VMF Alumni: John Park (Jopa)
Jopa is a multi-year VMF artist but wears many shirts as a team member with us. Not only is he an extremely talented muralist, he has also been hired onto the VMF production crew, helped with video and photography, design, and project leading. We decided to interview him because not only is he a VMF Alumni, but his continuing work in the many realms of the festival isn’t all he fills his time with. He’s been jetting around North America helping to get murals up in other cities and we just had to hit him up so we could get some details about these exciting times.
“ADDING THE ELEMENT OF TRAVEL TO THESE ALREADY SURREAL PAINTING EXPERIENCES HAS REALLY JUST PUT IT OVER THE TOP FOR ME.”
Mural: “Smile” a collaboration with Tierney Milne for Wall To Wall Festival in Winnipeg.
Interview with Jopa
What years did you participate in VMF and were are your murals?
2017 - “Stay Yummy” 7 1/2 Alley
2018 - “Families Are Meant To Be Together” with BK Foxx (Incidental collaboration)
What was your experience with VMF like?
My experience with VMF over the last 3 years has been a colourful blur of a great time that’s been full of surprises and ever-evolving. The year after I participated as an artist in the festival, I was hired onto the production crew, and the year after that I was asked to (on top of help with production) design/animate the alternate VMF logo, shoot/edit a video for all of the final murals, and be project lead for Sebastian Curi’s mural (5th and Manitoba). Considering the calibre of artists you’re thrown in the mix with, the vast amounts of knowledge learned from being on so many different work sites, and the overall awesomeness and enthusiasm of the organizers - these are all priceless opportunities that I couldn’t be more grateful for.
What's your go-to painting playlist sound like these days?
I try to find new music with each project as to create memories and associations with the new sights and sounds. It’s fun to hear certain songs after some time and feel glimpses of nostalgia in the music. Having said that, my go-to’s for crushing sessions of work this year have been Young Thug and Jungle (the band).
What are some of your favourite pieces you've worked on since VMF?
Some highlights for me would include: “Somehow Someway” for EBA (a music office in Toronto) and “Smile” a collaboration with Tierney Milne for Wall To Wall Festival in Winnipeg, which recently won an award for Favourite Public Art Piece by the Uniter. Also earlier this year I had the incredible opportunity to accompany my studio mate (and lead curator of VMF) Drew Young in Honolulu to help paint and document his mural for Pow!Wow! Hawaii. Adding the element of travel to these already surreal painting experiences really just puts it over the top for me.
Any advice to 2020 VMF artists?
Drink that water everyday.
If you could get a piece on any surface in the world where would it be?
Hmm, my dream project would be right here in Vancouver. I’d love to paint the entire exterior of one of those freighter ships you see chillin in Burrard Inlet - like a word or a phrase that wraps around the whole boat so you’d have to travel across the city to read it. That or those huge silos in North Vancouver haha, essentially anything gigantic.
Any projects you’re looking forward to in the future?
I’m really excited for my next project which is a new restaurant on Fraser and 27th that’s opening in January 2020 called “Say Mercy!”. I’ll be painting all the interior and exterior signage as well as a feature mural and some easter eggs throughout the space. While I’m super stoked about working there, I’m more excited for their food - these guys are legends in their industry, they are the team responsible for The Mackenzie Room in Strathcona. It’s an enormous blessing to be doing something you love for a living, and the real icing on the cake is when you get to work for those who respect and admire you as much as you do them. Truly grateful over here, and looking forward to an eventful 2020!
