Artist Interview | Maness
When we were showing at this year’s Affordable Art Fair in New York City, we came across a particularly interesting booth showcasing the work of three young artists from Mexico City, Manu Printster, Maness and Santiago Pani. While each artist has developed distinct approaches to creating artwork, their shared preference for creating energetic, and imaginative prints, paintings and works on paper led us to forming a relationship with these artists, and asking them to contribute to the efforts of Recession Art.
Manu, Santiago Pani and Maness are currently showing a selection of their works at the Recession Art store in Brooklyn. Maness, or Andrés Mora Balzaretti, has loaned us several of his transfer prints. Given the delicate nature of transferring inkjet prints using various paint thinners and solvents, all of the Maness works available at Recession Art are one of a kind, prints on paper. Considered “monotypes,” these prints can be created only once.
By slightly shifting portions of photographs, Maness creates family-portrait style images that are both grotesque and humorous. Maness signs all of his prints with a symbolic avatar of a triangle, similar to the relief, hand embossment which Manu uses to sign his etchings.
Along with printmaking, Maness has exhibited a mastery of painting and is pursuing a career as a musician in his band Crystal Elephant. Although Maness currently resides in Mexico City, I was lucky enough to correspond with the artist, and ask him some questions about his work, and his background as an artist/musician. I am pleased to introduce to you Andrés Mora Balzaretti, aka Maness.
Maness: Ready?
Anthony: Yeah
MN: How are you?
AT: Great. how are you? Wait, I thought I was supposed to ask the questions…in the bio on your website you say “born in mexico blah blah blah, 1988 blah blah blah” can you tell me a bit more about your upbringing in mexico? Did you grow up in mexico city?
MN: Sure, I was born and raised in mexico city, Im the youngest of my family, my mom and dad are both in the film industry, my dad is a film director and my mom is a producer, so while I was growing up I was always very involved with film (my mom used to go to the set while she was pregnant with me hahaha). I’m half Swiss, half Mexican, so my upbringing wasn’t typical Mexican, I was very influenced by European culture.
AT: Did your parents encourage you to partake in things like acting, theatre, or movie making as a kid?
MN: Actually no, they were always frightening that I would end up doing something related to film, because film making in Mexico can be pretty tough. But most of the jobs I’ve done to earn money were related to film, well not film exactly, tv commercials. I used to work in the art department, set dressing. Horrible, horrible job!
AT: Did seeing your parents work in creative fields make you want to also explore a future in the arts? What were some of your early influences, if not your parents?
MN: Well my parents thought me how to see and understand picture and film, we used to discuss light, camera field of view and film temperature all the time, but I have to say that one of my first influences would have to be MTV, I used to spend hours watching music videos.
AT: The MTV that you watched in the early 90s was the same programming that aired in the United States correct? Or was there a MTV Mexico?
MN: Yeah in the beginning it was the same. I used to love the weird MTV commercials.
AT: Yeah, that ruled.
MN: It was the best, it was my first exposure to american culture.
AT: Did you play music before you started making visual art?
MN: No, I started painting when I was in high school. Actually I used to have a teacher that told me I should do something different because I wasn’t good at art hahahaha.
AT: You eventually went on to study art in college in New York right?
MN: So basically this is what happened; I applied for music school here in Mexico and was rejected twice hahaha, and then decided to apply for art school at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving, La Esmeralda. Some of the founders were Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera. I studied there for two years and then went to Canada for six months with my last band The Oats, came back to Mexico City, recorded an album in Monterey and then went to New York for another six months with the band.
AT: Now you are in the Crystal Elephant?
MN: Yes well, actually I’m the only one in the Crystal Elephant.
AT: Back to your artwork. Specifically your prints, how did you develop your style?
MN: While I was in New York, I used to be a delivery guy at a falafel place in Brooklyn, and one of my duties was to clean up the restaurant. So one day someone left a “run against cancer pamphlet” at a table, with the picture of a model with a bunch of medals on her neck, and I liked the picture so I folded it and took it home, and then when I opened it I realized how much her face changed because of the folding. It was like looking to completely different person, and I like that interpretation of how one person can be many different people, just because of perception.
AT: Do you think that you perceive people in the goofy way that you depict them in your portraits?
MN: I would love to, but no. People tend to hide that side you know? They prefer to show a more controlled and “perfected” image of themselves. And my intention is to show them that side. It is like that painting at the MET, The Innocent Eye Test, by Mark Tansey. It’s of a cow looking at a portrait of a cow hahaha. Perception of a fellow human being may change by something as simple as bad breath, a stain on a shirt, the color of the clothes they wear, the excessive use of the word ‘like’, taste in music, the sound of someone’s laughter, length of fingernails, scars and pimples.
AT: You were showing at the Affordable Art Fair with Manu, and Santiago Pani when we met you. Where did you meet these guys and to what extent do you show together?
MN: We met at school, and this is the first time the four of us had a show together with the help of Pi Gallery, which is run by some friends.
AT: Where did the name Maness come from?
MN: My parents and my friends call me Maness, it’s a diminutive of Andrés, kinda.
