The Eye may be the window to your Soul…or it may be a window in to the mind of international stencil maestro Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger. He is known for his infamous EYE, raw colorful stencil characters and public art. He incorporates his stencils into various viral videos to help his audience understand his process and sometimes his creative humor. Here for his debut RUN Peat “Eyez” Wollaeger has brought us one of his infamous Eyez with Eye on Bizness. Each of these has been hand-stenciled and painted by Peat and comes ready to hang. Read on to see the 1xRUN Thru Interview with Peat where he discusses past influences, how he brought the street inside and shows off tons of video footage.
1xRUN Thru Interview
Eye On Bizness by Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger
1xRun: Is the original still for sale?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: A BIG version of the stencil is available to tag on your building.
1xRun: Anything immediate you would like us to highlight?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: When talking with 1xRUN they asked if I possibly could use my stencils instead of making a screen print of my art. I have also been diving in to the world of wood cut-outs, so I decided to mix the two for this RUN. Each individual piece was cut out, sanded, stained, stenciled and is ready to hang with a custom keyhole hanging apparatus on the back.
1xRun: When were these pieces created?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: It was originally painted August of 2011 as a commission for the Nebula CoWorking in the Cherokee Art District. It is a commentary on my new life as a full-time artist. I have worked for the “Man” for the majority of my life, and after my last stint at Art Basel in Miami 2010 I took the leap in to the world of a full-time artist in these modern times. Artist life is feast or famine…but eye love it!
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Since the original stencil piece was going on a shared workspace, eye wanted to create something that would convey the message of bizness with a mix of my stEYEle
1xRun: How long did the piece take?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Most of my time going goes in to cutting and designing the stencil. This one I have about 60 hours in it. But once the stencil is created eye can rip out the piece in about an hour. The video is roughly based on a Charlie Chaplin film, and I decided to film the production a few day prior to application. My cousin’s friend David Wies filmed the piece with a digital SLR Camera giving it a film look. This piece was shot in 100º F weather…and dawn it was hot in that suit!!!
1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Each one of the wood cut-outs are unique. That is the nature of a stencil, you are working with paint that runs and over-spray that sneaks under the stencil….no two are the same!
1xRun: Why should people buy this piece?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: It is pretty much an original piece of art and it will help them keep an EYE on the JOB.
1xRun: Describe these pieces in one gut reaction word.
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Biz-ness
Run #00232 //Eye On Bizness by Peat "Eyez" Wolleager// May 23, 2012
1xRun: When did you first start making art?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: I started making art at very early age….maybe two?
1xRun: What was your first piece?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Believe it or not the first real painting I created as a kid was of a giant eye on a canvas.
1xRun: What artists inspired you early on?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: The first artist to truly inspired me was Keith Haring. Everything about his work, colors, energy and accessibility to all is what eye strive to accomplish in my work. A few years back eye did a massive tribute to him at Art Basel in Miami/Wynwood.
1xRun: What artists inspire you now?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Too many to list.
1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not then what is your environment like when you work?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Eye need hip hop, funk & soul while I am creating my stencils. In particular I mostly listen to Montreal based show WeFunk Radio. They play the modern hip-hop tracks and also the original funk track that the hip-hop samples were taken from.
Eyez On The Studio
1xRun: If you could collaborate with any deceased artists who would it be and why?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Umm…Haring.
Keith Haring Mural
1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: While living in Wicker Park, Chicago in the late 90’s I got a piece from Shepard Fairey that depicts Big Brother…I still have it framed in my studio.
- Shepard Fairey
1xRun: What was the last piece of art that you bought?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: I just got a Jeff Soto piece…love that doods work!
1xRun: What else have you been up to lately?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: EYE recently fulfilled one of my dreams, to reproduce the Street in the Gallery. Which I find is where my art looks best….on the street. And this is almost impossible to translate in a gallery setting. For the past 7 years I have been collecting real street items like parking meters, a phone booth/with a phone, street signs, a fire hydrant, a telephone pole and various other rusty/grimey items reclaimed from the streets. I then assembled the items, including fake doors and tagged up brick paneling a my solo show at this White Walls Gallery Hoffman-LaChance Contemporary in December. Click here to view the 360.
The entire installation fits in to a box truck, so I am planning to travel “Peat Street” to various cities in the future. Please contact me if you are interested in traveling this to your city.
Peat Street
1xRun: Where can people find you across the internette?
Peat “EYEZ” Wollaeger: Website – About.me: EYEZ.me – Facebook – Twitter – Vimeo – Instagram @eyez –
-1xRUN.com