Hi Lucas, it is a pleasure to have you here in the Nine One One after you published the shop in your book. What inspired you to make the HEART book?
I grew up skateboarding in the 90’s and my local skateshop called LSD was our second home. Just entering the shop was a thing.
I always valued the brick and mortar rather than ordering online. When covid hit the world, I felt the need to do something for them, to pay the tribute they deserve.
So I started to contact all the skateshops around the globe to make a 428 pages coffee table book one year later.
How did you hear about Nine One One? Is it your first time being here?
When I started to reach out to skateshops I already had a lot of connections. I wanted to have at least one skateshop per country so when I made my research about Belgium, it was obvious to me to include Nine One One and I wasn’t the only one to think about it. I connected with Fabian Verhaeghe from Nine One One and I had the chance to spend some time with him and the Bruges community. It’s the beginning of a long story together.
What's your local skateshop? What does it mean to you?
Currently I live in Normandy in the middle of nowhere (haha). I was born in Cannes (south east of france) so I would say my local skateshop is Papatoro.
As I said, it means my life. I travel the globe and I always pay a visit to the local skateshop to say hi and connect with the local people. They always provide the best tips.
You've done a lot of collabs, murals and more all over the globe. What's your favourite one so far? Working on anything exciting right now?
I can't think of a specific collab but I was quite proud to paint the whole skatepark of Tampa in 2022. I grew up with Tampa pro and am so when they asked me to paint it I felt like a kid in a toy store. I recently painted a huge mural in Montreal and this project is definitely my favorite so far. The wall is 25 x 25 M so when you're in front of it you feel something special. Right now I’m organizing HEART tour in America for spring 2024. Going to be really special.
Sounds exciting, we can't wait to see more! You're known for the character Gus Gus. Why is it called like that and can you tell us a little bit more about it?
HAHA, Gus Gus name is basically coming from my first dog. When I started to paint at the age of 27 I had no idea what I was doing. 10 years later and after a crazy trip in Egypt I got back home with my a character inspired by Cairo. I was wondering how could I call my character and decided to go with Gus Gus. It’s crazy when I think about it. It took me ten years to create my character.
What inspires you to make art? Where do you get your creativity from?
It comes from skateboarding for sure. I feel like I was always surrounded by art since my young age. My mum used to paint landscape and my dad was collecting some canvases and I was intrigued.
Any tips for the young skaters, artists, people reading this?
Do you, do what you think is good for you and work hard!
Anything you want to add?
Make love!