The Postman
The Street Art Duo extraordinaire
Introducing The Postman – iconic images, music and social engagement
»We believe in giving back and supporting causes we believe in.«
Which artist, record cover, poster, fanzine or artwork gave you the very original impulse to start on your own in your childhood or youth before The Postman?
I had a Keith Haring poster on my wall when I was ten. I was taken back by the simplicity and colour of the work. Between us, we have many influences from the music and the arts world. The main inspiration is our urge to be creative and express ourselves.
On your website it says that The Postman started because the both of you met and discovered a shared love for street art. Did this refer specifically to the then (good or boring?) local street art/paste-up scene in Brighton or to street art in general?
Street art in general from all around the world, past and present. We already had a lot of friends and connections in that world which gave us knowledge of how it worked and contacts to help us get started.
How did the Postman style come about? Did it develop organically or was it a kind of purposeful blend of styles that you both brought to the partnership?
It was the perfect blend of experimentation and luck. We definitely had a solid starting point but some of the details that made us who we are now came about through a few lucky accidents.
Is music a continuous part of your creative process/life? And if so: what music are you currently into?
Yes always. Our studio is never quiet. We listen to a varied selection. Check our our local radio station no adverts and great music all day long (see link below).
Which visual artists do you admire? Your visual power and verve reminds us of artists like Gilbert & George and Richard Bernstein et al…
It’s interesting to hear you’ve made that link. We admire many artists, it’s very hard to just pick a few.
The Postman is collaborating with photographers like David La Chapelle or Dave Hogan. How do these collaborations work?
The David La Chapelle collaboration has a funny story…
We knocked on his door in Hollywood in early 2019 to ask if we could put up a small pasteup on the outside of his studio. His assistant promised us to ask him. We didn’t expect much. Later that day we had a message from him saying he’d like to work on a big piece.
We work with a number of photographers whose work we admire. Dave Hogan is our main collaborator. We choose images from his huge archive and turn them into Postman pieces.
Dave Navarro and recently Noel Gallagher are artists you worked with. How did that happen? What did you do ?
We haven’t actually worked with Noel yet. He contacted us a few weeks ago and asked if we’d be up for doing something with him. Hopefully something will come from it at some stage.
Our contact with Dave Navarro came about via instagram. We knew he liked our work so we asked him if we could make an artwork of him and he was up for it. We became friends and met up a few times in LA.
You consciously take the time to support charity projects as well. What are they and what does the support look like?
We believe in giving back and supporting causes we believe in. Our first big charity project was Brighton Pride in 2019. We made artworks of their headliners. We have since worked with Nacoa (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) on a couple of campaigns, one in Bristol 2020 and one in Brighton 2021.
We are also working with Leave No Trace in Brighton on a campaign to keep our beaches and oceans clean and have partnered up with Green Party politician and local MP Caroline Lucas.
On your website we saw you on a boat with the David Attenborough image. What was it all about?
It was a passion project alongside our ‘Guardians of York’ exhibition. We mounted David Attenborough on the side of the York riverbed to illustrate the rising sea levels due to global warming. It’s a fade into a topic close to our hearts we would like to explore further in the future.
You mentioned The Postman Collective on your website as “an ever-growing circle of friends“. What do you mean by that exactly?
We are an ever growing team, made up of a network of people around the world that all help out and work on projects together.
Do you have the feeling that a stronger consciousness is evolving in the younger generations for the necessity to reclaim the streets visually? Or is it and will be, at the end of the day, the task of a few like you to do that?
The street art scene has been booming for many years now. More and more cities understand the value of public art and the scene is ever growing. I think the more of us that decorate our streets the better.
Do you have a similar attitude towards galleries or museums like Banksy and would you rather not see your work there?
We respect the part galleries and museums play within the arts world and currently work with a few galleries.
Can you also imagine digital formats (NFT) within The Postman context in the future?
Nft’s are pretty mind blowing at first. But we’ve got our head around it now and will be releasing some in the near future.
Thank you, The Postman!
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