No Respect: Graffiti & Street Art feat. Jasone SGB & SinKe WFC.

HeartbeatInk Tattoo Magazine visited the exhibition “No Respect”: Graffiti and Street Art that is taking place at the Onassis Cultural Centre and spoke with two of the artists that are taking part in it and are tattoo artists themselves, Jasone SGB / Styles Matters Tattoo Studio) and SinKe WFC (Lonis Tattoo Studio) about the exhibition itself, as well as the interaction between tattoo and graffiti, their transition from one form of art to another but also about the Greek scene.

Words & interviews: Eirini Katsara.
Exhibition photos: Ino Mei.

The exhibition

The exhibition being held at the Onassis Cultural Center until July 13th 2014, basically consists of a record of the Greek graffiti and street art scene, as it can be seen today on the streets of Athens and other big Greek cities. The event had 40 graffiti artists been given the task of ‘covering’ the walls, columns, floors as well as the cars that were in the venue, creating their artwork on the spot.

Moreover, a ‘making of’ video is shown in the venue, showing the procedure of creating the pieces that are on display, while photographic material in the form of brochures is available with all the necessary information related to the exhibition and the artists participating in it.

The following graffiti artists are taking part in the exhibition:

ACHILLES • AIVA • ALEX MARTINEZ • APSET • ATH1281 • BILLY GEE • BILOS • BIZ 360 • CACAO ROCKS • DOKOS DIMITRIS • DON40 • EX!T • EZION • FOLA CREW • FORS • IKEAR • INO • JASONE • JOLA • KERT • LINARDAKI – PARISOT • NAR • NOBLE ROT • RTMONE • SAME84 • SENOR • SHK CREW • SHUEN • SIMEK • SINKE • STMTS • THEOPSY • THINK • THIS IS OPIUM • WD • YIAKOU • ZAMIE • ZEK • ZOFOS • ZOTA • Π

The tattoo artists:

Among the artists who undertook the task of covering the walls of the Center are two tattoo artists from Thessaloniki and Athens. We are talking about Jasone (SGB / Style Matters) and SinKe WFC (Lonis tattoo), who spoke to us among others about the interactive relationship that exists between these two forms of art (tattoo and graffiti), about how they got involved with it all, as well as the ‘phase’ that tattoo and graffiti are currently here in Greece.

Jasone SGB / Styles Matters Tattoo Studio

Was it tattoo or graffiti first?

Graffiti is my first love.

How did the transition from one art to another happen?

Simply and naturally I guess… “It was time” as they say.

Do you believe that these two interact with each other? If so in what way?

I believe that I have a personal style from graffiti that people know and “dig” and that is what I am trying to follow when it comes to tattooing too.

How much has your involvement with graffiti helped you redefine your style when it comes to tattoo?

I think that it is the experience that has helped me with this new ‘topic’ of the tattoo. And step by step I am redefining everything I know.

Do you believe graffiti, which has been kind of “fading” these past years, has made a ‘comeback’ lately?

In my opinion, graffiti was never fading… Therefore, there is no ‘comeback’.

Do you consider yourself more of a graffiti or tattoo artist?

I love graffiti… As I said before, it’s my first love… That is something that doesn’t change… And of course that is something that keeps you connected with your childhood.

Can you differentiate those two skills?

For some specific reasons, yes.

Do you believe that the exhibition at the Onassis Cultural Center in combination with the cover of New York Times on graffiti in Athens is a chance for this form of art to be transferred from obscurity to “de rigueur” and perhaps appeal to an expanded target group?

Similar events have happened in the past too… They are of course always beneficial for the Greek graffiti scene, but we will just have to wait and see what will happen when the Onassis Center ‘era’ is over… Personally I am patient and I have learned not to get easily excited.

Would a perspective of that kind be to your liking or do you believe that the authenticity of the art might be threatened?

That is exactly what I meant before… I have learnt to maintain a certain ‘respect’ towards the thing I loved and still love, so that nothing would be in jeopardy but also regarding the ‘graffiti game’. After all, it is a game and all of us who love it are nothing else but ‘children’.

Jasone SGB Tattoos

SinKe WFC / Lonis Tattoo Studio

How did tattoo and graffiti come into your life as an experience at first and how did it become a lifestyle?

I first started dealing with graffiti back in 1996. For me it was a new way of expressing oneself. Something very new, fresh and particularly forbidden at the time. After all these years, until today, it is still a lifestyle for me. With tattoo alongside, I first started dealing with tattoo in 2011. Tattoo is a form of philosophy, my daily artistic pleasure.

Which artists have influenced you in those two forms of art?

I would say that I do not have a standard. I follow other artists’ works and admire a lot of them, from both scenes, but I am trying to pass my own style on to the tattoos.

When you start a pattern (either tattoo or graffiti), do you usually make up your mind in advance about how it will look, or do you redefine the original idea along the way?

When it comes to graffiti, I usually prepare a mock up, some basic lines and I complete it afterwards, based on the needs of the space I have at my disposition. With tattooing, I design some custom made patterns in advance, others are stenciled while others are by free hand.

Which of the two procedures (tattoo / graffiti) do you believe is harder to perform and why?

Both have demands and peculiarities, but I don’t believe that one is harder than the other, because I love both equally and to me they are a pleasant way of expressing myself.

Tattoo in Greece has been very popular lately. What would you say about ‘domestic’ graffiti?

It is at its best! To be precise, Athens is considered one of the ‘hottest’ street art cities in Europe.

How much time of your day do you “sacrifice” for these two art forms?

Graffiti is not part of my daily routine but I deal with it when I have free time. Tattoo is my basic occupation. I find myself at Lonis Tattoo Studio 9 to 10 hours per day, where I work.

How did your participation in the exhibition at the Onassis’s Cultural Center come up and what kind of experience did you gain from this whole organization?

I registered myself and got chosen. It is one of the biggest graffiti exhibitions that has ever taken place in Greece, thoroughly organized, with great artists and it is a great joy that I was a part of it.

Would you like to take part in other exhibitions in the future?

Of course I would and I am thrilled that I have had the opportunity to take part in various other exhibitions too in these past years. It is a great chance to present my work and get people familiar with this form of art.

Will we be seeing an equivalent ‘artistic’ exhibition with tattoos in some renowned gallery or do you believe that the Greek mainstream audience is kind of unprepared for such an event?

Why not? Art is art and the audience that loves it and follows it is ready for something like that.

SinKe WFC Tattoos