December 2007, Chris Osburn Interviews the Invisible Art Club

In conducting the London street artist interviews for Whitehot, it was made aware to me that three of the four artist thus interviewed had recently joined forces under the title of the Invisible Art Club, a collective of artists connected to the "graf/street art scene." Believing that art "is for and should be available to everyone," the IAC consists of eight artists - Cyclops, Dscreet, Eko, Marcin Dud, Russel Maurice, Seks, Snoe, and Sweet Toof - and IAC founder/coordinator Reuben Jacobs. The club came together in an effort to provide street art style through a series of prints, which may be viewed at http://invisibleartclub.com. Recently, I sat down with some of the IAC artists to get the scoop on the club.

How did the Invisible Art Club come to be?

Reuben: The Invisible Art Club is a group of individuals with a shared love of art. Our common link is a connection to graffiti and street art. From graf writers who started 20 years ago and are still going strong, to artists who have hung up their spray cans and moved on to other mediums to artists from a more traditional background who simply happen to hang out with a lot of street artists. With our wide range of influences and experience, we bring fresh styles and perspectives to the print world.

Russell: Everyone is kind of linked to someone else in the crew, so each person has brought other people in, but it was Rubes that really pulled it all together.

Seks: [London graffiti artist] Cept148 and Reuben are the reason I became involved in IAC. Cept, because he introduced me to Sweet Toof and Dscreet. And Rube, because he hassled me to do prints. I'm thankful to both for this.

How did you get into graffiti?


Russell: Many moons ago, in Junior school, I had a mate that was part of a break crew the Euro Breakers, They used to go to a club on Saturdays in Newcastle called Tiffs, he showed me the flyer to that which had some graf on it, from the second I saw it i was just like whow, into it, it sucked me in, I started to draw graf from then on... obsessed, that was almost 20 years ago.


Seks: In 1985, I started as a lookout then realised paint stores were plentiful in our deprived neighbourhood and developed deep pockets.


What sets the IAC's style apart from other graffiti artists?


Reuben: We believe that art is for and should be available to, everyone. We do not agree that there should be any "arbiters" of taste who decide what is or is not art, what is fashionable, "in style" or "acceptable".


Russell: I think what brings us all together is that we are all in our own ways trying to push what we do in directions that graf/graf related arts haven't been pushed yet.



Seks: Not sure.


What's in the future for the IAC (as well as what's in the future for you as an individual artist)?


Seks: Who knows?