Sixeart is a Spanish griffiti artist turned painter who spoke with the Wall Street Journal recently. He’s also refreshingly honest in his explanations: his desire to paint comes from the egotism of wanting to see his name everywhere; Keith Haring is the father merchandising for artists, etc. Here are a few samples from the interview but you should click through to read the whole thing:

Q: Do you prefer painting on a wall or on a canvas?

I have no preference. I consider myself first a graffitero [graffiti artist], then an artist. Graffiti came first in my artistic career, and that’s what it’s based on, even though what I do on canvas has nothing to do with graffiti. Graffiti is a tree with many roots and many branches, but there is only one trunk: It always happens on a wall in the street. It can never be moved into a gallery. So I can still be a graffiti artist because I still go out and paint on walls, but I also do paintings.

Q: But your style isn’t very typical for graffiti either, is it?

I’ve done letters, and I’ve done the traditional graffiti. But I grew tired of it. And what I do in the street is very different from what I do on canvas. When I started out, I only signed tags. I didn’t use colors or anything: I started like people used to start back then. There was no information.

Q: If there was no information or inspiration, what made you start?

Egotism. The ego push of seeing your name everywhere. [ . . . ]

Q: What are your artistic influences?

The things that have most influenced me are what happened to me in life. And Mother Nature. Since I’m self-taught, I didn’t understand much of painting or the world of art. I think that the classic painters have not influenced my style. My technique has been developing on its own. But I love Picasso, Miró and Manolo Millares, Basquiat, Keith Haring…

Q: …the father of graffiti.

No, the precursor of merchandising. He was the one who invented that for the world of graffiti.

Sixeart Gives Griffiti Style a Museum Quality (Wall Street Journal)