Graffiti artist Gabor Doleviczenyi is in the city for Urban Mela, the great, big inter-cultural liaison hosted by the Max Mueller Bhavan. The artist along with dancer, Samir Akkika and musician, Martin Basman will be a part of a production titled Masala FX. “I spent yesterday looking for materials, but I could not find what I wanted, so now I have to work on a new concept. Today I’ll go to Central Market, I hope to find what I need and start working after that.”
Masala FX is a dance performance, with stage design – Gabor who has been working with Samir Akika since 2009 as a stage designer says that he watches them and gets clues from their narrative. “Samir gives me a lot of space to experiment, we exchange ideas and work together. I try to understand what he wants to do and it is different because there is more 3D thinking than just a painting on the wall. There is also interaction between all the artistes, and a story, so I try to bring in a little bit of everything.”
Gabor studied communication design and started messing around with street art when he was 15, “It’s hard work to be a graffiti artist, you need to prepare, buy materials, make sketches, scout for locations, look out for cops, it’s like being a secret agent. While in the beginning it is about thrill, it soon became routine, and it wasn’t about the excitement anymore. It is my city and I try to make it communicate, and through my work I develop the image or the look of the city.”
Earlier this year, Gabor was a part of Urban Avantgarde, a graffiti project in Malleswaram, for which he adopted the moniker “Aam Aadmi”. “Graffiti is an art form that is for everybody, and when I was talking about a project with a few Indian people I came across this name which meant common man, but it also meant mango man, and it became the name I gave myself for the Indian streets.”
Back in Essen, where he comes from, what Gabor does is a crime and he is a long time member of one of the most active graffiti crews in the Ruhr area. So while Gabor sees an image, a vision, and great colours on the wall, he says, “The people cannot see the art for what it is, but as an action against the law. I’m an artist and I am trying to talk to the people – it is my passion to bring colour to the wall.” He has been all over Europe to paint trains, he explains the fetish, “They are the best canvas, they travel to places allowing more people to see your work and it lasts a longer time.”
Graffiti is an art form that is not rampant in India, but when working on Urban Avantgarde Gabor met several Indian artists, allowing him to gauge where we stand. “There were a lot of artists who work with stencils which is a newer form that has evolved out of graffiti. I also worked with Indian artist, Appupen who is a great illustrator and has developed a unique style for himself. There is hardly any graffiti in India, and because it is still new and the artists take clues from how we do it in Europe they still need time to create their own style.”
Masala FX will be held on June 22 at 7 p.m. and June 23 at the Palace Grounds.
