Faile

Les Ballets de Faile

2013

The art collective Faile, is formed by Patrick Miller and Patrick McNeil. Both artists met at school and studied graphic design. In 1999 they formed a group with the nickname A-Life, under which (and under the influence of a young Shepard Fairey) they began to wheatpaste their posters around the big American cities. Soon they met who would become a third temporary member, the Japanese Aiko Nakagawa. In 2006, she would leave the group to start her own solo career and today is known as Lady Aiko. After an arrest, precisely for wheatpasting, they changed the name of the group to Faile (anagram of A-Life). Soon after they already had created an image and began to expand their brand to other continents sticking their designs on the streets of other cities in Europe and Asia. Like Obey, this group aims to create social criticism, generate artistic interest and awareness. Faile was part of that group of young emerging artists of the urban subculture that promoted the art in the streets. With their printed impressions, Faile promotes the access of the artwork to the general public at affordable prices. They began working with the stencil, preferring this technique because their work would have more durability. Gradually they combined it with painting, mixed media and collage. Thanks to his extensive knowledge in printing techniques, these two artists have taken the collage to another level and in his works can see how many printed layers are superimposed on top of each other to later be torn, suggesting the lower layers. As Mimmo Rotella did a few decades before, Faile creates their own version of the decollage technique. The work of these artists is highly influenced by the comic, film and fiction novels. If we look at the aesthetics of their work we can see how this neo pop art presented to us, represents its own modern version of the aesthetics of Roy Lichtenstein and, as already mentioned, an improved technique of Mimmo Rotella's decollage. All their works explore the world of contradictions and how they complement each other, based on the theory of yin-yang. So opposites as love and hatred, violence and peace or beauty and ugliness share the limelight in their paintings. Faile members currently reside in Brooklyn, New York, where they have their workshop. Their current creations explore media, from traditional canvas to other more diverse as wood or glass. They also have a very prolific activity by editing their own limited edition prints, and creating their own line of merchandising. So far they have published four books with their works entitled "Orange", "Death", "Boredom" and "Lavender”. Their works are internationally recognized and has been exhibited in major galleries around the world. Some of them have come to get tens of thousands of euros.