HNRX

We bring you a fresh interview with young, Austrian, urban artist HNRX! He enjoys working only on uneven surfaces including walls. He travels often on trains and enjoys discovering new styles around cities he visits. Environmentally sensitive, he believes in the common good. His aim is to bring Fun, Love and Joy.

-What would you like to drink? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?
Water.

-Introduce yourself to us – as if we had no idea who you were!
ϑ HNRX 25 Years old , Austria Innsbruck, Traveloholic , I like to go out and paint

– Where does your (tag) Artist name come from?
HENRYX is a FANTASY Name i chose Years ago, when i was still in High School. It hasn’t something to do with JIMMI HENDRIX, even if i have to say i love this kind of music. I was always daydreaming and writing in my Mathbook, because it wasn’t interesting at all.
I love to learn , experiment and find out how things working, but not in school when Teachers telling you how to do. So i find a way to teach myself on the Streets , through travelling and going out and trying things out. Instead of sitting in a school and learning how it could work, this was my University.

-How do you define yourself and why? Artist? Street artist? Something else?

I dont like thinking inside the box too much, and nobody knows what I’ll be doing in 10 years.
but of course my main focus in on painting walls in urban environment, so i call myself an urban artist as that’s what I am at this exact point.

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?
So my BACKGROUND is an Architekt Highschool and a lot more of teaching myself in ART.
I was growing up Village Side, and didn’t have much Inspiration on Graffiti as there was not a lot of it around. So the Internet was maybe a more important Tool , to see whats going on.
I did my first Paintings on the Street at the Age of 14 something like that. But that was classic weird CHILD Stuff. After that i had a Break, but back then i got more interested in Stencil Art, when this Street Art Hype popped up in 2010. Experimenting a lot on the Street and at Home i got bored after 2 Years. Cutting Stencils is a lot of work and not super spontaneous. I like more to go to a City check a Wall, rent a Lift and buy some Colours to start the MURAL the next day. And therefore Stencils take too much time for this size and are not my Way for Expression. Anyway i am an absolute free Hand Painter, so this is not what i stand for. My First Try to paint Freehand took a lot of Energy, as its not super easy and need a lot of practice, but training hard and never stopping took me to where i am today.

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Drinking at least half a Liter of water, doesn’t matter if winter or summer.
This began a few years ago, as i mentioned its good for my body to start a day.
Maybe then go for a few quick sketches before doing home office or even start direct painting a wall.

-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?
I always have my Bose Loudspeaker with me. I dont care about brands a lot, but this i have to name, as i use it since 4 years constantly. And it still sounds the same as back then, even if it already had an accident in a full bucket of colour. So i am listening to a lot different German music. Rap mixed electro punk or rock too.
Sometimes more calm, sometimes lively.
I dont update my player very often, and dont care about online stream platforms. I just need a few good songs on my player, which will accompany my day.

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What inspires you and how does that end up in your art?
I travel a lot through Europe, always going by train. So there are hours of sitting and watching out the window. But I always try to use the time for new sketches and ideas.
Sometimes its also inspiring to see artworks on the street whilst exploring a new city. You can go close to the artwork and figure out their technique if necessary.
Sometimes inspiration comes from a totally other direction. As an example i am sitting in a library just watching out some books or doing some sports with my girlfriend.

-What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?
It depends, if its a big wall or a small piece on the street. If there is a permission and a lift necessary, then maybe to arrange all those things. And of course not getting tired after painting hard for a couple of days.
So there has always to be a smaller project between those big murals, otherwise its getting to exhausting, after a while.

-Do you have any artist(s) you admire? Can you pinpoint what it is that makes them so special for you?
There are a lot of friends out there i don’t wanna miss. I like to visit them , go for paint or even collaborate. I like the way we share our possibilities ,paint , walls and even sometimes our home.
But of course there are other artists i have never meet in person but just admire for their Artwork. In the urbanart scene and in general. Its super interesting to keep updated with whats going on out there.

-Which cities are the most inspiring for you as an artist?
London as there is so much going on and of course to paint. But i am also often in Belgium as the people there are super open minded. It takes me maybe 2 Hours there to arrange a big Wall in the Center of a city. And this just by ringing their doorbell and asking.
I like Hamburg as well as i was living there this year for a while, its a super nice and relaxed place .
The Citys in the south have this special vibe and they are perfect for taking a break from the winter in Middle Europe.

-What other passions do you have apart from art?
To be honest at the moment i put almost all my energy in there, but i try to don’t loose other Hobbies as its important to be balanced . There a lot of Hobbies i can combine with my art. Travelling and Urbex as an example. I think the Passion STREETART itself is super varied anyway. I love to cook and do sports to have a break. And i am also passionate about taking care of the environment , which goes hand in hand with my art. I dont paint with spray cans anymore, and almost never travel by plane. I try to not to waste plastic too much and always hire an electric lift, if its possible.. I think we should take care about mother earth , today.

-Do you have a special project that you hope to achieve some day?
I am working on my artist skills every day, i like to travel and take new challenges. At the moment there is not this one big thing i am working on. I just live life as its come, and try to make the best out of it. Of course i love to get well sized walls in reputable cities. So maybe yes i hope to never run out of energy to manage those sizes , and not stop developing as an human and artist.

-Tell us a bit more about your art; does it include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns? How has it evolved?
To be honest i dont know how exactly this comes. When i started doing this Style i just painted out of my MIND, and thats what it became . At the beginning i used more simple single OBJECTS and put them in focus.
Nowadays its getting more and more colorful classic stuff and kind of abstract. If you develop your style it puts you deeper in the matter, and you understand how to play with these Objects. I like to put things together who have in real live nothing to do with each other. This is a way to but my ART totally out of Context.There are a lot of Things in our Life we use everyday but dont spend much attention on. With my Murals i can show the people how important they are and how happy they us make, even if they are so tiny. I also keep on doing this OBJECTS as i think there already enough PORTRAIT PAINTER out there, and so in this Object World is still something to explore. At the beginning i was inspired by Cartoons a lot, i used ELEMENTS and Letters out there. The last Months i got more into classic Oilpainting Stuff, as i love the possibility,textures and colours a lot.
I got the idea with the SAUSAGE inspired by some Street artists around 2012, and to be honest i am absolutely not the first who is bombing this ICON on the Street. But i do it on my own way and a lot enough all over EUROPE. This is maybe the reason why it gets so much attention.

– How long time does your art work, on walls, usually survive for?
At the moment i am travelling Europe , I try to arrange good walls around. I like to work with my surrounding Area. To talk to the native people where i am , figure out my possibilities. The sizes i do nowadays gets more attention and keeps usually longer than just a quick piece on a legal hall of fame, or even an illegal Piece in a City. As we know a lot of illegal stuff in the center gets buffed very quick.
So if you want to have Pieces which stay longer you should place it on big Walls or Wall which are hard to reach. To name a number between 1 Year and 8 years is everthing possible, sometimes even longer.

-What do you think, people feel or think of, when they see one of your works on the street?
Maybe they think first, was its gonna be. People are always interested to understand what it is about, but sometimes there is nothing to understand.They see some elements they may know out of there everyday life, but cant understand the whole artwork. So maybe it confuses them a bit, or they just dont get it. I like to play around with those EVERYDAY OBJECTS i call them and see what happens, if i put the together in a surreal way.

-What are your creative plans for the future?
I wanna do a few more solo shows, as i love to work on something big for a while to release it at some point with a booom. Solo Shows are usually developing my art a lot. I can try out a couple of things in my studio without being afraid its gonna be worse. I also like to do videos with my good friend Rapheal Pöham, as its always fun and a nice way to show people a process of an artwork.
But of course my main focus is on doing big walls in urban environment , and keeping on travelling.

-Is there a little wish you have that not many people know about?
Dont think too much in black and white as there is always another view of point in your life. Keep on developing and looking for alternatives. I think we humans are at a certain point, where we have to change our view on life.
We should take care more about or surrounding fellow creatures and nature and at its end about us.

Thank you! 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.