed. When I moved to California two years ago, I took the movement with me and gave it a second home to grow. We’ll see how things are developing here, but I have a good feeling. As we all know, rabbits are breeding fast.

You have merged street and gallery art quite successfully. Do you feel there needs to be a differentiation between fine art and street art? Visually, maybe yes. But it really depends on what kind of artist you are. If you only work for the streets you only work for the streets. With that, I mean that not everything that’s painted on the street fits onto a canvas or into a gallery. Art on the street is always related to its spot. Some pieces wouldn’t work without this relation. I’m lucky that my style and my openness allow both. I perceive myself as an artist without the prefix “street”, “urban” or “fine”. I’m very much aware of what I produce for the street and what for the gallery. Working on a concept for a canvas or an entire exhibition is an entirely different process than creating a concept for a street piece. As I pointed out above, I feel a certain need for large scales, so I’ll always return to the street I guess. It offers the best surfaces.

Congratulations and how the hell did this project with Universal Pictures come about?! I remember when Jurassic Park first came out. My family and I were obsessed, we even had my mom change her license plate to say ARAPTOR! It’s exciting to know that you also had a big love for this movie. It was a manifestation over many years. No, seriously, this project was a matter of the heart. When I was a kid, my main interests were dinosaurs and drawing bones. I drew a lot of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park and I was completely crazy about the toys that came out. I had a mob of raptors, I collected them because they were my favorite. But there was another dinosaur I desperately wanted to have: the T-Rex. I remember that the toy had removable parts of skin and flesh, that revealed the anatomy beneath. I was absolutely fascinated by it. Well, everyone has a story like that: my mom never got me one. But over the years, I’ve learned to never underestimate the power of destiny. In 2017, I got to know the guys from 3DRetro in the course of painting a wall in L.A. Just a year before, I painted a huge T-Rex in Oakland. We had a good chat, they told me that the theme for next year’s DesignerCon is going to be Jurassic Park and asked me if I’d like to collaborate. Of course, I was down. Since they took care of getting the license from Universal all I had to do is designing the toy. So, in the end, I fulfilled my childhood dream myself.

More about inspiration. Who are some artists that first inspired you to create art yourself and who are some artists that motivate you today to keep creating? Artists who have insped me from the beginning are:Koloman Moser, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Alfons Mucha, H.R. Giger, Derek Hess

Also, I got to mention two graphic novel illustrators: Todd Mcfarlane & Greg Capullo

Graffiti-wise, I was deeply inspired by Neo and Toast And of course, I need to mention my crew members, who’ve been inspiring me throughout my journey.

At the moment, I’m especially drawing inspiration from Alex Grey and Paul Pfurtscheller, an Austrianzoologist and natural history illustrator.

Do you have any emerging artist that we need to know about that you would like to shout out? Considering myself an emerging artist I’d like to shout out to some contemporaries: