Mr. Klevra at work on a canvas

It’s a beautiful sunny day in Ostia, the neighborhood of Rome that extends south of the airport over the beach of Rome, touching the south side of the River Tiber’s delta. As we enter Mr. Klevra’s apartment we are immediately transposed to a world of contrasts. From the big windows of the living room you can see, peaceful, the waves of the Mediterranean sea caressing the foreshore and reflecting the sunlight; inside is a perfectly balanced mosaic of apparently conflicting elements: models and actions figures of Alien watching you from the shelves, a collection of Shepard Fairey prints on the other side, figures of byzantine Madonnas, pop icons, Muhammad Ali, abstract calligraphies, and even a small studio for miniatures and jewelry. We just can’t wait to start our conversation with Mr. Klevra that is not only one of the most prominent figures of Roman street art but also one of the artists that contributed to shaping the identity of Urban art in Rome. As we are welcomed with politeness and a calm smile from the famed muralist, we start roaming around the rooms while interviewing him.

Good morning Mr. Klevra, let’s start off with some basic questions, who are you? What is your occupation… tell us everything!

I am Mr. Klevra, 44 years old, born in ‘78, with zero courses taken in an art school. I am self-taught, I studied engineering. What do I do? I mostly paint, on walls, canvas, and other supports. As an artist I was born as a street artist, so operating on the street initially in a rather illegal way; and then at some point, I started receiving big commissions, and large walls from many parts of the world…

…so, when did you start?

I started more than 10 years ago when I was in my 30s. I started basically for fun when I met Omino 71 (a prominent artist in the Roman street-art scene) that encouraged me to produce a poster for a festival in Barcelona, Spain. Since then, it started a fertile collaboration with Omino. I started creating more posters, which was the first support that I chose as a street artist, then I moved to walls, and since then I never stopped creating art.

How did you choose your name, Mr. Klevra?

The name Mr. Klevra is taken from a movie, Lucky Number Slevin. The main character's full name is Slevin Kelevra, which in Hebrew means ‘bad dog’. I slightly modified this into Klevra. In the movie Slevin must juggle the attentions of two gangsters…he looks like an idiot for the entire movie but then in the end he comes through using the famous Kansas City shuffle. So, when I began my activity as a street artist I had to keep it secret because it would have conflicted with my job as an engineer; and that’s why I invented this new character (Mr. Klevra). I was showing you the engineer while I was doing art behind the scene!

Why do you use the street as your support?

It started almost like a game. Originally, I was drawing and painting on conventional media, like many other people do, hoping that someday somebody would have noticed me. And then Omino came, he started talking to me about this street art, and honestly, I didn’t really understand what it was about…but then I understood that in the end, it’s a container of different techniques, messages, and a world that at that time was primarily connected online through the first social networks, such as my-space and flicker. The street was the art gallery for the poor because you know, you couldn’t just get an exhibit in a gallery out of the blue. We took inspiration from the ‘writers’ movement, and so the street became the space where to show our art.

Now that you are an established artist, what are your interactions with your collectors and people that buy your pieces in general?

Collectors usually get in touch with me either through other people, or maybe because they have seen one of my works in a gallery, on the street, in a magazine or newspaper article, or sometimes even by seeing one of my walls in a tv series. Nowadays most of the time the interaction happens online. But, whenever I finish a commission, I really love to hand the canvas in person to observe the reaction it produces in the commissioner. Given the subjects I paint, I would expect that most of my collectors love sacred art, but instead I discovered that 99% of the people that buy my art are not religious, sometimes even atheist, but they are attracted by the iconography…

…and when would you say that a painting works?

It does work when it makes you feel something. So, for example, when I deliver a new commission here in my studio, I cover the canvas with a cloth, and then when the clients arrive, I invite them to unveil the work. A very few times it happened that the reaction was kind of cold, professional, like ‘thanks a lot, how much is it?’; but most of the time you see people crying, someone smiles, someone remains silent watching the canvas for minutes… generating an emotion is the greatest accomplishment.

How does a commission start?

I have a sketchbook that I use daily to freeze subjects, and ideas that I have in mind. Every day I draw something. This is often the starting point since people see something in the sketchbook, either because they came to my studio or because I posted a pic on the social networks, and from there they ask for a commission. Then we discuss the details, the colors, etc…

Among the things you are famous for, there is your inclination to work on unconventional substrates, maybe one of your favorite supports is the skateboard, why is that?

Since I was a kid, I have always had a passion for skateboarding. You can see there my first real skate, it’s a Santa Cruz (his eyes are truly shining while pointing at it!). It is probably for this reason that I have always loved to realize many of my works on skateboards. I even organized, as a curator, an important exhibition about skateboard art here in Rome, with artists from all over the world. Gladly it was quite a success.

Mr. Klevra proudly standing in front of his work, wearing his jewelry creations

What does it represent for you byzantine iconography and in particular the figure of the Virgin Mary, so recurrent in your art?

I have always been fascinated with byzantine iconography. I started my career with an obsession for details, perfection, but mostly with an attitude to fill the canvas with a zillion details. And then at some point, I started to clean my style, more and more, and at some point, I got in touch with byzantine iconography and I discovered that in a little picture it was possible to describe an entire story. So, I said to myself, why not use a technique that is very old but kind of dead from the point of view of the language and re-invent it in the form of street art? My byzantine art 2.0 combines pop and holy figures with phrases and quotes that are mostly not from a religious text, like quotes from books, movies, or whatever means something to me. I like to bring these artworks to the street to make them visible to a generation that, mostly, completely ignores the existence of this kind of art. So, if you don’t go to a museum, I bring the museum on the street and I even give you a message to spark your curiosity. That’s my first goal, sparking curiosity. I am the happiest if someone after seeing one of my pieces on the street gets interested in art, maybe even in a completely different style, but anyway, develops an interest in art and beauty, and understands that in the end is something that you do for yourself, for your own growth and pleasure.

What is the artwork you made that you are most attached to?

The artwork I am mostly emotionally attached to is the first byzantine icon I ever realized when I was 20 years old. That is a proper traditional byzantine icon realized on wood, with egg-based colors, gold leaf etc. The street-art piece that identifies me the most, and that is because it has been chosen by the people, from their reactions, is ‘Young Mary’ in the Pigneto (a neighborhood in Rome). That is probably the wall that is photographed the most, it has basically become a symbol of Pigneto together with Maupal’s ‘Pasolini’s eye’. Every time I finish a new piece I look at it and I think it’s the most beautiful I have ever done, but then I know that I have to let it go, artworks have to live their own life.

What does it mean to be an artist in Rome?

Being an artist in Rome is very challenging and extremely competitive. When you are moving your first steps in the art world and you are in Rome you are immediately forced to face Art with a capitalized A; so with Caravaggio, Michelangelo, etc. It’s a continuous dialogue with the masters of the past and constant questioning of yourself. But Rome is not only tradition but also a ‘smithy’, forging artists of high caliber, an extremely competitive environment that naturally selects only the best. I think the key to success is being very dedicated, focused, and having a very prolific production. I feel this even more true these days when social networks play a big part in the fortune of an artist. If yesterday you had 10 artists around, now with social media you have 100 artists but even there, how many times do we see people getting some attention for a very limited amount of time and then disappearing? The only secret is being focused, consistent, questioning yourself always, learning, studying, being driven by curiosity and passion, and exploring new techniques, new subjects, and new supports. My compass is curiosity.

What does mean painting for you?

When I started painting it was a way to escape, doing time when you don’t want to think; you put yourself into drawing and eventually you see that 4-5 hours have passed. But what does it mean for me to paint now? Well, at this point it has just become part of my life; if someone would ask me, why are you breathing? Eh, because I need to, otherwise I die – same thing for making art. For me painting it’s like breathing or eating, or sleeping, it is something I have had in my blood since I was a kid. That I can remember, at 4 years old I was already writing on my apartment’s walls, in a way I was already doing home-street-art! I have also always been quite obsessed with details. At the time when I was still living with my mom, I was into making miniatures, model-making and in general, all things small and I was always striving for perfection; you go from level one to level two, to three, it was an actual obsession for the detail. As time passed the dimensions of my artworks increased but I kept looking for perfection in the lines… so for example byzantine iconography that you might think it’s easy, is made with 4 lines, but if you make one wrong you have ruined the entire piece, so even simply striving for a beautiful, fluid brush stroke, deciding which color to use for a transparency, it’s a continuous quest for perfection.

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