It’sinfamous,TheDragonBar!There’s
apparentlyabartendertherewiththebest
artcollection.
He’sdefinitelygotagoodart collection.In the
summer,therewas thisbigcar parkattheback,
andwe usedtodopartiesinthecar park,and
meandan ex-girlfriendhadabirthday party
andthat’swhereImetBanksy. Isaidto him,“I
reallylikewhatyou’redoing,Ithinkit’sreally
interesting,”andhewas alittlesurprised,andwe
exchangednumbersandwe startedhangingout
andpaintingstu�f together.Therewasn’tagallery
intheworldthatwas interestedinstreetartists.
They justlookedatusasthoughwe were ri�fra�f,
you couldjustseethedisdainintheirfaces when
we approachedthem.That’swhy [theprinthouse]
Pictureson Wallscameabout.We wantedto
makea�fordable, good-qualityscreenprints,
reproductionsof our artwork and get them out
there to the fans.Howdoesstreetarttranslatetoprintpieces?
Prettyeasily.It was away of reproducingour
artworkandgettingitoutthereto thepeoplewho
wantedto have apieceof us. Ididn’twant to besat
inthestudiomaking5 0 canvasesandsellingthem
for£ 500 each, therewasn’tamarketfor that, but
therewas themarketfor meproducing 50 screen
printsandsellingthemfor£ 50 each. Andthat’s
whatwedid,we were literallyreproducingthe
artworkthatwe were painting on the streets as a
screen-printed poster.TellmeaboutAlphabetCity...
IdidaprojectinMiddlesexStreet[inLondon’s
Spitalfields]afew yearsagowhereIpaintedthe
entirealphabet,Ato Z, inorderover 26shop
shutters,alldown MiddlesexStreet.Thenfor the
launchof [studio]OurTypeswe gotapproached
by ahousingassociationdown inCrisp Street
Market, andtheyhadaloadof shopshutters
coveredingra�fi ti,andtheywantedthearea to
lookabitbetter.So, we wentdown thereand
wedidAlphabetCity. Typographyissexy. And
justunbelievablyinterestingandfascinating.
Typographyguidesyou aroundacitywithout
you beingawareof it. Typographysellsyou stu�f.
It’swhatyou read,it’show you learn, it’s what
you typeon your computer.OK,nextquestion:strangestweekofyourlife?
Definitelytheweekthatmy paintingturningup
intheWhiteHousewas inthepress.I’dalready
madethepainting,thepaintinghadgone on
an aeroplanewithDavidCameronand�lown
to Washington.Allof thatwas quitesurrealbut
theweekthatitwas announcedto thepress,I
literallyhadpresscamped outside my studio for
an entireweek.Forthosewhodon’tknow,whatwasthepiece
andhowdidthistransactionhappen?
This was thefirsttimeDavidCameron,whowas
our primeministeratthetime,was meeting
BarackObama.For somebizarrereasonthey
hadagreedtodoan art exchange,andwhoever
wasdoingtheresearchon Obama decided that
hewas astreetart fan.ShepardFairey,ofcourse.
Sheparddidtheartworkfor hisHopecampaign
[seeinterviewon page28].He was obviouslya
di�ferenttypeof president, theywantedto give
himsomethingfunky, andtheychoseme. Idid
apaintingthatsaidTWENTYFIRSTCENTURY
CITY. I’ve heardthatwhentheyle�ttheWhite
Housetheytookthepaintingwiththem, and it’s
inone of hisdaughters’bedrooms.Whatwerethepressaskingyou?
“Howdoesitfeel goingfrom avandalto
havingsomethingintheWhiteHouse?”Itwas
interestingbecausethestory couldhave gone
one of two ways,andluckily thepresswent
with‘this isafairytalestory,vandalto painting
intheWhiteHouse,astory of successandhope’,
ratherthan ‘What’sDavidCameron doing
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