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To see someone paint a graffiti piece with no prior planning and no sketch and have it turn out really good at the end is impressive no matter how familiar you are with writing graffiti. But to paint a large scale mural from a lift with no sketch, no plan, using both hands, and filming yourself while you do it… and have it turn out really good and proportionally accurate… that’s other worldly. Sofles is a cyborg. There’s no other way to explain it. A well oiled machine that can paint anything in almost any style, with speed, confidence, and accuracy. The plethora of videos on his YouTube page and all over the internet prove this to be true. His short film titled “Limitless” from 2013 with director Selina Miles, with over 13 million views, is one of the most impressive displays of wall painting you will ever see. From photorealistic portraiture, to vast seascapes, intricate design and pattern work, Inovative letter and hand styles, and of course just straight up grimy trackside graffiti for the heads, Sofles has concurred it all. His prowess and talent are only matched by his thirst and curiosity for what comes next which thankfully keeps the engine running and the innovations coming.

MVP back again after a long hiatus.. basically when we cross paths with past guests, we sit them down and catch up with Vantagepoint Alumni on what they been doing since we last spoke to them. Recorded during the inaugural Vantagepoint Group exhibition at Denverwalls 2022, this interview series is loose, irreverent and ever increasingly drunken. This episode features DULK and Squidlicker. Needless to say, this is the drunken part of the night.. its loud, unruly and general chaos..

The only thing more delightful and colorful than the work of George F. Baker III is the huge smile and good energy the man himself brings into every room he enters. His artwork reflects his personality, bounding with intricate design and color and full of positivity and witty life affirmations. After a successful but unfulfilling career as a graphic designer in Atlanta, GFB3 abruptly shifted gears from digital client work to painting murals and personal studio work. In his first year, with no real training in mural painting, he set out to paint as many murals as possible and honed in on his craft through sheer bruit force and dedication. What emerged was a highly stylized and unique combination of character illustration and text with so much energy that it seems to pulsate on the wall.

To hear the full unedited version, visit Vantagepointradio.com Dublin’s finest, ACHES is a man of many talents. As one of the leading graffiti artists in Ireland, ACHES has been pushing the art form in new and Inovative directions for years, incorporating his graphic design training and embracing technology to access new creative avenues conceptually in his work. Around 2017 ACHES began incorporating a bit of realistic portraiture into his graffiti, painting a quick portrait of whatever painting mate joined him that day next to his otherwise traditional graffiti letter styles. This act sparked a new direction for the artist and set him ablaze burning through the mural art scene with as much fuel and drive as one could imagine. Borrowing techniques he had perfected in his graffiti years before, ACHES has become best known for his color separated portraits where the main figure is divided into a rainbow of color as if filtered through a prism. His creativity and skill are as thick and satisfying as his Irish accent and there seems to be no limit to what we should expect from ACHES in the future.

With a name like Kimchi Juice you just can’t go wrong. The young artists from Washington DC, much like the name she’s given herself, leaves you with more questions than answers the longer you speak with her… but in all the best ways. From the age of 13, Kimchi Juice knew with full determination that she was an artist, so much so that she sidestepped high school in order to homeschool herself to free up more time to concentrate on making art on her own. Her focus and confidence has not wained over the past decade and has paid off big time. The 24 year old has shown her work in galleries and museums, painted murals from DC to Florida, to LA and as far as Seoul South Korea. She’s curated group shows in LA and Wasington DC and even has some of her art in the permanent collection with the Smithsonian. Her contemporary portrayal of traditional Korean motifs with feminist undertones speak to the artist’s upbringing and personal beliefs and continues to expand and evolve as it moves from walls to canvas to 3D objects and beyond.

Much like a human Swiss Army knife, Denver based artist Detour has a tool or a solution for any situation… and if he doesn’t, then he’s damn sure going to find one or even better, simply invent one himself. Growing up in a military family and bouncing around from city to city, country to country every few years, one learns from an early age how to adapt to new and unfamiliar situations. Detour took this aspect of his childhood and turned it into his super power, using his interest in sports and then breakdancing and eventually art making as a means to find his place in every new community. As his focus concentrated in on fine art his thirst for experimentation and discovery only grew. As a professional artists Detour glides effortlessly between painting murals, designing and building sculptural work, developing full immersion art installations, and even conceptualising and inventing new experimental art tools and methods. Through his highly popular YouTube channel, and powerful social media presence, Detour continues to share his wealth of knowledge with other artists around the world, further utilising his skills and interests to grow his community.

In the days before the internet spread information and culture like it does today, Jeremy Fish first cemented his place in the art world through designing skateboard graphics in San Francisco back in the late 90s and early 2000s. His unique aesthetic quickly gained the attention of publications such as Juxtapoz Magazine which sent his work around the globe. Always maintaining a balance between fine art and consumer products such as vinyl toys, tee-shirts, and brand collaborations, Fish has been able to create an ever growing audience and maintain a freshness within his output. Originally from upstate New York, Fish has been living in and making art about his adopted home town of San Francisco for nearly three decades. His success in and influence on the Golden Gate city and the larger art world is undeniable despite the fact, or possibly because of the fact, that his approach to art making has virtually stayed the same all this time… to feverishly produce work that is thematically captivating and approachable to a wide audience. Never one for the elitist art world, Fish takes great pride in his wide appeal and accessibility and with values such as these and a motor as revved up as his there’s no limit to where his career will go over the next 30 years.

Denver based artist ILL.DES creates abstract universes of geometry and dimension that unapologetically nod to his background as a computer engineer. The soft, almost pastel color palette that unifies his work brings a playfulness to the otherwise quite rigid forms and complex designs. From digital work, to canvas, animation, and large scale murals, the work is striking and clean and instantly identifiable. Recently, ILL.DES teamed up with artist and lead director A.L. Grime to launch the highly touted Denver Walls mural festival which is where we sat down with him to discuss art and life and what it’s like to be in the eye of a mural festival storm.

Producing and directing a large scale mural festival while simultaneously being one of the featured muralist in the festival is undoubtedly no easy feat, but artist A. L. Grime with her background in the music industry (running a record label, producing events, and managing artists) and more recently her thriving career as a mural painter and studio artist, is uniquely qualified for the job. As the lead director of the Denver Walls Mural Festival, Grime’s skill set and responsibilities are vast. As an artist she has quickly risen to be one of the most recognizable muralists in Denver. Her stark black and white graphics illuminate her love of the digital world and computers while her passions for issues such as feminism and equality fill her work with meaning and depth. Grime’s thirst to embraces technology such as AI to push her work in new and Inovative directions enables her to evolve and stay current with contemporary trends.

A legend in the Australian graffiti scene for nearly three decades, Jimmy DVATE is a master with a spray can. From letter forms to photorealistic portraits of native flora and fauna, his skill set is applicable to nearly any subject. The once graffiti obsessed teenager grew into a graffiti obsessed adult with ambitions of a flourishing art career. Taking the skills he’d acquired from graffiti combined with his love of nature and native Australian wildlife, DVATE cemented his path into a commercial mural art career. Focusing heavily on endangered species and conservation issues, he uses his public art to educate and promote a healthy balance between man and nature, all the while subversively, and often not so subversively, integrating graffiti aesthetics and letter forms into his work in an effort to educate the older generations on the roots of the modern mural scene and its connection to graffiti.

“It all starts with a pencil, a piece of paper, and a feeling.” So it is said by Melbourne based artist Tayla Broekman about the creative process. By her account, all emotions fall somewhere between love and fear, and tapping into those emotions and being able to visualize the sensation of an emotion is what gives Tayla her super power as an artist. What starts as a pencil drawing, usually of a female figure or an animal, comes to life through her unique color combinations and illustrative flare. Whether on a wall with spray paint or on canvas with acrylic or gouache, her army of bad ass female warriors and felines is steadily growing as Tayla settles into her new creative space at the legendary Everfresh studios alongside an expanding group of talented Melbourne based artists leading the charge in the Australian art scene.

Is it the ‘sweet sweet fades’ that lure you in first, or the mesmerizing botanical patterns? Maybe it’s the explosion of color or catchy word play that she integrates into some of her work. Regardless of what gets you there, the world of Melbourne based artist George Rose will draw you in and offer you plenty to discover while you’re there. Her walls and immersive interior murals play with scale and space, dense with bold patterns and bright colors. At first the work can seem overbearing but her clean finishes and sharp edges pared with a playful quality give everything a sense of order and fun that puts the viewer right at ease. This push and pull of lighthearted drama is what makes Rose’s work so engaging and enjoyable. It’s no surprise therefore that Rose is one of the most prolific and sought after mural artists on the Australian scene and nothing seems to indicate that things will be slowing down any time soon.

It would be nearly impossible to overstate the level of thought, commitment and detail that goes into Rone’s work. The Australian artist has been ‘levelling up’ project by project the past 5-10 years at such a pace that he’s nearly morphed into a completely different artist. What started as wheat pasted and stencilled portraits around Melbourne gave way, not surprisingly, to brush painted murals and in the early 2010’s Rone had already cemented his place as a headliner in the early days of the traveling mural festival circuit. But somewhere around 2015 the artists began to take steps towards a massive shift in his work and general trajectory of his life. Rone’s focus these days is on the creation of some of the most complex and large-scale art installations one could imagine. From the activation of an abandoned 1920s art nouveau theatre for a solo show of his photography, to the total takeover and reimagining of a multilevel 1930s art deco mansion into a fictional time-capsule window to the life of some of Australia’s opulent elite… all completely made up out of the artist mind. As Rone wrapped up the final weeks of his current installation ‘Time’ in Melbourne’s city centre, where he’s converted an abandoned train station into an eerie glimpse of post WW2 Australian work life, JB and Tom had the pleasure to catch up with our old buddy for a chat which unfortunately only scratches the surface of what this amazing talent is all about.

For 30 years TesOne has been cultivating an impressive body of work that spans the worlds of graffiti, fine art, murals, and graphic design. His ability to seamlessly blend these different aesthetics is what makes his work sing. Dialing up the volume on one and down on another depending on what the project calls for, TesOne effortlessly and simultaneously creates work commercially for the likes of Nike and Architectural Digest as well as fine art pieces for galleries and collectors, all the while keeping a consistent visual voice that stays true to his roots. Born and raised in St. Petersburg Florida, TesOne has left his mark on his city in many ways, not the least of which is by being one of the original braintrust that started the highly respected and long running Shine Mural Festival which is where we were when we had the pleasure of sitting down with the man himself to discuss it all.

Believing in oneself and fully committing to one’s own artistic impulses without regard to outside opinions is the unattainable goal of countless artists. Others however settle quite naturally into this paradigm of thinking. Such is the case for nomadic artist Graffiti Egypt. As she journeys through life relocating her homebase from city to city every few years she moves with a mature confidence that betrays her young age. The portraits she paints on city walls and canvases document her state of mind at any given time while also paying respect to her past and cultural heritage. Her stark black stencil like portraits contrast with the soft color palette and unique pattern work in the background giving each piece a dynamic boldness that is the trademark of Egypt’s work.

Chris Parks, better known as 'Palehorse' has been producing personal and commercial art for nearly two decades with a level of output that is almost unbelievable. He has designed imagery for some of the biggest bands and corporations in the world, while conversely maintaining a deep intimacy in his personal work that reflects his individuality and spirituality on so many levels it's hard to count. Parks's work really began to solidify a number of years ago when his new found interest in psychedelics and meditation began to redefine his focus and intention in his art and life in general. Now singularly focused on spirituality and meditation Parks has combined his art practice with his quest for higher consciousness. Through his 'Seekers of the Eternal' podcast and guided meditations that he leads out of his Florida studio, combined with his ongoing and impressive output of paintings, installations, NFTs and murals, Parks has built a community of devoted followers and collectors. Together with his brother Matt who joined Palehorse a few years ago, the Parks brothers are blurring the lines between art, technology, spirituality and what it means to be a mindful seeker in todays society.

Aside from his brilliance as a designer, Ben Johnston’s real talent lies in his ability to offer a creative, sometimes alternative meaning to a word or phrase simply based on it’s presentation on a page, canvas, or wall. The way he bends and twists letters and words gives life and story to the forms far beyond the meaning of the words themselves. Raised in Cape Town, Johnston left South Africa after a short stint at university studying industrial design for a new life in Toronto Canada as an independent artist straddling the worlds of commercial design and fine art. These days Johnston focuses his energies on public work and murals as well as paintings and sculptures destined for galleries and private collectors. VantagePoint was lucky enough to share billing with Johnston at the Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg Florida where we sat down with him and and heard all about it straight from the man himself.

VantagePoint listeners first met Reginald O’Neal back in 2014 on episode 023 with artists Axel Void. At the time, Reginald (known then as L.E.O.) was as apprentice to Axel and traveling through Europe with his mentor. What may seem as a typical relationship throughout art history is undoubtedly unusual by today’s standards and what unfolded throughout the one hour interview was, and remains to be, one of the most touching and inspirational artist relationships we’ve come across over a decade of doing VantagePoint. Imagine our joy then, when 8 years later Reginald O’Neal is booked to the same mural festival as us and we have the opportunity to check back in with him as he now navigates through the contemporary art world as an independent artist making big moves and bringing his unique voice and point of view to walls, galleries, and art fares across the globe.

Few could have predicted the enormous global ripple effects that the meeting of two young artists in the early 90’s would have on the world of graffiti, design, and branding, but 30 years later we should all be thankful that the world works in such mysterious ways. French husband and wife duo Klor and Scien formed 123Klan in 1992 as a way to focus their group of friends around their common interests in art and technology. Over the ensuing decades they established themselves as one of the most authentic voices bridging the gap between their hard-earned graffiti roots and aesthetics with the budding industries of web design, streetwear, branding, and video game design. Their greatest asset, aside from their impeccable taste and eye for design, could well be their ability to work not as a duo but as one unified artist, motivating and inspiring each other and always moving towards one common goal. In 2007 after developing countless designs for leading streetwear brands 123Klan launched their own label ‘Bandit1$m’ with huge success. Whether painting murals, graffiti, or canvas… or working on any one of their numerous digital outlets, Klor and Scien have built a career off of a simple philosophy that we should all try to follow, ‘Only do work that you dig and always have fun doing it’.

In it's 8th year of operation, the Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg Florida continues to be one of the leaders in the pack of well respected, heavy hitting mural festivals around the globe. The roster of big name international and national artists that Shine has hosted over the past 8 years implies a huge organization with a massive backing. The reality however, is that with just a handful of intensely dedicated people and the support of a local arts counsel, Shine has managed to become a globally recognized powerhouse project while maintaining the small town intimate vibe that builds a sense of family among everyone involved, including artist (local and international), organizers, volunteers, and community members. A feat that most other mural festivals attempt to model themselves after with varying degrees of success. Organizers Michelle Tannu and Jenee Priebe explain what it takes to start up a mural festival and keep it running for all these years with the continued support of the community while upholding a responsibility to represent a diversity of styles and backgrounds, both artistic and personal, of its participants and community members. They outline the qualities they look for in the artists they offer invitations to each year and we discuss the challenges a project of this kind faces to become and remain relevant in such a competitive landscape of mural festivals popping up in every city across the country.