Miami, FL – November 7, 2013 – Juxtaposition seems to be at the heart of Michael Gran’s art. In fact, the artist, who is best known as Typoe, dubbed his exhibition at Spinello Gallery Game Over. But, in fact, it’s very much game on for the Miami born and bred sculptor. A happy cat, who instagrams pics of unicorns and ice cream, wears sweatshirts adorned with hamburgers and is always casting a grin at those around him, is, on the inside, veiled in darkness, which comes through in his art. It’s his way of mourning lost friends and embracing life’s darker side. The two sides meld at his solo show, where a cheery smiley face rests across from a skull in a black, handmade plexiglass hallway. Here, neon welcome signs yield entirely different meanings, and Twister boards transition from a child’s game to statements about sexual depravity and drugs. At Game Over, Typoe paints beautiful images of flowers and sets them ablaze with gunpowder to show just how precious life is and how easily it can disappear. It all amounts to the yin and yang of life, a life Typoe is gracious enough to share with us below as he talks about his latest show, his progression as an artist and what’s next on his agenda.

Typoe

“I’m almost taking the text that exists for something positive and giving it a darker undertone—welcome to the darker part of life, welcome to the afterlife, welcome to hell.”

Why is your show called Game Over?

Because it’s a play off of life and death, the whole show is about life and death.

This is your first solo show since 2011, how does it feel?

It’s nice because it shows my progression from 2011 to now. As I got older my work matured. I started conceptualizing and putting ideas together for the show about eight or nine months ago. What I’ve been working on has been kind of a secret, so a lot of the things are going to be a nice surprise.

“It’s funny because my work has dark undertones but I’m a very a positive, happy person. I’ve been through so much dark shit. What’s the point of being in that when you can just be happy. Life is short.”

Tell me what the past week has been like.

Insanity. It’s been full on all hands on deck, with friends helping, building a plexiglass hallway, installations, getting everything framed on time and just trouble shooting regular show stuff. No matter how much you prepare it always ends up being crazy the week of. It’s definitely been intense: no sleep, not much food, lots of trips to the gallery.

Typoe

Street art, fine art, fashion, what don’t you do?

I don’t play tennis. I think of myself as a creative, and I just love to collaborate with like-minded people and put my work into the world. There is a synergy to a group of people working together. My favorite thing is partnering with something larger. With me it’s one perspective. When you partner, it’s them bringing their perspective along with yours. In the end, it’s greater than all of us separately.

Your mom is an artist, is that where it stems from?

Ever since I was little my mom helped with my work. She would sit me in a room and make me draw the correct perspective of the room or draw her reading the paper. Being an artist is what I’ve always done. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I didn’t have the option to do anything else. It was all I cared about. I don’t follow sports or music.

How did you get into street art?

Graffiti, to me, was always kind of just vandalism. I never looked at it like art. It was fun, a release. I’m an adrenaline junky. Tagging was a way to release, like a normal person going to a gym. It’s self-absorbed; I liked seeing my name up. I did it for myself, didn’t care what anyone else though. I did it wherever I went so I could see it. It was just a side sport while I was figuring out my art. I was known for my graffiti, then my art come after so it seemed like a progression, but the art was always there.

What’s your favorite medium?

I’m primarily a sculptor. I like using objects that already exist (found objects) most of the time. I like taking something and changing it into something else. It might be something it isn’t originally intended for or built for. That’s how I started grouping objects together. Placing them together changed their meaning. I go thrifting and antiquing a lot. There are materials that have so much value already, so why do I need to make something out of thin air when there’s something that’s already had a full life that I can bring it back to life?

“I’m having a lot of fun with gunpowder. I’m kind of a pyromaniac. Who doesn’t like blowing shit up?”

Tell me about the gunpowder flowers.

I’m having a lot of fun with gunpowder. I’m kind of a pyromaniac. Who doesn’t like blowing shit up? Everyone who comes to my studio, they see me light something on fire and it blows up and they want to do it, too. It’s such a fun process. I have a short attention span, so I do what I like because it’s engaging to me. I get excited.

When did you start working with gunpowder?

Five years ago when I started doing paintings that said , “Click clack bang bang.”

How did it transition to flowers?

The journey of the show is life and drugs and sex and the conversation of life and death. The neon sign that reads, “To all that come to this happy place welcome,” is a Disney quote. It’s a dark room with this dim light and I’m almost taking the text that exists for something positive and giving it a darker undertone—welcome to the darker part of life, welcome to the afterlife, welcome to hell. Afterward, you go up the stairs into the strong-lit room. It’s the enlightenment after the fact. There are florals, like funeral arrangements, a way of grieving. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with death. If anything, it’s a life process for the people who are still here; how do they deal with it.

Typoe, Chloe Berkowitz, & Thom Collins

Death plays a big part in your work. Why?

I’ve had best friends die. It’s a difficult thing for me to deal with. I think about them every single day. It’s weird having someone every day and then they are gone. We are designed to die. We grow old and go back into the planet. It is what it is. It’s just a weird thing to think about. It’s still surreal; you know it’s going to happen but it’s still like wow, because that person isn’t here anymore. The next show will be something different, though. Something happier.

Thom Collins & Chloe Berkowitz

“He looks at my work and gets the concept and the meaning harder than I do and he values it. That is the most important thing in my life, working with someone who values my work and is a amazing collaborator, being open to doing things differently than the way things are usually being done.”

How has Anthony Spinello influenced your work?

Spinello is great. He is the only gallery I work with right now and that’s only because he is so good at what he does. He spends time in my studio. He understands on a level no one else does, and he actually cares. That’s such a big thing, especially because in the beginning it’s not about money, it’s about hustling, working, getting things done, so if that person doesn’t care, if they aren’t invested, that’s a major thing. Artists leave big galleries all the time because they are treated like a store. Not Spinello. He looks at my work and gets the concept and the meaning harder than I do and he values it. That is the most important thing in my life, working with someone who values my work and is a amazing collaborator, being open to doing things differently than the way things are usually being done.

What’s your favorite piece from the exhibition and why?

The skull and the happy face, which are titled Game Over. It’s the showpiece and that room is everything. The whole conversation is about life and death and each person being able to walk into that is really important to me.

Typoe

“I’m an adrenaline junky. Tagging was a way to release, like a normal person going to a gym.”

Skulls, smiley faces, they are such oppositions, yet are so much of them in your work. Why? What does it all mean?

It’s fun because life is happy and life is sad and we have the choice to change that. I can be morose about things, or I can be happy every day if I wanted to. It’s how I react to the world. I could be sad about what I don’t have or I can be happy about what I have and what I love and what I love to do and that’s what I choose to do. It’s funny because my work has dark undertones but I’m a very a positive, happy person. I’ve been through so much dark shit. What’s the point of being in that when you can just be happy. Life is short. Fuck it.

“Being an artist is what I’ve always done. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I didn’t have the option to do anything else. It was all I cared about.”

When is the Art Basel show?

December 3.

After that, what’s next?

Ummmmm ….

Seth Browarnik, Sinisa Kukec,  Agustina Woodgate, Anthony Spinello, Typoe, Naama Tsabar, Manny Prieres, & Aramis Gutierrez

Sinisa Kukec,  Agustina Woodgate, Anthony Spinello, Typoe, Naama Tsabar, Manny Prieres, & Aramis Gutierrez

Anthony Spinello, Chloe Berkowitz, Typoe, & Thom Collins

Anthony Spinello, Cricket Taplin, Typoe, & Tami Katz-Freiman

Anthony Spinello, Typoe, & Books Bischof

Cristina Gonzalez, Typoe, & Books Bischof

Chloe Berkowitz, Thom Collins, & Typoe

Chloe Berkowitz, Thom Collins & Typoe

Alex Cohen

Alex Cohen & Agustina Woodgate

Michael Leondas Kirkland, Sergio Carvajal, Josette Wys-Katz, & Carlos Marti

Lauren Gnazzo, Edison Lozado, Carolyn Travis, & Erin Newberg

Martin Rozenblum, Carolyn Travis, & Anthony Spinello

Jocelyne Katz, Typoe, & Alberto Chehebar

Rachel Furst, David Polinsky, & Joe Furst

Naama Tsabar & Neil Ramsey

Andrea Nhuch, Neil Ramsay, & Molly Cecile

Lori Talley, Ann Hoang, Heike Dempster, & Latoya Coleman

Manny Prieres, Aramis Gutierrez, & Charles Coleman

Sinisa Kukec, Hugo Montoya, & Aramis Gutierrez

Tara Long, Patricia Margarita Hernandez, & Agustina Woodgate

Manny Prieres & Thom Collins

Paloma Teppa & Yair Marcoschamer

Ivan Roque, Danny Ferrer, & Tatiana Urquiaga

Raquel Raney, Brennan Broome, Ashley Buck, & Alex Eisenberg

Thom Collins, Chloe Berkowitz, & Typoe

Aramis Gutierrez, Naama Tsabar, & Agustina Woodgate

John Hood

Typoe & Donnamarie Baptiste

Donnamarie Baptiste & Anthony Spinello

Tara Sokolow Benmeleh, Anthony Spinello, & Marcella Novela

Marcel Katz, GG, & Jacob Reyf

Grace Jones & Bianca D’an

Aja Butler & Jose Felix Perez

Farzana & Asif Farooq

Typoe & Asif Farooq

Asif Farooq & Alex Eisenberg

Chloe Berkowitz, Thom Collins, & Naama Tsabar

Megan Murphy, Typoe, & Morgan Murphy

Lauren Gnazzo & Anthony Spinello

Lauren Gnazzo, Typoe, Jessica Acosta-Rubio, & Anthony Spinello

Yuri Tuma, Yasmine Baroudi, & Kevin Porcel

Martin Rozenblum, Agustina Woodgate, & Carolyn Travis

Jessica Acosta-Rubio, Luis Ruiz, & Maria Barraco

Typoe & Rachel Furst

Typoe, Asif Farooq, & Raquel Raney

Domingo Castillo, Aramis Gutierrez, Amber Hawk, & Manny Prieres

Steve Boyce, Diane Pariser, Jacki Gran, & Nick Cindric

Jessica Woodruff, Michelle Varat, Leor Distenfeld, & Typoe

Chalo Negrete & Nina Surel

Cindy Borjas & Marisa Batista

Jessica Woodruff, Kelly Suarez, & Santiago Rubino

Poopak Ghassemi, Sergio Jaramillo, & Bernard Gran

Jacob Reyf & Marcel Katz

Martin Rozenblum & Carolyn Travis