About | TABBY

Q&A

TABBY is an Austrian street artist who loves to love and hates to hate. Since his first pieces appeared in Vienna around 2013, his art has spread to walls and streets across the globe.

Why do you do what you do:

Life gets boring, everything becomes routine, nothing ever suddenly changes for the better. But if theres suddenly something new on a wall youve walked by for years, then it might just brighten up your day.

Images are created, spray paint and stencils are the tools used to make them. More and more youll find some experimenting with anything I get my hands on.

Every image has a meaning behind it, what it is up to you. Maybe you will discover a better meaning than what was originally intended, I wont stand in the way of that.

The goal isnt to destroy but to add something interesting, unusual or thought provoking in an unexpected location. Its something you might be happy to find on a random walk one day and that wasnt there the day before.

Do you consider what you do as graffiti, street art, vandalism…?:

Whatever I would label it, there would be a group of people arguing why its wrong and maybe they are right. Look at it yourself and decide.

Your stuff seems similar to Banksy: Im not like Banksy at all, I dont have that lovely British accent.

Are you the next big thing: Yes, and the next big thing after that

I have a wall you could paint: Email me, lets find out what happens. Im always interested to hear about spaces big and small.

Can I help?: Sharing an image makes all the difference

I saw one of your "TABBY Quick Folding Stencil" videos, whats that all about?:

Its a technique I created in order to paint stencils as fast as possible. When painting on the streets, the goal was always to finish before somebody comes along and starts asking questions. The folding technique allows multiple stencil layers to be perfectly aligned instantly, even at night when youre working in the dark.

Click here to view one of the videos.

Why are you anonymous?:

The obvious reason is that many spaces werent painted with "official" permission and I didnt want authorities knocking on my door.

However, much has changed in the world since I began painting and now theres a whole new reason for it: Once youre well known online, theres no more privacy offline. Its a real luxury and almost the same as having the superpower of being invisible.