In July I was fortunate enough to get the chance to interview the well-known and respected street artist Nathan Bowen whose regular haunts are East and central London. He had some very interesting insights into his art and the passion that sets him apart from regular artists and keeps him going, whilst talking about how young people need their own special talent or something that consistently drives them.

 

Here are some of the highlights from the interview:

 

“So what is it exactly that you would say drew you to art in the first place?"

 

Nathan Bowen - “Well, I’ve been doing art since I was a kid: like at school and stuff, especially primary school, just doing little doodles on paper. Also when I was a kid, I was always trying to do comics but never used to finish them, so I’d always like start one comic, never finish that one, then you know, always move onto another comic. So yeah, art’s sort of always been in my blood. It runs through my veins.”

 

“How did you go about getting into it as a profession?”

 

Nathan Bowen – “Well, my initial plan was: I went to university and wanted to become a cartoonist. That was my main label I was after, you know? ‘Nathan Bowen: the cartoonist’, I wanted to do editorial cartoons: the cartoons you see in newspapers and stuff, but that was kind of difficult so I left uni and started to do street art. Initially just drawing what I do on paper, I draw on a big scale on the street. And that’s how my career started. For me drawing on the street, that’s a form of advertising, you know? People see it cos I leave my name. And yeah, people contact me: ‘hey, I saw you done a piece at that location, can you do stuff for my bedroom wall or could you do me a canvas?’ [I use] the streets as a gallery. That’s what gave me that status of popularity, that sort of work.”

 

“So would you say that ‘urban environment’ is like a physical gallery for you, where people can see what you do and appreciate that?”

 

Nathan Bowen - “Yeah, I mean the areas like Brick Lane and stuff, urban. You know the word urban: you know what I mean. Everything’s all ‘urban’ you know, ‘urban art’, but you know, fuck it. I call it street art, because that’s what it is, you know; there’s street art and there’s graffiti, and there’s a big difference. What I do, is, I’ve got a movement; my movement’s called Afterlives, and it’s just finding rundown walls: old shoddy walls that look shit and have got little tags on it. Yeah, you literally give that wall an artist reincarnation. Given that wall an afterlife. Its first life was all rundown, vandalised and I came into it and I changed it up. And [now] it looks brilliant. So yeah, working with those factors [is important], because it stops you from getting arrested. You know you don’t want to paint on a nice building: a nice public building that people are working in: it’s unsociable. So finding a rundown location everyone sees, and are sick to death [of], and you transform that and you’re king of the streets. People are saying to you: thanks.”

 

“What you put into it, that’s what breeds new life into it?”

 

Nathan Bowen - “Yeah, it makes people realise what you can transform through art. All it takes is someone to be creative and use their imagination on any space. You can make art anywhere, you know, you can make it here. You gotta use what’s around you. Artists need to realise that the best artists do art that reflects their environment. The area you live: do art. You get these fake artists who do art that doesn’t even relate to them[their surroundings]. That doesn’t work. You gotta do art that relates to you. So my characters do relate to me, because [for example] I used to be a builder. I was working on a building site and was thinking. I had a random thought, sitting down in a silent moment. Yeah, I wanna make these builder characters and the perfect way is to draw them on building sites, so it relates to the building site. So that’s how I use art to reflect my environment.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What would you say makes art so special for you?”

 

Nathan Bowen – “What makes it special for me, is going out and getting that buzz. Going out painting. It’s like: some people like going out drinking and they get a buzz from it; they go to work. ‘Yeah Friday night, I’m gonna go out with my mates.’ That’s like the same concept with me and art, and I’m thinking, yeah I’m gonna go out, get some nice materials and paint a nice wall. When I’m painting that wall, that’s the feeling I get. I feel like no one can touch me. I feel like it’s just me and this wall; I don’t care about anything around me. It feels as if I’m close to God. Do you know how people say God is high up and he’s in his own world? It’s like that with the art; I’m God and I’m in my own world and you can’t affect me because I’m in this zone.”

 

“So do you just like the idea that your art can bring a smile to someone’s face, that kind of reflection?”

 

Nathan Bowen – “For me the street art is like a mission: [that’s the way] I see it; I’m an artistic superhero. It’s my job to clean up the streets, that’s what keeps the art drive going. It’s nice to make money from art, but forget the money. Fuck the money. Do it because you wanna do it. Money’s nice and you need to pay the rent, do what you gotta do to get it, but as an artist you need to have a drive because if you don’t: you’re gonna quit, you’re gonna get pissed off. You’re gonna get no money and you’re gonna go to a nine to five. Yeah, I wanna put a smile onto people’s faces, so street art is for the people. Art is the special power. You get good things that come your way.”

 

“What would you say to young people looking to do something like you do, using their talents?”

 

Nathan Bowen – “Really for the young people, they need to get on with it. Don’t let nothing stop them but they’ve got to think outside the box.“With the young people, find something they enjoy. Forget about the money. Don’t make money the drive.“[Society] is employing angels, [but it] need[s] demons. When I was a kid I wasn’t fucked up. I was cool, I got arrested; I know what it’s like to get caught up in shit. All art related. Fuck the cans man, go out on the street, use a bit of colour, find the right location."

 

“So someone who’s got that life experience?"

 

Nathan Bowen - “Yeah, real experience.”

 

 

Nathans Website - http://www.nathanbowenart.com/

Nathan's Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nathanbowenart