Fefe Talavera

July 6th, 2008

Fefe Talavera ( www.fefetalavera.blogspot.com y www.flickr.com/photos/fefe_talavera) is an artist that has been primaruly active these past years in the Brazillian city of São Paulo. She shares that city with a whole generation of young artists that have been getting a very important international recognition lately. Fefe also shares with them a not always so common stylistic freedom and a powerful primary energy but that’s possibly with similitudes end. She has created a world full of montsers all of her own, a world of beings that go along in her trips to her darker inner self and also in her many real world travels making her work known.

First of all when, where, how and why you started to do work in the streets?

I started painting in the streets because I’ve always been interested in everything that happens “underground”, everything out of the ordinary. Painting in the street gives me the opportunity and the freedom of space to paint big things and pass on what I’m feeling to all the classes of people. I started painting with Calma and Asa. We had a crew (Faca), but I felt it was better to start a way of my own so i did.

Actions in the street require a very special dedication and a certain level of sacrifice. You also travel a lot to events and festivals all over the place and on top of all that you are a music artist. How do you manage all those activities?

What you need the most is a balance with everything (which I don’t have much of but keep looking for it). And for all professions you need dedication. Being an artist you have the opportunity of being completely free and being free you can be anything. The musical and the visual art works are like brothers. What you need the most is having a lot of energy and turn it into something fun and make the most of every single second the life gives you and lever let the “stardom” get to your head. In a given moment everyone seems to treat you as if everything you do is perfect and nobody is better than anyone else, you cannot be confused about this. There has to be a certain type of dedication to painting and music and if you don’t believe in yourself you just don’t have that kind of dedication.

And, with these different activities, do you feel like different artists or you assume a different role in every case?

With the painting I do monsters that represent my anger, fears, dreams… With music I speak about the shitty government in my country, about the people that can suck out your energy and make money with your creativity. I’m a very passional person and I put a lot of intensity in everything I do, good of bad. That’s why my music name is “Lil Monsta“. Fefe is because in Brazil is very common to use short names with the first letters, such as Mari for Mariana, Caca for Camila or Fefe for Fernanda.

Like you just mentioned your paintings consists primarly of monsters. What kind of reaction do you expect people to have in front of your monsters? Are they as dangerous as they appear?

Hahaha, I don’t expect anything from viewers, only that they understand some of what I’m trying to pass on, but if people don’t get it, that’s alright. I do it more for myself rather than for other people. A viewer always expects something new and is critical with what one does or what one is all the time. The secret lies in not worrying much with the viewer and worry with self-satisfaction instead. My monsters are not bad or dangerous and don’t really intend to portray anything. They are just part of my negative ego.

During a lot of time you have been doing these monsters but with cut out letters but it seems like not anymore. How has been that evolution to where you are at right now?

Doing monsters with letters was cool for a while because it was something nobody had done before. And I’ve always felt admiration for typography and wanted something else with letters rather than words. Because that’s the way I see them: Letters from words, sentences, poems… and also drawings. People see letters as a serious thing and I think we need to look at them with the eyes of children, playing with them. With time I sensed that people like this a lot and the letter-made monsters became too popular, too easy so I grew tired of doing them because this became a problem for me. Cutting letters out became hell and I ended up spending more time cutting them rather than actually creating something with them. That’s when I started doing what I really like which is painting so I went on a search for my roots and found something that’s very important for my life and style: The combination of my two cultures: native Mexican and native Brazilian.

Wall by Fefe Talavera and Remed

You come from São Paulo where a lot of street artists are coming out with a great success. What do you think happens in this city to contain so much talent and have some many people from other places like what it’s done there?

The city of São Paulo is a very ugly and sick city. For artists the only way to go is showing what’s beautiful inside of them and one thing this city has that’s very interesting is its walls, big and good to express yourself. At least we still have the chance to express ourselves in the streets, although they might be saying that this is ilegal. What I like about Brazilian artists is that they found their own personality. For a long time you didn’t have people from other countries paying attention to Brazilian art and artists were too much into the whole mainstream gallery scene. Now it looks as if the Graffiti is in and that opened the doors to many underground artists, also with the Internet that’s so much more.

Looking beyond São Paulo there’s also a lot of people from more or less a same generation from many places that have in common the art in the streets factor. Its a very diverse scene but with a somehow shared attitude. How do you see yourself inside this world? What do you find when you travel around the world and what surprises you the most?

I don’t like having to position or define myself in any particular place or scene. When one’s an artist, that’s what it is. I don’t see the need to name it or belong to any crew. Everyone looks for its place and the people you indentify yourself with but… if I like someone, I’ll become his friend and if that person doesn’t do the same thing as I do that won’t prevent us from becoming friends. Everyone has its own pace, culture, flow… and that’s what I like the most about traveling: Getting to know as much as I can every city. I love music and art and people that’s open to know me. What I’m more surprised about the different artists I meet is how they are all, each in its own way, very sensible and because of that there’s a very common way of communication between us.

Are you starting to have presence and sell your work in art galleries?

I studied fine arts but, you know what? I’ve learnt far more in the street than in schools, a thousand times more. And showing in galleries it’s good but you have to accept certain things that are not as nice. There’s much lie in that world, a world that’s very different from the world of the streets: There are limits, arrogance, intolerance… but at the end you sell your work. Each one has to choose what he wants.

So what’s your experience in that world?

The best experience is getting to know people and places that you previously didn’t know. Galleries, they are very similar. What’s important is not selling in galleries but loving what you do. Artists nowadays are hungry for recognition, wanting to be famous but the truth is that this is worth nothing, it’s very meaningless. Each one has to find the best way to be known and respected because of your art, nothing else.

What have you been up to lately??

I sing, paint, dance and travel.

Any plans for the future that you want to tell us about?

There’s a project still undefined to show in Mexico DF with Doze again. And Japan next year for singing.

Fefe Talavera and Doze Green

What project you would like to be offered to do and still didn’t have?

Everything that has to do with art and music is always welcome. I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I’ve wanted in my life. It’s all a question of determination and not depending on nobody else to get what you want. It’s both simple and difficult at the same time.

Any artists you would want to recomend?

There are a lot of talented artists I know. I would recomend Remed with a very characteristic and personal work, his pieces are very graphical and his typography is unbelievable… everything very well executed and thought. Raquel Chembri, is a great artist from Belo Horizonte. I believe very much in her art. She’s very young and talented. Ciro, Ramon Martins, Debens, Zosen, Eltono, 3ttman, Nano4814, Mister, Speto, Flip, Guillermo Zoria, Titi Freak, Zezao, Seleka, Turbo, Jagdish, Kafre. And my new master of painting, Doze Green. His work is incredibly stunning. It has a force that comes through your eyes, passes your heart goes down to your stomach to be digested and comes out like a fart.

Entry Filed under: Artists