Two Street Art activists stand behind the pseudonym "Faile": Patrick McNeil, born in Edmonton/California in 1975, and Patrick Miller, born in Minneapolis/Minnesota in 1976. Both artists studied graphic art and graphic design, respectively.
The two friends Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, who know each other since high school, began their cooperation under the name "Alife". Among their first Street Art projects were representations of nude bodies.
After Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller got arrested, they changed their name "Alife" to "Faile" –simply by rearranging the letters.
With Faile they created remarkable works in stencil and bonding technique (Wheat paste). Wheatpasting plays such a big role because the group had a good connection with a print-shop. Works by Faile show sophisticated image worlds created by several superimposed layers. This technique imitates a characteristic appearance of Street Art, images placed on top of each other. In terms of motifs, works by Faile have been inspired by comic strips, films and other contemporary mass media - Faile produces sinister Neo-Pop-Art, often with a dualistic statement.
Meanwhile the Street Art of Faile has attained a remarkable cult status, in 2009 they participated in an outdoor project at Tate Modern in London. Recently Faile has also produced studio works and brought Street Art into galleries. In 2010 the exhibition "A Decade Of Faile" was shown at Lazarides Gallery in London.
Faile is active in Brooklyn/New York.