Andrew Hurt makes art that is raw, colourful and fun/funny as heck. In a word: “punk”. If you’ve spent any time in Chinatown and/or the DTES recently, then you’ve probably already encountered the stylings of “wharfie boy” (his artist psuedonymn) – either randomly drawn on the side of a wall, illustrating a poster announcing some rad local food-related event, and/or emblazoning one of Say Hey Cafe’s “Hoagies 4 Homies” tees.

Familiar with his work or not, take the opportunity to get to know Hurt and his art through the following (highly enjoyable) interview with the Vancouver-based artist below. And stay tuned to @friendsoffriendsvan for details about an upcoming group show (with a fun wine-related angle) featuring Hurt and other artists’ artwork, happening on November 23rd.

What’s your background?

I’m from Kingston Ontario, home of The Tragically Hip, hockey players, and limestone.

When and why did you move to Vancouver, and what’s keeping you here?

I moved to Vancouver after the pandemic hit. I had lost my job, as most people had at that time. I was working in a kitchen in Toronto then, and the decision to move to Vancouver happened while playing a very late night session of Minecraft with my buddies. There was nothing to do in those middle months of the pandemic except smoke weed, have your coffee, and then talk to your friends online. So most of us reverted back to high school and started building forts again on our game systems. While playing Minecraft we began talking about this epic road trip we should do, and have it end in Vancouver, where we would meet up with some of our other buddies who lived there. And so we did it and found a little house in Kits; and four years later I’m still here, living in East Van now, a bit older, some new wrinkles here and there but otherwise chilling!

Besides making super rad art, how do you spend your days? What’s your day job and/or how do you pay the bills?

I work as a cook. I’ve always been obsessed with food, but it wasn’t until I got my first kitchen job at Fat Pasha in Toronto that I really fell in love with the craft. Anytime I went out to eat I’d always find myself trying to see into the kitchen; watching them all work together, it just looked so damn cool, like a dance almost, I knew I wanted to be a part of that group. My brother went for dinner one night at this spot Fat Pasha, and sent me a link that they were hiring. I went by the kitchen one day, with no experience, and talked to the head chef at the time, Ruby. I told her I didn’t know much but I cared a lot about food, and she decided to take me under her wing. Now that I’m in Vancouver I still have those skills I learned there. I’m currently working at Say Hey in Chinatown a couple days a week, and am also one of the sous chefs at Thank You Pizza in Chinatown.

“I regard cooks and chefs as highly as I do painters or musicians, or the likes of any of the other art forms. I respect the hell out of service workers – they’re the glue that helps hold neighbourhoods together.”

Were you a creative kid? What was your relationship with art like, growing up, and when did you decide to take it “seriously”?

I wish I could say I was on some Mozart energy when I was a kid – that would be such a dope part of this interview, finding out I’m on some genius energy! I was just a regular kid, but I did have a lot of energy and loved being silly. When I was little, I was a funny ass kid. I was an excited kid, and curious. My family was one that appreciated joking around and making each other laugh. My dad, mom and brother still might be the funniest people I know, and that trait jumped right into me. I grew up in a family that really valued humour and silliness, and that’s still really important to me. I think it shows in my work, and I hope to keep that. I watched a lot of movies as a kid, and worshiped stand up comedians. I have my older brother to thank for that. Growing up he had the biggest collection of DVDs I think I’ve ever seen and stand up comedians, and I think that’s played a huge role in my life and art. I obviously take my work seriously in the way that I really value what making art brings to my life.

I noticed that you’ve worked with some cool local businesses/restaurants (Say Hey, Modus – that’s actually how I discovered your art!) What’s your relationship with the local restaurant industry and why do you think that your style resonates so well with the local “cool kid” industry folks?

I regard cooks and chefs as highly as I do painters or musicians, or the likes of any of the other art forms. I respect the hell out of service workers – they’re the glue that helps hold neighbourhoods together. I’ve worked in Chinatown for a while now, and there’s such a dope community of kitchens and cooks there. I think I picked this personality trait up from my dad, but I always try to talk to anyone and everyone. And I love to laugh, and I love to hear and tell stories, and I’ve always just tried to do good by all the cooks I’ve gotten to meet. I won’t forget them and they’ve not forgotten me.

Like I said before, I always wanted to be part of the group that calls themselves cooks, I just think they’re the coolest. And I’m very interested in meshing these two worlds together within myself. Of my visual art and the cooking I do. Chefs will spend all this time planning an event, picking the freshest ingredients, conceptualizing a coursed menu, thinking of the best way to prepare all these ingredients, and then when it comes time to make up the menu, they’ll just type it up themselves on a word processor or something. It’s a disservice to the hard work they do and I feel like I’ve found a route into helping these chefs and cooks with these kinds of things, and it’s fun for me to do.

Besides being colourful, fun to look at and often funny, your art is also accessible and visceral, and can sometimes contain a powerful message. What has been the most memorable or impactful byproduct to date?

The other sous chef where I work has become someone I feel really lucky to know. He’s a good ole Irish lad, a good cook, and someone who makes me laugh a lot. Recently, he went back home to Ireland for a visit because his older sister just had a baby. Before he left, he asked if I’d make an art piece for him to give to his sister for this big life moment they’re sharing. And I just felt so flattered and honoured that he’d think so much of my art that he would want me involved in this moment. You know, getting a piece in a big gallery is cool, or selling something for a million bucks – that would be dope too; but I can honestly say for me it doesn’t really get better than someone you love appreciating what you do, having my art on the walls of the people I love. So, in many ways, I feel like I’ve already made it as an artist.

Personally, what do you get from the experience of making and sharing your artwork with others?

I feel as though painting is such a privilege, and a joy for me to be able to do. When I was a kid I always worried a lot, and I remember my mom bought me a journal at some point, to write down how I felt. She thought it would help with the worrying, and it did. I learned then that the process of putting down onto paper how I felt really helped. I don’t take myself too seriously in the end result of how something looks – I think that would take the release and feeling out of it for me. I’m never really concerned with how something looks, as long as I feel like I got out what I was tryna say. For me, there is no greater joy in the art process outside of making the thing. If something was releasing to make, or like it felt like I got something off my chest in the process, then the end result is always a reflection of that for me. I kinda just start making a thing with a thought or feeling in mind, and hope for the best. It never turns out how I planned beforehand; it ends up looking different and I kinda dig that too. I hope to stay playfully serious in my work.

In a perfect world, who would you collaborate with next? Got a specific project or idea in mind?

There are so many artists around me who inspire me that I have been and would be so lucky to work with. I really admire the “Friends of Friends Collective” run by Jake Tesolin and Dillon Nusca. They’re both very lovely men who I’m lucky to call friends of mine. I’m actually working with them, along with a group of other painters, to put together a collection of art pieces that will be printed onto wine labels and sold at a big art show thrown by the Friends of Friends team in November – so watch out for that! It’ll be very dope!

Other artists that I would love to work with more would also be Georgina Hawitt aka (@life.of.ping). She’s a painter in Vancouver who inspires me constantly with her work. She’s a good reminder of why I love to paint, as well. She has fun with what she makes and I feel like her pieces are a dope collab between painting and collaging, and I just don’t see many artists doing what she does. As well, Quinn Girard is someone I look up to, as a person and artist. He works in a lot of different mediums – you really should check out his work (@qnngrrd) – and is a constant inspiration to me just in the way that he thinks about art, and how he seems to have a limitless threshold for trying out new shit all the time.

“I think if you can just look at making art like taking a poop it’s so helpful. You poop because you gotta, or you’ll die.”

Besides art, you also have a knack for words and storytelling – from the cheeky/clever titles you give your work to your poetry and illustrated short stories. Or else what’s your writing practice like?

Like I mentioned before my mom bought me a journal when I was young, and it really taught me a lesson about not keeping in the way that I felt. I feel so lucky to have been raised by parents who taught me that I can just be. I think about art all friggen day. And a lot of the time my poems or writing pieces will stem from something I see or hear in my day. I work in Chinatown, and if anyone knows the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, they know that everything is turned up to 100 all the time. In good and bad ways, beautiful and upsetting ways. I think spending so much time in this hood while I’ve been in Vancouver has really had an impact on me and the art I make. All my writing will start off with maybe a sentence or two, or sometimes even just a title, and then I’ll go about my day and I’ll think on it some more, and then it’ll come to me, and I gotta write it down immediately or else I’ll forget. My notes are filled with random sentences or things I’ve seen. And I think I’m just able to write and make art about what’s around me.

Your choice of materials/mediums also seems to have no bounds – from pastels to ipencils, and tshirts to blank walls! What’s currently your favourite material and canvas to utilize?

I think right now I’ve been really getting into the digital art realm. My homie was moving back home and sold me their iPad for a really good price, and it came with the little pencil, and I just tried it out to see what it was like AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. I think for me, painting with raw materials and canvas is an exercise of the heart; whereas the digital work is an exercise of the mind. With digital work I can really think out each part of the piece to be exactly as I imagined. And I find it helpful in moments where maybe I don’t have access to all my supplies, or maybe I’ve had a few too many glasses of red wine. Being able to just take out my iPad and whip an idea into existence is SO FRIGGEN FUN.

Any unexpected/unusual spots around town where we might be able to see a “wharfie boy” original if we keep our eyes peeled?

There’s a few places you can spot some wharfie boy art! But if I tell you that takes away all the fun, don’t ya think?!

I get the impression from your IG account that you’re pretty dang prolific with both your art and writing. What inspires and/or energizes you to draw and write? Is there a place or time of day in particular when your creative juices are most active? Any general advice for readers who want to get better at tapping into their own creative wells?

I think people get really caught up in the end result of how a piece looks. Or, like I hear a lot, “I can’t paint, I get so frustrated!” And it’s just so untrue – like, everyone can paint, it’s just not everyone who can kill that little voice inside that says “THIS SUCKS STOP CREATING YOU SUCK”. I think if you can just look at making art like taking a poop it’s so helpful. You poop because you gotta, or you’ll die. The same thing for me is true about art – maybe not as intense as dying if I don’t do it, but just in the way that doing it feels good. Like how some people go to the gym, right? You’re not gonna be jacked right away, but it’s the practise of it that’s important. SOMETHING BECOMES ART WHEN YOU DECIDE IT IS. Nobody else can decide that. So if it’s art to you then it just is. Anyone can do what I do, there’s no secret to it. And maybe it’s not your jam, and that’s okay too. I can’t hike Grouse, or fix a car engine; but everyone haS their thing and that’s dope.

What was the last book you read?

The last book I read was Love is a Dog From Hell, by Charles Bukowski.

Your favourite food?

Baklava is the greatest food/dessert of all time, and nobody can tell me different.

Your ‘Hoagies 4 Homies’ t-shirt design for Say Hey leaves me no choice but to ask about sandwiches. Imagine for a minute your own, bespoke ultimate sandwich. Now spell it out for me: from type of bun/bread to its fillings, sauces and, finally, it’s name.

Honestly, I don’t mean to get all sentimental on this question, but I think my favoUrite sandwich would just be anything made by my dad. My dad would make the best sandwiches when I was a kid, and he’d be simple about it: white Wonder Bread, mustard, mayo, some ham, a little cheese, maybe some pickles? And some bbq Lays chips. Then his big ole hands would smush it all together, and I just think that’s the best. The name of this sandwich in my head is “The Dad Sando”.

Lastly: What are you currently working on / can we look forward to seeing from you next? Any exciting projects coming down the pipeline in the near future that you can put on Scout readers’ radar?

I’m currently working on putting together a picture story book for kids and adults. If you check out my Instagram you can see a bunch of scroll-through picture book concepts that I’d really like to put together into a final product. I honestly just don’t know how making books work. But I know the stories are strong, and I think it would be an important art piece for me and other homies my age. So, if anyone knows how books work, maybe hit me up! That would be dope!