Back to the Gallery Stroll
I head this month, in the mildly cold month and a set of widely spread out
showings. Browsing this month was a tad difficult, but one stuck out from the
list before me.
--- Signed & Numbered over on
Broadway put on a collaboration show of over twenty artists, all focused on one
thing only. The Coen Brothers cult classic.... “The Big Lebowski.” I myself
prepared for this show by sitting down and watching it a couple of times...
which wasn't really anything new for me. Probably explains a few things about
me for some of you reading this. Then I made my way over for the delightful
showing. This time around I got to chat with three artists. Local printer
Travis Bone,
Travis Bone
http://www.furturtle.com/
Gavin: Hey Travis! First off, tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Travis: Well, I am a native to
Gavin: What first got you into art, and what were some of your early
inspirations?
Travis: My aunt Kim was the first person to get me into art. I was very
very young and I liked drawing Disney characters. I was also fascinated with
dinosaurs and spent a lot of time drawing freakish beasts with lots and lots of
legs.
Gavin: Did you seek out any education in art? And if so, what was that
program like?
Travis: The most recent art classes that I took were at
Gavin: What got you interested in doing concert and venue posters?
Travis: Some of the first concert posters I saw really got me
interested. I saw a Hatch Show Print and I remember wondering why it was so
different than anything I had seen before. The paper was thick, the type was
beautiful and at the time I had no idea what a letterpress was. It didn’t have
the band’s picture on it even! Later, I ran into some of Gary Houston’s posters
and those sort of got me interested in screen printing.
Gavin: Not a lot of people who do poster work take on screen printing
anymore. What made you decide to go the tradition route for it instead of going
digital?
Travis: First off, I thought screen prints were so much more beautiful
than the glossy, flimsy, mass produced ads that hang all over town. Secondly,
after studying a couple of books and watching a video I thought that it would
be easy. I was so very wrong on the latter but I still very much believe in the
first.
Gavin: Does it ever feel like it's a lost art, or do you believe there's
still a strong audience for it?
Travis: Only when I go to the supply store and can’t buy the poster ink
that I use because “Nobody screen prints on paper anymore! Everything is
printed on and Epson now”. The printmaking form is really making a huge
comeback in my opinion. It will never be the industry standard that it was
because of cheaper, faster technologies but there is certainly a growing
appreciation that I have seen.
Gavin: What brought on the decision to start Furturtle?
Travis: Furturtle really started as a potential artistic outlet for me.
I wanted something to put creative energy into as I was in college, studying in
a very non creative environment and sort of losing my mind.
Gavin: You started it up in 2004. How have things gone for you since,
and who are some of the bands you've done posters for?
Travis: Since 2004 things have really gone better than I ever could have
imagined. I have been incredibly lucky to work with some of my favorite bands.
There have been so many amazing people that have helped me along. A few of my
favorite posters were done for Mogwai, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper, and The
Swell Season but I am truly grateful for every opportunity that has come my
way.
Gavin: How did you get involved with “The Big Lebowski” showing at
Signed & Numbered?
Travis: I almost didn’t. I missed the initial call for artists and
wasn’t aware of the show until the lineup was announced. I was a little bit
crushed because Lebowski is one of my all time favorite movies from my all time
favorite film makers but Leia was gracious enough to put me on the standby
list. I guess a couple of artists flaked (the stereotype once again reinforced)
and I was asked to make a print.
Gavin: What inspired the piece you did for the show?
Travis: The first time The Stranger appears in the film he tells The
Dude “A wiser man than me once said: sometimes you eat the b’ar... and
sometimes the b’ar, why... He eats you”. It reminded me of that classic shot of
The Dude at the beginning of the film, soaked from being dunked in the toilet
where he now sits, pondering the rug that had been “metricated” upon. Clearly,
that day The Dude had been eaten by “the b’ar”.
Gavin: What's your take on the overall work coming out of this showing?
Travis: I am super impressed with everything I have seen and am proud to
be a part of the show. Some of my favorites are quiet nods to the more
brilliant and bizarre scenes. The Big Lebowski crying in his wheel chair by
Tony Streeter, Marty performing his dance cycle by Geordan Moore, Leia’s nod to
Maude, and Tuffy’s Autobahn poster are a few of my personal favorites.
Gavin: A little local, what are your thoughts on our art scene, both
good and bad?
Travis: I think the local scene, although small and underrated is a
fantastic one. I’ve had limited experience of it as I am mostly a maker of
advertisements rather than fine art but every artist that I have met has been
very open and friendly.
Gavin: Anything you believe could be done to make it bigger or better?
Travis: I think an injection of pretentiousness would certainly help. We
need more artists with self inflated views of their own work if
Gavin: How about what you think of Gallery Stroll and how its evolved
over the years?
Travis: I’m sort of new to the whole Gallery Stroll thing, but it is
wonderful. Its great to see the same folks out every month supporting it too.
Also, new folks supporting it is great to see.
Gavin: What can we expect from you the rest of this year?
Travis: I will probably be making a few posters, doing some more art
prints and hopefully hanging out at a few shows.
Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
Travis: Signed and Numbered at 220 E. Broadway under Slowtrain for
great, screen printed art from around the world! Check out my website, I may
have done a poster for a show or two that you went to.
A. Micah Smith
http://myassociatecornelius.com/
Gavin: Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Micah: My name is A. Micah Smith and I'm a graphic design / illustrator living
in the great state of
Gavin: What first got you into art, and what were some of your early
inspirations?
Micah: As far back as I can remember, I've always loved drawing things.
I used to cut comic strips out of the paper as a kid and try to re-draw them or
trace them. I remember admiring the names Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery,
etc. At the end of cartoons; thinking, these guys are my heroes. I would say my
earliest inspirations would be those classic Looney Tunes episodes and the
children's books my mom would read to me, particularly Mercer Mayer and all
those great Golden books.
Gavin: Did you seek out any education in art? And if so, what was that
program like?
Micah: I did not go to art school, I was 2 years into a business degree
when I decided my career path. I used my degree's internship program to pursue
a graphic design gig instead of business-natured one. I went off to
Gavin: What got you interested in doing concert and venue posters?
Micah: When I arrived in
Gavin: Not a lot of people who do poster work take on silkscreen
printing anymore. What made you decide to go the tradition route for it instead
of going digital?
Micah: I'm not sure if I would call screenprinting a 'traditional
route'. To me, digital is more of the traditional route nowadays. As someone
who grew up in the 90's, everything was/is digital. It was really an
eye-opening experience to first see the great lengths people were going to to
make something limited, special, tactile, etc. Sure, it's the original way of
printing posters; however, I would call it something like the 'nurturing' or
'manual' route rather than traditional. There are many different mediums to
choose when printing and I'm not knocking digital printing. I have projects
printed digitally all the time and sometimes that works / looks better. I just
love the nuances of screenprinting... there are so many variables to take into
consideration and care for, rather than just pushing 'print' on a dialogue box.
I think that's what people like about it and appreciate when collecting these
pieces... knowing this took time, effort, and passion on top of the artwork
itself.
Gavin: Does it ever feel like it's a lost art, or do you believe there's
still a strong audience for it?
Micah: There is definitely a strong audience for it. I see it at the
festivals I go to when I sell posters at my Flatstock booth. It is by no means
mainstream, but I could see it get there at some point... or something close to
it. I see posters of my contemporaries popping up on TV shows & movies all
the time.
Gavin: How did the idea come up to start My Associate Cornelius, and
where did you get the name from?
Micah: Shortly before leaving for my internship in
Gavin: How did you come to work with Blue Collar Press?
Micah: When I left
Gavin: How did you get involved with “The Big Lebowski” showing at
Signed & Numbered?
Micah: I frequent gigposters.com as much as possible and saw a thread
Leia had started about the Lebowski show. I noticed the show was already full,
so I quickly emailed Leia and told her that, if anyone bailed out, I would
fill-in in a heartbeat. She told me not to fret and put me in the show anyways.
Leia's the best and I'm super happy to be a part of such a cool show.
Gavin: What inspired the piece you did for the show?
Micah: Walter Sobchak is the heart and soul of the movie... I don't
care what anyone says. It's kind of like with George Costanza. The show is called "Seinfeld'", but George is an all-time great as far as sitcoms go. Walter steals
the show like George. Because of that, my print had to involve Walter in some
capacity. The hard part was nailing down which part of the movie to re-create.
I wrestled w/ a lot of options and finally settled on Walter's confrontation of
Larry Sellers. A classic scene; beginning to end.
Gavin: What's your take on the overall work coming out of this showing?
Micah: I haven't seen all of the pieces, but, from what I've seen, it's
very strong work. I particularly enjoyed Mike Budai's print... way to fit a
bunch of elements into a small space without it feeling cramped.
Gavin: What can we expect from you the rest of this year?
Micah: Definitely more posters! I am particularly looking forward to my
first gallery show in early May. It will be during the First Fridays art walk
in downtown
Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
Micah: Well, if you're reading this, then you have, at least, some
interest in the Lebowski print I did in this series, which can be purchased here.
Or the rest of my works, which are for sale here.
Matt Lloyd
http://www.desastre.co.uk/
Gavin: Hey Matt! First off, tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Matt: Hi Gavin. I'm five foot eight and three quarters, I'm light brown, I
have more hair on my chin than on my scalp these days, and at this moment I'm
listening to a superb, aggressive, danceable track by Mos Def called “Do It
Now.” At the moment hip hop is my number one choice of music to listen to
whilst I'm working. In fact it was whilst I was listening to the Beasties last
year that I decided it was time to face facts and just go all-out making art.
Gavin: What first got you into art, and what were some of your early
inspirations?
Matt: Well I've always had an instinct to make things. Big Lego lorries
wooden go-carts, I was into maths and physics and technology. I love lathes and
welders and all kinds of tools, but I was really, really late getting into
"art" art. I was just an absolutely bog-standard kid: I loved kung-fu
films, cartoons on the TV, Judge Dredd comics, skateboarding. The visuals I
found there were the art I liked. I wanted to make comics. Tales From the
Crypt type stuff I loved. “Evil Dead” films too. David Hockney's stuff I
very much admire too, but that was something I just happened across when I was
older.
Gavin: Did you seek out any education in art? And if so, what was that
program like?
Matt: Later on I got pretty pretentious, listening to Be-Bop when I was
about 18, trying to read John Updike and Thoreau for God's sake. I was made for
art school. The art degree I did in
Gavin: How did you decide to start a website for your animations?
Matt: Oh God! You found my animations site?? The animations are sort of
okay, but the site is a disaster! Well I had to put them somewhere, and since I
already knew basic Flash I decided just to piece together an entire site using
it. That's why it's a bit, ahem, clunky. You know what Gavin that's always been
my problem, presentation, self promotion. I'm STILL working on a proper home
for my Flash stuff. This is gonna be the year: I'm finally getting to grips
with Fireworks and Dreamweaver.
Gavin: What's the process like for you putting together the films from
idea to finished product?
Matt: Well usually it starts from a tiny observation, a little phrase. I
love to mimic people's voices and accents. The animation I did about making a
cappuccino, which spread out into months of work (and, because I had to fit it
around my dead end jobs, months became years!) all came out of a silly little
comment I made in this ridiculous, camp, American accent when I myself was
frothing up some milk for coffee. I imagined what the man who spoke like that
would look like and drew him in Flash and it went from there. Same thing with
the Lebowski print. I wandered around for days saying "Lemme tell you
something pende jo" getting into character. Method drawing, man.
Gavin: Do you feel items like flash have made it easier for artists to
make different kinds of work, or does it feel like it's dumbed it down to a
degree.
Matt: Obviously computers are removing all the barriers. Man,
practically anyone can get hold of extremely sophisticated film, sound and
image manipulation software now, this is really a remarkable time in history.
The only problem with this is that now there's no excuse for not making stuff.
I'm serious. I've spent years living on next to nothing but I did have access
to tools like Flash and Illustrator. These things are so ubiquitous now that
it's very easy to forget just how utterly astonishing they are. Dumbed down? I
think that the shortcuts available in such programs could be seen, in some
snobbish way, to be making life too easy for the artist maybe, but you still
need ideas, and to be able to draw, to have a grasp of narrative and so on, so
no, I don't see that anything's been dumbed down.
Gavin: How did you get involved with “The Big Lebowski” showing at
Signed & Numbered?
Matt: The great Leia Bell unwittingly became a mentor and inspiration of
mine a few years back when I was wandering around in
Gavin: What inspired the piece you did for the show?
Matt: John Turturro is only on screen for about 4 minutes during the
whole film yet somehow (he did have the advantage of an extraordinary wardrobe)
he manages to steal the show. For me he's just about the best actor alive.
Obviously in “Barton Fink” and “Miller's Crossing” he's center stage, yet even
when he makes what is almost a cameo appearance in “Lebowski”, his performance
is magnetizing. I had to pick Jesus to draw because of course he is the most
fun to mimic. Man, that body language, that strut! Second, I wanted to get back
to drawing straight into Illustrator because for the past five years or so I've
deliberately moved away from it and got down to brass tacks, drawing in ink and
doing monoprints, linocuts and woodcuts. My real métier is the graphics tablet
though, it just really suits me, so it was wonderful to use it again after
something of a self imposed exile. This is where I show what generation I came
up in: really I've done it all backwards. I learned about layers of colour on
the Mac and worked my towards traditional printmaking from there. Now I'm going
back the other way again.
Gavin: What's your take on the overall work coming out of this showing?
Matt: I think it's great that it's so very, very varied. It's inspiring,
for example, to see the way some people work with photographic stuff. That's
not something I've ever done, which is a bit daft given how well silkscreen
lends itself to that. It's crazy really that I use $3000 worth of electronic
equipment like a felt tip pen!
Gavin: What can we expect from you the rest of this year?
Matt: Lots more Turturro style drawings, possibly a whole series on John
Turturro or the Coen Brothers. More silly Flash animations and I'm also going
to get back to making live action shorts. Busy year ahead.
Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
Matt: Need illustrations/silly flash animations/beautiful woodcuts or
linocuts or screenprints? check out desastre.co.uk (online late March 2009) or
mail mattprint@gmail.com. Hey, also, I'm coming to the states this summer in
July/August, starting off in
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