019 Your Favourite Artists’ Favourite Artists: YANOE

Looking at your work first of all is insane, both graffiti letters and mural art of top quality. Its very cool when you have artists that stay true to both. Its an extremely rare breed.

Thank you appreciate the compliment, it is a lot of hard work.

To start out If you could give a little intro about yourself how long you’ve been writing and more recently how long you’ve been doing these insanely colorful large scale mural works?

I go by Yanoe (Ya-know), everyone seems to pronounce it different ways. I’m from RTL, DTS and more recently WAI.

I grew up in Los Angeles, raised by a single mother in North Hollywood (818). I started banging and writing with a gang in my neighborhood called the North Hollywood BoyZ in the early 90’s. I enjoyed the vandalism aspect of it, but not necessarily the violence. In 1995 I started writing graffiti and by 1997 I started painting the name Yanoe with my crew RTL (Ride The Lighting). I left LA in 2003 and first moved to Houston TX where I met the guys from DTS and started painting with them a lot. The origins of DTS are a bit different from most US crews because it was actually started in Houston by a writer from Australia who lived there in the 90’s. After a few years living in Houston, by some weird stroke of fate or something an opportunity popped up for me to move to Australia w/ my family. In Australia I kept painting with the Australian DTS members and some other amazing writers pretty consistently. Some of those writers were close with the guys who owned and founded an Australian spray paint company called Ironlak so I became close with them as well. In 2011 I came back to Los Angeles and shortly after partnered with the guys at Ironlak to open the brands first retail store and gallery space with my best friend and crew member Pugs RTL. I was also founder and creator of a streetwear brand called “Read The Label” for many years. Since then I’ve painted and travelled all over the world. I painted my name for 23 years before I ever tried to paint anything else. In 2018 I attempted my first character with spray paint and now 5 yrs later I paint full time for living. I currently do a lot of large scale mural and fine art projects with my good friend and business partner Zoueh, as a duo called Yanoe x Zoueh.  

Now could you give me 3 to 5 of your top favorite artists? If these are all writers great, if not also fine, as the old series was called “Your Favorite Writer’s Favorite Writers”…. while this new series allows for artists of any form, hence the name.

My goals and ambitions have changed over the years. With growth comes change and with that I have a wide range of artists who’ve influenced/Inspired me directly or indirectly over the years.

#1 CISCO CBS RTL

He was the first graffiti writer to really inspire me. My friends older sister dated him for many years and I grew up as a young kid watching him paint. My earliest memory in graffiti was of him picking us up going for ice cream and him catching the biggest fat cap tag right on the front of a shop window on a high traffic blvd in broad daylight. This was the moment I knew I wanted to be a graffiti writer. Fast forward to 1997 Cisco’s younger brother, a small group of close friends and I relaunched the crew he originally started in the early 90’s called RTL. Cisco defined what it meant to go big in Los Angeles in the 90’s. No one did Chrome & Black the way he did! He has always been the biggest influence in my life’s trajectory.

#2 ZES MSK

Zes and Ayer were a huge influence to me in graffiti. Watching them take over L.A. with full color pieces was next level. They had such a unique style and literally paint spots with rollers and brushes (which was unheard of at the time) They painted higher than anyone else, spots people dreamed of.  Zes has never slowed down and still holds the title of heavyweight in Los Angeles. Not to mention he has created a huge name for himself in the contemporary art scene, bringing the streets of LA to galleries across the globe. Although we didn’t get a long in the late 90’s we’ve since become friends and that truly means a lot to me.

#3 NEKST DTS MSK

Man where do I even start. If you don’t know why he’s in my top five then you ain’t a real vandal. Period. This man single handily changed the game of graffiti. The ladies loved him! First man to ever go all country in my opinion. A Houston legend who had both coasts on lock at the same damn time. He redefined what going big meant, he created the straight letter blockbuster chrome drip that everyone tries to jock. He was feared and respected in the streets. Most importantly, at the end of the day he was like a big brother to me and blessed me with some incredible stories. He changed my life when he put me in DTS and told me to move to Australia. Just thinking of him puts a smile on my face. Miss you bud! #NekstForever

#4 DAMET x OKIES DTS

Damet started Houston Graffiti… Literally brought graffiti to Houston from Australia and acknowledged as so in the history of American Graffiti. He’s a style master and has done more passenger trains than most whole crews combined. But he’s on my list because he changed the way I view graffiti. I grew up in Los Angeles (Home of TagBanging) where graffiti is a viscous sport. This man changed that for me, he showed me that graffiti is about camaraderie, brotherhood and friendship. A bond unlike anything else on this planet. I had a moment in my early 30’s where we were painting a rooftop together it was 2AM in Brisbane Australia. I paused and called out to him out “ isn’t it trippy the fact that two grown ass men where on a rooftop spray painting words, while the rest of the city was sleeping ready to go to work the next morning” he stopped and said “yeah but are you having fun?” I said “yes” and he proceeded to say “well that’s what it’s all about” then we continued to spray. That moment forever changed my view on what the essence of graffiti is truly about!

#5 BOOGIE SML

Boogie is a global legend and style king. I call him my Swiss connect even tho he’s German lol. His style is legible yet effective, loud colors and style for miles. He’s one of the few friends I have who has truly created a career doing “Graffiti”. Never in a million years did I think that was truly possible. I don’t mean he does art, I mean the man literally paints letters and gets paid big bucks for it!!! A true inspiration! Boogie is also one of the kindest and most humble friends I have. If you know Boogie, you know his smile. Graffiti is about having fun and this man travels the globe spreading the love of graffiti! ♥️

Follow YANOE on instagram @oh_yanoe