Artist Spotlight: GOMAD
Marcus Debie, or GOMAD, painted his first mural at eight years old. The subject: the Easter Rabbit; the medium: a blue permanent market; the canvas: the wall of his home garage. This artistic fervor carried through his childhood, and as a teenager, Debie became obsessed with graffiti and hip-hop, which would greatly influence his future art.
Following his time at the Academy of Arts at Sittard, Debie worked as a graphic designer for 18 years. Even though Debie was commissioned to do graffiti work, he didn’t leave his day job to become a full-time artist until 2014.
Alongside his wife and assistant Nancy Montfords, he now works in Team GOMAD. The duo now works around the world, helping beautify urban spaces one wall at a time.
Combining his many backgrounds and interests – graffiti, realistic old Dutch art, and abstract artists like Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso – Debie’s work is both realistic and reminiscent of graffiti. Debie dubs his work “post-neo graffitism,” a style derived from graffiti, but developed into muralism and fine art.
WXLLSPACE sat down with Debie to talk more about Team GOMAD – past and present.
Where did the name GOMAD come from?
As a child, I was a bit different, a loner yet popular. At school, they often said I was a little bit crazy or mad, but in a positive sense of the word. So in the beginning my graffiti name was MAD. Later I added GO to it. The G stands for Graphic, the O for Ontwerp (Dutch for Design), the MA is the first 2 letters of my first name Marcus, and the D is the first letter of my last name Debie. Together they form the word GOMAD.
You talk a lot about the two films that influenced you a lot – Beat Street and Style Wars. What specific parts of these movies inspired you and your art?
Beat Street by Harry Belafonte and Henry Chalfont’s graffiti documentary Style Wars were two iconic and culturally significant works of the 1980s. These films kickstarted my interest in graffiti, alongside many of my peers.
I think it was the rawness of the Bronx streets, the expression of graffiti on the NYC subways, the acrobatic dancing on the streets, and the totally different rap music that triggered the mind of a 12-year-old me. Following this introduction to hip-hop culture, I began to create my own graffiti alongside breakdancing and rapping.
While you were at the School of Arts in Sittard, you developed an interest in realism, surrealism, and old Dutch art. What was it about these styles did you find the most interesting?
I like the way the old Dutch masters used to paint, the realism of portraits but also the way they put up their brush strokes, the sun-kissed lighting and shading and details in clothing for example work of Rembrandt. But also the surreal world that Dali created in his paintings or the abstract artwork of Picasso. All these styles influenced mine and I try to combine them into what I paint today.
Would you say that being colorblind greatly affects your art?
No, not really. I was born with color blindness. But that doesn’t mean I can’t see colors. I recognize most of the primary and secondary colors, but I interpret the tertiary colors in my own ‘special’ way. Those colors look the same to me because they are fully merged into each other. Grey can become pink, blue can go purple, and green can go brown in my eyes sometimes.
Luckily all spray paint brands come with color codes and names which I know by heart. That makes it a lot easier. But when I paint with oil paint on canvas, I have to mix colors myself and that can be tricky sometimes. Nevertheless, I believe my choice of colors is never off.
How do you select colors for your compositions, especially with your more vibrant works?
With the help of my lovely wife and assistant Nancy ;-)
But most of the time it’s just a feeling or state of mind. The subject of the mural also defines the choice of color and color scheme. For example, my latest mural in my hometown Geleen is painted in Orange Lane, so I picked only orange and orange-brown colors for it. Titled “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_0rxZQIPcn/?igsh=cHdkdDlyM2J4d3U3
Your art focuses a lot on eyes and hands. Why do you focus a lot on these body parts, and what do they have to say?
My life as a graphic designer left little time for my graffiti. I did occasionally commissions, but my soul was never in the pieces.
Around 2011 I experienced an aesthetical shift and found I was focusing, increasingly on individual eyes. As a colorblind artist, I experience a unique relationship with eyes and colors. I realised then that this relationship being expressed through my art was a way to distinguish myself from other artists and it became my trademark for a while.
A nice anecdote is the wise words of a teacher at the art academy. He said that you could recognize a good artist by how he paints his eyes and hands. In his opinion, these were the 2 most difficult parts of the human body to paint. Eyes must have a soul and hands must not look like sausages. Something I always remembered and later tried to specialize in.
You work alongside your wife, Nancy Montforts. What is it like working alongside your spouse?
Since 2014, when I started working as a full-time artist, I expanded my art studio with my wife Nancy Montforts, being my personal assistant taking care of acquisition, book keeping and shoulder rubs ;-)
But she also helps filling the blanks on large scale mural projects. Together we are Team GOMAD. Working and traveling the world together for my artwork is a real privilege.
You have used art as a medium for advocacy before, such as talking about climate change. How can art be used as a tool for advocacy and inspiring change?
As an artist, you can try to make a change. You have people who follow you on social media and that’s a powerful medium to get a point across or share awareness. Climate change is one of these topics. I believe it’s important because we only have one Earth and, in my opinion, we are destroying our environment, polluting our air and water rapidly. We have to act now. Hopefully, I reach some people and send a message across with my art.
What was it about painting and murals that attracted you?
Creating something by hand to be proud of myself and giving other people something to enjoy. That’s what makes it a special occupation.
What do you think attracts people to your art?
I don’t know for sure what that is. everyone is different and likes other things, and it’s the same with art. That also goes for colors and subjects in my artwork. Some like faces, flowers, or birds – others don’t. Maybe it’s the combination of realism and abstract art that makes it interesting to watch, the complexity of my artwork due to all the layers and fragmentation. But you better ask them.
What was the most difficult mural you’ve ever painted?
That's a difficult question.
Not specifically a particular mural, but often circumstances make it difficult, such as bad weather conditions, lifts breaking down, wrong colors or too little paint, long hours, little sleep and having an off day, or writer's block when it comes to a design or time pressure (hate it). The first day of a new project is a struggle for me – don’t ask me why but most of the time, it is. Past that point, I always kill that wall.
What are you currently working on?
A lot of things but mostly on murals. Preparing design and working on acquisitions for 2025. Maybe some art shows or exhibitions in the winter season because mural painting is slow when it’s too cold or rainy outside and the Netherlands is cold and wet for at least 5 months. Or I’ll have to go back to Miami in December ;-)
Learn more about Marcus Debie and Team GOMad at WXLLSPACE.
Visit Team GOMAD on their website.
