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N.Y. kunsteren Tom Sanford er normalt repræsenteret af galleri Faurschou i Danmark, men er for tiden en del af en gruppeudstilling på Gallery Poulsen i Kødbyen. Jeg mødte ham til en snak under ferniseringen:

Nice to see you in Copenhagen again, Tom. What brought you back this time?

Thanks Jesper. It is great to be back. Last March the painter Ryan Schneider brought Morten Poulsen by my studio. Ryan had met Morten through our mutual friend Jens-Peter Brask and was in NYC because he was interested in checking out the studios of some young New York artists. Morten told us that he was planning to move his gallery to Kødbyen and a few beers later we had a plan for Ryan and I to organize the first show in Morten’s new gallery – “The Irascible Assholes : New Paintings from New York.” Of course we were not going to miss the opportunity to get down in CPH!

Anything in particular you enjoy more when in Copenhagen?

After a week in Copenhagen, Ryan Schneider and I can say with absolute certainty that Carlsberg is the best beer in the world – fuck “probably the best…”. We have sampled your fine brew all over Copenhagen, from the dirtiest bars in Christiania to very fine establishments and clubs. We even traveled to Aalborg and had a few pints there. Carlsberg is the best beer in Copenhagen and the world.

You take on some heavy issues like religion, history, rapculture and celebrities. Can you explain your whole angle on art and painting to our readers?

I think that the subjects that you mentioned are among the most powerful forces that shape our culture. While I really love art and painting, I want to make art is about more than just other art. I want to make work that reflects as much of my environment as possible.
A lot of my early work was ostensibly about the history of hip hop culture. Hip hop changed American and global popular culture in an undeniable way. In America it addressed a history of racial tension and violence which is unfortunately part of the fabric of my country, and while not all hip hop music can be considered positive, I believe that the cross over of hip hop to a white American audience did a lot to establish an America in which we could have a black president. This was probably the most significant positive event of my lifetime.
But while hip hop is generally good, from where I am, in the shadow of the twin towers, it seems to me religion is generally bad. Much of the pain and suffering that I see in the world has a lot to do with powerful interests using people’s belief against them, so I am generally critical of religion, but like it or not, religion is an important issue.
I could go on an on about my ideas about celebrities, history painting etc, but I don’t want to bore you! Besides it isn’t often that I get to talk to a true celebrity such as yourself, and this is a great thrill for me.

It seem that your art reflects a New York state of mind. Do you agree?

Wow, that’s quite a compliment. I have lived in or near NYC for most of my life. For the past decade I have lived in Harlem and my pictures are often about people and events that are important to me; some of them reflect the recent history of New York. A few that come to mind are paintings I did several years ago, like my painting of Lil’ Kim’s shoot out with Capone n Noreaga in front of the Hot 97 radio station, which I called “The War of the Roses”, or my painting of the first time Tupac got shot at the Quad Studios in Times Square. But while not all of my paintings are about tragic events or of our local royalty (like Jay Z or Biggie), I guess I would like to think that my sensibility reflects a New York attitude.

Do you think that you have an ironic distance to the stuff you portray or do you think it’s an artists nature to observe?

I am a little uncomfortable with irony. I choose my subject matter because I am sincerely interested in it and I think it is important. Of course there are often ironic elements to my work, for instance presenting Tupac Shakur in a Christian icon painting is certainly ironic, or painting Lady Gaga in a Weimar era German expressionist style. But I am doing this because my subjects need serious consideration. These celebrities tell us a lot about our culture and I give a lot of thought to how I present them. I wouldn’t paint just any dead rapper as Jesus, but in my opinion Tupac deserves a great deal of respect.

Why do you appear in the works yourself?

I started putting myself in some paintings after I did a project in which I transformed myself into Tupac Shakur. I had always been interested in celebrity and when I was TomPAC (or white Tupac) for a short time I was a minor celebrity, and I thought that was interesting. I thought of TomPAC as all of the bad aspects of my personality, and so I would put him in some of my paintings as a way of admitting my own complicity, guilt and responsibility for the things that I am critical of in my work.

Do a lot of people take offence to your work?

Some of my paintings have offended people. For example, I have had a lot of trouble with Pantera fans because one of my better known pieces is a painting of the assassination of Dimebag Darrell Abbott. Dimebag was shot onstage by a lunatic fan in late 2004 while playing a gig for his band Damageplan in Columbus Ohio.
This was such bizarre and horrific moment, but I thought it was important and naturally I had to make a painting of it. Over the years I have received a steady stream of hate mail and death threats from his fans who believe that my painting is in poor taste and is offensive. I guess they are right, but I really don’t care about being in good or bad taste and I am surprised that his fans who are big bad-ass metal fans would get so upset over a painting!

Which is your favorite piece?

I actually like a lot of them. I think the piece I am most proud of was my transformation to become Tupac (or TomPAC in my case). I recently made a large painting of the Somali Pirates who attacked the Maersk Alabama and were killed by the USS Bainbridge. Right now that is my favorite large painting. I think my best Icon painting is the one I did for the cover of your album “Gigolo Jesus”.

Who’s your favorite artist?

It is extremely hard to narrow down to one favorite, I admire and steal from so many great artists both living and from the past.
Right now I am digging one of your local masters: the sculptor Christian Lemmerz. He is German but lives in Copenhagen. His work is always such an aggressive and cutting political and social commentary, and it is exquisitely beautiful. Such courageous work that is so perfectly made is an inspiration to me.

What is your background as an artist?

Well Jesper, some people learn it on the streets, some people learn it in school, guys like you and me were born with it.

What does a typical Tom Sanford go for?

More than I can afford, but you should ask Jens Faurschou or Morten Poulsen about that.

Any last words?

Just thanks for coming to check out “The Irascible Assholes” – Cheers!!

Du kan se Tom og hans venners værker på Gallery Poulsen indtil d. 16/7 2010. Se mere her

Tjek også Faurshou.com og Tomsandford.com