Classic Stinkfish Tag

Stolyarova states that Stinkfish is a godfather of SAMA. Stinkfish first visited Amsterdam in 2011 before SAMA had started painting in Nieuw-West. She and Stinkfish explored the city, pasting-up posters that Stinkfish had brought to Amsterdam. During their walks through Nieuw-West, Stinkfish taught Stolyarova how to see the different kinds of walls that would suit different kinds of interventions. Stinkfish helped open Stolyarova’s eyes to new opportunities within the community, and has been a vital step in forming the foundation from where the future SAMA would seek out large and official productions. Stinkfish has always created his work for the public, for those who cannot afford museum admissions and who may feel excluded and othered in traditional galleries. He is dedicated to creating accessible art and easily digestible publications, intending his practice to reach everyone, regardless of their educational background. His contributions to SAMA’s collection reflect this. For every painting he has completed in Nieuw-West, Stinkfish has requested that Stolyarova sources a wall in a lived-in community where his work will be enjoyed by real people and not appropriated for corporate interest, something he recognises as increasingly prevalent in graffiti art today. Along with Lorenzo Masnah, “the Third World Pirate,” Stinkfish created the horizontally-organized and anti- hierarchical Animal Power Collective (APC) in 2006. With more than 60 members around the world, APC has grown beyond a graffiti crew to being a multidisciplinary creative collective united by a common moral code.