When we catch up to Waris and Mauy from Thai street art crew MSV, they’re on a quick layover at Don Mueang airport, coming back from an art festival in Singapore. The next plane will take them home to Chiang Mai, where they’ll set out on a local three-city tour to work with the next generation of street artists in the North. This type of collaboration and culture of paying it forward is central to their outlook. In Singapore, there was a free wall for beginners below where the pros were painting, so the newcomers could experiment with techniques they saw in person and ask questions face-to-face. The Northern tour will come out of Mauy’s own pocket; they’ll travel at their own expense and bring cans for the new artists to use as they paint and learn together.
MSV is Thailand’s biggest and most active street art crew, known for their bright, energetic characters and prolific output. Mauy started the crew in 2015 a little over a year after he started painting, with four original members, including his creative and life partner, Waris. The team now has 11 members, with five from other countries including Mexico, China, and more. But everyone has at least spent some time in Chiang Mai. Waris began painting in 2014 after meeting Mauy while studying art in Chiang Mai and has never put the cans down since.
The pair say they love the freedom and challenge of painting outdoors. “The street is our gallery,” says Mauy, who’s very selective about working in galleries or museums or even accepting commissions. “Every time you paint outdoors, something is different. It’s got more life. We can paint what we want, we don’t have to worry if someone will buy it because no one can buy it.” Hurdles like weather, traffic, noise, and people all lead to artwork that is freely accessible to everyone. “Doing art outside challenges me, especially as a girl,” Waris adds “I need to be a strong girl because I’m faced with many situations that I can’t control. I often paint alone and have to carry all this heavy stuff. I’m so tiny and small, I can’t reach everything. There aren’t many women doing this, so I want to prove to myself and my family that this doesn’t just have to be for men.”
This underrepresentation of women is the main reason why Waris prefers to paint portraits of girls. She says there were two girls in Thailand who started painting before her, but that they’ve quit. And there have been many more trying it out recently, but that they rarely last. “I started just because I loved it, not because I wanted it to get commercial work from it or whatever,” she reasons. “Start with what you love, and you will grow and stay in the game. You have to enjoy it.” She’s recently been experimenting with the addition of letters to her work to keep it fresh and surprising.
Mauy, for his part, says he chooses to paint animals because his work has an environmental message behind it. “I want people to think about them,” he explains, “But I don’t make it too straightforward, I want people to interpret it in their own way. The cartoon style makes it easy to connect with people. But when it’s a serious message, I’ll use a scarier, more realistic style.” Often, when he’s painting with friends, he’s just having fun with it, but will still add a little message.
Radically pursuing what you love resonates with both of them. “We paint what we want, we don’t paint fan art or what people ask us,” Mauy explains. It’s actually strategic in his eyes, as well. “I always have clients asking for stuff like a cat riding a Pokemon or something. But they listen when I tell them that I can do better than that. Artists can educate them—don’t just do what they ask. If you do something different, it will stand out. It’s better for them and for us. You have to have an identity, so be unique. I chose street art because of passion and fun. If I can live off it, then that’s just a bonus. I’ll find a new job if I have to and paint on the side.” The walls outdoors are a relief from this kind of pressure. “It can be hard to be ourselves in the gallery,” adds Waris.
One notable installation they agreed to is the wall on the top floor of BACC, a two-story monotone painting with an environmental message. Originally, they painted the concept in Chiang Mai as part of the ART for AIR project meant to draw attention to the pollution crisis in their hometown, which can result in some of the worst air in the world. “It was our first time in a museum,” Mauy says. “If someone approaches us, we’ll work with them if it makes sense, but we don’t seek them out.” This mural made clear sense, as they were able to spread their message. BACC liked the Chaing Mai mural and asked them to bring the concept to Bangkok. The original piece was an outdoor mural, so MSV changed the style, updating it with light, pastel colors, and a minimal feeling so that it would sit at home inside a clean interior space.
MSV are not content to simply find their own way, however, and aim to create an environment that will help other street artists grow and express themselves through painting. The three-city tour in the north is just one example of how they give back to the community. For the past four years, they’ve also hosted an annual, self-funded festival in Lopburi, carefully selecting local, regional, and international artists to paint with the younger generations to share knowledge and skills. MSV provides paint, travel, and accommodation themselves without help from sponsors. (Lopburi is known as the city of monkeys, and they definitely cause mischief, stealing paint, shaking scaffolding, and peeing off the roofs.) These types of events are what they hope to see more of to help the Thai scene grow bigger and faster. “We see the problem and try to support the scene ourselves. We don’t just want to complain about it, we want to act,” Waris says. “If you don’t want to support us, that’s okay, because we have work and money. But it’s important for the younger generation.”
