FeedMeCoolShit.com » Elzo Durt

Elzo Durt

This week we want to introduce you to one of our most favorite artists ever here at FMCS. We love this guys work so much we just had to interview him. This guy has great style and the right attitude for creating wonderful coloured pieces of art work that shout fuck you! May we present the magnificent Elzo Durt.

FMCS: Hi Elzo how’s things?

Yeah, great!

FMCS: What is an Elzo? How was he built? What makes him work?

An Elzo is a very speedy dude, always working, careful about details and very demanding upon himself. I was born in 1980 and have quickly been into music thanks to my dad who’s a punk & rock & roll album collector.

I have inherited this passion since I was very young. Inevitably, all these record covers and gig posters have marked me deeply, and from that point I developed a passion for graphic arts & quickly wanted to exploit all this imagery.

FMCS: Elzo where are you currently living? And do you work out of the same location?

I was born in Brussels/Belgium and still live there. I work at home and plan to start a silkscreen workspace there. In the meanwhile, I print all my work at a friend’s place.

FMCS: Can you play the saxophone?

No, but I play the didgeridoo really well on the tube of my vacuum cleaner.

FMCS: What’s the best thing about where you are right now?

My woman, and very soon my son!

FMCS: Introduce your design! How did your amazing style materialize?

I have studied graphic arts and my working method became quickly very clear. I collect all kinds of images that I find in old magazines, books, encyclopaedia, comics… I re-work those images that form the basis of my work.

From that point, improvised compositions are born with themes that will vary according to my mood. Colour-wise, I’m pretty demanding and that’s why I enjoy silkscreen printing. This technique allows to have really good colours and also to have posters in limited series, unlike offset.

FMCS: Where is inspiration coming from? And has Belgian culture, Music etc…inspired your work?

I’m inspired by nearly everything, but mostly by Belgian culture. My most important references are American comics, Russian constructivists, punks, Japonising aesthetics, pop art, art nouveau, art deco and mostly 60’s psychedelic art.

A few years ago, I discovered ‘Le Dernier Cri’ which has opened my eyes to what today is called alternative or deviant art. This collective has really boosted my artistic methods, both conceptually and visually. This sensibility to so-called alternative art made me open up my own space in Brussels so I could promote it.

The plin tub’ gallery ( www.plintub.be but the site is not updated! ). I have presented a dozen artists there during a one year period, mostly Belgians but also ‘Bon Goût’ who are from Berlin.

FMCS: Are you exhibiting at the moment? Where can we see you? Also do you work on an international scene?

My work can be seen quite a bit in the Belgian capital (Brussels), in the streets and in record shops. I have made a lot of flyers for parties and concerts in Brussels, which has helped me a lot to promote my work.

I have worked as art director for the ‘Voxer’ magazine and nowadays I do the graphic design for ‘Recyclart‘ that organises cultural events in Brussels, but also concerts, exhibitions, workshops…

I have only had exhibitions in Brussels, unfortunately! Different exhibitions are programmed in Brussels from now on till the summer.

FMCS: Elzo tell us what flips your switch?

To get out at night with freshly printed posters with a bucket and a brush.

FMCS: How do you find people respond to your work? What’s been the strangest, funniest criticism you have received?

My work reaches a niche audience. In Belgium, graphic design is approached in a very puritan and minimal way. My work is slightly aggressive and provoking for the average Belgian but gets good reactions during exhibitions cos the audience knows why it’s coming for.

For the story’s sake, a poster for a gig (for an albatross) was refused by a hard rock records shop cos it was judged to be to shocking for their clients. It shows Ben Laden with wings, a halo and jerking off while saying fuck. the day of the concert was on the same day that Bush came to Brussels!!!

FMCS: Can you speak French? And if so does this give you an advantage over non French speakers when it comes to romancing ladies?

Yes, but for an artist it’s better to speak English. I plan learning the language as soon as possible. For the ladies, I have a thing that goes ‘crack boum huuuuuuu!’

FMCS: At FMCS we kick back on a Friday night with a few bottles of vodka, some fast guitar music and a loaded gun. But Elzo how do you kick back and relax when you are not working?

Here, it’s not much different… whiskey bottles, Rock à go-go and a stuffed fridge!!!

FMCS: Let us know your favorite top 5 web sites?

www.hypnoticmonsters.be (the most beautiful fluffies of the universe)
www.lederniercri.org (the most deviant printing company )
www.blanquet.com ( one of my favourite illustrators)
www.gigposters.com (a never-ending source of inspiration)
www.artdorks.com (always a lot of new things to discover, thanks Brendan