A lot of artists put up a front, or try to label themselves. Some want to be known only as starving, and selling anything would be selling out. Some look at their gift strictly as a job, and create for the sole purpose of making as much money as they can. Some want recognition. Some say things like “I don’t even own a computer”. But some don’t care about any of that. It’s rare you come across an artist who is just 100% pure. BORBAY is that kind of artist. Nothing seems forced. He loves creating, and he loves interacting with people, talking about art, or just listening. His energy is contagious, whether he is talking about his family or hockey or painting or whatever, he is talking about it all with this contagious passion. Maybe that’s why Time Out New York voted him “Most Creative New Yorker;” maybe that’s why you can see his work at The Guggenheim or in The Wall Street Journal. Because that passion comes across in every piece, and always gives you at the very least a soft smile. You are about to get to know BORBAY on a pretty personal level, and if you don’t know him already, I’m glad to be the one to introduce you. Serial Optimist: Who were you in college?

BORBAY: Like most people, I matriculated into college a 5’7” non-drinking virgin. Since I punched my ticket to Boston University with my legs (running scholarship), I was the skinny kid in offensively short shorts running 14 miles a day, with a surly disposition toward academic authority.

SO: What kinds of things were you into at that point in your life?

BORBAY: Balancing books and sport, aka napping during class to rest up for my next run. Artistically, I kept a sketchbook… but it was more of a tool to pick up chicks. My other creative passion was writing an opinion column for the Daily Free Press under the moniker “The Bastard Columnist.” By senior year, I wasn’t against bending the elbow from time-to-time and reviving the classics.

SO: When would say your professional career as an artist started?

BORBAY: During college I had a solo art show at Espresso Royale in Boston (2002). It was an auspicious start; I swapped a small collage for a bag of Cheetos. The real thing started on July 2, 2009 — my independence day. The catalyst: I found myself on Big Beach in Maui, painting in a fine mist, listening to music, drinking a six pack and enjoying the local produce when I realized — “the world doesn’t need another jerk selling websites”. Upon my return, I gave my six weeks at Fantasy Interactive, and boom — artist.

SO: When you initially started creating your pieces, collage work, textural portraits and working with newspaper, what was the inspiration behind that? Where did that process come from?

BORBAY: On December 4, 2009, my wife’s birthday, I broke my leg during an ice hockey game. This lead to a volumetric amount of solitudinal (coined) couch-time. Each day started out with the New York Post, but now, instead of simply reading the paper, I began to see the paper. On one spread, “Bloomberg bans Salt”, “Priest Rapes Boy”, “JC PENNY $99 Sale”… absurdity. Sensational meets Incendiary meets Consumerism… beyond that, I’d find myself texting on my iPhone and watching a 51” plasma. It occurred to me, one day I’ll be explaining to my kids (Jason Jr. and Jason Jr. II) that Lord Poppington used to read the news on newsprint. So, I began playing around with taking all of these concepts and putting them in one place. It started in an exploratory fashion with “NY Post and The Gang on Christmas”. From there, I began to refine the process — you can see the progression from my “Self Portrait ” (January 2010) to “Diddy” (February 2011) to “Adam Kesher Theroux” (March 2012). Time plus repetition plus experimentation equals understanding.

SO: Time Out New York named you “Most Creative New Yorker” in 2009. That’s a stellar, yet heavy title. How did you feel about that honor at the time, and has it changed your artistic approach? Does it make feel like you have to continually be the “most creative New Yorker?”

BORBAY: When I was in high school, I’d have a great race, but would be crestfallen when I was I didn’t make the paper. My Dad taught me a valuable lesson, “When you do something newsworthy, it is often ignored. Other times, you’ll have a mediocre race, and they’ll print your picture. Learn to take recognition and appreciate it when it comes, because it’s out of your hands.” This was reinforced years later when Denzel won the Oscar for Training Day… he really won it for Glory and Malcolm X, but it was his time. As for Time Out, certainly a beautiful (and marketable) recognition, but I’ll never let anything effect what really matters — the hard work I do each day, week, month and year in the studio. Without the work, you are nothing. SO: How do you feel about comparisons to Banksy, Shepard Fairey and Mr. Brainwash? Do you like their work?

BORBAY: Being mentioned alongside these guys at the same time “Exit Through The Gift Shop” dropped was huge. Any comparisons to successful artists are always welcome. Artistically, Fairey and Banksy are clever, the latter so much so, he invented Brainwash to sell more of his own work under a different brand.

SO: You seem to really use social media as a great resource for getting your work out there. So many artists seem scared of promotion, or look at it as selling out (while actually selling nothing). What are Twitter and Facebook to you, as an artist? A way to share work, connect, interact….?

BORBAY: If you don’t do what you have to do to make money to continue being an artist, you are selling out. Social media has taken the globe and put it on your desktop. The process starts with a painting, which is blogged (photos and video), distributed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and (now) Pinterest. Once a picture is “live”, it’s about interacting with those that interact with your work… I often hear, “you are good at marketing on social media”, which actually means, “If you go one step further, I’ll ignore you”. But hey, nobody can promote and sell your own work better than you. Show me someone who can do this as good or better than I can… actually, if you find this person, let me know, I have a job for them.

SO: Your #KingsOfHipHop exhibit got a ton of buzz. What are a few of your favorites out of that exhibition, and what inspired you while creating each one?

BORBAY: Thank you! While I have a soft spot for all seven of these canvases, I specifically dig Jay-Z (the first), Kanye (palette), Dre (rawness) and Wayne (progression) for their intangibles. While creating, I would play the artists music on repeat for hours to get into their world.

SO: What music do you listen to when you create?  

BORBAY: If I’m listening to music, it’s hip-hop. Most of the time, however, I watch long form TV series or movies on repeat. On the easel, I have collage elements and paint conspiring to form a single image… once you commit to the composition, you spend a lot of time with it, so it’s nice to have someone taking their own journey alongside you… my buds Don Draper, Dexter Morgan, Sawyer; selling brands, cutting up bodies and saying sonofabitch for hours on end — we toil together.

SO: If you could only keep one of your pieces for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?

BORBAY: Stellar question — definitely the portrait of my wife. Some things are simply not for sale…

SO: Who would you say are your biggest influences, in both life and art?

BORBAY: My parents and brothers, then, now and forever — Mom got me started painting wooden bunnies at three. My wife Erin, for her endless love and support. Fellow artists Penn, Zepeda, Lankin, Rapp, Flip, Serafino, Meloy, Nelson… and so many more; Lora Sanders and her students in Temecula. Musicians, particularly those who provide the soundtracks to my process videos… Hunter S. Thompson. This list could go on for weeks.

SO: When was the last time you laughed really hard?

BORBAY: Great question…I always reach deep into the gut for a laugh whenever I hang with my brothers Dan and Tim. There’s this one about the lady with a scratchy voice ordering cold cuts at the Handy Pantry and going out on a date to the Sizzler with a true gentleman, who lights her cigarettes.

SO: Describe what your perfect NYC day and night is.

BORBAY: Easy ones. I wake-up at 8AM, drink coffee with my wife, bust out a blog post, Tweet, Facebook, check my Google Analytics, host a studio visit at 10:30AM, sell a painting (or two), paint from Noon-7PM, hit the sauna, head over to Chelsea Piers, register a shutout in my hockey game, head to Jake’s Saloon with the boys of TBD and our ladies, drink Jameson shots and Bomb Beers until 3AM, cab it home and end the day with some “chica bow-bow”.

SO: Next time I’m in NYC, I’m tagging along! Thanks BORBAY!

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SO Note: Check out all things BORBAY at borbay.com, follow him @BORBAY, and make sure to attend the amazing Streetwater Arts produced show BIG LOBBY ART at Openhouse Gallery March 29 which will feature BORBAY’S new “Kick-Ass Actors in Kick-Ass Roles” paintings.