Class War
Artist: Nick Flatt
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Russian fascism and a new sort of corporate elitism is blown up on a wall in Berlin. The giant mural 'Class War', which is located at the ‘Devil’s Mountain’ was created by American photorealism painter, Nick Flatt, in a collaboration with London street-artist, Fanakapan. It displays the idea of cultural dominance by an elite Russian ruling class.
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Photo: Courtesy of artist
The “fashion terrorist” modeling the mural is Russian-born Sonya Molodetskaya. She represents the glamourous and powerful supreme class, scantily clad in black lingerie and a fox fur jacket. Embellished with Erickon Beamon jewels, she is a symbol of conspicuous consumption. However, a photoshopped black eye and a cigarette dangling from her mouth distorts the desire for her superiority.
"Class War" is located at Teufelsberg Station, known as the ‘Devil's Mountain’, in Berlin, Germany. This location was chosen particularly because of its war-lorn history. Flatt says, “The U.S., along with allied forces, used the station to spy on Russian occupied east Germany during the Cold War. The station was built on a Nazi technology school used to train elite intelligence officers during World War II. Cray as fuck.” Flatt’s artwork regularly features antiestablishment themes and mock the narcissistic cultural ideals we have, such as ‘The American Dream’. He believes these are learned and reinforced through corporate media control. Other series of his work include porn star portraits on tarot cards, princesses of plutocracy, and a smoking, naked Barbie doll demonstrating the “Commodification of Rebellion”. |
Flatt just returned from London, competing in ‘Behind the Curtain’ a four-week series which saw sixteen artists take over East London's Shoreditch Art Wall. Flatt’s mural, which was a collaboration with Seeds One was entitled ‘Capitalism Is Rad™’. It made a statement against gentrification and the warped consumer culture we live in, where the model represents the wealthy 1% ruling class, giving the finger to everyone who walks by.
Avoiding any relation to the capitalist principles of branding, he is now working on a series of Abstract paintings, and toying with the idea of doing Photorealism in the streets and Neo-Expressionist Abstraction on canvas in the studio. Photo: Courtesy of artist
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InterviewYou've expressed the absurdity of the 'American dream’, paintings of sex, money, and power. Now living in Berlin, 'Class War’ touches on the history of Cold War Germany. Such different cultures have inspired your work. What does this mural represent for you?
I was just getting my feet wet with my first series that mocked the American Dream. As I began traveling a little more, I realized advertisement's role in developing/promoting corporate hegemony on a global scale. The cultural relevance of Class War was to do with the Cold War, but Fascism, in one of its chameleon forms runs through both events. The model I chose for this image, Sonya Molodetskaya, fitted the role perfectly being both Russian and from the American ruling class. Her long-time partner is former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. Sonya is really into fashion, so I knew she would be able to dial up the image of a socialite with her jewelry and designer clothes. What’s the art community like in Berlin? It's great! There isn't a shit ton of money in the Berlin art scene, so everyone is more emotionally supportive of each other. Attending other artists shows and really developing the scene. Berlin is in the early stages of gentrification, so I expect to see an influx of capital to the area over the next few years. Be it good or bad. How has growing up in the U.S., Texas specifically, influenced your work? Leaving Texas for California, then California for Europe, has really helped me realize the amount of cultural insulation that America, and even more drastically Texas, places around its citizens. Watching America from abroad the last 2 years, especially the last few months is kinda scary. Maybe it's because I am seeing events through a different scope, but seeing the rise of a person like Donald Trump on the right, while living in Berlin makes it easy to draw certain parallels. What’s your process of working from a photo to a canvas, or giant mural? I work with a photographer to capture a specific concept for each individual piece. Once the final image is locked in, I take that photograph into Photoshop and blow it up to the exact same size as the canvas or wall. For example; if the mural I am working on is 12 feet tall, I make the jpeg 144 inches tall in Photoshop. Then I go through and cut an A4 size (or if in America, standard 8.5 x 11in) rectangle out of this enlarged image. A typical mural will consist of 40-100 of these rectangular images that I then have printed at the local print shop. I then tape these pieces together into horizontal strips. Now I have an exact size, printed replica of what I am going to paint. Then I paint that shit. |
How long does it take to complete a mural?
Murals typically range from 5 to 18 days. My last mural in London took six 12 hour days. It’s said that you generally go against any sort of political system (I read that somewhere), who or what is inspiring your work right now? Yeah, I read that too. That would place more in line with Anarchists, but I would self-identify as Democratic Socialist, which I reckon stems from Marxist writings. It’s another term that has been purposefully aligned with ne'er do wells since WWII, and is criminally under taught in the American education system. That being said, I'm really inspired by economist Richard D Wolff at the moment. I can't stop reading Christopher Hedges, and I think I will send in my overseas vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016. You’ve also been commissioned for mural work in London. Are antiestablishment artworks appreciated more in Europe? That definitely seems to be the case. People loved mine and Paul Punk's "Fuck Everything" mural in Berlin, where we take the piss out of all the shit we hate from Capitalism to Brad Pitt. As a counter story, I had a group show in San Francisco called Control where eight artists created pieces around the concepts of sex, money and power. I made a tank for this group show, and another artist painted a realistic rendition of a threesome from a porn clip. The gallery received so many complaints about the porn painting that it was eventually removed. Everyone loved the tank. Highlighting a disturbing trend in American censorship where violence is tolerated, even elevated to grandeur, and sexuality is demeaned and hidden in the back...behind the dope as fuck tank. Photo: Courtesy of artist
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Photos: Courtesy of artist
"Capitalism is Rad™"
"Capitalism is Rad™"Music by The Royal Trux
Posted by Nick Flatt on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Music by The Royal Trux
Video: Courtesy of artist
Video: Courtesy of artist