Street Art Guide To Bangkok And Interview With Local Artist Alex Face
When researching street art in Bangkok, there are plenty of resources available; maps, blogs, guides, etc. that can help you track down the best spots to wander.
My favourite street art resource on Bangkok came from The Occasional Traveller. The map may be a little outdated these days but it is by far the most comprehensive and will give you a good indication of where to head. This guide was all I needed to hunt down all of these great pieces while I was in town.
Bangkok Street Artist Interview: Alex Face
So, I didn’t make the best street art map in Bangkok, but I did meet with one of the best street and mural artists in the country, Alex Face, to talk about the street art scene in Bangkok and his motivations for creating the iconic character, Mardi.
Alex Face, who started out tagging in 2002, quickly grew bored of the standard graffiti tag that everyone else was doing. Wanting to somehow say hi to those viewing his work, he began to draw his face as a self-portrait to prompt curiosity and confusion. Thus “Alex Face” was born.
As his style evolved and matured, so too did he. The birth of his daughter caused Alex to look more critically at the world around him. Since this pivotal moment, Alex retired his own face and began painting his city and the world with his beautifully sweet, yet pensive, character, Mardi; inspired by his daughter.
”I get inspiration from her, but the message is not always about her, that character just helps to tell the story.
Alex Face
Through this lens of the innocent, Alex communicates poignant messages that encourage people to look deeper and consider what the world will look like if we continue in our current direction. Concerned with the increasing population and decreasing fertile land in which to grow food, Alex’s messages are often bringing attention to the consequences of this movement. “One thing we need is food, not money,” says Alex.
Curious to know how one can continue producing such rousing work, after almost a decade using Mardi as his outlet, Alex tells me that he finds inspiration from travel. “When I went to Europe I got inspiration to do different and see different. I went to see a lot of museums, exhibitions, art fairs, and I saw people working hard. It makes me want to come back and work.”
Alex has most definitely been working hard, while only being at the mid-point of his career as an artist, he has quickly established himself to be an iconic figure within the street art community. While Alex’s work appears primarily on the streets of Thailand, there are many pieces to be found across Asia and numerous European cities. He has also found success with exhibiting his works in galleries.
You can see the full article published in Enzpired magazine here.
To keep up to date on the latest work by Alex Face, don’t forget to follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
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