Supakitch and Koralie: a film of the French street artists in the process of artmaking.
There seems to be a lot of Asian influence in your respective works. Was this style always something you’ve been interested in? Who are your art heroes?
Supakitch and Koralie: We are both from the ‘Manga generation’. We grew up with French/Japanese shows like Goldorak, Candy, Albator and Lamu, so we are obviously influenced by that aesthetic. In a way, we are translating our fantasies where we can be those heroes: graphic robots, girls with long coloured hair and happy monsters. We are re-creating this universe and kawaï, sweet and colourful characters. Our biggest hero is definitely Hayao Miyazaki. We love this talented Japanese filmmaker for his sensitive, magical, sometimes grave, deep, smart and really personal universe.
Supakitch: When I watch a Manga by Miyazaki, I feel like he made it just for me. I feel the same about music and vinyl. I remember when I was young and I spent hours and hours playing my vinyls of my favourite cartoon songs. Manga and music are my main influences; everything comes from there, but it’s not nostalgia. The subjects I’m working on now are real and even if I treat it with my critical sense and my actual vision of the world, I’m still a big child who never grew up.
Koralie: I have great admiration for geishas and their aesthetic and knowledge. They are really good in the arts and smart too. Their beauty, their costumes, their hair and makeup and their significance fascinate me. What I love about Japanese culture is the opposition between the actual and the traditional, their captivity of innovation and profusion of visuals in graphics, architecture and style.
Congratulations on your engagement! How did you feel at that moment that the ring was wheat-pasted on the wall? Was it a surprise?
Supakitch: Thanks! Koralie wasn’t really expecting it. I made her think that this will never happen, to make it an even bigger surprise. In fact, I printed a poster before leaving for New York City and once we were there, I waited to find the right place and the right time to wheat paste the poster. Once the two characters dressed for a wedding were pasted on the wall, I gave her the earphones for my iPod and I played her favourite song, Stand By Me by Ben E. King. I pasted a bubble with a ring and a question mark in it. I gave her a little box with the ring inside, which she opened in a second. Then, I gave her a bubble that said ‘Oui. (yes)’ to paste on the wall. She did it while she was laughing and crying at the same time. I couldn’t really see any other way to ask her; we met like that, in front of a wall that we were about to paint together.
Koralie: We have been together for seven years now. We have two children and I hadn’t really been attracted by marriage, but secretly I was hoping that one day, Supa would ask me to marry him. I knew he’d do it in an amazing way and I was curious to know how. I was teasing him about marriage for a while, but every time, he made me understand that he wasn’t up to it, so the day of the proposal, my joy and my love just exploded. I was super happy and I couldn’t dream of a better declaration. It was perfect and it corresponded to our story.
