Maksim Lopez

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Maxime Lopez aka Maksim is 26 years old born in France, on the French Riviera.  He has been drawing since he was born and has drawn every day since, “a true addiction”. Maksim started off by painting canvasses, mostly flowers at the age of thirteen and then had a graffiti period where he worked on letter/type and interior design. He then started working for various tattoo artists, assisting them with drawing and sketching designs. He continued his studies in graphic design and advertising and spent three years with communication agencies / Advertising as a graphic designer while still drawing and training in tattoo. Now he has a tattoo parlor in the south of France and his artistic activity (various exhibition and design creation for brand). Maksim has an unconditional love for drawing and letters work, dynamism and creativity coming from the graphics and ancestral technic of black and white pointillism (dot work) resulting from the tattoo culture and twentieth !

What are your sources for inspiration?  Have you always been drawn to dotwork, letters and illustrations?

My main inspiration is nature, the city also, sometimes even fashion. I like to observe the architecture, plants, animals, materials, patterns, everything around us is inspiring!

I’ve always been in love with the illustration and the work of the letters, unable to pass me neither one nor the other, so I decided to use both in my work! The Dotwork came later, there is now just over three years, being interested in ethnic traditional technique and twentieth century in the illustration halftone dots and shading. I like this technique because it allows high accuracy and high contrast. Moreover I rather regret that the knowledge of the past years will be lost, so I try to bring the up to date and make something more modern. As a dialogue between the past and future !

What other mediums, if any, do you work with?

Regarding the mediums I use, currently this is limited to a pencil (sometimes not even that), black fine tip pens and a rotary. I was led to previously worked for French magazines as a trainer photoshop photomontage primarily but not use it to manage my communication and occasionally worked for agencies with digital media.

We noticed you like to do murals & live painting as well.  Do you find this process more difficult?  Are there any problems that arise from creating on such a large format?

I love working on Wall indeed, I work by feel, often without preparatory sketches, and I’m totally against reproduction so it’s a bit of a feeling of history, but the format itself doesn’t pose a problem, except the time. More work, More time, and all dotworkers know that !

In your recent exhibit with Mademoiselle Maurice at La Galerie 36éme Art.  The gallery mentions your style as an integration of urban culture with the spirit of baroque.  Can you elaborate on that a bit more for us and explain your process from concept to completion?

Regarding my presentation of the 36th Art Gallery, they are the ones who write for it’s the way he perceived my work. I don’t necessarily like the term “baroque” but I found it interesting quote because as I tell you it’s a little above the old side is perceived through this term, “urban culture” which for me includes graffiti, tattoo and graphics, so I found it still defined my work as a whole.

As for the exhibition, I exceptionally worked with some colors to join the dazzling world of Mademoiselle Maurice in order to unite our creation around the term “Enjoy Life”. Ordinarily I’m not always positive hype or the type to convey happy and easy to understand messages but I found the idea of giving happiness to the people who will visit this great exhibition so healthy that I played the game, and I really enjoyed this experience!

Do you have any upcoming projects, expos or shows?

I have several exhibitions planned for next year, mainly in France, and some work with attractive brands to follow, but i can’t say more now

Is there anything else you would like to add regarding tattooing and graphic design. Changes in the creative and ink’dustry in the South of France over the past couple of years?

Concerning the tattoo world and its evolution in recent years, I came out from this wave of new tattooer from tattoo culture parallel, such as graphic design and graffiti, so I can only agreed to the changes, but not all! I find it amazing that the world of tattoo is opened to other universes and more freedom and creativity. Artists are increasingly numerous and there is more and more varied graphic design and I love it! I think it’s great !! I hope that this development will go in the right direction, the love of creation, and sharing of the tattoo, and not for other reasons which are such.