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Art is fun. It can move people in a good or bad way, but it always has the ability to make people think. Not too long ago I met an artist quite different than your average painter. He’s a man with a boyish smile, a good chat and a lot of love for what he does. Overdose sat down to have a face to face with Frank E Hollywood, a kid who started by tagging walls and ended up exhibiting in the renowned Spiegelstraat.
Born with a paintbrush in his hand
Frank E Hollywood tells us his infatuation with the brush started early: “One of my first memories is finding a writing pad, that would always lie around the house, and continuously scribbling them full of cars, ships and tanks. Then, at the age of 12, my sister (who was part of a graffiti crew) would drag me to the train yards to tag walls together. That’s how my street art started.”
And then what, from the wall to canvas?
“Well, I went to the St. Joost Academy for Fine Arts in Breda and showed them my graffiti work, but back then they thought that graffiti work was simply copied from others. So I showed them my paintings and that got me into the academy. I made the transition from the wall to canvas, because I wanted to take it to the next level by applying different techniques and using everything I considered cool in a collage.” After Breda he wanted to do the Art and Economy course at the Rietveld Academy, but it was cancelled. On a whim I decided to do the second best thing that had intrigued me since I was ten: advertising. That made me decide to go here, to Amsterdam. During my studies I kept on painting and seized any opportunity to display my paintings.”
When exactly did Frank E Hollywood emerge?
“After my study I worked for Habbekrats and really wanted to try and make a living out of my paintings. I had no mortgage to pay, no kids to look after; this was the moment. So instead of branding washing liquid I would start branding myself. With one major advantage: at the art academy they don’t tell you that an artist actually is an independent entrepreneur.”
Inspirations and art blocks
His style is generally described as mixed media, but Frank doesn’t agree with this. “I manage different disciplines such as designing posters and iPhone skins, but I also customize designs for Heineken. In order to capture all the things I do, I created the term MDMA. Yes, I know, but this particular one stands for Multi-Disciplinary Media Artist. Nicely found, don’t you think?”
You say that Picasso is one of your inspirations. Both of you seem to have a fascination for women, where does it come from?
“It’s a bit of a cliché and many great artists have gone before me, but I think they are the most beautiful creatures on earth. Their physical lines are beautiful, and you can see so much by just looking at a females face. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of painting a woman.”
If you have to revive an art block, what do you do?
“I love the quote ‘If you are stuck, paint with a different brush’. It’s of no use to force creativity. Anything I do or see can inspire me. I tend to collect all the stuff I find along the way, put them in a box at my studio and then one day it just all falls together and I find a place for every piece in a new painting.”
We applicably wrap up with his dreams, or plans for the future: “To take my paintings abroad, or hang out in Tokyo! I have this really cool project for Istanbul next year, so the plan is to conquer one country at a time…”
Find Frank E Hollywood at:
Location: So-Art Gallery, Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 46
Pictures courtesy to Mr. Rutger Houweling
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