New York’s streets wouldn’t be the same without this man – Read below Michael De Feo’s passionate homage to the Green Apple!

FMCS: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Michael: My name is Michael De Feo and I’ve been using the streets of large cities as an exhibition space for my work for fifteen years.

FMCS: Where do you currently live and work?

Michael: I live and work 35 minutes outside of Manhattan in Westchester County. It’s great to be close to New York and also having the advantages of suburbia. It’s perfect for my daughter, Marianna, as well. Summer time is the best…. I have a bit of a green thumb and Marianna loves picking vegetables in the garden.

FMCS: How come your great interest in (street) art?

Michael: I began using the streets as a way to side-step the gallery system. When I started, I realized how many more people could see my work in the streets instead of the confines of a gallery.

It’s also total and complete freedom to do whatever I want.

FMCS: What were the very first designs you have brought out on the streets?

Michael: The first images were based on drawings from high school…. minnows, safety pins and stuff… These series were silk screened onto paper with the flower becoming the most familiar. I then began to paint one-of-a-kind acrylic paintings on blueprint paper that I glued up…. I still do that to this day.

I think viewers get much more out of an original piece that isn’t reproduced…. what they see on the streets are the only ones that exist.

FMCS: Is there any specific message you want to transport with your art?

Michael: It’s up to every viewer what they get out of it…. Basically I’m interested in redirecting people with my street art. I want to give them an experience they otherwise wouldn’t have on their way to work, school, the grocery store or whatever…. to share in a sense of wonder and excitement about life. Helping provide new connections in a way.

FMCS: How did your style develop over the years?

Michael: My work has become more detailed as well as thematic. I hop around a lot in what I do in the streets. For one, it keeps things interesting for me…. it also prevents people from having the immediate reaction of “Oh, there’s a Michael De Feo”. Because what I do keeps changing, people instead wonder who did it and what it’s about.

I’m interested in providing viewers with an art experience instead of a sales pitch. My work has also become more and more personal…. most recently with my self portrait series that I began after my wife and I seperated last Spring.

FMCS: Do you see yourself more as a painter or a graphic designer?

Michael: I’m a painter with a design background. My BFA diploma from the School of Visual Arts says Graphic Design on it, however, my portfolio at graduation didn’t contain a single graphics project. It was all street art and paintings….. somehow they gave me the highest possible grade for it.

FMCS: What are the artistic intentions within your work?

Michael: My art and my life are the same thing…. my intention is to grow and develop… to continue to have adventures and experiences that help me and others understand something of the intangible… simply to continue making connections, really.

FMCS: What makes New York special and a unique place and destination for street artists?

Michael: New York has an energy like no other city in the world… it’s the center of the universe.

FMCS: How do you see yourself within the New Yorker streetart and graffiti scene?

Michael: I have no idea…. I’m not interested in speculating where I fall on the street art totem pole.

FMCS: What and/ or who is/are your source(s) of inspiration?

Michael: My daughter is a huge inspiration to me. So are the rest of my family and friends… I’d be nowhere without their continuous support and love.

FMCS: Is there any artist in particular who influenced you?

Michael: There are way too many to mention…. I’d leave too many out.

FMCS: What motivates you?

Michael: Everything… absolutely everything… there’s treasure everywhere.

FMCS: Tell us more about your teaching and experience you have had with your students.

Michael: I’ve been teaching high school art for nine years and love it. Working with kids is the greatest… it’s a true privilege and great responsibility that I take very seriously. Most of the students know what I do outside of school…. it’s something I don’t like to parade around, however, when they have questions I’m happy to answer them.

FMCS: In the foreword of your book “Alphabet City – Out on the streets” you describe New York as sandbox or canvas to realize your artwork.Tell us more about your motivation to publish this book.

Michael: To clarify, Marc and Sara of Wooster Collective wrote the intro to my book, not me..
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to create a children’s book. Over the years, I’ve come up with many ideas, however, non that really stood out enough for me to persue… it finally dawned on me to use my street art for a kid’s book project and that’s how it came about.

Basically, “Alphabet City” juxtaposes the traditional format of a children’s alphabet book with a very contemporary execution, namely, street art. I illustrated each letter of the alphabet with a painting that I glued up in the streets of Manhattan that I then photographed. The result has been a book that both kids and adults enjoy.

When it first came out in 2004, I handed my first copy to Marianna whom had just turned one year old…. it was such a great moment for me, watching her flip through the pages, recognizing most of the pieces from seeing them originally in my studio… she still loves reading it.

FMCS: What is your current project about?

Michael: I’m currently working on a second book, a few exhibitions, new street projects, a lecture at the University of Connecticut on March 24th and a few other things. For all the details, sign up for my newsletter at http://www.mdefeo.com

FMCS: How about past exhibitons? Is there any exhibition coming up?

Michael: I’m currently in a small group show at the Neuberger Museum and was just in the “Wooster on Spring” exhibition at the Candle Building in New York, a group show in Nepal and Bangladesh, a benefit show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, a fantastic group show in Leipzig, Germany and a bunch of others…. I’ve been really busy lately. Coming up is the Just Seeds benefit show at Ad Hoc in Brooklyn, and a series of other exhibitions…. hopefully I’ll be in Buenos Aires in May and then I’m hoping to get the chance to bounce around Asia this Summer.

Oh yeah, this September I’m helping organize a city-wide street art exhibition for a non-profit community group in Stamford, Connecticut.

FMCS: How is your connection with the Wooster Collective and what are the plans?

Michael: In December of 2002, Marc emailed me to let me know that he created a photo page of street art off his work web-site and for me to check it out…. he had just moved to Soho with Sara and they were very interested in the art they found in and around their neighborhood. What he shared with me was just a page of thumbnails and much of the work was mine…. I responded with a note of thanks and then in the next month, Marc emailed me again to announce that he started his blog, Woostercollective.

Obviously, it took no time at all for it to blow up…. Both Marc and Sara are non-stop in their support and love for this art form and the community. Recently they organized the “Wooster on Spring” exhibit last December of which I was a part…. it was a true honor to not only work together with some artists that I’ve idolized since I was twelve, however, to simply be inside that building. I’ve been hitting it for almost fifteen years now.

FMCS: What keeps you busy besides work?

Michael: My daughter, Marianna…. with her it’s all play… it doesn’t get any better than that!

FMCS: Thank you Michael!

Michael De Feo Web Site

Michael De Feo My Space

Alphabet City Book

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