Tape artist Kuki Gomez is working the angles

BY ISAAC SULTAN | Twenty-five years ago, Kuki Gomez’s friend gave him two rolls of tape as a gift — one neon yellow and one black.

He arrived home that day and began experimenting with the tape, layering shapes and patterns onto his bedroom wall. In this moment, the artist’s signature style — “tape art,” as simply he calls it — was born. Gomez has created art from tape ever since.

Gomez grew up in Buenos Ares, where he eventually attended art school. He moved to the United States 25 years ago and got his start as the creative director of Levi’s jeans, helping to design window displays for the store’s storefronts. Now, he pursues his art full time.

Gomez’s tape art can be spotted at Spicy Moon vegetarian Szechuan restaurant, at 328 E. Sixth St. in the East Village, and at L’imprimerie bakery, in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“I love to make my works look three-dimensional,” Gomez said. “Basically, my goal for the people who see them is the longer they look, the image begins to become something new — almost hypnotic.”

Gomez’s formal education as an art student informs his style.

“I like playing with perspectives and different angles,” he said. “I learned a lot about graphic design in school and I bring those techniques into the tape art.”

To see more of Gomez’s work check out his Instagram.