Evolving Styles

Hera & Akut are two graffiti artists from Frankfurt and Erfurt, Germany. They began working together in 2004 when they met at the Urban Art Festival in Spain where they were both invited along to paint. From the beginning, their meeting of styles under the symbiosis Herakut, has created a distinctive and schizophrenic signature which is taking the art world by storm. We hooked up with them for an interview ahead of their appearance at the Evolving Styles art auction in London.

How did you two first meet?
Hera: We met right before our flights to the Urban Art Festival in Sevilla in 2004. Once we arrived, we spontaneously planned to paint a wall together. Akut asked if he could take a picture of me and paint a portrait of me, and that's something every guy should do for a girl if he wants to impress her. (Corny, but worked for me).

What were the first impressions you had of each other?
Hera: I thought, ‘Dammit — I didn't even get his name!’ because mumbling Akut introduced himself as Falk (his real name), which is a pretty rare name and I had never heard it before, so I didn't understand it. Due to that bad introduction, I avoided talking to him unless he started the conversation, and that almost never happened because he (a little shy), (and mumbling), thought that I wouldn't talk to him anyway. Get it? It was an awkward start.

Were you already familiar with each other's work?
Hera: We knew each other's stuff from a popular graffiti magazine named Stylefile (based in Germany). Their issue 'Honeyfile' had this interview with Ma'Claim and also an article on 'graffiti girls' where they featured a number of my images. That was the closest our very different styles ever came until the Sevilla event. Actually, when I started graffiti I was in that 'my-graffiti-looks-different-and-I-don’t-mind-although-I-realise-that-no-one-else-seems-to-like-it' mood and I didn't understand/appreciate any of the established crews and styles. I didn't like photorealism because it looked too 'polished'. Today, I'm still not into an all-and-only photorealistic piece. Luckily though, Akut turned out to be open to collaborations and experiments. He started graffiti at the age of fourteen, constantly working to perfect his photorealism techniques. By the time we met, he was ready for something new, (and he also had this thing for graffiti girls. So, even if he hadn't liked my style, he wouldn't have said so).

Why did you decide to start painting as Herakut?
Hera: We both were stuck in crews that were cool but with all the roles settled. Each crew had created their style, found their niche, and didn't really move from there. With Herakut, we felt like we could start off new, combining what we had learned so far (and not only graffiti-wise — we were both graphic design students and were also both interested in doing illustrations).

Can you describe each other in five words?
Hera about Akut: Hairy. Polite. Hardworking. Hard-drinking. Good to have around.
Akut about Hera: Sprinter. Entertainer. Time bomb. Pretty. My hardest critic.

You two used to date. How much has that intimacy enhanced your ability to successfully create together and communicate better through the art?
Hera: How did you know about this? Well, we were stupid. We thought we were in love just because we loved having the same interests, being able to be creative together, share job duties to make a little money and have someone to talk to while on the road. Crazy, huh? We weren't. Take graffiti off the list, and there was little left that we liked to share. Anyway, back to the very good question, whether that intimacy enhanced our ability to … create together… To all street-art duos or whatever teams or colleagues: for the sake of work-flow, go and have sex first. It releases any type of crazy tension that clogs your thoughts and once that stupid tension is gone, people can get back to being creative.

Hera, what's your background?
Hera: Very early background (probably boring): From age 8 to 16, spent all my Sunday afternoons at an old lady's house getting very strict lessons in drawing stupid realistic flowers using all kinds of artistic techniques. (Old lady was no fun). Later, I had to do portraits of friends and family members who made me copy their stupid heads from tiny wrinkled photographs they carried around in their wallets. Hated it. Then decided to never go into photorealism again.

With graffiti: Tagged when 13 and 14 but waited until the age of 21 to use a spray can for the first time. I couldn't stop. I 'took off' two semesters from college to do nothing but paint. I had a crew named 24 with 3 guys (Yor7, Itchie, Alex24). Got into serious trouble with the police only once which scared me a little, but am pathetically convinced that graffiti is the best thing that happened to me so far.

Akut, how does your work with Hera differ from your work with Ma'Claim?
Hera: This is what Akut wanted me to translate: Painting with Hera is work, because she never hesitates with criticism and—probably because of her own traditional artistic background—she notices and points out little mistakes more than any Ma'Claim crew member. With Ma'Claim it's fun, but with Hera it's work, because I have to be a lot more accurate. (Akut makes me look like a slavedriver).

Akut, when and how did you develop an interest in photorealism?
Hera: He says that he wanted to do graffiti because it was just a cool thing to do when he was a teenager, but since working with letters didn't interest him that much, he chose the figurative part. The first thing he painted was a dog. But to make his 'characters' not look too much like the cartoonish figures, he thought 'why not start with realism and from there, move to abstract forms eventually'.

  

He also says that he found out very soon that spray painting in a photorealistic way, you have to invest a lot of time into each piece, need much concentration and patience and that's easier for him than for others. He is a very disciplined and patient guy already (he sometimes believes that has to do with growing up in the old GDR — East Germany). He today enjoys painting like that because it's a little bit like meditation.

How does your photorealist work complement Hera's style?
Akut: It's about contrasts emphasizing each other's specialties. One part seems soft, the other rough. In their combination they can make a good whole.



What are the benefits of painting as a duo, as opposed to working solo?
Hera: It makes you feel a little safer when painting outside (you don't have to watch out for your spray cans so much). You always have someone to turn to (to share good news, ideas, etc… and to blame). But most importantly, you feel extremely productive — as if you could get done twice as much in only half the time. It's good.

What's the most frustrating thing about working as a duo?
Hera: If we weren't such moody bitches, both of us, it wouldn't be frustrating at all. No, seriously, it's really good to work together. Much better than with a four-member-crew because 1) to synchronize two schedules is hard enough, and 2) there's no talking behind your back 'scheming'. Again, it's good. No serious frustration.

What are the Herakut career highlights to date?
Hera: Well, you probably wanted a list of exhibitions and festivals and that, but we (again pathetically) consider every new piece a 'career highlight' or whenever someone buys a canvas and tells us why he or she fell in love with that specific piece. For example, one pregnant lady in Paris, she bought a canvas for her unborn baby. She said it should go in the baby's room, so the baby could grow up with our art. Isn't that something?

Last Updated: August 26, 2008