A lot of people go through the motions of everyday life without ever stepping off their preordained paths. Street artist Paper Frank isn’t one of them, which is why Brisk asked him to take a boring city wall and use his unique perspective to alter it. Frank opted to paint a large, holographic tiger, trying to clap a butterfly off of its nose. The imagery carries a lot meaning for him. He came from a rough place, and his art functions like a flower growing out of a crack in the concrete. Further, the juxtaposition of the two enhances the final product.
“Everything don’t have to be sugar coated,” he points out. “It’s still a pretty flower. It just got some teeth. Does that make it not pretty?”
Paper Frank’s style is driven by a desire to undermine the assumptions of those who think a black, 6’2” tall man can’t create these colorful, whimsical images. But, he’s also doing it to silence his detractors. “I can do so much stuff,” he notes, “because nobody believe I will do it.” And, Frank isn’t just pushing back against what’s expected of him. He’s encouraging other people to do the same thing. It’s about the pursuit of the hustle.
“I just always put the idea on everybody and I was just like be you. You’re the only you. That’s so beautiful.”
Watch the video to learn more about Paper Frank and the techniques he used to create his masterpiece.
