Exclusive Interview: Meet Two Artists of ArtBGC TheNextAct ONE Festival
Meet two of the talented international artists who contributed to the art scene of Bonifacio Global City: Nate Frizzell and AKA Corleone.
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Since the kick-off of the festival last May 23, The ArtBGC TheNextAct ONE Festival has been nothing but awe-inspiring. Watching the artists themselves paint the blank concrete walls of BGC to life is such a sight to behold, and one would just be wowed with the talent and passion they see from the artists while doing their work. Philippine Primer was able to meet two of these artists and learn more about their respective works around BGC and their pursuit of creativity.
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Nate Frizzell
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A graduate of Los Angeles’ Otis College of Art and Design, Nate has drawn international acclaim for his work, showcasing his works in Spain, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami for the annual Art Basel festival. Since 2009, he has held five solo shows. Now, he is in the Philippines for the first time for the ArtBGC TheNextAct ONE Festival to share his kind of art through one-of-a-kind graphic wall paintings that will surely make pedestrians stop and stare.
In his interview with Philippine Primer, Nate Frizzell talked about his style of painting. “My version of a mural on the wall is a kid with naive paintings of tigers, and I just did birds today and I finished it and I’m starting a bear,” he chuckled. “So, there’s a tiger on (a wall outside of) Fully Booked. There’s a boy perched up with birds and a little crow on the corner next to Timezone, and then I’m starting the bear over at R.O.X.”
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Nate also shared that no one told them (the participating artists) on what to specifically do so every participating artist is doing what they normally do. “Except for Faile’s wall. A little thing to do with communication,” he remembered.
When asked if it’s his decision to paint walls, he said that he has never painted walls before. “I’m really more on canvas, the gallery painter kind of artist. I use a lot of animals and masks, symbols and metaphors in the work. Some people can make a connection like to certain emotions. I think people personify animals in all cultures.”
Admitting that he doesn’t really like to push his view on anyone, Nate told Philippine Primer that it’s up to whoever is seeing his works. “What does the tiger represent? What’s up with the boy’s expression? Those are the questions on everyone’s mind. Each thing does represent some kind of emotion. It’s all up to interpretation”, he said. “The intention of the paintings is to make other people see them and put themselves or find themselves in the painting and make their own connection and tell their own stories.”
After a gasp, he thanked Philippine Primer for reminding him something he must do: delete his old blog. “Because it’s 8 or 9 years old or something and people keep going to it to reference the work and the work is embarrassing. Now, I have a more updated gallery on Instagram.”
To see more of his spectacular work, follow Nate Frizzell at @natepaints on Instagram.
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AKA Corleone
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The once known as “Chuck Norris of the Underworld” who “draws cats, naked ladies and shady fellows without the fear of waking up with a horse’s head in his silk sheets,” Pedro Campiche or AKA Corleone has made a name for himself in the underworld scene of graffiti art. In the past five years, he has joined a handful of art festivals around Europe and Asia and has also held solo exhibitions in Thailand, Portugal and Switzerland.
When Primer asked on how he came up with his name ‘AKA Corleone,’ Pedro shared that it all began with a singularly exceptional movie: The Godfather. “It started only as Corleone, because it was my graffiti name when I started graffiti […] I was really into The Godfather movie and [all of] the mafia underworld,” he said. “I was always fascinated by that, and ‘Corleone’ seemed like a name that people would respect. I would be “feared” in the streets.”
AKA Corleone’s creative work is like a stimulating slice of pizza with abundant toppings that one would just like to eat slowly and savor the taste. “I really like to do complex stuff and a lot of small elements because for me, it’s very important that my work is not something that you cannot understand in a second.” Moreover, AKA Corleone’s rationale for his style is “because it’s not publicity, […] like [in] these big cities, you are always in a rush, everything goes so fast, and what I want the people to do is stop for a little bit, breathe a little bit, look at my wall, and try to look at different things on it.”
He also shared that he draws inspiration from many things, such as the German Expressionist epic science fiction drama Metropolis (1927), which featured a “futuristic city” that he deemed “a masterpiece. And when I was invited to come here (to Bonifacio Global City), and I saw pictures of this area, it looked really like that futuristic city,” he claimed.
For the murals he’ll be doing around BGC, he smiled and said, “a secret. I did this project where if you spend a little time looking at the wall, it’s not an image you’ll immediately understand. I want people to get to the wall, look at it, and find something […] so it’s almost hidden.”
It is AKA Corleone’s first time in the Philippines and he is already doing a large-scale art piece at one of the busiest areas in the metro, but when asked what his dream project would be, he said that it would be a ‘bigger’ exhibition. “The thing is, as an artist, I always want to do bigger than what I’ve done before, so I think my dream project is a very big exhibition like with more installations and with mediums I haven’t done before.”
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Now a fan? Be updated with his future works through his social media account akacorleone.
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Those are two of the magnificent artists that will leave a lasting legacy in the art scene of Manila. Do try to visit their art spread across BGC!
Read more about the recently-concluded The ONE Festival here.
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Photos by Derick Flores and p3.Publico.pt
Article by Karj Lucena, (Nate Frizelli) and Derick Flores (AKA Corleone)
