Image via Complex Original
BEAU is an NYC street artist who has been making quite a name for himself, in fact, he's handwritten it across the entire city, four letters at a time. A lot of his work is quick and light, brining a smile to passerby when they see a couch tagged up with BEAU in the Lower East side or a fill-in in a super visible spot. But BEAU also creates in the studio. We caught up with the latest addition to NYC's landscape to get a look at some of his work and hear about his process, from fucking around in the streets to longer form projects, to walking into a Mr. Brainwash show and stencilling one of the guy's works. Check out a collection of BEAU's work and his interview by clicking on the arrows in the above slideshow.
Photography by Phillip Mansfield
Soft Blue Myth
"This is oil on a wooden panel, laid within it are other found objects. Sometimes I use a quart of paint, let it sit out with the top open, I'll let it do that than cut out the top and tint something. It's something I like to do, but don't be stealing that technique right there."
Traditional BEAU
"This was a table top I found on Orchard Street. Conveniently I have a work space close by, so I busted this out while I was working on another mural. I like to keep my shit out on the streets because it's a public forum for art. Regardless of the way you execute—whether you use paint, a brush, a can, or are throwing paint, it's still the act of graffiti, although the subject matter differs in that it obviously depicts who you are and who you're known as in the streets."
Rodin Study
"This is one of my more classical, controlled pieces. I based this off a Rodin study. I find this one interesting because I really like the quality of the door, it's exposed and it's just been touched like a billion times."
Bread Lady
"This is supposed to be a bread lady, but it's based off a Salvador Dali sculpture. There's aluminum paint and a dodecahedron—which is one of the five platonic solids. Why it's green? I don't know yet. There's also a built in light socket. It supposed to symbolize how bread is a staple of the world, but mostly it's just a Salvador Dali sculpture I really liked."
BEAU on Gate
"This is a piece on St. Marks and Avenue A. It's still in the process though. I have a few sick things I need to do until it's actually finished. I was working on this during some of the coldest nights this year. The paint was freezing up and became so thick and chunky. I think I may have to wait until it warms up a little bit."
BEAU with Elder
"This is a 13-foot canvas drop cloth which was sewn together. I had dosed acid earlier that night so this is what I created when I was under the influence. I referenced The Walking Man of Rodin. It's kind of Egon Schiele-ish. I tied this up to the street on Bowery and Houston and someone ended up grabbing it within 20 minutes."
Upper Westside
"This is a mixed media I did with four doors paneled together—spray paint, oil, wheat paste, a few drawings and some acrylic. I think the sense of randomness is unique to my style."
BEAU on Allen
"This is the typical 'BEAU' bubble letter, in the form of a face. I didn't want to go out and tag my name up in bubble letters (which I eventually did), so I started doing faces. My girlfriend at the time thought it was a good idea to go hit faces, so that's what I did."
Mural Julian
"This is one of my first murals here in NY. It's a 16' x 25' mural. It's a story about the growth of the organic man into the bio-engeneered human being. Dick Cheney's a good example of this. The dude has no pulse, just a pump built with a battery, one of the first to come out into the open."
BEAU BRAINWASH
"This is one of Mr. Brainwash's pieces and he inspired me to involuntarily collaborate with him after I saw that movie he and Banksy put out—or Banksy and he put out? I saw the movie and later that night I made the stencil. I went to his gallery show the next day, I had to go and do it. I hear he's actually kept this piece for his own collection."
Good Clean Fun
"This was back in 2009. I was hanging out with this girl and she invited me up to her roof on 34th and 8th Ave. Roofer. Chin's huge—way too big, but it works."
BLACK N WHITE
"This is a drop cloth that I just primed, canvas, acrylic. Basically it's something I tried to pull from my sub-conscience. It grew from geometric shapes and stones being cut out, but it's something abstract and sort of a Pollock thing. This is me just trying to let myself go and just paint without thinking, not worrying about figural guidelines."
BEAU HEAD
"This was an acrylic on a cut up piece of wood. This piece actually got stolen from my girlfriend's house this past Christmas. Whoever it was had to have climbed up the fire gate through to the outside. It's still a fucking mystery."
BEAU Orange
"This is in the Lower East Side behind a building on Stanton and Clinton St. It's a classic NYC wall. I had to get up by that 'RAMBO', and that 'DEBT' is really cool. There's also a 'MINT' in there too, I love that 'MINT'. I'd like to get up with those guys."
Brony
"This is a piece I did over in Queens. It's originally a piece done by ROA, so that's why I chose the real estate underneath, plus a lot of the graffiti was looking pretty old, so I had to go over it. I remember it being early in the morning, I was out there working on a freelance job and I had some extra roller paint on me. I walked down quickly and hit the spot at like 10 in the morning. People think going out at night is the best time to go, but sometimes you'd be surprised."
