We were looking forward to welcome Quick Pen at MOS Germany this year, but unfortunately the world is not free and he did not receive his visa to participate. Nevertheless we want to introduce you this artist and his works and hope he can make it in 2020.
Finding my name started when I wanted to challenge myself and draw a portrait by the right standards and in a very short time, I started progressivley until I reached 12 minutes. So «Quick Pen» means the fast drawing with high techniques. I started drawing from my very first age, it was my passion as a child, and when I grew up, I started to know more about the techniques, the artists, the standards, and I started participating in art exhibitions and wininig prices. My interest in street art started during the Tunisian revolution ‘2011’, when I painted the Tunisian martyr “Chokri Belaid” , it was a painting that resonated a lot, and it encouraged me to follow my dream. With my work I want to add to humanity something that remains for history, because art can realize the dreams and help in resolving some people’s problems.
Art was my passion, I studied it in the institute of art and it became my profession, so for me it’s for both fun and a profession. Social media reduces distances and differences between the artist and his public, it helped the artist to get his art out of the exhibition halls. Tunisia is known by its diversity, it’s a mix between old and new, traditional and contemporary, poverty and wealth, urban planning and nature, and that was my first inspiration. You can always find that mix in my wall paintings, and I mostly use Tunisian characters or designs that reflects the Tunisian authentic touch, to promote our rich culture. Politics is still the most illegal graf-scene in Tunisia. After drawing Chokri Belaid , I was threatened with death and I even signed a commitment to do not draw some politic figures in Tunisia. Street art and large-scale muralism have become a reference in the world, even in Tunisia. New trends and techniques are, for me, a revolution in art, they changed the standards of art in the whole world. Unfortunately, I think in the future technology will kill progressively Graffiti and Street art, every thing is getting replaced by automated systems and numeric stuffs.
I dislike commercial Graffiti and Street-A and I love conceptual, artistic and those with objectives messages. If my art was a band or a song, it would be an old Tunisian song with an afro-style. My style, my concepts have changed by the age, the situation of my country and my own state of mind. If we compare my works through the years, we can see that colors change from a period to another, the concepts, even the expressions on the faces of my characters.
Most annoying thing of present time for me is the Full absence of the State, the media and the Ministry of Culture. As an artist in Tunisia, it’s hard to get support, so I worked hard to prove my self and to get known. If I were president, I would create better conditions for artists, because art can build civilizations. Meeting of Styles is an opportunity for artists having different styles to work together and to collaborate. It’s a chance to learn more form each other, and to make new friends from around the world. My message is “Believe in tomorrow, because tomorrow will certainly be better”.
One day, our world will be better, if we follow our dreams.
https://www.facebook.com/QuickPenAkram
https://www.instagram.com/akramtoujani/
Author: MoS
MOS Orga.
