Interview with Nomadé ~ Los Angeles

Nomadé's art started appearing around town a few years ago and immediately gained admirers city-wide. Their first solo show, Recent Artifacts, opens this Saturday night at Hold Up Art at 7pm. More info is at their website, thenomade.com. So, what's their favorite taco? What's their favorite part of LA? Read on to find out...

What's your favorite taco?
Our favorite taco? You won't really like the answer, unfortunately, because it's from a place right across the street from our studio. The location of the studio is not something we make public, so we can't tell you where it is. On the other hand, you will be happy to know that the creative force driving Nomadé is fueled by one great L.A. taco... with everything.

What is the relationship between The Nomadé and Los Angeles?
We all live and work in Los Angeles. It is our home. It seems only natural that our work reflects the city we know. If there is one thing that we never debated about, it was to include L.A. imagery and ideas.

Are you from LA? If not, what brought you here and what parts of town do you like/live in/etc. ?

There are four of us, and each of us are from somewhere else. Most of us either came for school or work or both and ended up making L.A. our permanent home. We live all over the city. East to West...not too far west. We have a studio around Mid-City, and we are there often. We like hanging out where the art is -- Venice, Culver City, Downtown, Hollywood too.

What was the first piece of Nomadé art that went up in the streets?

It was a piece in Brooklyn, actually. It was our original image of the soldier holding the palette splashed with paint. We are pretty proud of it as it made it into Brooklyn Street Art's "Street Art New York".

The project seems to be expanding and getting more detail over time. Is that part of a plan or is it an organic evolution?

Both part of the plan and an evolution of the work. From the beginning we always wanted to produce pieces of the highest quality possible, both in the street and in the gallery. That was the plan. Where that was going to lead us we could never have really known. One thing that is important to know about us is how we make decisions. It has so much to do with the evolution of the work. It's the dialog that happens within the group, everything we do, whether it is deciding to eat tacos for lunch, or choosing color for a current piece, We try to always come to a consensus.

Nomadé uses iconography from the past, what makes it relevant today and why is it important to you?

The images we use have far less to do with any specific meaning from ancient history and more to do with how they are perceived in a modern context. As much as we are all interested in art history, we are simply trying to create something relevant to modern day that hopefully resonates with and inspires our viewers.

Do you have a lucky number?

Come on......Four of course.

Don't miss Recent Artifacts this Saturday at 7pm: 358 E. 2nd St, Los Angeles 90012