Thursday, April 30, 2009

Barcode


1997 was the year  I had an opportunity to go to London for a week and test the European market for raped inc. At this time I had just released the barcode graphic which was the first full color design for raped inc. The drawing was inspired by conversations with others about consumerism, Orson Wells, and the Mike Leigh film Naked, which I highly recommend. I was happy with the simple design which visualized the of application of the creative arts practice to an economic brand. What I like most about this one is the concept of "revenge rape" that art enacts on business by turning a graphic soulless symbol into an artistic statement against capitalism. 

Monday, April 13, 2009

Somebody's Watching You


This board marked another series of first for raped inc. Although I continued with the war theme, I decided to use a black and white pallet again to enforce the cold feeling of being watched. The image was taken from a book at the UGA library on events leading up to WWII. I'm not sure exactly what the image is because I lost the notes, but the original covered only 66% of the deck. In order to make a functional layout I had to create the another 3 buildings and wall to cover the entire right side. I was enrolled in an American art history class focusing on Architecture making it easier to complete the buildings in a manner that matched the time period. At the time I also wanted to use ink on transparency instead of paper, forcing me to spend more time on the details of the board graphics. I was also living on my own, so I had plenty of time to draw.  All the time spent researching and drawing paid off to produce one of my favorite graphics of the raped inc. line. I had also stopped using the same graphic for every shape because sales had actually grown.  This was the last board to have raped inc. written out, to be replaced by the "r" logo. 

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Rejection Letters





This is why I have problems getting art shows. 

artWORK




Something a lot of people don't realize is the amount of work it takes to make artwork. Galleries, museums, and especially entertainment give viewers the impression that art seems to magically appear on the canvas, paper, or clay, like some materialized drug induced vision. Ideas may come about this way, but that would lead me to discuss conceptual art, which is an entirely different story. My point is, it takes a lot of work to get from the idea, to the product and that's were the work comes in. Writers have to go through multiple drafts before submitting a version worthy of publication. Artists must do the same through research, sketches, studies, and failed attempts of full-size models. The amount of time, consumed by mental and physical exertion, is usually reflected in the price of the art, along with payment for name recognition, but what I'm focusing on is the work related to the art being viewed, not past achievements. Perhaps viewers would get a better understanding of the value of art if elements  of the practice were included in the exhibit. This may destroy the illusion that art comes from divine inspiration, thus making the artist as mortal as everyone else, but to be blunt, they are. If you shoot an artist in the head, it will die. The major differences between artists and patrons lies in the artist's ability to look at ordinary things with an attentive eye, rather than gloss over the daily obstacles, interpreted as annoyances by the masses.  Here are a few examples of watercolor studies made to better understand the zombie interpretation of St. Sebastian. Enjoy the vision. 

Friday, April 10, 2009

RKO, Skin & Bones sampler

He's Alive, source Caravaggio

Valezquez Cramps
Skinbar Study, source Waterhouse

Sexy Beast, source, too many to name.
For those who couldn't make it to the opening, I've posted a few watercolor pieces from the retrospective, along with some let out of the show. All of these were made around the same time period when I focused my studio practice on painting the master's works as the undead, or monsters. They materials used included cold press paper, watercolors, and the uniball micro pen. I'll post more, such as the studies for St. Sebastian in the next few days.