Interview: Andrew Schoultz

Andrew Schoultz Chaotic Explosions of the Eye at V1

What are the themes of the exhibition?

Most of what I talk about at the moment is definitely issues like war and different aspects of maintaining your spirituality. Chaos is a central theme of the works. If you look at my works they can seem very chaotic and crazy, a reflection of what is going on in the world today. Being an American artist I am interested in how America affects the rest of the world and a lot of the works are directly related to this; the different wars going on etc. I am interested in the different aspects of control which is being flexed by America right now home and abroad. I am more interested in capturing a feeling, a feeling you might get when looking at something rather than telling a definitive story.

The work I do take so long so I am kind of apprehensive about coming out and saying this is what it is about. I feel like the work speaks for itself. I do not want to say this in the painting means this and this means that. In terms of my own personal view on how art works I do not really believe in the artist’s intent being so important in terms of viewing a work. I believe that what a viewer gets from looking at something is just as important as what the artist’s intent might be. You can be trying this and that as an artist but the viewer might not get it – this is a key point of what I am talking about. The themes I talk about are environmental issues, such as global warming or just environmental degradation, pollution and all sorts of different aspects of that.

Andrew Schoultz: Blocking Big Brother, 2007. 61cmx61cmx7cm Acrylic on wood		Andrew Schoultz: Chaotic Explosions of the Eye, 2007. 285cmx203cmx0,5cm Acrylic, spraypaint and collage on paper

It seems like you mix the present with the past in a way to comment on what is going on in the present. You also seem inspired by art that goes back in history. Can you tell me something about that?

I use old fangled artistic styles to comment on reoccurring themes in world history, you know medieval maps from the 15th century, mid-eastern miniature painting, biblical symbolism and re-interpreted folk art.

They were talking about similar things back then in their own time, periods like conflicts and colonialism and I think it is an interesting juxtaposition to reference other time periods´ art to my art because looking at history you see the same themes repeating itself. People are told that they ought to know their history so it does not repeat itself but I certainly think that history is repeating itself. Looking through history it is the same themes that have been happening over and over again for hundreds and hundreds of years. The only difference I see is maybe that technology changes and different things are available and come into play. I do make all these references to the past in my paintings but I do put in images in my paintings to make clear that the time period I am talking about is the present day.

Andrew Schoultz: Riverbank Elephant, 2006. 244cmx123cmx5cm Acrylic on wood		Andrew Schoultz: Chaotic Projection from Below Us, 2007. 42cmx32cmx5cm. Acrylic on wood

The works at this show have more layers compared to the work you have done before. When did you start working like that?

It is something relatively new, the last couple of months. I think it is a new step. I like the idea of taking a picture and layering it over and make people have to look through something to see the actual picture which is directly related to how you have to view contemporary politics and contemporary media and everything that is going on. You have to look through a lot of crazy stuff to actually see what is going on. I like the idea of turning literal pictures into more abstract pictures. You know things are not as they seem. You have to be able to get the real information and deal with a lot of things in order to know what is what.

Some of the works in this show have an eye, it is definitely referencing different things that are literally depicted on American currency and how funny it is that people pass back and forth this money everyday and there are all these insane iconographies, like the money that you do not even think about but it is so prevalent especially in the States. You know, you are being monitored all the time, everything you do is being recorded and everything you buy is being recorded so the whole idea of trust and all these different things are coming into play. You are being watched and everything you do is monitored.

One of the things that made me start doing this thing of covering some of the painting was when I was working in my studio and I wanted to do a very thin line then I did all these lines on paper near me in order to thin out the paint. Over the time I had all these pieces of paper around me that I slowly but surely were covering and covering with different colours and I was not thinking about this thing of covering. But then I got the idea that it could be cool to control the way I do these lines in order to cover a piece of drawing. Normally I just go with what I feel like and what I want to, it is a natural process and I should not bee too formulated. It is more like a process of experimentation. I always try to challenge myself and push myself forward. I do not want to feel too comfortable or reliant on one thing I do.

Andrew Schoultz: Man Made Structure of Something Natural, 2007. 52cmx42cmx5cm Acrylic & spraypaint on wood		Andrew Schoultz: Projection of Energy at Broken Bridge, 2004-2007. 40cmx36cmx6cm Collaboration with Alicia McCarthy. Acrylic on wood.

How did you come up with the title of the show?

I do not know. Thinking about war. Thinking about the eye as part of some kind of monitoring and surveillance thing. The titles of the works etc. just come to me through out the process of making the work. I do not have any predetermined notion. A few years ago it was all more literal like this means that. But now I just try to follow my feelings. The title of the show is also the title of one of the works in the show. I was working on this piece for six months and the title came to me in the process of making it and I thought it was pretty fitting for where I thought the direction of the show should be. There is not necessarily a literal meaning behind the title of the show but when you say the title out loud it gives you a feeling or like a vibe, kind of: what is that about? Or where does that come from?

Andrew Schoultz: Bound Tree Blocks Path, 2007. 64cmx88cmx7cm Acrylics on wood		Andrew Schoultz: Bound Tree, 2006-2007. 29cmx48cmx6cm Acrylic on wood.

So you do not put in specific comments in your works, i.e. commenting on the war in Iraq?

No, I do not really do that at all. But there are different things at play for sure. I do use simple symbolism, i.e. depicting a person very much like the media usually depict a Muslim with the clothes and everything. I do not necessarily want to depict a certain religion but the viewers will naturally make a certain conclusion about what they see based on the experience with the media and they will probably say, ok this looks like a Muslim. It is like: no, I did not say that. It is kind of a loaded image but at a certain level too there are interesting things like, you know, people living in the desert tend to wear a certain type of a dress, especially in a third world country where they are not rich. So for me it is also referencing a desert and a climate and for me it is a relevant thing when talking about an environmental issue like global warming. Different images strike different cords in different people. Some people might think about it and others do not. But it is also a way to depict a person living in the desert. It is also about what your sub consciousness and its ideas of what a certain image means. For example I paint a tree with all the limbs cut off but it is still growing and it is still trying to be a tree and to be beautiful. For me it is a simple way to talk about the power of nature, the nature will supersede us, no matter what we do it will keep growing. There are different aspects of that but I try to put in different hints in my works, like volcanoes, hurricanes and cracks in the earth, you know natural things that happen and are out of our control, things that are of much greater power than us. For me it is important that these things are happening when other things are happening in my works. Living in San Francisco this is very real to me, everything may seem great but any minute there may be the most catastrophic earthquake ever. It is important to keep in mind that these things do happen. I put in a lot of individual things in my works, like the ones mentioned but also like pollution etc. but it is not about one individual thing, it is about a bunch of individual things coming to together to make one whole. For me it is like I have my own ideas but for me it is more interesting to hear what the viewers get from it and what decisions they make about it.

Andrew Schoultz: Stretching for Spirituality #1 and #2, 2007. 26cmx20cmx3cm Acrylic & spraypaint on wood.		Andrew Schoultz: Elephant Contained, 2007. 73cmx46cm Ink & acrylic on paper.

Andrew Schoultz: Black Hole Theory, 2007. variable size mixed media

There is also this great installation in the show; can you tell me something about it?

It is called Black Hole Theory and it is about the exportation of recyclable garbage to other countries. It is about the exchange of garbage and pollution in our waters and in the air, you know the cargo ships taking products from i.e. China to the US and then after the products are turned into garbage the ships take it back to i.e. China. The name for this vicious cycle is Black Hole Theory. In the States we export 80% of our recyclable materials to China. You know 250 cities around the States export 80% of their recyclable materials to China but all China’s recycling facilities can only handle one of these cities so China is getting 250 times the amount of recyclable materials that they can handle. This is why it is called the Black Hole Theory, what are they doing with all this garbage? One of the things they are doing with it, and it is a proven fact, is that they are burning it. This is one of the major causes of the hole in the ozone layer and the global warming.

I have also put in other things in the installation like the way South East Asia do not have any garbage because they are too poor to have garbage, everything, like junk etc., is used by the poor for making small huts to live in or whatever and people live under electrical towers. I saw all this when I lived in Indonesia some time ago.

Andrew Schoultz: Worship the Endangered, 2007. 28cmx36cmx6cm Acrylic on wood.		Andrew Schoultz: Broken Bridge under Power, 2007. 52cmx53 cm Ink & acrylic on paper.

In this exhibition you have works on paper, canvas and wood. Which media do you prefer?

You know it is different ways to work. I do not have too much of a preference. I definitely like paper, it is more spontaneous and fast and it is easier to get the work done. Paper as a medium is a lot loser, you can work mixed media a lot easier than on canvas or wood, you cannot draw on canvas nor wood with a pen or pencil, you know it does not last. So it is a lot freer to work on paper. The work on wood and canvas is a lot tighter and takes more time and sometimes that serves a purpose to me. So it is not like I prefer one medium.

Andrew Schoultz: Illuminati Slave Ship Explosion, 2007. 59cmx47cm. Mixed media on paper.		Andrew Schoultz: Sound Structure of Worship, 2007. 35cmx46cmx35 cm Acrylic on wood pyramid structure.

Do you start up a work and then finish it or do you work on several works at the same time?

I work on like 80 pieces at the time. Some are finished fast and others I work on for years.

You have also done several murals? What is it like to work in a public space?

I have done a lot of public murals for the last nine years. I have done a few in San Francisco and in different cities across the US. I have done some in Indonesia; I was out there for four months. I did a four city block mural there. I was part of an exchange project where we brought four Indonesian artists back to San Francisco to paint murals there. That was definitely a life changing experience. I have been painting walls for a long time, you know I did graffiti when I was a small kid and it has been a kind of a natural evolution from the graffiti when I was young and up till now where I do these murals which is a bit more responsible and it takes longer to make them and they last longer. It is not like I have planned to go in this direction it has all been done in a pretty organic manor. I have been lucky in that way.

Andrew Schoultz: Untitled (elephant), 2007. 25,5cmx9cmx10,5cm Hand carved sculpture, acrylic on wood.		Andrew Schoultz: Cracked tree, 2007. 62cmx123cmx5cm Acrylic and iron on wood

What are your future plans?

I have a show at the Florida State University Museum of Art when I get home and it is a pretty big deal. There are some really well known American artists in this show. It is a drawing show but I will be doing a big giant wall painting in a panoramic rotunda which is eighty feet by twenty five feet. After that I will be doing a mural in San Francisco. In November I have a solo show in a museum in Richmond, Virginia. I have a lot of shows planned for the next two years. But I definitely have an interest in doing murals because for the past two years I have done a lot of gallery work and I kind of miss the murals.

Andrew Schoultz: Conflict In The World While Waters Rise, 2007. 47cmx61cmx4cm Acrylic on canvas.		Andrew Schoultz: Untitled, 2007. 41cmx60cmx6cm Acrylic on wood

How did you hook up with Jesper from V1?

I was in a group show a couple years ago and then I was in another group show and then they invited me to come over and they seemed really excited and I was also very excited to come here and it has worked really organically.

Andrew Schoultz: Forced to That Which is Not Sacred, 2007. 31cmx31cmx6cm Acrylic on canvas.

Andrew Schoultz: Meditative projections under Power Lines, 2007. 42cmx42cm Acrylic on wood

Andrew Schoultz: Worship the Power, 2004-2007. 64cmx64cmx7cm Acrylic and spraypaint on wood		Andrew Schoultz: Explosions & Wires, 2007. 58cmx72cm Ink & acrylic on paper.