Esquire Chats with Quiccs | Esquire Philippines - video Dailymotion

Esquire Philippines

The Filipino designer toymaker, graffiti artist, and rule breaker Quiccs Maiquez sits down with us to talk about the changing of the tide in the art scene.

Transcript

00:00 always get appreciated no matter what,

00:03 just because the stuff they do is revolutionary or different.

00:07 If you're lucky enough, you get to live through those times

00:10 that your new art form becomes appreciated by more people.

00:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:29 The mural behind me was made--

00:31 we made this back in 2022 for the Jalen Green visit

00:36 in Manila.

00:37 Adidas Philippines sponsored us to paint this wall.

00:40 We were given one and a half week.

00:42 And I chose to do it with my friends

00:45 from Filipina Street Plan and Hidden Fortress Manila.

00:48 So we did a lot of these artworks within nine days

00:51 through the rain.

00:53 The thing we love most about it is Adidas Philippines

00:56 gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted to do.

00:59 So we basically represented ourselves

01:02 through our own characters and our own names

01:05 written on the walls.

01:07 Their only request was for us to make a tribute to Jalen Green

01:12 who was visiting us.

01:13 So that's what we did.

01:15 And we also painted the special car

01:17 that our friend Kevin Carlos made just for the event,

01:21 Impossible is Nothing, Sylvia car,

01:25 that you can see in one part of the mural.

01:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:31 So when I was in college, during the early years

01:36 of the internet, 1999, 2000, 2001,

01:41 I was exposed to a lot of the graffiti culture

01:44 in the States and in Europe.

01:46 Back then, there wasn't any graffiti scene

01:48 in the Philippines.

01:49 So you could say that I was like a super frustrated graffiti

01:54 artist because I didn't have access to the culture yet.

01:58 After 10 years, I started seeing that there

02:00 were local artists emerging already in Manila.

02:03 And I was fortunate enough to meet Egg Fiasco, Trip

02:07 Martinez, Chill, and Bato back in 2012.

02:10 And ever since then, I became friends with them.

02:13 And I was able to learn about the techniques they use

02:17 because it takes a different art skill

02:19 to master how to use the spray paint as a medium instead

02:24 of using the paintbrush.

02:25 That was a different skill set that I

02:28 needed to learn on my own and through their guidance.

02:31 I had fun emerging myself into the graffiti culture, which

02:35 I already had passion for since early 1999.

02:40 But like what I said, I only had access through the culture

02:45 10 years after.

02:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:49 The scene here is still very young,

02:53 but there are a lot of really talented artists

02:55 in the Philippines.

02:56 So it's very natural to see a lot of really great painters

03:01 in the Philippines.

03:02 As great as you can see in the traditional art scene,

03:05 if you look at the graffiti art culture here in the Philippines,

03:08 it reflects the same amount of talent

03:11 that the Filipinos naturally have.

03:13 It's quite an easy transition for natural-born artists

03:16 to do graffiti if they wanted to.

03:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:22 My brother and I grew up as children

03:27 watching weekend cartoons that we

03:31 would see on local channels.

03:33 And these would be mainly Voltes 5, Dymos, Bioman,

03:39 and the like, and of course, Transformers.

03:42 And then through the '90s, Gundam and Evangelion.

03:45 I had a natural love for Japanese robots.

03:50 Me being an artist early on, I was also

03:54 experimenting on creating my own robots.

03:58 So Tech 63, my character right now

04:01 that I paint a lot on walls, is heavily

04:04 influenced by all of these Japanese robot cartoons

04:07 that I used to watch as a kid.

04:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:12 The filmmaker and the fact that Kurosawa Films

04:20 influenced a lot George Lucas when

04:22 he was developing Star Wars.

04:24 So if you'd see Episode 4, A New Hope,

04:28 it's heavily based on The Hidden Fortress and his other movies

04:34 in terms of style.

04:37 Even the name Hidden Fortress is also relevant to me.

04:40 So Ghost of Kurosawa as a character

04:42 is a combination of Star Wars, Darth Vader face,

04:46 and Akira Kurosawa's samurai film, Seven Samurai,

04:50 and a little bit of World War II influences too,

04:53 which also directly influenced George Lucas

04:57 in making Star Wars.

04:58 So it's a whole mixture of influences.

05:01 But basically, it revolves around Star Wars and George

05:05 Lucas.

05:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:09 It's more of the fact that I wanted to represent myself

05:16 into a character.

05:17 The formula I had was just to embody all of the biggest

05:22 influences I had as a kid.

05:24 I really love hip hop.

05:25 I really love graffiti art.

05:27 And I really love Japanese robots.

05:29 If you see my characters, it's always

05:31 a combination of these three subcultures combined.

05:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:38 Art toys, I think, basically started

05:44 with the movement in Hong Kong, like Alex So and Michael Lau.

05:48 They were the first artists to create their own toys.

05:51 And I would see their art figures in Mega Mall

05:54 during the early 2000s in American Boulevard,

05:57 this hip hop shop in Mega Mall.

06:01 And I've always dreamt of creating my own version

06:04 someday that was early 2000.

06:06 I think designer art toy scene is very young.

06:10 Started in the early 2000s, and it caught up in the States,

06:14 I'd say mid-2000s, with the growth of companies

06:18 like Kidrobot.

06:19 They were the forerunners in the art toy culture back then.

06:25 With most hyped up products, I think the Philippines always

06:31 follows the trends of the Americans.

06:34 So we were kind of late in appreciating art toys.

06:37 But with most countries, it always

06:40 starts with commercial toys that you'd see in Toy Kingdom.

06:43 And then eventually, when they get

06:44 exposed to the likes of Bearbricks and Paws,

06:48 it naturally follows that they get

06:49 attracted to local artists who create their own toys, too.

06:53 So I guess it's a natural progression for us.

06:56 We're not the last to get into it.

07:00 Actually, I think Dubai is only starting

07:03 to appreciate art toys right now.

07:05 And a lot of countries don't even know much about it.

07:08 I think we're ahead in terms of that as a country.

07:12 And there's a lot of growth left for more people

07:16 to appreciate self-made art toys by artists.

07:26 One of the most integral foundations

07:32 I had for my art career was to never follow the norm.

07:36 I grew up being exposed to artists

07:39 that had a specific direction of creating a name for yourself

07:44 through gallery shows and doing paintings,

07:47 and then repeating the cycle all over again.

07:50 And on the side, getting art commissions

07:53 from private collectors.

07:55 I wanted to show, I guess, a new path for people to take,

08:00 especially now that there's social media.

08:02 I kind of wanted to send the message that you

08:05 can do things on your own.

08:07 And that's why I'm only loyal to one specific gallery

08:12 in the Philippines.

08:13 It's the only gallery that I hold shows,

08:17 which is Secret Fresh, owned by Big Boy Cheng.

08:19 But besides that, I really wanted

08:21 to show artists that there are several paths for you

08:25 to take to make a career out of art.

08:29 That's why I chose the medium of doing designer toys,

08:33 because it was something that's highly

08:35 unusual for artists to do.

08:37 Something that hasn't been done in the Philippines.

08:40 So I guess I was fortunate enough

08:42 to be able to go all in on it, being one of the firsts.

08:47 Although I'm not the first.

08:49 A lot of other Filipino artists also

08:52 started making their own toys.

08:55 But I guess I was the one who was stuck

08:57 to people's heads the most.

08:59 That's why we were also able to attract other brands

09:02 to work with us.

09:03 As an artist, and I guess as a brand,

09:12 I really get excited working with people

09:15 that have something new to bring into the table,

09:20 or something creative challenge that is presented to me.

09:25 That I get to practice my graphic design skills as well.

09:29 So we have a lot in store for the future.

09:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:40 (upbeat music)

Esquire Chats with Quiccs | Esquire Philippines

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