AKACORLEONE

We speak to Portuguese, experimental artist, illustrator and wise guy, Akacorleone, to discover the personallity behind the art! Find out what inspires him, what scares him and how he plans to conquer the world!

(ISSA) -What you choose to drink? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?
(Akacorleone) -Usually a big coca cola consumer, trying to break from this vice…

-Introduce yourself to us!
AKACORLEONE, multidisciplinary artist, wise guy, lover, poet. (Not really a poet but it sounds very intellectual.)

– Where does your tag name come from?
I’ve always been obsessed with the underworld of crime, secret societies, specially the Mafia, the Godfather, Goodfellas made it a love affair for me… Then it became my alias in the graffiti world as i felt the name would provoke fear and respect among my enemies. It did not work, but the name stuck to me.

-How do you define yourself? Artist? Street artist? Anything else?
I still find the label artist so serious… but I got used to the idea, I would call myself a multidisciplinary artist as i work in different medium, different projects, who I can´t put myself in a specific box that limits my work.
Today I’m painting a mural, tomorrow it can be a sculpture, next week a digital installation…

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?
It all started around 2000 when graffiti entered my life and took over everything, it became an obsession, a lifestyle that later branched into graphic design, and now illustration, muralism, art… I say my school was graffiti, the love for typography, colours, paint, the DIY attitude, it is still very connected to my work and inspiration, but at some point i felt i needed more, so it organically shifted to other areas where i could develop my ideas.
Actually, if I am going to the roots of the love for all things artistic, it goes back to my childhood watching my father working on sculptures and paintings that was my original inspiration…

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
I would love to say that it was to look at the window, read a book, get inspired by birds singing and all that Disney mood, but like all human beings right now, I have a very normal routine of breakfast and social media experience…

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?
This is an area I am looking to explore, the idea of connecting the visual and sound experience, still working on ideas for this, but it will happen soon! What kind of sound? Good question, it all depends on the concept…

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What is it that inspires you?
I am inspired by everyday things, like an old signs or logos, by graffiti, by art shows, by a conversation while drinking beer, the great thing about inspiration is that it can appear from anything, anytime…

-What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?
For me is the doubt, the self-criticism, expectations, perfectionism, dealing with failure, with errors, but it is the most rewarding when you conquer these problems…

-Do you have an artist(s) you admire and what for?
Too many to point out, it’s an ever evolving list, with all the information we get daily, I can´t keep up with it hahaha.

-Which cities are the most inspiring for you?
First, my hometown Lisbon is getting each day more inspiring…then any city can be inspiring for different reasons, the architecture, the mood, the chaos, the people…

-What other passions do you have apart from art?
I love finding weird stuff on flea markets, I am a sucker for traveling, big movie buff, ping pong aficionado, broke sneaker head, comics hoarder, eternal cooking apprentice, occasional sports maniac.

-Do you have a wild project that you dream of achieving some day?
I want to conquer the world! not in a barbarian burning villages kind of way, but I really want to keep evolving my art and doing bigger and more ambitious projects, travel a lot, and maybe when I achieved all of this I would love to have my own gallery where I could invite artists I believe to experiment and grow.

-Tell us about your art, does it include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns?
My art is characterized for being experimental, constantly trying new stuff, so I must balance all this experiments with a strong visual cohesion so my style and ideas come through… I have elements in my work that keep coming up when I’m drawing, in an almost subconscious way, it´s weird…I like to tell a story with my work, It does not have to be a profound message but it´s always something familiar to me, a joke, a story, an idea, but sometimes this message ends up being buried underneath all the layers of colours, information, so it ends up being kind of a private joke that only I understand, which I like.

– How long time does a piece of art work of yours usually survive for?
It depends on too many factors that I don´t control, like the quality of the texture, weather, graffiti writers will to paint the same wall, a mural painting can be there for years, or hours…I take a picture and then make my piece with the idea of seeing it disappear…

-What do people first think of, or feel, when they see one of your works on the street?
well, you would have to ask them, but the feedback I get is usually positive, kids love the colours but always want to know the story behind and old people sometimes shout to me that I am a criminal but usually end up really enjoying it when is finished…old people are ruthless sometimes hahaha!

-Do you have a secret you would like to share with us? 🙂
I am a sore looser at monopoly.

-What are your creative plans for the future?
Lots of them, that´s what keeps me going…right now, my goal is to keep traveling the world painting bigger and bigger murals, also doing more exhibitions abroad, I want to do a big solo show soon abroad.
-Is there a specific thought or message you would like to pass to our audience out there?
Always difficult to not say a cliché, so I’m not even going to try to do it… find something you are passionate about and work you ass off to do it for a living.

Thank you Akacorleone! It’s been great to get to know more about the mind and person behind such talented and inspiring works.
‘’I Support Street Art’’ team.

Check out the artist profile of Akacorleone

Or visit the artist’s pages on the internet!

http://www.akacorleone.com/

https://www.facebook.com/akacorleone