Alex Feliciano infuses classic surrealist imagery with new world urban forms. Wielding the visual bite of a sword carrying slayer, his paintbrush slashes the canvas, creating narratives that dominate his viewers. He slices and dices figurative mush, with geometric mind fodder, absorbing classic jedi blows and reigning true and triumphant with graffiti infused compositions.
Nathan Cartwright: Art/Graffiti career?
Alex Feliciano: My love affair with Street Art, Graffiti, and Bombing started the first time I saw a piece. It was Miami, 1986 and my mother and I where sitting in the car, then BAM! I saw it, at 55 mph, a big ass burner of beautiful letters and characters, blends and backgrounds, and just like that it was gone. I was in awe that something so big, was just out there, for anybody to see. From middle school to 11th grade I did my research, snooping around abandoned buildings, looking for wall space, finding cans of paint and making pilgrimages to hidden legendary pieces. Influenced by my journeys, I progressed in style and scale, painting bigger and more ambitious pieces, working hard at becoming the best graffiti artist I could be. It was then that I was accepted to the New World School of the Arts. Although I didn’t realize it at first, my teachers had secretly planned to break me down and squeeze the graffiti out of me. In a way it worked and all that was left was a boy with a yearning to paint. So now I paint.
Nathan Cartwright: Past work experience?
Alex Feliciano: Working at the adult novelty store I had front row seats to a carnival of archetypes. I got to see how people play and posture, how they carry themselves when taken out their comfort zones. It was very enlightening to see these people recreate themselves in their own images. I saw white collar shoppers in for the thrill of a big black dildo, and their obvious fear and revulsion for the homeless black man hitting them up for change on their way out to their cars. I saw the furtive explorations of drunken college students braving a dare they will probably regret for the rest of their academic year. It was a circus out there and every night a new show.
Nathan Cartwright: Are you a graffiti artist or a fine artist? What’s the difference to you?
Alex Feliciano: I am a fine artist. I have been away from Graffiti for too long. The kids doing graffiti now are amazing. Now I get excited when I see a piece of Arches watercolor paper, where as when I was rocking pieces I would get excited when I walked up to a wall.
Nathan Cartwright: What’s coming next in Feliciano’s Wonderful World of Art?
Alex Feliciano: I am collaborating with other artists via mail across the country. We have made an agreement to accept each others mutilations. I try to not get mad if they decide that 98% of the painting needs to be covered in beige and splattered with frogs. They challenge me to work around these obstacles in clever ways. We are very trusting of each others choices which is sometimes heartbreaking, always unpredictable, definitely strange and yes, incredibly rewarding.
Nathan Cartwright: How has having a child changed your work?
Alex Feliciano: Well I certainly have a lot less time to indulge in my paintings, but I now spend more time thinking of the narrative. My son forces me to focus on colors and objects I had taken for granted. I guess one could say I am relearning to see the world through his eyes.