Atlanta Food Walks Interview (questions over coffee)

November 6, 2015

The following is an article written by Paige Sullivan for Atlanta Food Walks. I thought it was great and well written so I wanted to share. I really enjoyed my interview with Paige.

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parklife-music-fest-blackcattips-painting-mural-art-street-folk

Photo by Maria J. Brooks

“The other day I was eatin’ a burrito at Bell Street Burritos with my friend Peter. I looked down and saw that all the burrito juice had leaked down my leg,” Kyle Brooks said with a laugh. “Funny things like that tend to happen to me. They need to make burrito thigh wrappers or something.” A conversation with Atlanta artist BlackCatTips – The Art of Kyle Brooks might be filled with amusing anecdotes like that. He might work on a new sketch while he chats about what he does. Before the conversation ends, he might even leave with a few new ideas for a painting or street poem.

And there’s a good chance you’ve seen his work around Atlanta, whether it’s one of those street poems nailed to a telephone pole, or the newMailChimp billboard on DeKalb Avenue, or his painting in the “Kiss the Past Hello” exhibit at the World of Coke, or in a local gallery like Paper Ghost Studio, where he collaborates with fellow artists like Mike Lowery and Barry Lee. In addition to creating work for big name clients–MailChimp, Coca-Cola, and YikYak, to name a few–Brooks has also been commissioned by community organizations like the Atlanta BeltLine and The Georgia Conservancy. His colorful, thoughtful, and playful art—born from influences ranging from El Greco to Yayoi Kusama to early 20th century cartoons–has become a visual mainstay of the city.

Brooks’ creative process is typically a blend of planning and improvisation. He might begin a painting that he leaves in the corner of his studio, adding to it here or there. A commissioned project might involve a little more structure, which he confessed he can “have a hard time with.” Regardless, “A little magic just happens from just making what comes outta my head.” His self-coined genre of “StreetFolk” art is a way of describing both what he does now and also his path to art: a blend of a childhood interest with a few college classes and, years later, a side project of painting on “cheap canvases” when he’d come “back to his basement apartment after working his office job.” Though his career has blossomed, he struggles to identify himself (between his two monikers) and his work. “My work is folky, but I don’t think it’s true folk art,” Brooks said. “It’s always hard to know what to say when people ask ‘What kind of art do you make?’ So ‘StreetFolk’ is a place for me to start.”

Though Brooks was born and raised in Atlanta, he spent time in various parts of the country, including Alaska, but ended up returning to Atlanta, where his art career began and has since thrived. He does, however, admit to having a complicated relationship with home: “There’s this struggle—that I am from Atlanta, and I’m a country talkin’ man, and I do have roots in the South, and I embrace that, but I wanna get the heck outta here sometimes.” There is a certain allure, Brooks feels, to a quieter life. “It’s my miniature dream to have a little field with a house near the field, and maybe I can paint in an old barn or something,” he mused. “I like the city and the feel of the city, but I like to be out and to be able to sit and look at a field.”

For now, he’ll continue to create art in his studio and out in the community, for public and private spaces, for fun and for civic engagement. While Brooks privileges following his creative intuition over creating art for a specific reaction or effect, he values the opportunities to build relationships with people in the Atlanta area, whether it’s showing his art at Stone Soup Kitchen or creating the promotional material for the Georgia Conservancy’s upcoming Firelight fundraiser event at SweetWater Brewing Company on November 21. “I’ve been busy! I’m pretty good with building relationships with people. A couple of those have turned into friends. Like the Georgia Conservancy—that happened through Twitter,” he said. “Then I wrote a poem for them and was gonna read it to them at a meeting we had. Next thing I know, about fifteen people and the president of the organization are in the office listening,” he laughed. “It’s nice to make connections. It’s interesting, I think nurturing relationships is real important.”

To explore Kyle’s art and upcoming projects, visit his website BlackCatTips.com and follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @blackcattips.

Here is the article posted to Atlanta Food Walks Facebook page.

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– kyle





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