“I don’t know if I fell in love with graffiti. I just did it because it was cool to write my name on the walls and shit.” The mysterious Spanish artist Alehsy talks to us about spontaneity, sunshine, and finding inspiration in the streets of New York.
to customize a variety of Vans core classic sneakers for our party guests. The mysterious artist—he rarely shows his face to the public or creates commercial work—traded his holiday in Malaga for some time out in the gritty streets of Manhattan. This being only his second trip to New York City, we called him up for a chat about finding inspiration in theINTERVIEW: Where are you calling from today?contacted me for the event, to paint Vans for the dinner at Raoul’s.
When I was a kid I was so inspired by the underground scene, so started painting graffiti when I was 14. By the time turned 20, I started tattooing. Then it became popular to work on canvasses, then collaborations—everything came so organically. I didn’t pretend to be an artist. I don’t even call myself one now.INTERVIEW: Can you tell me why you fell in love with graffiti and tattoos?
LAMBO: I don’t know if I fell in love with graffiti. I just did it because it was cool to write my name on the walls and shit. I love it and I hate it. I don’t identify as a graffiti artist. I’m an artist—I do graffiti, I do tattoos, and I have so much fun in the streets. Graffiti is just a way to blow your mind and forget about some things.LAMBO: I’m not tattooing right now, I’m more painting on canvas, making sculptures, working on collabs. I forgot about tattooing for a while this year.