This summer, NJ tattooer Rich Cahill launched a creative space for guest artists off the back entrance of his private machine shop. Stepping from the workshop into this art space feels like moving into yet another interior room. That is, at least, until your eye catches the stars hanging above the graffitied maze (officially dubbed “The Moon Base” after the first round of artwork appeared to glow in the full moon). The first gang of visiting artists to graffiti on the MB’s open-air, concrete walls included Mike Kuhn, Chris Harford, Chaz Hampton, and Rich himself. Even though each section was rendered by a different hand, the seven sides of the MB feel like a complete work of art.
Check out what the artists had to say about their lunar experiences below.
GROUP CHAT with THE MOON BASE ARTISTS —interviews by k. attinello
K.A. Chances are you might not be out spray painting building sides from nine to five– if that’s the case, what might your day job be?
|| KUHN. My profession is a mix between doing sales for BucketFeet, design work for various BMX companies, muralist, photographer, and regular house painting on the side.
|| HAMPTON. I am a self employed creative as well as a fine artist. I have a background in marketing, branding, merchandising, & interior design. I have everything from corporations to private individuals as clients.
|| CAHILL. Tattooer, man of mystery, renaissance man, man of the cloth, stud muffin, machinist.
K.A. How long have you been painting or creating other types of art? How would you describe your own style?
|| KUHN. I’ve been spray painting for over 10 years. My spray paint work tends to be very loud, colorful, loaded with textures and lines.
|| HARFORD. I’ve always been painting and drawing, since a young lad. My mom is a painter and she got me started. She calls [my style] abstract expressionism, I call it Naive Folk Art.
|| HAMPTON. I am self taught and never had any formal training in the arts and design. I started painting at an early age and figured things out the hard way. I’m not sure… Eclectic, maybe? I’ve used the term “folk punk pop art brut” over the years, but that really just came from when I needed keywords to put in my eBay auctions when I used to sell my stuff on there. I think as I get older and I put my time in, my “style” has become more recognizable. But I don’t always see it.
|| CAHILL. I’ve been making art since I was a little kid. My style is hard to describe, because I don’t know. Some say it’s psychedelic… that might be the closest way to describe my style of painting.
K.A. This show was all about spray paint, but do we have other favorite mediums, gents?
|| HARFORD. Lately it’s been acrylic on wood.
|| HAMPTON. I work in a variety of mediums. I think I’m best at mixed media sculpture but I strive to be a better painter… I am a trial and error type experimenter. I rarely do anything the same way twice. For me, it’s mostly about the process. I am always seeking a new process or method, new materials, tools or media to use.
|| CAHILL. Acrylic on canvas and wood. And water color. Spray art is definitely addictive, though. There’s a lot more body movement involved in it, you’re using your arms, jumping around basically, using every part of your body. So going from tattooing to that is a huge difference, so that’s what I like about it. Same thing with painting– you’re just sitting there stationary.
K.A. What was the inspiration for the wall you did at The Moon Base?
|| KUHN. The inspiration for the piece at The Space was Rich’s recent work, since it is generally so detailed.
|| HARFORD. That was utterly spontaneous and in the moment, but upon reflection I see the issue of immigration being suggested.
|| HAMPTON. As psyched as I was to be invited by Rich to participate in the show, I had been feeling pretty worn out and depleted after recently having twins and having just completed several big projects. I didn’t come the The Space with any concept of what I was going to do. It took me a little time to figure out what I was going to paint. Turns out I went with a take on an image I saw when I first visited The Space. It’s a logo of a shipping company off one of the shipping containers at the MB site. Coincidentally, I have been working on a 3-D sculpture using a very similar image for a friend’s ad agency office. I just started painting and let it see where it took me.
|| CAHILL. Basically my inspiration was the color that was provided for the wall, the grey, and working at night influenced it. I saw the colors differently. What basically came out was a stream of consciousness piece.
K.A. Any closing thoughts?
|| HARFORD. Rich Cahill is an impressive human being working to bring us all together through art and music. The world could use more like him.
|| HAMPTON. I had a blast painting with Rich, Mike, and Chris, and the show was great. I’m psyched to see what the next batch of artists does.
|| CAHILL. I really enjoyed working with the other guys, I’ve known them all for a long time but never painted with them, so it was a blast. It was great working with Mike since he’s really knowledgable about spray art, so I learned a lot from him that way. I’m really looking forward to hosting other artists at the MB, and plan to have one more big art show and concert before the winter. If anyone’s interested in being a guest artist, they can get in touch with me at changfreely@gmail.com.
