Street Art: Anthony Lister - The A Lister of Street Art - RESPECT.

Anthony Lister is currently invading the walls of Miami, Florida. The artist has achieved the rank of “A Lister” thanks to his original use of paint in order to create movement. “A” not only represents his excellency but also his status as an adventurer. The Australian-born painter travels between universes, from superheros to dancers. Lister was given the tabloid treatment and featured in the premier-issue of the avant-gardiste, fine-art publication Tally Ho! His artistic identity is captivating. In his work, he reveals the “spirituality” and shines the light on the “heritage” of Western popular culture. He takes this joint legacy and shapes it into something alluring and grotesque, a perfect representation of the society he seeks to depict.

“[I like] making things out of scribbles. I actually don’t really even call [my work] drawing. I call it shapeshing. I kind of just push shapes around,” he says. “Art as a whole can be unpredictable. It takes a confident artist to admit that what lead the greatness of his piece was an accident which are often viewed as problems and not as potential opportunities to change the route a piece was taking. In Japan the word opportunity and problem are the same word. So I’m far more interested in problem creation than problem solution.”

Anthony Lister‘s work captures a moment, as if the artist and his characters come together in harmony once they hit the canvas. “I just know the energies that I want to be paying attention to. Bob Dylan in an interview with Time Magazine said, “it’s not my job, it’s not my job to do” you know “it’s gonna happen fast and I can’t explain it”. That was cool. As artists go, Francis Bacon [one of his influences] had some cool opinions, especially when he was drunk. He really said some bold things that were accurate and that everyone else was afraid to say. I was turned on to him by an artist called Brett Whitley who was an Australian artist who did the whole party art thing well before my time. You know, Rembrandt, Egon Schiele, [and many more].”