Interview with Part2ism

Hi, Can you introduce yourself for us? (Where you from etc...)

Keith Part2ism or Part 2 to the older folk. I was brought up in Yorkshire, the birth place of Geoffrey Boycott, Frankie Howard & Judy Dench. Ohh & David Hockney!







What's your background? Art school? Self learner? Art for Dummies?

School was my art school & I also learnt about commodity as a youth. There was some wealthy Greek brothers in my class & they used to pay me to finish their art work off before the bell went for break time. Everyone in the class used to bring their work to my desk ‘I cant draw hands, will you do them and I’ll give you a pound?’. When I was 17 Colin Self used to buy my early Graffiti sketches, it didn’t really compute that an established British pop artist was buying my work. I was so precious about letting them go, that i was more concerned with getting Xeroxes of them before he took them. Anyway, to answer the question… Do you really want to hear all that ‘I learnt it on the streets in the 80’s bollocks‘?







How will you describe your art for somebody who doesn't know your stuff?

I don’t know, I kind of like all these people seeing my work for the first time thinking it’s a paste up & not realising its painted. Its best when a piece of work just appears one day & people have to figure out how it arrived there & who did it with what, that’s why I never like to sign my walls. Isn’t that what arts about ACTION - REACTION! WHY, WHY,WHY!







What are your favourite materials to work with?

Emulsion!. Spray paint is obviously my main medium but the smell of it after 25 years or so just gets on my nerves. I’ve learnt to paint quickly with that stuff as I’ve got older. I just want to get to the part where I cut in on the sprayed figure with the yellow emulsion.







How long does it take you to produce a piece? Do you start out with a sketchbook or do you freehand all the way?

I aim to do a canvas in a day & same with a wall, although that depends on the weather a lot. There’s a whole lot of preparation goes into to these images to end up with the finished piece. Me & my partner Tamara work together with the camera & then have to select the final shot that’s to be painted. Tamara is real as well as the fantasy character in the WW2 gas mask we created.



Where do you get your inspiration from?

Some ideas are mine & some are Tamara’s, some are just beautiful accidents & often something I‘m told wont work. Usually though its intuition, you get an idea, a vision & try to bring it to life.







Do you paint/draw/work outside sometimes? Where can we see your stuff?

I did the Tamara series on walls around the east end but none of them are clean anymore. If you want to see these paintings you normally have a week before somebody goes over them. Even though my work is not paste up, it still has a life span. When you work in public space, competition is fierce & everything is constantly changing, so get your pictures quick…



Who influence you the most, any favourite artist(s)?

Tamara, constructivism, dada, TV, radio, newspapers, alcohol, words, love, sex, adversity, war, buildings, Laural & Hardy, Groucho Marx, books, activism, Sun Ra, Cartoons, Jim Jarmusch films, gotta end this somewhere. I think influence is everything you learn & record when you play life.

Favourite artist’s! Gustav Klimt, Anish Kapoor, Bob Camp, Robert Del Naja, Zaha Hadit, Gilbert & George, Gosh! All the original NYC subway renegades, I’m also a big Basquiat fan.







Living as an artist is sometimes difficult financially, any part time job?

Where does an artist find time in his head for a part time job?



What do you think of the current "Street Art" movement?

I think its all a bit divided right now, I’m not sure I fit in any of the boxes so I notice it maybe more than most. We all need to spread love like Lennon & Yoko Ono







Best Gallery in the world? and why?

The Foundry in Old St, real art by the people. That place is so funny too, especially the stand up poetry night.



Best City to paint outside? and why?

Let me loose in a bone yard in California & I think that will answer this question. Planes & junk, the perfect canvas… Cities are tired



Beer and Fag or Tea and Biscuit?

Can I please excess out on all of these? Maybe even a good stiff whiskey?







What are your plans in the near future? Any upcoming exhibitions?

Yes, next week at Urban Angel Gallery. Artillery For Pleasure - New works by Part2ism







See UrbanAngel for Part2ism show