Matt Mercurio
Where were you born? Year, Country, State. Where do you live currently
Born -Syracuse, NY 1974 USA -
now in - Portland, OR
What initially drew you to drawing pretty pictures
As a kid, I remember it was interesting to recreate what I saw and sharing a bedroom with a brother growing up, making my side as cool as possible with broken skate decks nailed on the wall with skate mag pics.
Then on to painting on poster board to glow in the black light after the clubs in Orlando, FL way back when.
In 2008, I put it all together and started making art out of recycled skate decks.
Who is your favorite skateboarder, living or dead? Any ties to skateboarding
Hard for me to pick faves like this so I'll put top five (still hard to do)
Gonz, Cab, Natas, Mullen, Cardiel
My ties to skateboarding are: I will always love it.
Who is your favorite artist, living or dead?
Again, hard to do but I'll list a few.
Picasso, K.Haring, Basquiat
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When you're not creating amazing works of art, what do you enjoy doing
Hiking, skateboarding, biking, family fun, cooking, festivals, going new places
Who are your biggest influences
Jimi Hendrix, Mom, Dali, Beastie Boys, Violent Femmes, Gonz, Jo James, 4th grade art teacher, family and friends, Zepplin, J.Lennon,Van Gogh, Cardiel. my grandfather Tony Mercurio, Nirvana
What mediums do you enjoy working in?
recycled skateboard, metal, paint, bolts, scrap sculpture, granite, marble, quartz, markers, junk, pencil, paper.
Anything else you want to tell?
It's been over 5 years now with skatebirdshop.com and every year keeps getting better. Between meeting new interesting people at festivals, setting up at art shows and galleries as well as selling worldwide online, I'm happy to continue creating.