ARTIST FEATURE: VENG

NYC GRAFFITI ARTIST VENG

From the streets to solo shows, VENG has a long history within the graffiti and art worlds and we sit down to talk a bit on these topics.

With such an extensive graffiti career, can you pinpoint a particular moment when you knew you had the bug- or was it more a gradual realization? 

My first memories of graff were from an abandon building close to the home of my grandparents that I would try to sneak over to when visiting, it was from there that I started seeing names from there on the streets. The next trigger was from skateboarding and putting up skate company stickers at spots we skated which then lead to as a young teen coming up with a tag and all of us starting to scribble that around with markers. By about the age of 13 using my first spray cans. In short not one distinct moment but a few over 2-3 years.

The streets are forever changing and unpredictable. Certainly, street bombing isn’t permanent and writers are reaching higher than ever to battle the buff and gain visibility. Can you share a memorable or challenging experience while painting in the street that led to a new development/approach in your work?

I think its something we are all constantly dealing with, none of us can be 100% original, something sparked an idea from somewhere and we are just trying to put all of this into something we can hold onto and be known for doing just a little differently than the next person. Every wall thats new to paint is a challenge, you can sketch and prepare yourself to the fullest but once you show up almost always there's something thats gonna throw off the ideal you had. Every time I paint there's something that makes me change what I had in my head and over time each of these hopefully makes me devlope a bit more

Can you talk to us a little bit about your fine art/murals? How has your graffiti roots influenced this work and vice versa? Was there ever a point where you felt like you had to let aspects of yourself as a ‘writer’ go to embrace fine art?

I try to keep them separated, with graff its very much of a fleeting moment that im trying to build up as many of those I can over time. In my oil painting work I do hold onto the work longer working it over and over and building it up. Over the years writing has slowed down due to reasons of building my oil painting career and only somewhat recently have I noticed graff is the only thing I really do that lets me completely turn off the world and just mentally recharge. A simple chrome at a chill spot with some exploring works everything else out for me

New York’s influence has been undeniable in the graffiti world. Anything you can share about the scene that deeply shaped your personal career? Im sure day to day the environment is exciting and energizing itself but was it a particular place, writer or moment?

I would say NY is known for simple letters with a good amount of style. To me it always looked really easy, you can almost hear someone say oh I could copy that till you actually tried and realized how many years of repetitiveness went into making that look easy. This is def what I try to achieve with every thing I paint.

From a different angle then just style, NY has so many years of graff that through exploring has giving me new ways of seeing the city that most dont get to see You can get into areas where tags from the 70s and 80s are still up when the city was different than today and it makes history come alive. And every borough has its own distinct history with graff and most in this life are always lurking where the common person isn't so it's lost to time except for us. To me NY makes you realize you gotta be consistent There are tons of people going out to write and if you take too much time away from it it's gonna keep moving on without you. Which is true anywhere to be honest but having more people around it just make it quicker

Being a part of Robots Will Kill, your crew members each have distinct styles. How do you maintain independence within the group while also staying harmonious with one and other?

With rwk it's pretty easy to be honest, we all have gone in different directions within the same overall scene, so joining up we all are coming from different points. It just ends up as a very easy gathering of ideas.

Have you ever struggled with your mental health during your graffiti journey? How did you remedy or currently deal with it?

Thankfully it has never been a struggle for me. Only realizing this recently how much of a help it has been to my overall well being. I think graff can do a very good job at helping with mental stress, spending time with friends painting at a spot you forget about all the other things and or it can give you time to chat almost without even realizing youre clearing things out.

You’ve spoken on the relationship of murals and architecture. Is there a particular element of the city (like Textures/history) that inspire you? How do you draw inspiration from the environment around you?

For me ive always been drawn to little niches of places, small details and with my style I try my best to incorporate that mindset. Like before about how NY goes after a simpler overall letter structure, I then try to throw in little nooks in my letters to overset that overall simple structure. Hopefully with my style choices one can see a bigger overall simple structure then looking closer seeing more complicated areas

Any interest in painting other countries? I’ve seen scenes like Istanbul which are a huge contrast to small cities in the US. Do you find travelling to be enriching or have a place in your work?

Ive been lucky over the years to paint in a lot of different countries and find that to be really rewarding. It has always left me with a high that I can run off of for quite a bit of time. With covid I let my passport expire, but as of late traveling around the US is something im looking to do more of.

What does style mean to you? Is there something in particular that makes one piece better than another?

To me style is just something you do whether it be a large or a small thing that you constantly do that just adds a small touch to make it yours. Nothing to me at a certain level makes a piece better than another but I do tend to enjoy clean crisp lines And it's always something im trying to go after. I am always looking at my own stuff on the computer saying this or that def could have been tighter thats the fun of going back out again and going after it.

As the graffiti community continues to evolve, how do you see yourself growing with it? 

in short, hopefully being able to grow with it. I dont think thats something you can do in the moment but hopefully realize you did while looking back.

As the graffiti community continues to evolve, how do you see yourself growing with it? 

in short, hopefully being able to grow with it. I dont think thats something you can do in the moment but hopefully realize you did while looking back.

With a hobby as unpredictable as ours, any exciting chase stories or strange experiences out in the night?

I tend these days to go to spots off the beaten path, so its usually pretty mellow these days compared to a guy hitting the streets where a lot more is happening overall. But there's always strange things going on where you think no one is going I had been painting at a spot and out of nowhere kept seeing really heavy big wood boards starting to get piled and a giant tarp. This def had me a bit perplexed for a bit then I eventually caught what was going on, some dude was making a structure like a tent to get his rocks off with his lady. And in the most unattractive area to do so and honestly a lot of work to build it up and take it down just proves you never know what you're gonna find out painting.

Shout outs:

To my friends who I get to paint and talk with with to name some, Gusto, Skize, Dave Foto, Logek, Deem, Vers,Imse, Demote, Saoka, Ribet, Feind, Clark ID, Many thanks for the interview 400ML

Follow VENG on socials: @veng_nyc