Snub23 – Forever 23

Snub23 – Forever 23

By Arden de Raaij

Brighton based Graffiti / Street artist Snub23 is forever 23. He is also active with everything that leaves a mark, whether it is graffiti, stencil art, freehand drawings, stickers or anything else you can imagine! Snub is also responsible for organizing the Paint & Beer street art festival in Amsterdam every year. Europe’s street art scene would not be the same without the tireless and versatile Snub23! So we’ll hope you will enjoy this ‘spam’ interview with Snub23!

Snub23 stencil art - eroded canvas
Snub23 stencil art – eroded canvas

What were you doing the moment you received these questions?

Just got in from walking the dog, about to carry on cutting my current stencil.

Which cartoons did you watch as a kid, and which were your favorites?

Batfink, battle of the planets, vicky the Viking, deputy dawg, captain caveman, tom and jerry (original), wyle coyote and my favorite was foghorn leghorn (big southern rooster).

Snub23 graffiti mural
Snub23 graffiti mural

What is your favorite gaming character?

Jet set willy (old school)

What got you into to street art, and what makes you keep on doing it?

Was moving to brighton really and seeing stencils up by nylon and pablo fiasco round town.
Freedom, no one tells you what and where to do your art.

Snub23
Snub23

What was the first thing you put up on a wall?

It was a stencil of a 3d cube cut from thin plywood. Still got it somewhere. Then came the SNUB logo/text.

Legal or illegal?

You get longer and fuss around more when legal, for illegal stuff I like to use a little cunning, getting stuff up quick and in odd places. I’m sure most of it is just seen as littering by the authorities. I don’t paint on peoples houses, I prefer street furniture or hidden away spots.

Snub23
Snub23

Which artist would you like to work with in the future?

Just more with the ones I do already really. Orticanoodles, foundry, FarkFK, hutch, Ashab, sinna… The list goes on and on.. It’s really the people you meet along the way. I don’t spot someones work and decide I want to paint with them, it just happens. For instance I’ve hung out with broken crow from the USA, I wanna paint with him properly but the chance hasn’t come along yet, it nearly did but the immigration idiots at Heathrow sent him home before he made it to Brighton. But I’m sure our time will come one day.

Favorite city, and favorite thing about it?

  • Berlin.. Great beer and street stuff everywhere.
  • Amsterdam, paint, beer, sweet green and good friends
  • Barcelona, awesome artists, sunshine and good food
  • Milano, good food and the noodles family. What more do you need.

I could easy live in any of the above, just that my language skills are very minimal.

Snub23 Graffiti
Snub23 Graffiti

What is your favorite music/genre/artist/album

When I’m working on my own I like something chilled. Old blues or slow drum n bass. When out and about, Freestylers, roots manuva, dj food.. Anything ninja tunes. Big and heavy 🙂

What is your favorite item to take on the road with you?

Sketchbook

Designer toys by Snub23
Designer toys by Snub23

Best graffiti/street art spot we should check out:

Villa friekins in north Amsterdam. Some secret spots.. But finding those is half the fun 🙂

If you could fill a swimming pool with something, what would it be?

Skunk

Snub23 stencil art - Doombringer
the ‘Doombringer’ by Snub23

Bill (PC) or Steve (MAC)?

Both.. Big mac for design work, pc for going online.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Bigger stencil work with many more layers and detail. Larger scale freehand walls. Have a set of three skate decks soon to be released via ‘route one’, various exhibitions and live art events. A trip to Warsaw with VST too I think.

Snub23 Graffiti - Girl
Snub23 Graffiti – Girl