When do you know you have really made it as an artist? It might be when you have solo exhibitions running in San Francisco, London, Singapore, Auckland and Melbourne at the same time. This is the case of Niels Shoe Meulman, a Dutch calligrapher, graffiti writer and graphic designer who has successfully made the transition from street to High Street.
Born in Amsterdam, Meulman began his artistic career in 1979 by tagging ‘Shoe’. With his distinctive style it didn’t take long before his writing started to catch people’s attention and by the time he was 18, he was already a walking, talking graffiti legend. In the early eighties he hooked up with Bando from Paris and Mode2 from London and together they formed the notorious Crime Time Kings who played a major part in setting the tone for the European aerosol scene that was just starting to bud. During the nineties Meulman continued to ameliorate his technique as well as make a name for himself as an excellent graphic designer and art director. But it wasn’t until 2007 that all the pieces came together, when he decided to merge his remarkable talents into one dynamic art form – calligraffiti. As the name might suggest, calligraffiti is a mixture of traditional calligraphy and contemporary graffiti and the result is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Black and white, classic yet playful, Meulman sure knows how to use those brushes and today he enjoys a reputation as one of the best creative masterminds in the business.
You went to China some three months ago, what did you do there?
During the Beijing Design week, Converse hosted a project called Off Canvas. They invited me and five other (typo)graphic artists to create art in the streets of Beijing. I did three experimental pieces located in two hutongs. A hutong is the Chinese equivalent of a favela minus the crime. One was on a flat roof (visible from another higher roof) where I did my Calligraffiti with a 120 cm wide floor sweeper and white paint, the type that’s unavailable in Europe because of its toxic components. I have done some street painting with a broom before, but the size made this one truly next level. Another piece, on a brick wall, consisted of my repetitive brush strokes that can be read as ‘unununun’, culminating in the word ‘uncompromising’, a casual reference to the strict Chinese regime that rejected another plan which involved me painting a 70 meter high chimney. The third was called ‘ununderstand’. The reversal power of the flippable letter combination ‘un’ was the binding theme for all paintings.
There’s a great video registration by Swedish film maker Petter Eldin online.
Workshops, events, projects, shows, running your own gallery and publishing a book – you sure are one busy artist… Is there any one thing that gives you more satisfaction?
I actually think of myself as being lazy. I never set an alarm in the morning. I watch TV a lot and often get drunk. Maybe that’s why I haven’t started a family like most people. Or is it vice versa? Anyway, I like my life how it is. Traveling, exhibiting and letting my art evolve is quite fulfilling. I’m working on a new book that focuses more on painting whereas the book Calligraffiti was more about my graphic design work. I run the gallery and its online web shop with my significant other, Adele Renault. I’m looking forward to the Calligraffiti tour we’re doing in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore beginning of 2012 and also expecting great things of my solo show in San Francisco which opens March 24th at 941 Geary gallery.
On your webpage you give the simple answer to what Calligraffiti is, can I get the complicated one here?
I’ll try, though I usually aim for simplicity. Calligraffiti is the result of me looking for purpose in my life. I figured that I had enough life experience to focus on a specific thing, to experiment the hell out of it and to totally ‘own’ it. It’s as if everything before 2007, at age 40, was practice and now I’m executing my mission. To kickstart this mission, it was useful to name it Calligraffiti because it is self-explanatory. It is also the name of the book that was published in 2010. I feel that I’m distancing myself from the term Calligraffiti now, though. I don’t want it to become a brand. Complicated enough?
Haha, complicated enough! But, what makes a good calligraffiti?
Directness in the whole, finesse in the details. An even balance between seeing and reading word and image. I like it when letters, writing and language itself becomes an image or an abstraction. On the other hand, basic shapes and splats can become language. This is what my painting is about. But this also counts for my design work, for example in the piece ‘Less is More’. When you read it, it says the opposite of what you see.
Tell me more about your Unruly gallery, when did you start and how do you pick and choose your artists?
It’s tiny space in a small but notorious neighborhood in Amsterdam. In the 80s it was all squats and junkies, the cops didn’t even go there. Now it’s still far from being upscale but it feels right to have the gallery there. The owners, my dear friends in Ibiza, let me use it as a studio/gallery. After a while I had the idea of showing work by my contemporaries besides my own stuff. This year we’ve hosted five exhibitions: a group show with over 30 artists, Quik, Paul Du Bois-Reymond, Vincent van de Waal and Petro. Most of the work shows a personal, unique way of translating urban iconography to sellable art. I’m fascinated by the richness that appears when artists go from street to gallery. It’s an ongoing theme in my own work too.
So where do you prefer to see art? In galleries or in the street?
It might sound lame but I prefer to see a piece in a gallery or museum. Of course, nothing beats seeing a painted whole car pull into the station (especially your own) but after it’s gone, we end up looking at a photograph. Unique pieces are so much more powerful than prints.
And your own art, where does it belong?
I think my art belongs with people who appreciate it. And when those people explain their connection with it, that’s priceless.
What’s the last thing you wrote/painted/created?
Most people value works of art that took a really long time to make. I think it’s the other way around. If something beautiful is created in a few seconds, it adds to the value. A big part of making a piece is done in my mind and sketchbook. Ideas for pieces can come to me when watching TV, taking a nap, in the shower or when drunk. So, in a way I’m constantly working on numerous pieces. The last piece I finished is a poem written by Rutger Hauer for an underground magazine done by creatives that used to work at Wieden+Kennedy. I never knew he wrote poetry and I picked one that I liked.
What would you say are the highlights of your career?
My life has really just been a continuous flow so far. Even my years as a graphic designer and art director came and went naturally. Winning awards, getting that great job and doing that huge one-man show… these things might make me look successful but it’s the personal achievements that really count. Anyway, I’ll name three ‘highlight’ moments that pop into my head:
- In my twenties I realized that being the best in the world at something would be possible if I actually invent that something.
- When working for ad agency BBDO, I was asked to create a campaign for a brand of laxatives. I decided to quit.
- The first Calligraffiti exhibition in 2007 was a huge event but had no real plan behind it. Financially I went out on a limb, and it was heartwarming to see that so many supported my art and jumped to the opportunity to finally own a real Shoe, haha.
Being part of the old-school crew, are you mainly approached on commission, or do you seek out fun projects to do? What do you prefer?
I get asked for a wide variety of commissions and projects and my initial reaction is often to go for it, but last year I decided my focus should be on painting so no more ad typography, packaging, birth cards, tattoos, etc. It was fun and paid the bills but I find those things distracting these days.
Is there anything you would have done differently during your career?
If I had my time again
I would do it all the same
And not change a single thing
Even when I was to blame
For the heartache and the pain
That I caused throughout my years
How I loved to be your man
Through the laughter and the tears
(Mick Jones, Big Audio Dynamite)
Deep! Do you ever get tired of re-inventing yourself?
You get what you settle for. (Thelma & Louise)
The thing is that to create a piece, within my self-set boundaries can be fucking hard. Especially now that I understand that every truth comes with an untruth. My future work will be about just that.
If you were president for a day, what would you do?
Ban helmet laws and legalize drugs. Let people decide whether they think safety belts, smoking or snorting coke are good ideas. If this results in an increase of deaths, it could even help against overpopulation. Governments are taking away our freedom and it’s interfering with natural selection. Also, people shouldn’t expect the government to take care of everything. Then again, less developed countries could maybe use some more regulation, for example on child labour or nuclear safety.
See what I mean? With truth comes untruth. Shoe for Unpresident.
Shoe, you unrule!
