Sumo is to Luxembourg’s street art scene what James Brown was to funk music – a pioneer and trailblazer. In the 90s, he left his signature art anonymously on abandoned buildings; today, his artwork hangs in art galleries, and even adorns Luxair planes – with his name in big and bold.
In the 1990s, ‘street art’ wasn’t a term that people were familiar with, certainly not in Luxembourg. There were just a handful of youths, inspired by hip-hop culture, MTV and various magazines of the day, trying to emulate what was still commonly known as ‘graffiti’. Among them was Christian Pearson. Christian had always been an avid fan of comic books, ad illustrations, album covers and anything and everything bright, wacky and creative. “My father brought me the book ‘Subway Art’ back from England,” he recalls. The photobook was Christian’s introduction to graffiti art, and he was hooked. In those days, you had to travel to big cities outside of Luxembourg if you wanted to see good street art. And Christian always made sure he had his camera with him: “I was eager to take photos of everything that inspired me.”
Together with his two fellow forefathers of graffiti art in Luxembourg, Spike and Stick, Sumo ventured into the world of spray paint- ing. One of the first places he painted was the skatepark on the site of the former slaughterhouse in Hollerich, long a playground for the local graffiti scene. “There was no one to show us how to do it,” says Sumo. “We simply had to figure it out ourselves.”
No Hair? Don’t Care!
Anyone familiar with Sumo will be familiar with ‘Crazy Baldhead’ – the iconic pointynosed, bald-headed character with a dazzling smile that dominates most of Sumo’s paintings in a variety of ever-changing imaginative forms. Crazy Baldhead was born from an intensive search for a visual identity. “Back then, you had to find your own, original style. There was no place, or respect for copycats in the scene,” he says. And so Christian gave himself an ultimatum: create something unique or hang up the can.
Today, Sumo is a well-known name and celebrated artist. Crazy Baldhead can be found in a wealth of places across Luxem- bourg, but also increasingly on the interna- tional stage. He now even travels around the world on Luxair planes! “I didn’t expect to see my signature up there quite so big next to the Luxair logo!” says the artist, thrilled with what is probably his biggest commission to date. Although a well-established artist, Sumo is by no means stuck in his ways. This mature, yet young-at-heart painter is keen to keep pace with the times and is no technophobe, embracing the likes of AR and NFTs. For his most recent project, ‘Enter the Sumoverse’, he has combined his trademark street art with 3D and video projections.
From Street to Canvas
These days, Sumo prefers working on canvas. “I’ve never been one to fit into a box,” he says. Since his very first exhibition in 2002, he has been constantly evolving as an artist. “I wanted to do something different, to stand out from other graffiti artists. So, I started designing stickers and posters, and eventually moved on to canvas.”
In his wall-spraying days, Sumo would often come across traces of other artists – graffiti, peeling paint, posters, stickers or other markings. Working on canvas, he found that he missed these visible layers, the history of a wall. To retain this depth in his new medium, he began to recreate it in his paintings. You can take the art out of the street, but not the street out of the art!
Today, Sumo’s works are increasingly shown in galleries – including his own gallery, ‘Gallery 1:1’, on Rue de Strasbourg in Luxembourg City. He also exhibits here the artwork of other artists who, like himself, started out in the street art scene and have since evolved. “I want to show people the roots of street art, artists who have shaped the scene,” says Sumo, who continues tirelessly to raise the profile of street art.
