Shapes and Letters

751 and 780 Valencia at 19th
The Mission

This mural, consisting of shapes, numbers and letters, is by 24 year old SF resident, Jonathan Matas. In 2012 Jonathan did an interview with a group in Atlanta while participating in a show called Living Walls.

Here is a few interesting excerpts from the article:

I have been painting all my life. Like all kids, I made art, but I kept on going, nonstop. It has always been my passion. The only time in my life that I stopped was last year for about six months, that was an excellent break and I came back with renewed energy and focus.

I got into graffiti around 1999. I don’t remember the term “street art” being used much. It was just straight up graffiti… tags, throw-ups, pieces, streets, freights… I started to notice the graffiti around my neighborhood in Seattle. I switched high schools in 10th grade to the NOVA Project (an alternative high school in Seattle’s Central District), where I started meeting writers from all parts of the city.

I’m definitley not able to see the completed image in my head before beginning. I have a naturally-occurring tendency toward detail. I enjoy art that can sink in over time, with many layers of meaning and depth to explore. For example, from a distance or up close, or the whole piece as a macrocosm containing microcosmic worlds.

As any artist will tell you, knowing when to stop is difficult. All projects are different. Usually, when I arrive at a point when I’m looking for stuff to add rather than doing what jumps out as needing doing, it is time to stop. If you go further, it is acting out of impulsivity or even greed. Intuitively knowing it’s time to stop but continuing is madness. There are no clear dogmatic rules to this though.

 

750 Mission

 

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780 Mission