An Interview with Artist Sean Nader

Small's has been switching it up and having some different events lately. For instance, this week they are hosting an art show. Local artist Sean Nader will be showing off 50+ paintings as well as doing a performance piece where he will read some of his best tweets along with live music. This isn't the first time Small's has hosted an art show, but it is the first time they have done something of this size.

We reached out to chat with Sean about his art, the show, and the tweets he is going to read. Take a second to read our interview to learn a little more about the man behind the brush. Then head out to the show this Saturday, May 28th to see his work for yourselves.

HID-When did you start painting?

SN- "I've been drawing,painting and making art my whole life. I wanted to be some kind of artist since I was a little kid, but I've been taking it really serious for the last 12 years."

HID- How would you describe your style of painting?

SN- "I would describe my style of painting as post-post-post-post modern painting (that's a lot of posts!)."

HID- What makes a good painting? 

SN- "I'm the worst person to ask this question because I like almost every painting I see even if I don't like it at first.  If I look at it for a bit I'll find something I think is cool about it. I just think the idea of humans making paintings is so weird and crazy that I think almost all paintings are at least pretty funny and funny goes a long way with this guy."

HID- What is your favorite time of day to paint and why?

SN- "I'm an all day kinda guy, I like to get up at 6 a.m. brush my teeth and go. It's really the only thing I can do for 12-15 hours at a stretch and not get tired or sick of it. When I was a young pup in my 20's and 30's I would take drugs and stay up all night painting because I felt like a bad ass doing it knowing the rest of the world was asleep and I was in my studio making stuff. Now, I'm an old man and I'm asleep by 11 p.m. most nights."

HID- Why does the promo for the show say that your tweets will be featured? Explain!

SN- "OK, so I'm super super good at twitter and I really like the idea of a live element to art shows so I put together a live show where I tell weird stories, do some funny rap songs and as the centerpiece I read 120 of my best tweets. My friend Jake from the band Moonwalks is gonna be backing me up on guitar while I read them. I think twitter should not just be left on the internet, bring that shit to the people!!!"

HID-  How many pieces will you be showing at Small's?

SN- "When I booked the show I had about 40 new paintings and I've gotten a few more done since then so around 50ish.  All new stuff from the last 6 months!"

HID- Who are your favorite painters and why? 

SN- "I like Pollack because he really changed what people thought of as ugly and beautiful. Really interesting guy too, lots of demons. I like Keith Haring because his paintings were improvised but the quality of his lines was always right on. I'm friends with this dude named Justin Marshal, he's a local guy lives in ham town and he's the best painter in Detroit. His paintings make the world look like melting plastic but if you ate the melting plastic it would taste really good."

HID- Do you get nervous before a show?
SN- "Oh yeah! I'm nervous almost all the time anyway! I've always been a high strung person and showing works and performing in public makes me pretty keyed up because it's so important to me. So, yeah shows take me from a nervous level of 7 to a nervous level of 9."

HID- Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

SN- Yes, 4 things. 

1. The excellent band American Mustache will be playing the show as well
2. I'll be raffling off a couple of prize bags potentially worth thousands!
3. You don't need permission from anyone to make art and be a artist
4. The Grateful Dead are a punk band.

Doors for the show open at 9 p.m. this Saturday. It is only $3 to get in the door and 18 and over are welcome! 

~S