A vulture stands over the scattered and degraded flotsam and jetsam of the urban world, peering out towards the distance, its symbolistic scavenger nature epitomised in spray and colour – it speaks somewhere inside, and you listen – its hard not to when it looms so massively above you.

Birds are only one of many icons that have feature in Brisbane street artist Fintan Magees work lately, and his combinations of earthly creatures and the debris of human civilization, seamlessly interpolated with his stylised photo realism, is more than enough to stop you in your tracks. With a rich family background, a well travelled and worldly perspective, Magees work radiates breaths of fresh air to the accumulated nuances encompassed by the term “urban art” – even given many of the plastic bags of refuse sometimes depicted within it.

There’s near air of near homely contentedness (for lack of better description to the feelings invoked) that often surrounds a Magee piece, and his use of location and the blending of a viewers perspective beyond the confines of his painted work, is second to none.

With his solo show “House Of Giants” fast approaching this weekend, we caught up with Fintan Magee to talk about the show, still lifes, and how important ones location, and the location of their work, is to an artist …

You obviously have an Irish heritage (the name gives it away!),  and now reside in Brisbane – do you believe that location and heritage was an important factor in the early blossoming of your artistic talent? Tell us a bit about your formative years.

Yeah most of my family is from Derry, in Northern Ireland, being from a Catholic family I got stuck with a traditional Gaelic name. I spent a lot of time in Ireland when I was a child and it definitely influenced my art, Northern Ireland was a pretty wild place in the late 80’s and early 90’s and it has always had a big mural culture. I remember seeing some of the large works in Belfast, and the bogside in Derry, and thinking how insignificant everything else looked in comparison.

Location is definitely important to your artistic development but that is breaking down in the age of the internet as its so easy to keep up and be influenced by what is happening overseas.

You’ve been doing some pretty large scale murals across the country, what has been the impetus behind all of these massive works?

I don’t know, I just really like painting stuff on a large scale and switching between a paint roller and spray paint makes everything pretty time effective.

You’ve also delved into your own renditions of still life imagery with your mural work in recent times – which is refreshing, as most people leave it behind after their formative years – what is it about this tried and true, yet completely under utilised theme that draws you to it?

I don’t know, I guess still life paintings haven’t really been fully explored in street art yet, and I wanted to find something that I could do differently, but still have fun with. I’m still not 100% sure where the work is going, but it’s slowly getting there.

We’ve also noticed that many of your works are very “in place” and
often have an almost installation styled presentation to them – how
important is it to you to try to integrate your work into the
surrounding environment?

I think its the most important aspect of street art. Good placement can make such a difference with your work, and I hate looking at a photo of something that I have done if the placement isn’t correct on the building, and the surroundings don’t complement the artwork.

Tell us a bit more about your upcoming show, “House of Giants” – tell us about the venue itself, and is there a general theme involved?

The show is basically six months worth of oil paintings that have been building up in my studio. Its the first time that I have produced enough work to pick and choose what I exhibit, so hopefully its a good show.

I booked the gallery because it has pretty big courtyard walls so that I could exhibit some street style works along side my paintings so I am pretty exited to be able to do that.

How different is your gallery work to your work out in an urban
environment, and how do you approach both aspects – for you, is there a vastly different way of working (beyond the mediums) between the two?

I find it important to have both practices, as they inform each other constantly – I also find it relaxing to spend time in the studio painting with oils.

Birds, bears, beasts and urban debris – what forms of icons and
imagery are you most drawn to, and why?

I have always enjoyed the juxtaposition between nature and our built environment. The two sides each have a relationship that fascinates me – I still don’t know why exactly.

I like to keep my subject matter simple and open to interpretation.

You were recently featured on the SMH/Age websites, with a wonderful collection of your work – how have you found the recent media attention towards your work, and to street art in general, in recent times?

The media attention that graffiti and street art is getting right now is huge, and it’s constantly being fuelled further by a divide in public opinion on the art forms.

Its good to get publicity in Brisbane, because the Brisbane City Council has been going so hard on there anti-graffiti propaganda lately, its good to show the people that there is still good stuff happening in the city and Australia in general. The coverage has also led to a couple of decent commissions, and its always good to be able to eat lobster and steak when you get the opportunity.

You have travelled a fair shitload in your life – where have been some of your favourite places to paint and create your work, and how important is travel to your overall artistic expression?

The good thing about coming from a smaller, comparatively boring and redneck city is that you are constantly thinking about leaving. I haven’t left Australia in a couple of years now, but have been enjoying travelling around Australia. Sydney has always been good on my last couple of trips and I always love to spend time in Melbourne – I have a residency and solo show at Rtist Gallery in November, which I am definitely excited about.

Outside Australia though, I love Berlin, Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Milan, Copenhagen, Barcelona, San Fran, LA and of course New York. I have to get back to all those places really soon, and South America is on the cards soon too. Travel is very important for a street artist ,as we are always inspired by our surroundings.

What do you hope to see yourself doing in the future, and what are
some of your “dream” projects you’d like to work on?

I don’t know, I really want to start focusing on producing work and exhibiting in America and Europe next year.

I have a pretty decent chunk of change behind me so I gotta just make it happen I guess – your career can be pretty restricted in Australia …

Fintan Magee’s exhibition “House Of Giants” opens this weekend in Brisbane, and make sure you check out his website for a lot more from this amazing artist …