GQ Germany - January 2012

Surprise - even though he wasn't on the cover, Vincent Gallo was featured in the German GQ :) He got a page under the header of "Heroes" which I think is actually quite fitting. It was basically about his style and things he likes, no new pics or anything.

Here's the translation:

Vincent Gallo

German Rock, Vintage Music Systems and Driving in Los Angeles: This is What the 50 Year Old Artist Likes

American Psycho or American Beauty? Vincent Gallo often portrays freaks in his movies - soon he will play the mystical Kaspar Hauser - and likes to work as a model. He told us, what he likes:

>>  In the 70s, Klaus Nomi told me all I know about style today. Not that I'd copy his way to dress. But his attention to details and the way he always used to express his personality, no matter what, impress me until today.

>>  Klaus Werner Fassbinder is one of my favorite directors. I had the honor to meet him in New York in the early 80s when he presented his movie "Querelle de Brest", which is a very poetic movie. I could easily identify with the gay subculture because I always felt like an alien in my hometown Buffalo.

>>  I had a terrible childhood. I shared a room with my two siblings, my grandfather and his wooden leg. My mother always kept everything very clean and painted all the walls in various colors. Until today I can't stand colored walls. My apartment in downtown Los Angeles is painted completely in white.

>>  There were two reasons to do the current G-Star-Raw-Campaign. First: The money. Second: The photographer, Anton Corbjin, already took pictures of half of my friends. He is a very nice guy.

>>  I know how tough it is to survive without money. When I escaped from Buffalo as a teenager, I had to survive in New York. I hooked up with women in clubs just to have a place to sleep. I finally found a new family at the Studio 54. I own my career to the people I met there.

>>  I try hard to avoid doing the whole red carpet thing. I don't even own a smoking.

>>  I'm fascinated by subcultures in authoritarian systems ever since I visited East-Berlin in the early 80s. I traveled to the East several times with my German girlfriend, Anna. One time when we were on the way back to the West, we heard loud music coming from Checkpoint Charlie - an illegal party. When we went in and I took a bottle of Coca Cola out of my bag and they freaked out - it was almost as if I'd brought illegal drugs along.

>>  I have a huge collection of old Hi-Fi equipment. Especially German preision engineering by Siemens, Telefunken und Braun from the 50s and 60s.

>>  I can't stand hip hop bands from california. I rather prefer German rock by Cluster, Popol Vuh and Neu! at the moment.

>>  Jean-Michel Basquiat and I were close friends but I don't own a single painting he did. I started collecting art quite late. At the moment, I but a lot by Jess, a young artist from San Francisco who does wonderful collages.

>>  Los Angeles is the best place in the world. Provided you like having to go everywhere by car. To me, that's a bit like yoga.

>>  I don't have an assistant, a lawyer, a spokesperson or a stylist. I also don't have a housekeeper, a gardener or anything like that. The only thing I have is a dentist.