juxtapoz art & culture magazine - august 2013
DESCRIPTION
Art CultureTRANSCRIPT
DAFT PUNKA PERFECT CAMPAIGN
COLOSSUS OF ROADSTHE DEFINITIVE INTERVIEW
SWISS ARMY KNIFEA FACTORY TOUR
ART+CULTURE+DESIGN AUG 13, n151
He Comes In Peace DAVID CHOE’SAFGHANISTAN
TOUR DIARY+ Photos by Estevan Oriol
DAVID CHOE IN UAEPhoto by Estevan Oriol
JUXTAPOZISSUE #151 – AUGUST, 2013
10 CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT14 INTRODUCTION
18 THE REPORT22 EVENT
24 PICTURE BOOK32 DESIGN
36 FASHION42 INFLUENCES
48 DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
60 VANIA ZOURAVLIOV68 ADAM PARKER SMITH76 COLOSSUS OF ROADS
86 TROELS CARLSEN94 MOMO
102 ANTLER GALLERY SPOTLIGHT112 JULIE NORD
122 TRAVEL INSIDER126 BEAUTIFUL BITS
128 REVIEWS130 EVENT134 STYLE
136 SIEBEN ON LIFE138 POP LIFE
142 PERSPECTIVE
FOUNDER
ROBERT WILLIAMS
EDITOR
EVAN PRICCO
ART DIRECTOR
TRENTON TEMPLE
MANAGING EDITOR
ALEX NICHOLSON
CO-FOUNDER
GREG ESCALANTE
CREATIVE CONSULTANT
SUZANNE WILLIAMS
GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR
KEVIN CONVERTITO
CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER
NICK LATTNER
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
C.R. STECYK III
CONTRIBUTING WEB + PRINT EDITORS
AUSTIN McMANUSHANNAH STOUFFER
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR
AUSTIN McMANUS
CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR
LINDSEY BYRNES
JUXTAPOZ ILLUSTRATOR
MUNK ONE
THE FINAL READER
KRISTIN FARR
AGENCY DESIGNER
DREW BRISCOE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
DAVID CHOEGREG ESCALANTE
KRISTIN FARRPAUL FRANK
HENRIK HAVENCODY HUDSON
ANDREW MCCLINTOCKAUSTIN McMANUSANGELO MILANO
KEN NELSONEVAN PRICCO
MICHAEL SIEBENHELEN SOTERIOU
C.R. STECYK IIIHANNAH STOUFFER
ROBERT WILLIAMS
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
IAN CAMPBELL COLOSSUS OF ROADS aka buZ blurr
AMY DURANHENRIK HAVEN
ERADA KHANMAMEDOVAJONATHAN LEIJONHUFVUD
ANDREW MCCLINTOCKANGELO MILANOMATTHEW MILLERALEX NICHOLSON
ESTEVAN ORIOLHELEN SOTERIOU
ERIC MINH SWENSON
INTERNS
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cover photo by ESTEVON ORIOL
David Choe2013
JUXTAPOZ ISSN #1077-8411 AUGUST 2013 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 8
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STAFF
10 JUXTAPOZ
ESTEVAN ORIOLPhotographer for DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
EARLIER THIS YEAR David asked me if I wanted to go to the Middle East with
a plan to vist Dubai and Afghanistan. Then the scenario got smaller, and we were
going to Dubai and Turkey. Hearing this, I was a little bummed because I had gone
through a lot to get the visa and passport and spent the money for the Afghanistan
portion, but I’m a team player and was down to go wherever!
Once we got to Turkey, our Afghanistan connection ended up coming through,
and we were directed to meet with him when we got back to Dubai. Saad Mohseni
runs the biggest media network in Afghanistan and was the one who was going to
hook us up over there. On the first day David painted with a female Afghani graffiti
artist, and the second day they went to paint at a castle and with kids at their school.
Saad hooked it up for me to go to a prison and shoot some photos of the Taliban
prisoners, so I didn’t make it to the school. The third day we went to Panjshirs Valley,
aka Death Valley, where we had the ultimate tour guide, Muslem Hayat, one of the
top mujahideen fighters with Ahmad Shah Massoud during the Soviet occupation.
He later became Massoud’s security chief. Afghanistan is no joke, and I hope to
go back.
MORE JUXTAPOZ COVERS from ESTEVAN ORIOL
left: November 2006 cover with Mister Cartoon
right: May 2008 subscriber cover
CONTRIBUTOR
brixton.com
DOLAN STEARNS
INTRODUCTION
JUXTAPOZA R T + C U L T U R E M A G A Z I N E
ISSUE #151
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING why there is a guy riding a
submerged tank in the hills of Afghanistan on our cover this month.
Maybe you think you are reading Vice, or because the photo is so well
composed, a National Geographic travel journal. No, that is David Choe
with whom we last spoke in May 2010, after which he proceeded to do
graffiti with Barbara Walters, flatter Howard Stern, and even had Aubrey
Plaza name-dropping him on Conan O’Brien. And there was the Facebook
thing—the incredible front-page news that compelled The Times to write
about the “graffiti artist who chose Facebook stock instead of cash.”
For about a week, David was the most famous stockholder in America.
Which is sort of beside the point now. In early 2013, David told me that
he was going to Afghanistan. When most wealthy people rhapsodize
vacation plans, they might regale about the French Riviera and seeing the
stars at the Cannes Film Festival. David went to the Middle East during
wartime… and made a ton of friends. I would like to say I wasn’t surprised,
because David is a contagious spirit who literally “lives life to the fullest,”
and that doesn’t even come close to defining who David is and what he is
accomplishing in his life. And that is why you see his picture on the cover
of this magazine.
David’s art, at its best, is a burst of energy that is so impactful, so full
of life and, yes, risk. It rivals the greats of the past 50 years. Neither a
conversation of skill, art history, or subject matter; it’s about capturing
the moment with one of contemporary art’s most unique people—hell,
one of the world’s most unique souls. So we’re here in Afghanistan with
him to witness what unflappable passion and curiosity looks like in a place
where most dare not go.
What I find fascinating today is that the energy David infuses in his art
career is indistinguishable from his life: it has been about the gamble.
If you would have told 100 emerging artists they had the choice to get
paid $50k to paint the offices of a startup or get some shares, 999 out
of 1,000 would have taken the cash up front. David did what David does.
Such infectious confidence, boldness, and vulgarity confounded The New
York Times and national media when they caught wind of him years later.
Who does this guy think he is? They were late to this story, missed the
years of blood, sweat, and tears, and by the time they caught on,
David had moved on to his next novel.
Afghanistan or bust? Maybe that is the theme here: go with your instincts.
One of the true original spirits to have been in the pages of Juxtapoz
magazine in our 19 years is showing us all that through art. A lifetime
of exploration itself is the goal, and our fearless guide keeps drawing
the map.
THE ENERGY DAVID INFUSES IN HIS ART CAREER IS
INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM HIS LIFE
photo by Estevan Oriol
KUSTOM KULTURE IIDON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK
opposite page
Von DutchWorking his magic
top
George Barris...and his excaliber
NOT SIMPLY AN ART PROMOTION, the Kustom Kulture art show was and is an important
exhibit. Originally, it was the brainchild of Greg Escalante, C.R. Stecyk III, Bolton Colburn, and
the woman who dreamed up the name Kustom Kulture, Susan Anderson. It was not only the
first Low Brow art show at a real museum, it was carefully devised to offer disenfranchised,
underground artists admission to an “overground venue.” Although Von Dutch and Ed Roth
have been long dead, Kustom Kulture has spread all over the world. —Robert Williams
PAUL FRANKKulture to me is a rebellion from what is normal and
safe. It is born out of wanting to express oneself by
visually or physically altering the everyday things in his/
her life to make them scarier, faster or louder. It’s a way
of saying to the world “I’m different,” “I am not happy
with normal stuff,” or, “This is the way I think it oughta
look and I am gonna make it the best I can to make sure
you notice!” Anyone who does this or appreciates this
is part of the “Kulture.”
I have fond memories of the first Kustom Kulture show.
At that time I was just starting to take art classes and
become interested in sewing. I was also coincidentally
reading a book on Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, which showed
how he made his cars out of plaster and newspaper.
I immediately connected with his work and how he
just did these things the only way he knew how. He
didn’t take a sculpting class. He just wanted to make
something that was unique and he put his heart and
soul (and sweat) into it. This had a giant impact on me.
I feel surf and car culture have everything in common.
Both are about doing something different than what
is normal. Both are about wanting a thrill, whether it’s
on a wave or in a fast car. Both are about expressing
yourself, right? I mean my friends would get their
surfboards custom made with shapes, fins and colors
that were unique to them. My car friends would cut the
fenders off their cars or put big engines in them in a
similar way. I think it is neat how you can find Rat Fink
on a surfboard and a car.
With this show I am celebrating the influence and
inspiration Kustom Kulture has been and still is.
Kustom Kulture has changed the way we look at >>
THE REPORT: GO SEE THIS
JUXTAPOZ.COM AUGUST 2013 19
A LOOK BACK FROM OUR CO-FOUNDERKustom Kulture II is important in that it revisits the original Kustom Kulture which had a profound
influence on the cultural landscape, instrumental as it was in creating the art scene as we know it.
Juxtapoz was founded a year after the show in order to document and promote a sorely needed
new movement. It has been 20 years since the last event, and young people are in the midst of
what Kustom Kulture spawned and are curious about the history. This show serves to reconnect the
original players with a new generation, and in the overview also serves to broaden the scope of the
low brow influence by including Margaret Keane, Don Ed Hardy, Basil Wolverton and many others.
—Greg Escalante
>> and make art. I want kids and young people to see the
old and new works of this art form and hopefully be as
inspired as I have been by it.
C.R. STECYK IIIKustom Kulture II is important in ways beyond its first
incarnation because it pays homage to the precursors
of the movement, along with established masters
like Von Dutch, Big Daddy Roth and Robert Williams.
Seen herein are works by such pioneering individuals
such as Basil Wolverton,
Harvey Kurtzman, Walt
Disney, Margaret Keane
and Rick Griffin. It also
extends forward with
expressions by RETNA,
Billy F. Gibbons, Don Ed
Hardy, Jeff Decker,
Jason Maloney, and
George and Brett Barris
also being included in
the conversation.
The US Open Pro Surf/Skate event attracts one
million visitors to HB over a nine-day period.
The Huntington Beach Art Center is a paramount,
non-commercial cultural expression positioned at
the epicenter of the aforementioned transactional
explosion. Main Street in Surf City USA is ground
zero for the surfskate apocalypse.
In the risk averse arena of museum curation,
propositions like this are seldom presented to the
public. Kustom Kulture is a taboo topic. Art expression
by the unwashed and the unholy does not fare well
with the progenitors of high art.
The collaboration of a lot of forthright people made
this happen. Paul Frank, a hometown hero, comes
back to the Huntington Beach Art Center as a curator.
The City of Huntington Beach, director Kate Hoffman,
Vans, Stuart and Judy Spence, Greg Escalante, Doug
Palladini, Juxtapoz and Hippodrome all provided
significant support.
KK2 both rounds out the equation and illustrates
the previously unexamined underpinnings of
the movement.
PROPOSITIONS LIKE THIS
ARE SELDOM PRESENTED TO
THE PUBLIC.
HuntingtonBeachArtCenter.org
IN REAL LIFEKustom Kulture II will
be on display at the
Huntington Beach Art
Center through August 31,
2013. The exhibition was
made possible by Vans
IN THE VAULT
Robert Williams
explores the legend of
Ed “Big Daddy” Roth in
our April 2012 feature
JUXTAPOZ.COM / VAULT
top left and right
Von Dutch
left
Juxtapoz #1
THE REPORT: GO SEE THIS
20 JUXTAPOZ
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THIS SUMMER, the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City
will focus on the neo-Symbolist movement with the exhibition The
Pond, The Mirror, The Kaleidoscope, a collection of 30 paintings,
drawings and sculptures from emerging and established graduates
from one of the the leading art schools in the US. Curated by Thomas
Woodruff, chair of the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department,
and respected artist in his own right, the show will feature names
familiar to Juxtapoz such as James Jean, Mu Pan, and Timothy
Okamura, but also some of our favorites in Mark Lang, Sakura Maku,
and Martin Wittfooth.
In an essay surrounding both the alumni exhibition and the
Symbolist movement, Mr. Woodruff wrote:
“The best work of the Symbolists, a global phenomenon at the turn
of the century, is rarely seen and is difficult to track down, often
regionally isolated, and critically neglected. Yet no art movement
resonates so strongly with young people today, particularly those
interested in pictures and making pictures. When I show this work in
my classes, the students always remark, where has this work been
hidden? There is no course specifically dealing with this work in the
SVA Art History department at the moment, and with the exception of
the limited Neue Galerie in NYC, there has been minimal attention to
the period, yet like the flu, every year comes a mean dose of Matisse,
Picasso, or Cézanne—excuse me if I don’t want to catch it again.
Like the Symbolists, today’s neo-Symbolists are arguably eccentric
and obsessive, and they use low-tech methods to tell new stories
to new audiences. They make art that is intellectually surprising,
brimming with visions of the world as it is—or how it could be.
And like the Symbolists, they are sometimes dismissed as
‘mere illustrators’ because they work in a figurative tradition.”
The exhibition will be on view at the Visual Arts Gallery from
August 20—September 14, 2013, 601 West 26 Street, 15th floor,
New York City. For more information, visit SVA.edu.
THE POND, THE MIRROR, THE KALEIDOSCOPE
THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS IN NYC CELEBRATES THE NEO-SYMBOLIST
left topby Sakura Maku
left bottomby Mark Lang
EVENT
22 JUXTAPOZ
VANCOUVER
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NEW YORK
SAN FRANCISCO
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RICHARD SANDLER
UNCOVERING A NYC LEGEND
Photos by RICHARD SANDLER
THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH by Richard Sandler
I had ever seen was uncredited. I spent hours typing
in every single Google search word that described this
image and came up with nothing. A year or so passed
before I stumbled upon the same photograph and,
again, it was uncredited! The tableau shows of an older,
well-dressed woman gripping a subway pole with
both hands. Eyeballs are spaced, looking anatomically
impossible, and on either side of the pole, she stares
directly and intensely at Sandler. Actually, everyone
on the graffiti-
smashed subway
car is revited to the
attention of Sandler.
It’s a resonating
image, haunting and
deeply symbolic
of a particular time
in New York. How
I found out that he
was responsible for this image had nothing to do with
my research. By chance, I received an email from
my sister-in-law, asking if I was familiar with her
friend’s work and suggesting that I meet him. Finally,
mystery solved!
Sandler’s work is not limited to cleverly composed,
bleakly-lit photographs of the New York Subway
system in the ’80s, but also extends to free form
documentary films with titles like Brave New York and
The Gods of Times Square, both valuable historical
records of the ever-changing landscape and culture
of New York City. Over the course of several decades
Sandler has amassed countless arresting, and often
visually challenging street photographs—a body of
work that continues to demand attention.
—Austin McManus
For more information, visit RichardSandler.com
IT’S A RESONATING IMAGE, HAUNTING AND
DEEPLY SYMBOLIC OF A PARTICULAR TIME
IN NEW YORK.
PICTURE BOOK
24 JUXTAPOZ
26 JUXTAPOZ
THERE ARE FEW people for whom I’d awaken at
4am for, let alone travel from London to Zurich and
back in a day. But for my old friends at Juxtapoz,
and for one of the world’s most iconic design
companies, Victorinox, I defi nitely made that exception.
Everyone I know wanted to accompany me on the trip,
and I enjoyed watching my friends’ faces fl ush with
excitement and jealousy, listening to them recount
childhood memories of their fathers and grandfathers
owning a Victorinox Swiss Army knife.
Victorinox headquarters is located in beautiful
Ibach-Schwyz, at the foot of the two snow-dusted
Mythen peaks. My host Mr. Urs Wyss greeted me at
Schwyz train station with a warm smile and a warmer
handshake, and we drove the short distance to the
factory. I spent the next fi ve hours learning about the
history, design, process, and future of the legendary
company. Victorinox is the largest cutlery factory
in Europe and employs 900 people, many of whom
stopped to greet me. Most of them, including Urs,
have been working at the family-owned company for
many years, with fourth generation CEO, Carl Elsener
at the helm.
The key to the success and reputation
of Victorinox lies in its history. Very little
has changed over the course of 100
years, and it doesn’t need to. They have
not strayed from their core principles and design,
and even though there have been innovations and
diversifi cations, they all advance the company’s story.
In 1884, master cutter Karl Elsener and his mother
founded the Swiss Cutlers’ Association to help create
jobs and alleviate the poverty and unemployment
that was occurring in Switzerland at the time.
THEY ARE NOT THROWAWAY GADGETS; THEY ARE HEIRLOOMS
VICTORINOX SWISS ARMY FACTORY, SWITZERLAND
A VISIT TO VENERABLE, ICONIC KNIFE MAKER HEADQUARTERS
Story and photos by HELEN SOTERIOU
Victorinox factorySwitzerland
2013
DESIGN
32 JUXTAPOZ
The association’s objective was to produce knives
for the soldiers of the Swiss Army. They delivered the
first product in 1891: A knife comprised of a large blade,
screwdriver, can opener and reamer. The soldier’s knife
was robust but very heavy, so Karl went on to develop a
knife for officers that was much lighter and had six tools,
including an additional small blade and corkscrew.
That the market is flooded with imitations is
demonstrated as Urs pulls out a drawer full of copycat
knives of various sizes and shades of red. All sorts of
signs and symbols illustrate the crude workmanship
and the scale of the problem. They thrive because of
their low price point, and granted, Victorinox knives are
not cheap. Rather than throwaway gadgets, they are
heirlooms that often get passed down from generation
to generation, and more importantly, the price is relative
to the workmanship and finish that goes into each
product. The Swiss Champ, for example, is the flagship
of the series with 33 features. It consists of 64 individual
parts and goes through more than 450 steps in the
manufacturing process.
Victorinox is part of the official equipment of space
shuttle crews; US presidents since Lydon B. Johnson
have presented White House guests with Victorinox
pocketknives, and, since 1977, the Museum of Modern
Art in New York houses a Swiss officer’s knife in their
Architecture and Design Department collection.
But most signifcantly, the Swiss Army knife has been
a fixture in the artist’s toolbox for over 100 years.
Simplicity and function never go out of style.
For more information, visit Victorinox.com/CH
IN 2005, VICTORINOX acquired fellow Swiss Army knife maker,
Wenger. One of the best parts of this purchase? Victorinox took over the
legacy of Wenger’s incredible 87-piece, 120-functioning tools “pocketknife.”
This Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife has been called the “The Most
Multifunctional Penknife” by Guinness World Records, and let’s
get it straight; this is not a novelty. This is every
Swiss Army knife feature in one tool.
That includes: 14 blades, three types of pliers, countless screwdrivers, saws,
wrenches, a bicycle chain rivet setter, cigar-cutting scissors, laser pointer,
tire-tread gauge, golf divot repair tool, magnifying glass, compass,
nail clippers, toothpick, tweezers, and key ring.
Thank you to Wenger.ch for the list of tools
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS’THE MOST MULTIFUNCTIONAL PENKNIFE
34 JUXTAPOZ
DESIGN
36 JUXTAPOZ
THE SUMMER OF PUNKWHY SAINT LAURENT’S COLLAB WITH DAFT PUNK GOT IT RIGHT
WHEN PHOTOGRAPHER and designer Hedi
Slimane took over the Parisian couture giant Saint
Laurent in 2012, there was speculation that the fashion
house might return to the musical roots seen in its
earliest years. After all, Slimane had his ongoing
Rock Diary project, documenting both veterens and
newcomers to the music scene, and this connection
would surely be a priority as creative director at
YSL. The Saint Laurent Music Project ad campaign
was launched in early 2013, featuring contemporary
musicians styled in both “iconic and permanent pieces
of the Saint Laurent collection. Each musician would
then be commissioned for an original soundtrack for
the Saint Laurent shows. It is a stunning combination
of fashion, music, and the art of photography and
stage presentation.
Enter Daft Punk. In recent memory, has there been
a better album promotion campaign than the one
initiated and directed for the Parisian duo’s standout
Random Access Memories striking the world like a
sleek, black-clad nuclear explosion?
They have those. The mysterious
billboard campaigns, snippet
commercials played on “Saturday
Night Live,” teasers at Coachella,
Nile Rodgers guitar upstrokes, and
of course, the iconic silhouettes of
the helmet-clad Daft Punk created
an immense groundswell that lasted throughout the
Summer. By the time Daft Punk got in front of the
camera to participate in the Saint Laurent Music Project,
the longtime collaborators showed that this Random
Access Memories promotional tour wasn’t just
A STUNNING COMBINATION OF FASHION, MUSIC, AND THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND STAGE PRESENTATION.
above
PromotionsImage copyright
Saint Laurent and
Hedi Slimane
opposite page
Album promotion wheatpaste
FASHION
38 JUXTAPOZ
about presenting a collection of songs; it was the
rare kind of art project that extends to the visual,
commercial, musical, and fashion worlds without a
note of contrivance. It was a stroke of brilliance that
probably made Bowie and Kanye bristle with envy
(at the time of press, Kanye’s Yeezus had yet to
take a full promotional identity).
Not every musical entity can achieve this sort of
promotional and fashion identity. The stars have
to align, and for Daft Punk, the helmets, computer
voices, rarified releases, Parisian sensibility,
and kinship with the likes of fashion designer Hedi
Slimane made for a sophisticated sort of branding
that most musicians could not achieve. But for a
perfect few months in 2013, Daft Punk injected
fashion with a futuristic high, and fashion attired
Daft Punk for a suitably iconic cover. Who knew YSL
would look so good on robots? —EP
Random Access Memories is now available on iTunes—
for more information, visit YSL.com
>>
WHEN FASHION, ART, AND MUSIC COMBINE TO MAKE SWEET... MUSIC
Ph
oto
gra
ph
by B
ria
n D
uff
y
KANYE WEST x TAKASHI MURAKAMI 2007
When Mr. West dropped his third LP, Graduation, he hired the transcendent international art star, Takashi Murakami, to create the full visual look of the album which even found its way into Kanye’s fashion. The persona paid off, and West not only became the world’s biggest pop star, but a visual artist with intelligent curatorial skills.
DAVID BOWIE AS ZIGGY STARDUST 1972
Bowie at any stage could be considered an art and fashion project with a built-in soundtrack, as the V&A Museum’s current David Bowie Is... exhibit certifies his artistic wizardry. But it begins with Ziggy Stardust, and years later, has set the template of how the image is just as important as the song itself.
BJORK 1977–PRESENT
We assume Bjork came flying out of the womb with iconic, progressive fashion sense and songwriting. We can’t pinpoint just one moment, but rather her entire career has been based on powerfully provocative stage adornments, music, and visual art. Consider her a lifetime achievement winner.
Art
Dir
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by A
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FASHION
KEN DAVISSIGN YOUR LIFE AWAY
IN A WORLD OF DIGITAL MARKETING and social media platforms, there has been an
increasingly prominent revival of handmade arts over the past ten years. We visit the Bay Area
studio of Ken Davis, where we meet an artist adopting in the tradition of sign painting, tattoo,
and the classic practice of apprenticeship. From working with San Francisco-based New Bohemia
Signs to taking sign painting to the gallery world, Ken Davis affirms tradition in modern works.
SKATEBOARDINGSkateboarding was a huge deal for me
because it brought a whole world into my
grasp where I could be as much a part
of it as I wanted. A proper skate shop in
the 1990s was better to me than any art
gallery. You had Giant and Dug doing the
art for Think, Todd Francis and several
other monsters creating deadly graphics
for Deluxe, and you always had the
foundation that Jim and Jimbo Phillips
created for Santa Cruz. I linked up with
Tony, the owner of the local skate shop,
and he really helped push my art to some
good people in the skateboard world.
INFLUENCES
42 JUXTAPOZ
THE SIGN PAINTING TRADITIONPrior to my apprenticeship, I had to learn to paint signs
somewhere so I began hoarding books on the subject.
Early on, I snagged an old E.C. Matthews book called
Sign Painting Course. Simple enough, I opened the
pages, and it melted my face. And so, as my limited
income would allow, I began collecting as many old
sign books as I could. A librarian friend gave me an
original Atkinson Sign Painting manual shortly after
my first sign book purchase. Frank Atkinson was a
complete monster in lettering and layout. I am a strong
believer in the tradition where you must first learn
and execute your craft according to the way everyone
before you did. Once you have mastered that, you can
then add your own take on it.
I am very glad I was able to meet and gain priceless
knowledge from older guys like Bob Dewhurst and
the late Rey Giese, who was a sign painter from San
Jose that painted full-time professionally for 79 years.
In the few times I was able to speak with him, it was
inspiring to be around a person who was so genuinely
happy to be able to make a living off what he loved.
When I wanted to commission him to paint a sign for
me, he replied, “you’re a sign painter, why don’t you
paint it?” I loved that he thought I was a fool for paying
him for a sign that he felt I could paint. For him, the
idea that his work could be a sought after piece of art
by other artists didn’t enter into his thinking. If there’s
only one thing that the old guard of sign painters can
leave us with it’s that you should do your best job on
every piece of work that comes your way. Not only are
you being trusted to create something that represents
someone and their business in the best way possible,
you also owe that pride to everyone who’s come before
you and held that code.
opposite topKen Davis In front of the
work of William Blake
opposite bottomKen Davis’ Creature
board designs
top leftReynold Albert Giese
Memorial Service Program
bottom right
The End of The LinePainted by Rey Giese
I AM A STRONG BELIEVER IN THE TRADITION WHERE YOU MUST FIRST LEARN AND EXECUTE YOUR CRAFT ACCORDING
TO THE WAY EVERYONE BEFORE YOU DID.
above
Black Heart TattooSan Francisco
below
Wild YearsInspired by Tom Waits
NEW BOHEMIA SIGNS
New Bohemia came along completely by chance,
and when it came I wasn’t about to let go. When the
apprenticeship opportunity arrived, I quit my cushy
security blanket of a job and began stocking produce
for far less so I could devote proper time to learning
the craft while not starving to death. I had admired the
institution for several years before while I was smearing
1shot in awful lettering and even more abhorrent
mechanical layouts. I quickly learned that elaborate
lettering and bad layout is the equivalent of drawing
a comic book hero who looks like he’s suffering from
elephantitis, the kind with 100 percent emphasis on
bicep and peck muscles. What I have learned from Josh
Luke, Damon Styer, and every single person working
there is priceless, the most valuable being that there
is always room for improvement. Damon paints signs
at an ungodly speed which everyone should emulate.
Josh is an overlord in everything he does, both his
overall outlook and dedication to the craft. He led by
example and through that, I learned you are never too
good for a job. Just because it is hand painted doesn’t
mean it has to look like junk.
I can go on forever on the great things that shop has
given me, but in the end, they opened up to me and
through a lot of sacrifice and dedication on my part to
my mentors, I inherited a craft that I intend on doing
until I keel over into my thinner jar. There’s no option
B for me.
THE TATTOO COMMUNITY
Everyone I have met in that industry who is good at
what they do has an encyclopaedia-esque foundation
on traditional techniques and styles. It makes sense to
me and I completely feel the same about sign painting.
You can’t expect to make a level five face-melting
sign without first learning how to turn an “O” properly
or make an open/closed sign. Posture and breathing
also are big things I have learned from my friends who
tattoo. All the tattooers I know get this and their work
flourishes because of it. Doing the gold leaf window for
Black Heart Tattoo in SF was a big deal for me.
For more information, visit ArtOfKenDavis.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / KEN-DAVIS
44 JUXTAPOZ
INFLUENCES
CODE: 92478
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48
DAVID CHOETHE AFGHANISTAN TOURPhotography by ESTEVAN ORIOL Text by DAVID CHOE
to celebrate with my favorite photographer Estevan Oriol and my handyman Critter.
For fun I wore a tie-dyed burka while blowing out the candles on my cake, and within
minutes got so hot I took it off and was back in my tank top and sweat shorts. It was a
scorching night, and women around me were wearing these thick, dark blue burkas that
covered their entire bodies, even the eyes. They seemed to not mind, but it made me
uncomfortable (as well as sexually excited) just to see all the women shrouded in secrecy,
eating food under hoods so that we couldn’t even see their pretty mouths. There is no
fucking way they were comfortable, and it made me uncomfortable as shit that they had
to sit there like that. But I’m told if they take the burka off, they can be beaten, jailed,
or even killed. It’s not for me to judge but I will anyways. I like Halloween just as much as
the next guy, but
I AM FRIENDS with a lot of artists and wish I wasn’t because that means I’m
friends with lots of sad, depressed, manic, bipolar fucks. Being sad and depressed
and worrying about your stupid fucking feelings is a luxury of the rich (which is why
no one talks about their feelings more than me) and having too much time to think
when the rest of the world is busy just trying to stay alive. In a place like Kabul you
don’t have time to bleed. The day we arrived, eight Turkish tourists were taken
hostage by Al-Qaeda 15 minutes from where we were staying. Fucking great. Hey,
no problem.
Let me start off by saying I had no business being in Afghanistan, which is why
I went. Kabul in the 1970s used to be a great vacation spot; there was an emerging
middle class and even hipsters in cute mini-skirts and hairdos. Vietnam, even with
the might of the American military, was virtually impossible to capture because of its
dense jungles. Afghanistan is also one of the hardest regions in the world to conquer
because it’s surrounded by harsh terrain and snow capped mountains. Flying into
Kabul today is a dizzying experience: landing in a war zone, gun hand-offs at the
airport, military check points on every block, everyone armed to the teeth with
AK-47s and hand guns, women shrouded in burkas rushing the cars at red lights.
Our driver must’ve seen the uneasiness in my face as he pointed to one of the
I WENT TO AFGHANISTANON MY 37TH BIRTHDAY
JUST FUCKING SUCKS.
DRESSING UP AS A GHOST WITH A SHEET OVER YOUR HEAD 365 DAYS A YEAR
DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
50 JUXTAPOZ
women and said, “Oh shit, that’s a suicide bomber!”
I jumped backed into my seat as a shy wet, nervous fart
leaked out and our driver and armed guard pointed
at me and started laughing. Assholes.
One of the first things you’ll notice when you leave
the airport is that there are a lot of outdoor vendors
selling everything from live chickens to slaughtered
meats, bread, and carrots. The carrots out here are
fucking huge, I don’t know why. They told me there is
no gambling out here, but we all know that’s bullshit.
Wherever there are humans you will find games of
chance. They tell me if it’s breathing, they fight them
out here: humans, chicken fights, dog fights, ram fights,
and even quail fights. However, I was not here for
gambling or to watch anything tear another apart.
I was here because of Saad.
I met Saad Mohseni at his house party in Dubai through
my comedian friend Yoshi. Saad is an Afghan media-
mogul and entrepreneur. As Chairman of MOBY Group,
one of Afghanistan’s largest media companies, he is
often referred to as the Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan
(which he hates), and he looks exactly like a young
Jeff Goldblum (which he likes). He basically runs shit in
Kabul. Saad invited me out, told me I’d love it, gave us
the VIP treatment and even lent us his own personal
armed guards for our entire stay. Talk about a thankless
job. I’ve never in my life had an armed escort with
a fully automatic weapon follow me into the shitter,
and there was so much pressure to pinch it quick;
like my sphincter muscle was putting a brown turtle
in a headlock with my turd cutter, and get back quick,
but it was literally the shittiest shitter. No door, no toilet
paper. I was somewhat solid that day. It was a squatter
style and I missed the hole and shit on the floor, and by
the looks of it, hundreds of others had also missed.
The food here must’ve been really good because a
line started and three guys were waiting for my stall.
One started talking to me, asking me where I’m from,
that he would love to come visit me someday in LA.
It’s always awesome talking to someone while I’m
bottomless and I have to send the guard out to
get some napkins (thanks bro). I kicked the shit in
to the hole, wiped, looked down and quickly exited
the shitter.
The burkas in Kabul are dark blue, a nice neutral
color, always in fashion whether it’s Spring, Summer,
or Fall. With no slits for the eyes out here, they cover
everything. Our new local expat friends Tamar and Sara
Jean from the US can get away with more because they
are Westerners. They wear long pants and wrap their
heads, but you can still see their faces.
We visited a Calligraphy school, and it’s so sick.
The Arabic calligraphy looks like graffiti in the style
of Rostarr, Retna, and Chaz Boroquez. But better.
Every line or squiggle means something political
or religious, and there is so much meaning in every
nuance. I sat down and just started scribbling abstract
shit, and they just laugh and look at me like I’m a slow
adult; but actually I don’t think they were laughing…
they looked annoyed as shit. We went up on a roof to
get a good view of the city and the young men at the
tire shop below saw the women’s faces and that was
enough to throw all societal etiquette out the window.
They just pull out their junk and start cranking their
wieners in the bright Kabul sun as the light glistened off
their shiny, rock hard shafts. The women gasped and
ran off the roof. I just stood there and kept watching
because that’s how I like to party. But with just me up
there they quickly wet-noodled, went soft, snapped
out of their collective trance and went back to work
as if nothing had ever happened. Imagine the amount
of pent up lust built up in you, to the point where you
would just whip your veiny cock out in public just from
seeing a girl’s face? Later that night, to no avail, I tried to
jerk off to just the image of a girl’s face. It was useless,
I was too far gone, it was too late for me. Oh well,
I pulled out the Vaseline and huge carrots and went
back to my usual routine.
I came to Kabul to relax and chill, not to paint. They even
THE DAY WE ARRIVED, EIGHT TURKISH TOURISTS WERE TAKEN HOSTAGE BY AL-QAEDA 15
MINUTES FROM WHERE WE WERE STAYING.
DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
AUGUST 2013 53JUXTAPOZ.COM
54 JUXTAPOZ
said it’d be impossible; they don’t let artists paint
outside on the walls. Anyone trying to do graffiti gets
shot. But Saad let everyone in the government know
that the baddest fucking gook in Koreatown, the most
important artist in the world had come to visit Kabul.
So they let me tag the mayor’s office and vandalize
the royal palace. The spray paint out there was super
shitty and watery, and I was instructed to not paint any
images of pigs or women. I’ve never had the mayor
of any town come out and shake my hand on national
television and thank me for defacing their office.
When we got to the royal palace it looked like a set
from a war movie. You could see how beautiful it once
was, but now it was riddled with bullet holes and
bombed to shit. There was a weird old homeless guy
named Kabir that watches the place. I did a portrait
of him on the wall, instantly making us BFF, which of
course was followed by lots of handholding. While
I was painting, the young, good-looking soldier who
resembled a very tan Tom Cruise, aka “Tan Cruise,”
art directed me and wanted more guns, more violence.
You could see in his eyes he thought he was much
more handsome than Kabir and was very jealous that
I painted Kabir instead of him. Kabir cried when
I finished the painting even though it wasn’t my
best work, and he kissed me on my mouth twice.
Tan Cruise really had an eye for talent and let me
know, “You are sort of talented. If you keep it up,
maybe you can make a living with your art one day.”
We met a lot of expats from all over the world: young
writers, gays, artists, reporters, musicians, all creating
a cool community with homemade tortillas, smoking
lots of hash, and listening to current music like The XX
and Ratatat, but surrounded by barbed wire, armed
guards, escape ladders, and “Oh shit” bags, which are
comprised of guns, water, passport, and burka. Just being
here is living life on the edge; it’s thrilling and electric.
Everyone’s passed through this region: Mongolians,
Russians, and everyone always wants to fuck the
locals. So everyone in Kabul looks exotic and different,
strong pronounced European noses with Chinese eyes
and good bone structure in their faces. They all look
handsome like they should be in Hollywood films or
perfume ads. I mean, lets be honest, even for a mass
murderer, Bin Laden is pretty handsome compared
to trolls like Hitler and the Kim Jongs. And the women?
Let me tell you about the fucking women! Fucking
forget about it! The Afghani women look so fucking…
oh yeah I didn’t get to see one fucking face while I was
there. Well, if it’s up to my imagination, my imagination
is pretty active. The Afghani women were all 10s and
look like Halle Berry and Lucy Liu and you’ll never be
able to convince me otherwise.
At the airport on the way in, I spotted some Arabs
with bright red beards and asked what that was about.
They told me Muslim men aren’t allowed to dye their
hair unless it’s with henna, and it’s what Muhammad
did. Well, if it’s good enough for Muhammad, it’s good
enough for me, so I followed suit.
One thing you can’t avoid seeing is the image of a
middle eastern-looking Bob Marley, who turns out
to be on billboards, t-shirts, and bumper stickers.
He’s literally everywhere. Who is this guy? It’s Ahmad
Massoud, the military and political leader with a small
rag tag team of freedom fighters that fought and kept
out the mighty Russians with all their powerful tanks
and planes, as well as the Taliban, and any invaders
that tried to take over Afghanistan. He is a martyr
and national hero, and was executed by the Taliban,
systematically, two days before September 11, 2001.
Out here he is worshipped like a god. His captain
and right hand man, Muslem Hayter Issat, who looks
uncannily like Webster’s dad, George Papadopoulos,
single handedly took out over 100 Russian tanks using
homemade land mines. He is also praised as a national
hero and is the #1 living Jihad soldier in Afghanistan.
I can proudly say he was the best tour guide and now
my Facebook friend. It’s not everyday you get a history
lesson traveling through a war torn country from the
guy who actually created the history. But we soon grew
tired of talking about Bin Laden and bombs and moved
onto my favorite subject: farts and fucking.
LETS BE HONEST, EVEN FOR A MASS MURDERER, BIN LADEN IS PRETTY HANDSOME COMPARED TO TROLLS LIKE HITLER AND THE KIM JONGS.
DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
56 JUXTAPOZ
After you’ve had Muslem as your tour guide, it’s sort of
hard to live up to that. But we got another one, a young
aspiring rapper TA7A (Tango Alpha Seven Alpha).
The day after our meeting, he Googled me and started
hailing me, “You are a God, my Graffiti God! You’re
a great God and I worship you and I’ll do whatever
you ask.” He court jestered it up for us and spit some
horrible rhymes on the way to the airport. When we
were almost to the airport I realized, not only hadn’t
I seen any of the women, I hadn’t touched or kissed
or mated with any of the locals, which is setting a bad
precedent for me. Beggars can’t be choosers and I’m
a survivor and make do with what I got. So I ordered
TA7A, “As your Graffiti God, I order you to touch my
penis.” Which he didn’t like. But long story short,
before exiting the country, my dick got played with
by hands that were not my own.
On our last night we had a late dinner with our new
friends. The entire time we were in Afghanistan we
had heavily armed security guards with us, but after
this dinner, we said fuck it, the house is close,
let’s just walk back. It was the first time we ventured
out alone, unarmed. Besides us talking loud, joking,
and laughing, the street was completely empty and
disturbingly quiet. Then the sounds of tiny footsteps
started picking up pace around us, and down the street
I saw the silhouette of a small boy decisively running
towards me at top speed. We had just watched the Vice
special on the Taliban recruiting little kids, and I saw he
had something strapped to his chest. All my paranoid
insecurities and fears flooded in as I closed my eyes
and started to wonder what kind of snacks would be
served at my funeral, who would show up, who would
cry. Then I decided to fight, I ain’t going out like this!
I drew my leg back like I was going to punt him like the
Super Bowl. But it turned out he was a street kid with
a box tied around his waist selling packages of tissues
and socks. Where the fuck was this kid earlier when
I needed him at the shitter? I would’ve paid anything
for that box of tissues then! Timing kid, everything in
life is about timing. I double checked my pants to
make sure I didn’t shit them, and continued to our
armed compound.
For more information on David Choe, visit DavidChoe.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / DAVID-CHOE
WE MET A LOT OF EXPATS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD: YOUNG WRITERS, GAYS, ARTISTS, REPORTERS, MUSICIANS, ALL CREATING
A COOL COMMUNITY WITH HOMEMADE TORTILLAS, SMOKING LOTS OF HASH, AND LISTENING TO CURRENT MUSIC LIKE
THE XX AND RATATAT, BUT SURROUNDED BY BARBED WIRE
BEYOND THE STORY
David prays three times a year... but he also cries twice a
year... and, oddly, he “shits his pants once a year.”
AFGHANISTAN
DAVID CHOE: THE AFGHANISTAN TOUR
AUGUST 2013 59JUXTAPOZ.COM
VANIA ZOURAVLIOV
Interview by EVAN PRICCO
His elegant art seduces the viewer by appearing to magically recede into
the vista, and references to 19th Century European and American storytelling
inspiration. In the legacy of previous eras, where prodigious talent was nurtured
in the arts like young mathematics and scientific geniuses are cultivated today,
Vania became an internationally known illustrator at the age of thirteen.
Evan Pricco: As I look at your work, having followed it for years, I imagine someone
who works in the dead of the night, alone, by candlelight. Am I far off, minus the
light source?
Vania Zouravliov: For a period of about five years it was pretty much exactly how
you described. I think even the candles were there occasionally. It got to the point
where sometimes I would not see any daylight for weeks, and that does some pretty
strange things to your mind. You descend into a very unpleasant place. In Scotland,
nurses are only allowed three night shifts in a row, and that is something that
I understand very well.
Would you say you are a morning or night person?
I like both, in the same way that every season of the year has its charm and
special moments.
When I read up on you, there were tons of descriptions of a “child prodigy,”
who showed internationally as a teenager. Many of our readers connect Russian
artists with the gift of storytelling. What were some of the stories that inspired
you as a young man growing up in Russia?
KingdomPencil and gouache
on paper
VANIA ZOURAVLIOV IS AN ENIGMA,A PARADOX, A CATCH-22.
BUT DON’T ASK TO TAKE HIS PICTURE.
Over the past five years, Vania’s pictorial, literate work has circled
the world with fanfare and praise, a mysterious blend of the historical
and new Eroticism. The Russian born artist now lives in London,
where his association with creative agency Big Active has introduced
him to commercial opportunities and further global interest.
AUGUST 2013 61JUXTAPOZ.COM
I SPEND QUITE A LOT OF TIME STUDYING VARIOUS PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF COSTUME. I ALSO LOVE TO
OBSERVE HOW THINGS ARE STYLIZED AND HOW ONE FORM BECOMES ANOTHER IN VISUAL ARTS.
Mostly classic literature and folklore. Nikolai Gogol,
Hoffmann, Hauff, Baudelaire, Rabelais, Pushkin,
and Chekhov. I still love most of these authors and
re-read them regularly. I think it’s a sign of great art in
general that you can keep coming back, and each time
it offers you a new experience and a slightly different
meaning. For example, I enjoy Tove Jansson books
much more now than when I was a child. There is a
very beautiful, profound, and gentle melancholy in her
stories that you only understand after a certain age.
Another one of my favorites since childhood is Gogol’s
Dead Souls, a novel that holds an enormous amount
of mystery and fascination for me. It’s something that
I enjoy unraveling and interpreting depending on my
mood and various situations that present themselves
to me.
My little knowledge of Dead Souls finds the
technique of the story so interesting, with its unique
circular narrative, which Bulgakov adapted as a
play. The characters that show up in your work at
times appear to be connected to an ornate theatrical
presentation from a different era. What sort of
historical research do you devote to your work?
I think of it as an ongoing interest rather than a
research. I spend quite a lot of time studying various
periods in the history of costume. I also love to observe
how things are stylized and how one form becomes
another in visual arts.
When it comes to my personal work I am not trying to
recreate anything with historical accuracy. It’s not the
aim of what I do. Instead I am using various elements
from history as an inspiration and a very rich source of
information. With commissioned work, yes, sometimes
I have to accurately reproduce historical references.
Working with National Geographic on their Mayan
project was a hugely enjoyable experience. They gave
me several months just to study and go through all the
materials that they have provided before I started the
actual work.
Do you think of yourself as a storyteller?
In all honesty, no. In my work I try to get away as
much as I can from the tyranny of words and language.
I am primarily interested in shapes and patterns, and also
some very basic primeval energy. Observing the
elegance and perfection of form that I see in nature
is a constant source of inspiration to me.
Why do you think Russians have the reputation for
making such beautiful, dark, layered, metaphoric,
yet inspiring and influential stories? Your art works
so well in this perception. What sorts of legacies are
taught to the young?
It is a subject that I often think about, and it seems to
me that it’s a combination of two elements. One is that
a certain level of oppression and isolation is stimulating
for art. It forces people to get the most out of their
imagination and pushes the mind into different worlds;
meanwhile, the real environment that is frequently
hostile keeps the brain alert and observant.
For me, a great example is that during the Soviet
period, in order to avoid harsh censorship, many artists
turned to animation and children’s book illustrations,
producing what I consider absolute masterpieces in
those genres.
The second element is the land itself. Its vastness
and long periods of cold weather dictate their own
rhythm and mood. I grew up near a huge forest and
distinctly remember that feeling of walking into a
forest preoccupied with my own thoughts, and then
suddenly noticing that they become weaker and finally
disappear altogether when you fully succumb to the
Bearskin 3Pencil and gouache
on paper
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next spread top
Image for the
film 13 AssassinsInk and gouache
on paper
next spread bottom
GhostInk and gouache
on paper
AUGUST 2013 63JUXTAPOZ.COM
VANIA ZOURAVLIOV
PEOPLE LIKE TO IMAGINE THAT THEY HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THEIR BODY, SEXUALITY AND MORTALITY, THAT THEY CAN DECIDE AND SEPARATE WHEN THE BODY IS DIRTY AND WHEN IT’S NOT.
overwhelming energy of the space around you.
Everywhere around the world different cultures and
ways of living are now homogenized, and Russia is no
exception to this. This means that there is a constantly
diminishing interest in history or anything traditional.
That famous Oscar Wilde quote about the value of
nothing often springs to mind.
Are your parents artists?
My father is a mathematician. He writes books on the
theory of numbers and also lectures at universities.
My mother is a painter and has a distinctive style
that doesn’t look like my work. She mostly uses oil or
watercolor, so her paintings are very light and delicate.
When you look around at other contemporary artists do
you see any that have a similar connection to history?
I really love the tranquil poetry of Daima Vardanian’s
paintings. I can see glimpses of Islamic miniature
painting both in her palette and the facial expressions,
but she creates her own sublime atmosphere.
Have you ever thought of writing fairytales?
When I saw your work in the Purple Book,
which is excellent, it resonated so well in the realm
of fairytales. Although maybe it was the Edgar Allan
Poe excerpts that made your work come alive?
The interest in folklore started from childhood, and it is
something that I constantly reference in my work and is
one of my main inspirations. One of my favorite things
to do is to find a quiet place in a big park or a forest
where I can read The Arabian Nights, Panchatantra or
something from European and Russian folklore.
That’s blissful.
What led to the move to the UK?
An artist wants to be somewhere where he can
work and express himself in the best possible way.
There is nothing more to it.
Is it hard to do that, visually or otherwise,
in contemporary Russia? There have been a few
high profile cases, Pussy Riot being one, where it
continues to be a struggle for Russian artists to
truly express their artistic side, and yet it is a
country so rich in artistic endeavors.
I would say that the main difficulties and challenges
artists face these days are universal. The Internet
has gotten rid of state imposed censorship and now
restrictions are mainly economic. You can express
yourself in whatever way you choose, but if you want
to be paid for your creative work, there are all kinds
of things that have to be taken into consideration.
As a result we see state imposed censorship being
replaced by self imposed ones. People are often
prepared to give away a huge number of freedoms
in exchange for a more comfortable living.
With all the information and constant streams of
entertainment and distractions that are available,
there is also no guarantee that even if what you
produce is challenging and interesting it will be
given the proper attention.
Some of your work gets placed into this prevailing style
of “New Eroticism.” When you hear the word eroticism
64 JUXTAPOZ
VANIA ZOURAVLIOV
PEOPLE ARE OFTEN PREPARED TO GIVE AWAY A HUGE NUMBER OF FREEDOMS IN EXCHANGE
FOR A MORE COMFORTABLE LIVING.
characterizing of your work, what comes to mind?
People like to imagine that they have some control
over their body, sexuality and mortality, that they can
decide and separate when the body is dirty and when
it’s not. To me that seems a fruitless and ultimately
useless task. Eroticism is present in one form or
another everywhere in our life and culture. Can you
imagine high fashion, cinema, art, advertising and the
music industry without the erotic element? Let’s have
a look at the entire history of women’s fashion and try
to separate it from eroticism and sexuality.
Having said that, there is also this notion of eroticism
as some sort of tamed, tastefully presented, acceptable
version of sexuality, which I find both banal and erroneous.
If a contemporary book, work of art, or film is described
as erotic it’s more than likely that I will try to avoid it.
Do you think that is a fair assessment? Being part of
an erotic art genre?
I don’t really know what is an erotic art genre. For me
everything that Leonardo, Botticelli, Caravaggio and
every other great artist have produced would not exist
without eroticism. It is something that you feel rather
than understand through dissection.
You are part of a great agency Big Active. What sort of
work do you get, commercially or otherwise, from them?
I enjoy variety in everything and believe that it’s one
of the best things that life has to offer us. After I spend
one or two months doing my personal work, I want
a change of pace and to focus on something else.
It can be advertising, fabric, record or poster design
or anything else as long as I find something interesting
in a project. The agency provides some of that work
and certainly helps with the practical side of things.
Do you have any fine art or commercial projects
coming up?
I never talk about projects until they are fully realized,
so let me just say that I am really enjoying various
things that I am working on now.
For more information about Vania Zouravliov,
visit VaniaZouravliov.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / VANIA-ZOURAVLIOV
Soft ParkInk and gouche
on paper
LONDON, ENGLAND
BEYOND THE STORY
On his desk right now are the books Tales of Dervishes by
Idries Shah, Master of the Spanish Still Life by Luis Melendez,
and Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion.
He doesn’t have a favorite movie per se, but would call La Belle
et la Bête and Days of Being Wild among his favorites.
If you go book shopping with Vania in London, he will take you
to Koenig Books and to Notting Hill for used books.
AUGUST 2013 67JUXTAPOZ.COM
VANIA ZOURAVLIOV
68
ADAM PARKER SMITH
Interview and portrait by ANDREW McCLINTOCK
Or your mom thinks will be the next big artist? At first, those might be
hard pills to swallow, but as Adam Parker Smith’s exclusive West Coast
dealer, I’ve learned just to just gulp down some of my pride.
This was our fabulous relationship, until I did this interview.
Adam just laid it on me that he was
GIRLFRIEND OPENLY SAYSIS BETTER LOOKING
THAN YOU?
HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE A GUY WHO YOUR
RETIRING AS AN ARTIST.
SO, I HONESTLY have nothing nice to say anymore, and I’m not going to pretend.
I could declare the truth: that he was, indeed, going to be the next big thing. Just a
few weeks ago he dangled promises of a long-standing relationship between us
like Gagosian and Koons, I should have known better, to read between the lines.
That was his hint; he was going to dump me, just like Koons dumped Gagosian.
I should have seen this coming.
Adam, I know you will read this at some point, and because I have no desire to
ever talk to you again, heed my message: I will not return any of your inventory
as requested but will donate it to various non-profits as a tax write off. If you have
a problem with this you can get off your NYC high horse and come down to the
Tenderloin in San Francisco and we will see how much of a man you really are.
I wish you the best, but at the same time, not really. I never thought of myself as
one to publicly air their dirty laundry, but I feel the world must know. Adam Parker
Smith could have been a contender, but he threw it all away. For what? To be happy?
What a lame excuse.
Andrew McClintock: You recently just curated a blockbuster exhibition at
Lu Magnus Gallery in the Lower East Side, where you stole everything in the
show from other artists. It was on the cover of the art section in the NY Times
and created quite a stir. How was this show an extension of your art practice?
Adam Parker Smith: Yeah, you are referring to the show Thanks, which was a pretty
CrushHair, printed canvas, and fan
2011
ADAM PARKER SMITH
70 JUXTAPOZ
FIRST OFF, I JUST WANT TO RELAX. I WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME AT THE BEACH. I WANT TO DO SOME COOKING. I WANT TO GROW MY OWN PRODUCE. I WANT TO READ.
wild ride. As far as it being an extension of my practice,
I think the thread lies in community, collaboration, and
relationships. There is a lot to cover there, and I know
that you wanted to talk about the work, but I wanted to
run over some other things with you first. We may have
to do this interview later.
Wait. What?
Just something that we should chat about...
Yeah, well we are talking, we are doing an interview,
getting you some press, getting press for the gallery...
No I get that, we should just touch on this first...
Fine... let’s just do the interview first. Work through
this with me and then we can talk off the record or
whatever you want. So, Adam, would you describe
your art practice as one that is rooted in Conceptual
Art? Meaning idea art that is executed with whatever
appropriate medium you see fit?
That’s a good question; it’s exactly how I would
describe my practice. It has become the only way that
makes sense for me to approach this whole thing.
Listen, let’s chat about some other stuff and then come
back to all this. I just need to run some things by you.
It won’t really make sense to go through this until we
deal with some other stuff.
You know you’ve never been one of those artists
that is a pain in my ass as a gallerist but you are
unfortunately becoming one. What’s your big news
that can’t wait?
I’m retiring.
Ha, yeah and I’m becoming a lawyer.
Yeah, no really, I’m retiring. Or quitting, however you
want to look at it. I have been grinding away ever since
I left school and have been happy with what I have
gotten done. I have given a lot of thought to it and
done some soul searching, thinking that now would be
a great time to duck out and raise a family and start to
look at the bigger picture. The last year has been really
good for me, and while it’s been a blast, I’m tired now
and want to move onto the next thing. I just welcomed
my first son into the world last week, and it seems like
a good time to just start fresh.
Wait. Seriously? Can’t you be a father and an artist
at the same time? I think everyone goes through this
when they have a kid. You’ll get over it
Yes, of course, but it’s not about having to choose.
It’s about looking ahead and being open to where my
future wants to take me. I’ve reached a point in my
career as an artist where I don’t know if I necessarily
want to be confined or defined just with making art.
I think there are other ways that I can make my mark,
other ways that I can contribute and have my voice
heard. Not right away though. First off, I just want to
relax. I want to spend some time at the beach. I want
to do some cooking. I want to grow my own produce.
I want to read.
What about your galleries? What about me? Come on,
Adam. We are talking right now because we are doing
an interview with you about an art career that’s starting.
I don’t think you’re in the position to call it quits.
I will still have editions and prints that will be available,
and I think that I still may occasionally curate and
consult. At this point I really have to do what’s best for
myself though. I know you understand. Really, my true
goal in life is to be happy, and to be good to the people
around me. And my career as an artist was beginning
to stand in the way of that.
Being “happy” or having downtime is definitely
overrated, dude. What about the hustle? What about
the 48 Laws of Power? Every conversation we’ve had
is about this trajectory toward glory. What about all
that? What the fuck, man?!
Well, I’m still interested in glory, but it just evolved.
top
Untitled
(Kanye Shutter Shades) Aluminum, nylon, and wood
114" x 56"
2013
bottom
AngelyneInstallation view at
La Montagne Gallery
Boston
2013
right
American TotemLatex political masks,
expandable foam
11' tall
2011
ADAM PARKER SMITH
72 JUXTAPOZ
I think back to what I wanted ten years ago, and it’s
much different from what I want now. Why would I cater
to a set of rules and expectations set by a community
whose values and principles are skewed in the most
perverse way? I would like to bring my life back around
to a foundation that has to do with more wholesome
values: family, health, and happiness.
Okay, so I’m still calling bullshit, but how are you going
to support yourself? I sell at least one of your pieces,
which are not cheap, once a month. You have to think
about how this will affect people who have helped
build your career.
I have. I understand that this decision does affect you
as well, but you are young and hungry and I’m not
worried about you. For now, my girlfriend is going to
support our family. Her career is doing well and she is
really understanding of my situation. This way we will
save on daycare as well.
You know, I always thought that you were one of those artists that had to make things, had to produce art. Honestly, as your friend and your dealer, I think this is a bad decision. Please explain to me again why you think this is okay. This decision affects more than just you, Adam.
We just have to make hard choices sometimes. Think
about as a dealer or an artist how you have to take a
look around and make really difficult edits to a show or
your work, or even your roster. This is just a really tough
edit for me. But it makes sense and I’m 100 percent
about moving forward.
So how do I explain to Evan, the editor of Juxtapoz
that this interview is now a going away piece?
It’s meaningful. It’s honest. It’s real. What could be
more of an interesting insight into the working method
of an artist than to be there when it ends.
Adam, you realize that I’m not sure if we can be friends
because of this. I can’t express enough to you that you
are basically taking away 40 percent of my sales.
I know. I’m sorry.
Fuck. Fuck you, man. You’re an asshole.
For more information on Adam Parker Smith,
visit AdamPSmith.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / ADAM-PARKER-SMITH
top
Bottom 3Foam, rope, formica,
and bungee
22" x 24" x 50"
2012
bottom
ProposalHand-woven bracelets
96" x 102"
2012
I WOULD LIKE TO BRING MY LIFE BACK AROUND TO A FOUNDATION THAT HAS TO DO WITH MORE WHOLESOME
VALUES: FAMILY, HEALTH, AND HAPPINESS.
BEYOND THE STORY
Adam is a mixed media artist who was heavily influenced by the original
conceptual art movement of California.
Originally from Arcata in Humboldt County but doesn’t smoke weed
anymore because he lives in New York City and is afraid to get arrested.
Adam just closed his third solo show at Ever Gold Gallery in San Francisco
and a new solo at La Montagne Gallery in Boston. And because he just
quit, we aren’t quite sure what else he is doing.
NEW YORK
ADAM PARKER SMITH
AUGUST 2013 75JUXTAPOZ.COM
COLOSSUS OF ROADS
AKA buZ blurrInterview by AUSTIN McMANUS
THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBLE for these mysterious markings was later
exposed to a broader audience when Bill Daniel released his 16-years-in-the-
making vagabondage railroad film project, Who is Bozo Texino? The author’s
identity was surprising to everyone, as speculation had circulated forever. In the
film, an older, well-spoken, bearded gentleman wearing a cowboy hat appears on
screen proclaiming ownership as he explains the meaning of phrases written under
the famed moniker. As the audience discovers, they are self-portraits, in a bold
proclamation, the artist states, “More self-portraits than Picasso or Rembrandt or
Van Gogh, or any of ’em out riding the rails, have a lot larger audience than they
ever had in their lifetime.”
Such artistic undertakings are not limited to work on railcars, but extend to
photography, archiving, book making, stenciling, installations, and mail art,
through which he has been corresponding with others under the name buZ blurr
for over 30 years. The importance of his artwork has been long overlooked,
but within the confines of an interview, I’m honored to tell some of the story.
Austin McManus: Please explain the art practice you so cleverly describe as
“Boxcar Icon Dispatch.”
Colossus of Roads: My awareness of the folk art tradition of chalk marks on the
rolling stock came at an early age by observing them on passing trains as a young
boy while my father was a section foreman of a track maintenance crew. We lived
the enigmatic sketches of a cowboy smoking a pipe
emblemized railcars across the country, generating mysticism
surrounding the source. These esoteric characters,
present for nearly 40 years, are often accompanied with
phrases, various fictitious names, and early titles such as
Gypsysphinx, The Grab Iron Kid, Tramp Royale, and eventually,
“Colossus of Roads” as permanent identification.
PortraitbuZ blurr
1972-1992
LONG BEFORE THE RAILROAD CARSOF NORTH AMERICA WERE SCRAWLED
AMID THE PARANOID POST-9/11SURVEILLANCE STRICTURES,
WITH SPRAY PAINT
AUGUST 2013 77JUXTAPOZ.COM
AT ONE TIME WHILE I WAS A LONGFIELD BRAKEMAN I FIGURED I WAS AVERAGING ABOUT 30 A DAY, SIX DAYS A WEEK. I HAVE HAD PERIODS WHEN THE OBSESSION HAD ME IN A SEVERE GRIP
by the main track in a section house provided by the
railroad, near the tool house where the equipment for
changing out ties and rails were stored, along with the
motor car for transporting them to needed repairs on
the track. The medium of the chalk marks was usually
a drawing of an icon, a person, a hare, a rose, etc…
with a name and date. My dad told me they were the
work of hobos. Our sole source of heat in the section
house was a big potbellied coal stove, and they used
to run a work train with gondolas of coal for the section
crews to unload at the various section houses on the
route between Wynne and Helena, Arkansas.
Tell me about the first marking you remember.
Over the years, which particular ones have stood
out or have you favored?
I remember being particularly impressed by the
rendering of a profile of a gentleman with a puffed
railroad cap, with the caption of Omar, on one of the
coal cars, while my dad and his three section hands
feverishly scooped out a big pile of coal, hopefully
enough to last us through the winter, before the train
had to move on to the next section house. I even
saw a J.B.King Esq signature occasionally. Over the
years, the ubiquitousness and prevalence of Herby,
The Rambler, and the second or third generation
conveyor of Bozo Texino were a continuing inspiration.
Now they have been mostly supplanted by spray
and time.
How many cars do you estimate you have marked
since beginning this lengthy endeavor?
I have no idea how many drawings have been made
since November, 1971. At one time while I was a
longfield brakeman, I figured I was averaging about 30
a day, six days a week. I have had periods when the
obsession had me in a severe grip, and I drove around
to various yards on my off day, and would do over 200.
Are you still marking cars currently?
Yes, I’m still marking cars. Yesterday’s icon caption
was: “ANY THINK CAN HAPPEN. buZ blurr 1943-2043.”
Do you think you will ever reconsider your decision to
remain anonymous?
I don’t suppose I can un-ring the bell of all those
images and texts that have been connected to me
by Google and other search engines of the Internets.
It’s hard to remain underground and anonymous
on the information superhighway, especially if at a
certain point you want to proclaim your work, despite
its outlaw nature, and the fact that it may be viewed
unfavorably and subject to intervention.
You come from three generations of railroad workers,
and retired after 41 years. It’s an understatement
to say railroading is in your blood. Is it, in a sense,
your religion?
Yes, three generations of railroad men: my grandfather
was also a section foreman for Missouri Pacific from
1904 until 1945; my father, also in track maintenance,
from 1942 until 1963; and my own career, as a trainman,
from 1962 until 2003. Each of us with 41 years of service,
over a span of 99 years. My father and grandfather both
certainly had a loyalty and dedication to the railroad as
a provider of livelihood that would border on worship.
My own attitude leaned more towards alienation
on account of the indebtedness we incurred
subsequent to the elimination of the section system
of track maintenance. This transitioned to wholesale
reconditioning by large rail and tie gangs periodically,
and obliged the old man to accept a management
position as an Assistant Roadmaster, rather than the
option to return as a laborer, on account of his limited
seniority, to one of those traveling reconditioning gangs.
This was during a time Missouri Pacific was attempting
to get out of bankruptcy, and unfortunately, the old
man had a skinflint bastard as a District Engineer,
who routinely disallowed most of his expense account,
and provided no moving allowances as we tried to
Colossus of RoadsPhoto by buZ blurr
COLOSSUS OF ROADS
78 JUXTAPOZ
keep up with his various assignments all over the
system, at least in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
Were there a lot of tramps and hobos riding when you
worked as a trainman? If so, what was your attitude
towards them?
Oh, yes, there were a lot of older tramps when
I first hired out, and our attitude was being helpful,
but saying, “I didn’t see you.” Then there were periods
of fewer or more frequent travelers. Post 9-11, with the
increased security, they are well hidden or there are
none at all through this small town. Of course, on this
northward directional traffic, except for locals and Amtrak,
we haven’t had the recreational hobo adventurers
like other routes have had of late. Back in the ’70s,
we had two veteran hobos who made this their home
base. One camped out on Coffee Creek in the wye,
and another had a lean-to built in a cane break on
Caney Creek.
Has there ever been an attraction to move to a big city,
or are you content to be in Kansas? You have been
known to call your current hometown “Surrealville.”
Yes, Surrealville, Principality of buZ, is my fantasy
world issuing authority for my philatelic “artistamps.”
Surrealville has also become known as the source point
for boxcar icon dispatches. I remained in this small
town where all the work was, when I could have
been riding the fast freights out of a bigger terminal,
exactly to accommodate the avoidance of people.
This isolation down among the cars, perhaps, fostered
the communication of the self-absorbed investigations
of my limitations in the form of boxcar icon dispatches.
Have you ever had an encounter with a graffiti
writer in a yard, or anyone for that matter, while you
were marking cars? After so many years, it would
seem probable.
Surrealville is also a delusional disguise of my actual
locale, which is in such an out of the way, middle of
nowhere, place. I have yet to encounter any graffiti
writer, if you mean the spray paint variety. I have had
a number of visitors from the moniker culture wishing
to mark in the small Surrealville yard, although
intentional. I have had two encounters, subsequent to
my retirement, with track inspectors in hi-rail trucks
that asked me to leave the property.
Then you consider yourself a loner?
Yes, I am a loner, by dent of my occupation and the
isolation of long hours on switch engines, with limited
interactions with other people, and the awareness of
my penchant for embarrassing misreading of social
cues. I blame it on the self-diagnosed Asperger’s
Various railcar documentation
80 JUXTAPOZ
Disorder, and other manic-depressive traits. Plus my
“maniac” anger when challenged or sassed makes it
best to avoid people on account of my dissatisfaction
with my own performance. Rancor and Shame! My wife
describes my mercurial mood swings as, “Tap dance
or suicide… the Fred Astaire of despair.” She has also
said, “You never know about you. You’re just like
Hekyll, Jekyll, and Hyde.”
Would you consider yourself a connoisseur and
researcher of linguistics?
Despite the risks of malapropisms, and throat cancer,
most of my use of language has been about my
limitations, given that my great-grandfather was a
newspaper man. He who learned the printer’s trade
in partial apprenticeship with Samuel L. Clemens,
on Orion Clemens’ Hannibal, Missouri newspaper,
and worked as a reporter for a Quincy, Illinois, paper
covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the 1858
senatorial campaign. Subsequent to the Civil War in
which he fought for the South, along with another
brother, while two other brothers fought for the Union,
he migrated to Arkansas, where it was said he could
spell correctly every word in the English language
between bouts of binge drinking. Whereas I am left
to wonder why the sparks between my synapses are
so broad as to border on dyslexia. He also had the
mechanical aptitude to keep his Linotype working
while I’m sorely lacking in that department, while still
fascinated by the printed image and text.
How long have you been participating in mail art?
Subsequent to beginning to utilize the boxcar icon
dispatch as a networker in the folk art tradition of
railroad graffiti, in November 1971, I discovered the
existence of mail art networking by reading the articles
by Thomas Albright, the art critic of the San Francisco
Chronicle, and in two consecutive issues of Rolling
Stone magazine, April 1972, entitled Correspondence
Art. When the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street
album came out with the design using all those
photographs of Robert Frank, along with a series of
postcards, I merely mailed all the postcards to the
list of networkers in the articles, and the response to
those got me hooked.
How did you arrive at creating “Caustic Jelly Posts?”
Always interested in photography and being poor with
a house full of kids, the only camera I could afford was
a Polaroid Swinger, and even the expense of the film
was a saved-for luxury. The B&W film for it was 107C.
Dr. Land’s lens worked like a film camera and exposed
the negative upside down and backwards, and the
print was a transfer of the negative image
when it was pulled through the rollers that spread the
Stencil portraits
AUGUST 2013 81JUXTAPOZ.COM
I AM A LONER, BY DENT OF MY OCCUPATION AND THE ISOLATION OF LONG HOURS ON SWITCH ENGINES, WITH LIMITED INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE, AND THE AWARENESS OF MY PENCHANT FOR EMBARRASSING MISREADING OF SOCIAL CUES.
magic developing liquids, which contained “Caustic
Jelly.” Polaroid warned to discard them as they could
cause alkaline burns and other injuries. However,
I kept them, and after they dried or cured, I began to
experiment with silhouettes at first, but eventually
stencils, while utilizing the negative image as a guide.
By cutting away the opposite in the negative and
turning it over, the back of it was black, thus you had a
graphic positive image again. Then you photocopy the
results for reduction to stamp size, compose a sheet,
perforate, and Voila! You have Caustic Jelly Post.
Used as a portrait technique, given the limited area
of the negative, I had to stop down the aperture, and
get extremely close to have any detail. The subjects
of these in-your-face-blinding-flash collaborative
performances felt that the caustic portion was an
accurate description of the whole process.
A mutual friend told me about an interesting project
of yours involving a Ford and a Chevy. I have been
meaning to send keys. Can you explain these projects?
Rust Never Rests, and Fill The Ford (Fully) Folly.
The 1962 model Chevrolet pickup, correlates to my
hire year on the railroad, when I purchased it in 1972
as a work vehicle. Unfortunately, it was one of those
Monday morning paint jobs at the GM plant and quickly
earned the designation Rust Never Rests since it
rapidly turned from baby Blue Monday to various tones
of oxidation. When it was about to expire in 1984,
I limped it, on about two cylinders, to its final resting
place beside our old house where we moved with the
intention of fixing it up on my wife’s country property—
another failed project abandoned for a number of
reasons. True to its name, I began to fill the cab with
found tortured shards of metal, bent aged spikes,
ancient corroded track bolts, and the nails I seined
from the ashes of the fires in our woodstove of lumber
scavengered from the dunnage on flatcars. I was also
picking up short pieces of cut offs from broken rails
and etching words into them by means of wax resist,
pouring on sugar or salt water on them to accelerate
the rust. These eventually filled the floor of the bed.
All these bricoleur obsessions finally filled the cab,
and I began to fill the interior of the missus and mine’s
courting vehicle, a ’50 model 4-door Ford, when it
was moved alongside Rust Never Rests by my wife’s
nephew from his dad’s property. This use of the site
as a solitude retreat to ponder the many errors, and
witness the sway and lean of the old house as it
gradually collapsed, was a reminder of the accelerating
years, and Po’ White Trash evidence of a stuck position.
In 2004, I was invited to a festival, in Sint-Niklaas,
Belgium, due to my involvement in Mail Art. After the
festival, some of the participants journeyed by train to
the town of Bruges. There, on Easter Sunday, I found
an ornate key on the window sill of a building facing
a freshly cobbled-stone plaza, and pocketed it in my
travel vest with the intention of depositing it in the
Ford. Later on, in Paris, attempting to enter the Musée
D’Orsay, the key in my vest set off the security alarm
and I suppose the lady was asking what was in the
jacket. When I couldn’t find the key readily in the many
pockets, she became more irate as the line behind
us became even longer. Finally, I was able somehow
to have her feel the offending object, and determine
it was what I said it was, and she waved me through
in obvious frustration with this stupid ugly American.
Returning home, I had found the perfect project to
Fill The Ford (Fully) Folly, and have a continuous effort
to keep the mail stream flowing by inviting mail artists
to send found or unnecessary metal keys.
Your house was struck by lighting not too long ago,
correct? How much damage was there?
Yes, our home was struck by lightning early Sunday
morning, November 4, 2012, during a thunderstorm.
The bolt hit a vent pipe that was through an upstairs
bedroom closet, igniting the clothes. I tried to battle the
blaze with an extinguisher, and soaked blankets while
Mail art
COLOSSUS OF ROADS
82 JUXTAPOZ
MY FATHER AND GRANDFATHER BOTH CERTAINLY HAD A LOYALTY AND DEDICATION TO THE RAILROAD AS A PROVIDER
OF LIVELIHOOD THAT WOULD BORDER ON WORSHIP.
the missus dialed 911. It soon became apparent we had
to get out of the house. I found some trousers and we
went out into the rain.
The EMTs and volunteer fire department members
were showing up, and the EMTs, noticing my breathing
difficulties, talked me into getting in the ambulance
out of the rain so they could administer oxygen.
When my blood pressure was measured and my
breathing didn’t improve, they talked me into going
to a nearby emergency room to see a doctor for
smoke and extinguisher dust inhalation. As you can
imagine, things have been chaotic ever since. The fire
department extinguished the blaze, but the upstairs
was ruined and the downstairs was inundated by the
dousing. Lots of unresolved issues are still outstanding,
but we have moved into another home.
What sort of artists inspired you in the past and
currently?
As you might imagine, my early juvenile influences
were writers such as Jack Kerouac, Burroughs, and
the other poets of the Beat Generation. In the tenth
grade in 1958-59, I read the novels of Kerouac while
on all-night passenger train journeys on weekends to
see my girlfriend (my Maggie Cassidy). I also read J.D.
Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye. In college, my ambition
was to be an abstract expressionist painter until the
Pop Art sensibilities became apparent, and then
I became more enamored with photography, especially
the work of Robert Frank. Currently, my direction is
dictated by the early artist’s stamp inspiration of E.F.
Higgins III, and Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, 1914-2014,
and his Autostorriccione, or self-historification premise
that permits each person to document their own
unique life. Cavellini died in 1990, but his forecast of
recognition at his centennial is drawing nigh.
Do you think contemporary museums will eventually
wake up and catch on to this folk art tradition?
No!
Do you wish for this to happen, or does it not matter
to you?
I would love to see Rust Never Rests, and Fill The
Ford (Fully) Folly on the ground floor of the Whitney...
but no, it doesn’t matter.
For more information about Colossus of Roads,
visit the Internet
JUXTAPOZ.COM / COLOSSUS-OF-ROADS
Various mail art and documentation
BEYOND THE STORY
buZ attended college as an art major for three years
until he left to go work for the railroad as brakesman.
buZ was originally known as the Hoo-Hoo Archives
in the mail art network.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
COLOSSUS OF ROADS
AUGUST 2013 85JUXTAPOZ.COM
TROELS CARLSENInterview, portrait, and studio photography by HENRIK HAVEN
86
On the eve of his fifth solo show at V1 Gallery in his hometown of
Copenhagen, Denmark, Troels Carlsen is going through changes.
For years he created surreal scenarios of lab monkeys, scientific in detail,
yet abstract enough to elicit some possibly uncomfortable feelings.
Henrik Haven sits down with the artist in his studio to talk about Mute
Appeal, the American Dynamic, and spaghetti Bolognese. —Juxtapoz
Henrik Haven: You do a lot of different things with your work. How would you
describe your art to someone seeing it for the first time?
Troels Carlsen: I would probably start out just calling myself a figurative painter
who is very much inspired by drawing. I used to draw a lot before I actually got
into painting. I somehow see my painting as drawn paintings, if you can call it that.
I mostly look up vintage antique engravings or anatomical medical charts that I find
at auctions or flea markets. I buy them, repaint them, and paint on top of the scenery
or the stuff that’s going on. I look at illustrations of the muscles, nervous system,
skeleton, or inner organs that you find on medical charts, and I paint new scenes into
the structure. I have my newly painted scenarios merging with stuff that’s already in
the illustration, or often times I just start out with a black hole on the medical chart
and put in my own scenario. These could be anything, like a close-up of human
hands engaged in some kind of activity where only a part of the narrative is revealed.
That’s what I most like to do—show a corner of a whole story, so only a fragment of
the landscape is focused through that hole painted onto that chart.
HOW TO FASHION HISTORYRATHER THAN SIMPLY RE-INTERPRET IT.
TODAY, CARLSEN IS FOCUSED ONTHE PROCESS OF FINDING AND EXPLORING
AUGUST 2013 87JUXTAPOZ.COM
I used to do installation work, too. I fabricated life-like
monkeys with real fur and glass eyes, and build up
their faces and hands with wax from taxidermists.
I would install them in some kind of fictional laboratory
atmosphere, engaged in clinical tests with rubber tubes
running in their mouths, giving them a lot of peculiar
things to be engaged in: a cynical, sinister scenario
that describes a bit of what I do as an artist. I find
different objects, that’s what I do, I find. I do a little bit
of canvas work, but in the long run, I don’t find it very
entertaining. I used to call it the “spaghetti Bolognese”
of the art world, because to do painting on a regular
canvas is, for me, such a common thing to do.
For several years, I have been lucky enough to follow
you around the studio and see your exhibitions and
career grow. At first glance, you seem like a classical
fine art painter because of your exquisite drawing
and painting skills, but you rarely paint on canvas.
Why do you almost always choose to paint on
materials other than a blank canvas, your so-called
“spaghetti Bolognese”?
I like the commentary and feeling of painting on top
of something that already exists. It is almost like an
ongoing conversation: somebody says something and
you add to that. Maybe you are against the argument
that exists on the printed piece, or maybe you just want
to bring in other nuances to the topic. That is what
I enjoy the most.
I just started to get really bored when it came to regular
canvas painting. I like finding an old anatomy chart
that is over 200 years old. God, you can’t even start
to imagine where the chart has been for the last 200
years! Just think about what’s happened in the span
of that time! World Wars, revolutions in every country.
To have something that spreads over so many ages is
really interesting. It is incredibly fulfilling and soulful to
work with something like that and I can travel out of the
traditional art world for a while—not only create art,
but also touch a piece of history.
It is very complicated to work on something that’s
already really well done, like an old engraving with
a beautiful motif. It is very challenging to paint up
against such beautiful works, and in a way, you have
to try winning over the motif and bring forth your own
enhancement. I make my one contribution on the paper
and make sure that it’s the number one scenario.
I like working on top of anatomy charts so the human
body can be detailed in a physical sense, with the
muscles, nervous system, blood, veins, bones, and the
organs, while ushering a spiritual dimension to
a physical depiction.
How has being born and raised in northern Europe,
in Copenhagen, Denmark, influenced your artwork?
I guess it very much influences my artwork since we
don’t get very long summers. It is very easy to simply
sit down in late Autumn and work for the next seven
to eight months straight. Hopefully you’ll get to spring
by the end of May with no disturbances in terms of
nice weather and sunny beaches calling, luring you
to get out and hang out with people. I’ve been very
much enjoying that as a work condition. It seems to
be something that I’ve benefitted from a lot when it
comes to discipline.
Obviously, I have been influenced by European art
history, especially some of the great painters from
BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE ENERGY OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY. I TRY TO MERGE THIS
AMERICAN DYNAMIC AND EUROPEAN CONTENT INTO MY ART WORLD.
To the Survivors of an Era When the Whole World Was WatchingAcrylic and mixed-media
124 cm x 199 cm
2013
TROELS CARLSEN
AUGUST 2013 89JUXTAPOZ.COM
Italy of the Romantic era of the 1850s. Some northern
European painters have been pretty inspiring to
me as well. I like the moody and gloomy, the dark,
dramatic feel that you have with all those great
paintings. There is something that seems very
contemporary being revealed by those painters:
human drama, conflict with war, church, sexuality,
a lot of taboos, and lots of other hidden aspects
that you are not always shown in regular life.
I also have a lot of influences coming from the States.
I see myself caught in the conflict of what I call the
“American dynamic.” There’s something in European
art history that I’m very attracted to when it comes to
the content of the narrative. But I absolutely love the
energy of the American society. I try to merge this
American dynamic and European content into my art
world. I don’t see myself as a typical European artist.
I see myself as a contemporary artist in 2013. It could be
any country. I guess you call it an international-minded
artist, universally-minded artist. I hope to be, at least.
Do you remember your first attraction to art?
I wonder if I have one specific moment? I must have
seen a Giacometti exhibition with my parents in a
very nice museum we have in Denmark, the Louisiana
Museum of Modern Art. My first attraction to art was
probably when I saw the Austrian painters Klimt and
Schiele, especially Egon Schiele, with his over-skinny,
sick-looking models, and those weird death smelling
vibrations emerging from his portraits of people
hanging out in his studio. That greenish, sick-looking
skin with bony fingers that he always did were so great.
There were always these very intense feelings coming
out that were almost weirdly sexual at the same time.
That kind of work is so filled with life, sexuality,
overt and repressed. As a result, the work is just
so goddamned intense, compelling, shocking,
provocative, inspiring, beautiful, and again very,
very timeless. That was definitely one of my first
attractions to art. Later on came Basquiat, Francis
Should Count As LifeAcrylic on Antique Anatomy
29 cm x 24 cm
2012
90 JUXTAPOZ
Bacon, just a lot of different stuff you pick up. It could
be an attraction to a certain album cover. I skateboard a
lot and was sponsored in my teens until I broke my leg.
Those visuals coming from contemporary skateboard
society at the time also inspired me. The things people
would write on their grip tape and all of the great
skateboard artists who would illustrate their own work
really shaped me as well.
With you a painter and your brother, Asger Carlsen,
an art photographer, would you say you come from
an artistic and culturally interested family?
I don’t know, to be honest. I guess my father is the
fifth sibling of a working class family, so he very
much wanted to move somewhere else. He is a
jewelry designer and has been selling watches and
is interested in the designs, ideas, and the creativity
that comes with that. And my mother is very creative
in just an everyday sense. So, yeah, that was the
creative inspiration that we had, which is enough
I guess. We just took it from there.
My twin brother, Asger, is a New York-based
photographer. We have been inspiring each other
a lot along the way. We met skateboard culture,
got engaged with it, and a new world opened up.
He chose photography, and I started to paint.
But I did grow up with a lot of photographers,
and for many years, I was more inspired by them
more than painters because a photographer has a
mission, not getting lost as much in a private universe.
They’re more specific about what they want to achieve,
where they want to go and how to approach a project.
It is very hard to learn that discipline when you’re
working in your early twenties. I’m very glad to grow
up with the photographers who had to relate to a
certain project, turn it into a newspaper, a magazine,
or whatever. Later, all those photographers I grew up
with turned into art photographers and are spread
all around the world doing great work now.
Choose a SorrowAcrylic on Antique Anatomy
50.6 cm x 35.6 cm
2011
TROELS CARLSEN
AUGUST 2013 91JUXTAPOZ.COM
92 JUXTAPOZ
Your show, Mute Appeal, is opening at V1 Gallery in
Copenhagen as we speak. Let’s talk a bit more about
your new body of work. For example, I see coherence
between the non-verbal men on the election posters
speaking through the written statements and the title
of the show. Why mute? What is the appeal? And to
whom is it directed, and why is it important that it’s
non-verbal instead of actual words spoken out loud?
It’s my fifth solo show at V1, and two years since the
last show. My work, I wouldn’t necessarily call it loud,
it is definitely very expressive in a way that it has been
influenced by some of the great topics in art history:
civilized nations clashing with nature, the romantic
spirit of the artist facing society, and the roles the
individual plays in the realm of the population. So it’s
been very demonstrative. I used to do a lot of monkey
projects, paint and draw a lot of monkeys engaged in
really tough laboratory experiments. I wanted to get my
work to a more still atmosphere where you don’t get hit
in the face with this very dramatic series of moments,
like a bird being squeezed between human hands and
you have blood coming out. What I’m doing with this
show is bringing it down to a more, not quiet, but a kind
of subtle silence.
This show is more about people who do not scream
out loud. A lot of the people in the show have their
faces covered, hair coming down, or their heads are
turned sideways. I’ve scaled down when it comes to
visual ingredients, and in that sense, it’s more naked.
This is an area I’ve wanted to explore. I wanted it to
be less seductive. Is that what you call it? Maybe less
comfortable to take in, you know what I mean?
For more information about Troels Carlsen,
visit V1Gallery.com and TroelsCarlsen.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / TROELS-CARLSEN
Every Man Not Every ManAcrylic on canvas
150 cm x 185 cm
2012
I’VE SCALED DOWN WHEN IT COMES TO VISUAL INGREDIENTS, AND IN THAT SENSE,
IT’S MORE NAKED.
BEYOND THE STORY
A few weeks before the opening of his recent solo show at V1 Gallery,
Troels completed a 31-mile trail run in the Swedish mountains.
He also enjoys boxing as a hobby.
Troels once stored a taxidermy baboon head in his freezer for five years.
His next solo show will be in New York City, January 2014.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
TROELS CARLSEN
AUGUST 2013 93JUXTAPOZ.COM
MOMOInterview and portrait by ANGELO MILANO
My conversation with MOMO took place on May 30, 2013 in Grottaglie,
Italy, after a nice dinner at a pizzeria. The deadline for the interview
was fast approaching, and we chatted over a “quattro formaggi.”
RATHER THEN ONE OF THOSE INTERVIEWS
TO TRY AND SELL ITS CONTENTS.WITH A HIDDEN GOAL
When we got back home, we sat down in two different rooms,
got in front of our separate computers, and emailed each other...
Angelo Milano: You just heard me farting in the other room. This is how our
interview starts. Are you happy with it?
MOMO: I would say, “shoot,” done.
Who are you, how did you end up in my place and in Italy? What do you do for living,
and is it what you always wanted to do?
I make art projects with the name MOMO. Recently we were daydreaming in a
swimming pool at your cousin’s and it seemed possible to have some big adventures
and an exhibition, so we did. Now I’m here finishing things for the show. Amazingly,
I am able to make a living with work that is exactly what I wanted to do.
Wow, I’m amazed by your synthesis! You probably don’t know it but I keep referring
to this show as your first solo show even when we both know it’s not. Let’s say it’s
the first time you nailed your ass in the studio for long enough to paint pieces that
can be sold. How does it feel to be the traveler and adventure addict that you are?
It’s funny, the studio we found was your town’s former jail. But I love it. Two months
painting in Italy? We’re in the Medieval district; it’s epic, and the food is Italian style!
I now want to organize my life with the good months in spring and fall saved for
studio work. I haven’t yet had the luxury to do this, but it would be great.
Shit, you’re getting old! Is oil painting next? I’ve always spoken highly about your
intense and extensive globetrotter attitude, which I consider a real luxury. In all your
trips, including the most recent, a reoccurring destination seems to be Jamaica.
Why is that?
WE OPTED FOR A SINCERE TALK
AUGUST 2013 95JUXTAPOZ.COM
96 JUXTAPOZ
WHEN PEOPLE ASK HOW I BEGAN PAINTING THIS ABSTRACT-LOOKING WORK, I ALWAYS SAY THAT
JAMAICANS INSPIRED ME. THEY HAVE AN INTUITIVE SENSE FOR COLOR AND PATTERN
As most people know, they have quite a culture
happening down there in Jamaica. I ended up working
on the island off and on for seven years. It’s had a lasting
impact on me and the kind of art I create. When people
ask how I began painting this abstract-looking work,
I always say that Jamaicans inspired me. They have
an intuitive sense for color and pattern, both for use in
public, and as a voice. Since that’s where it all began
for me, we decided to return to Jamaica with this
fantasy painting trip to see if it was like I remember.
Bumbaclot! Is that why you paint outdoors then,
to have a voice in public? What are you trying to say?
How do you think the general public reacts to your
visual madness?
No, I got into painting outdoors as a little kid doing
landscapes of trees and mountains and such, and from
there graffiti looked attractive. But I blew past the
letters and did artsier things like giant portraits of
unsuspecting elderly subjects whom I’d secretly
photograph in public squares. In 1999, that’s trying to
say something, like old people are cool, and graffiti
should be tolerated. I’m so glad I’m not saying anything
anymore. I wasn’t very good at it. I mean, a voice in
public like a song. And I really don’t care if the general
public likes it. Any reaction is interesting, or funny.
I live by a square where they play live music the whole
Summer, and it mostly sucks. I hate it and I wonder if
there’s anybody feeling the same about your public
paintings. I doubt it though, as they’re all very well
composed and forged by great color palettes. Is your
speculation and research going somewhere else too?
Tell us about your tools and techniques, and what is
it with geometry?
I feel like I’m sitting on a bunch of fascinating material
all the time, and only a small amount becomes
something. Practical Geometry is a group of simple
architectural methods that predate math. Masons and
carpenters use these tricks to draft designs of any
scale—so it’s perfect for me, and in this way, I’m fighting
architecture with architecture, see? It’s been hard to
locate the details of these tricks. I finally paid someone
in Canada a bunch of money for his obsessive collection.
The concentric circles I’ve been working with are one of
my adaptations of these. And there’s more for drawing
ovals, angles, parallel lines, more than I’ll ever get to.
Now the concentric lines of different colors mix optically,
and that’s cool too. I discovered what is called additive
averaging; it is not like mixing paint, but more like pixels
mixing in your eyes with half the light. My tools are the
same as my art, experiments. I’ve made or customized
a lot of my tools over the years. It’s very satisfying to
find a way to do just what you want to do.
I’d like to mention that I sometimes have doubts about
colorful mural paintings, that they’re not rigorously
smart, or more lavish and sensual. But then I think that
ideally we can have both at once. You can’t separate
the brain from the body. I need good nutrients, exercise
and sleep to really come alive and think right, so a
painting that feels good can still be intelligent.
It took you too long to answer this one, you got nerdy,
but I see why. I was watching some crazy YouTube shit
in the meantime. I’ve seen you getting obsessed with
the smallest and apparently irrelevant things. Are you
aware you have a very selective attention?
Sounds autistic! Details everywhere can be amazing,
and they’re not always small.
I’m going to let these matches go. How many farts did
MOMO
AUGUST 2013 97JUXTAPOZ.COM
you count from the other room?
Do the burnt ones count?
I see obsessive energies happening in your paintings
too, because what looks natural and organic in your
paintings is actually a very long process of calculation
and math. What’s the process behind your images?
Designing these things is not as cool as it should be.
I’d like software to do it for me, to visualize and archive
ideas, so we can push it farther. That sounds dorky,
but it’s going to be great. I’m working with a few very
basic shapes and colors and the infinite dynamics
among these. That gets complex because infinity
is a lot to manage. For now, I’m just guessing blindly,
and it’s amazing what I find.
Going back to curiosity and collaborative works, how do
you relate to that, and how do people get into the mood
of your work or exchange the mood in one piece?
How do you let people into the process of your work?
I’ve only collaborated with people I’m inspired by,
so it’s reasonable to get close enough to see their
process. It’s like this with Eltono. We already share
sensibilities, so when together, we get weird fast
and take it farther than we might separately, and this
doesn’t need to fit either’s progression or biography.
I’ve seen you painting in very different contexts and
different surfaces, some with something already
on them. I’ve seen it in Grottaglie and in Jamaica.
How do you think the authors of those works relate
to what you’ve done, especially the guy in Jamaica?
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TOOLS OF THE TRADEWhen you travel the world with the mission of public art, you need to have both your supplies in order and all
emergencies accounted for. MOMO has already had a busy 2013 painting numerous walls and structures throughout
Jamaica, and when you are on the beach and in the sun, you need to make sure your gear is set. Here are MOMO’s tools:
1 Respirator 2 Paint hose 3 Sunscreen and sponge roller 4 Exacto knives 5 Spray paint gun
6 Paint color chips 7 Rollers 8 Massive tape measure 9 The Library of Practical Geometry
10 Sketchbook 11 Protractor 12 Sun hat 13 Tape, tape, tape
previous spread topHolland
2011
previous spread bottomWynwood Walls
Miami, Florida
2012
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opposite page top and bottomJamaica
2013
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next spreadJamaica
2013
MOMO
98 JUXTAPOZ
THAT GETS COMPLEX BECAUSE INFINITY IS A LOT TO MANAGE. FOR NOW I’M JUST GUESSING
BLINDLY, AND IT’S AMAZING WHAT I FIND.
That was a real disaster. We had encouragement from
locals when we asked to paint a crazy looking wall that
is worked on by a “mad man” who lives in the field there.
He regularly collects paint and adds it to this abandoned
property. So I get excited about this potential
collaboration with a motivated local. But the guy is
impossible to talk to! So we paint anyway, and I do the
move where I go “under,” not over someone, masking
off his work so my stuff sits behind it. Then I tried to
give him our remaining paint, but it didn’t go well.
What do you think about the other things you’ve
done in Jamaica? Do you think the people watching
already got over the fact that a foreigner painted
them, and now they’re a part of the place?
It’s curious what people think. I think some cultural
differences make the relevance hard to translate both
ways. They’re more likely to believe everyone is an
artist and that self-expression is natural, even the
rawest spray paint scribble styles. One guy who had
covered a building this way explained to us that he
needed to buff it all, to do it again exactly the same,
but better. We were embraced everywhere, but it
was casual.
This goes with the legend. They say that you’ve been
living in a cave or a tent or a camper. What’s that all about?
Looking for a way through life led me outside. A lack
of money, but also stimulation and fresh air is how
I metthe street thing. It’s not really important,
the biographical stuff, although sometimes I think
outside is the best. The people there that don’t fit
the program are the best, and I don’t want to forget
them or that perspective.
What other suggestions would you give to the
thousands of MOMO wannabes?
Really? Are there other people?
Are you kidding? I’ve seen many people biting on
your stuff.
Then I’ve made it! You’re nothing until you’re
“influential”… and in my own lifetime, I didn’t expect
this. Well kids, get eight hours of sleep, lots of exercise,
cut your own hair, buy nothing, stay homeless, and read
all you can. Drugs are bullshit and everyone knows it
but they don’t tell you until you’re older. Love probably
isn’t real, it’s like a drug. Sorry.
For more information on MOMO, visit MomoShowPalace.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / MOMO
GROTTAGLIE, ITALY
MOMO
AUGUST 2013 101JUXTAPOZ.COM
SHROUDS & SINEWAT ANTLER GALLERY
Interview by HANNAH STOUFER
the three artists selected to exhibit in Antler Gallery’s Shrouds & Sinew show
offer a collective narrative from both the threads that intertwine to those that
appear stylistically alien. The intensely grotesque imagery of Allison Sommers’
fleshy abominations contrast starkly with the vibrant patterns adorning Stacey
Rozich’s beasts that, in turn, reflect within the glowing, ethereal characters
created by Morgaine Faye. The exhibition as a whole ebbs and flows visually
between comparison and contradiction with an enveloping sensory stimulus.
The show will be on display
HANNAH STOUFFER IN CONVERSATION WITH ANTLER GALLERY
Hannah Stoufer: Shrouds & Sinew is a three-person show featuring Allison
Sommers, Stacey Rozich, and Morgaine Faye that is currently on display at your
gallery in Portland (June 26th–July 2013). Tell me about the reasoning behind
putting this trio of artists together in one show.
Antler Gallery: The process is interesting in that the show developed over an
extended period of time. We wanted to show Morgaine’s work alongside someone
who would both compliment and contrast her style. Stacey’s use of vibrant pattern
is reflected in Morgaine’s more ethereal scenes, but the subject matter and
execution is very different. Allison’s work offered something very distinctive with her
disgustingly beautiful pieces, adding a darker context to the show as a whole.
Do you often combine artists whose work shows a visible juxtaposition from the other?
We’re finding it’s a fine line to tread. The shows require strands of similarity that clearly
connect the artists’ visual language. Otherwise it is hard to have a coherent interaction
between the works, especially in a small space like ours. On the other hand, putting
artists together who so clearly have the same style gets boring. Two and three person
shows are a relatively new thing for us, but as curators we enjoy the challenges of
putting them together and have a lot planned for the year ahead.
It’s not often that you see a group show of females that isn’t called out as such
AS MUCH AS THEIR SIMILARITIES,
CHOSEN FOR THE DIFFERENCES IN THEIR WORK
THROUGH JULY, 2013
AUGUST 2013 103JUXTAPOZ.COM
specifically, and I personally really appreciate
that. Did it cross your mind when putting the
show together?
No. We choose the artists based on the work they
make and how they act as people. All three are
incredibly talented, make astoundingly good art
and are a joy to interact with. The idea of gender as
some kind of gimmick, or that women can only be
considered valuable as artists if you can sell them
as “other” is not an idea we subscribe to, the fact it
happens so often is troubling. We’re certain each,
if not all, of these artists would have turned down
the idea if we’d chosen to approach them in that way,
and rightly so. Artists deserve respect solely for the
caliber of their work.
Tell me a little bit about the genesis of your gallery.
When it was established, your aspirations, and life
before opening Antler.
We opened Antler in January 2012 because we were
tired of seeing galleries in the neighborhood close.
We decided that opening our own spot would be more
productive than complaining about it. Now, we’re lucky
to be part of a very supportive community on Alberta
Street. Our biggest aspiration is to nurture a warm and
welcoming venue to view art. We want people to come
in and feel like they can have a discussion with us
about the work on our walls.
For more information on Antler Gallery, visit AntlerPDX.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / ANTLER-GALLERY
HANNAH STOUFFER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
ALLISON SOMMERS,
STACEY ROZICH AND
MORGAINE FAYE
Hannah Stouffer: Where are
you right now?
Allison Sommers: In my studio
in Brooklyn, New York.
Morgaine Faye: I am at my
desk, in my studio in Portland,
Oregon. It’s raining outside,
and my 14 year-old miniature
pinscher, Wolfgang, is asleep and snoring at my feet.
Stacey Rozich: Sitting in my apartment near downtown
Seattle, Washington. Nothing but the sound of my
refrigerator whirring, the freeway whooshing by and
my cat wrestling with his scratching post.
Were there certain aspects of your respective
childhoods that have influenced the work you
create today?
AS: I grew up as an only child and lived largely within
pretend worlds, which probably goes a long way
towards art-working insofar as the “real” can exist as
convincingly in the imagined as it can in the physical
world for me. I also had a ravenous curiosity about
the natural world, with little inborn revulsion for the
“icky.” My fascination with gutty things, for instance,
is borne less out of a morbidity than from an
irrepressible interest.
MF: I feel lucky to have grown up in Santa Cruz,
THE IDEA OF GENDER AS SOME KIND OF GIMMICK, OR THAT WOMEN CAN ONLY BE CONSIDERED VALUABLE AS ARTISTS IF YOU CAN SELL THEM AS “OTHER” IS NOT AN IDEA WE SUBSCRIBE TO
opposite page
And That’s Why
Tasmanian Tigers Are
Banned From Westminsterby Stacey Rozich
2013
STACEY ROZICH
BEYOND THE STORY
My signature looks just like my
mother’s, from forging it so many times
when I was younger.
I have a history of adventurous
sleepwalking.
I’m the tallest female on both sides of
my family.
SHROUDS & SINEW: ANTLER GALLERY
104 JUXTAPOZ
California, which is such a
unique and beautiful place.
My grandmother owns a
stretch of land in the mountains
there, and, as a kid I spent
many weekends getting lost,
collecting bugs, catching
snakes and crawdads, and
finding bones and other
treasures hidden in the woods.
I wasn’t totally unsupervised,
but it was definitely a time when
I remember feeling very free
and inspired to explore the
landscape and experiment by myself and use
my imagination.
SR: I played alone a lot—I was immersed in my own
imagination most of the time. I’m really glad I had
parents that were pretty hands-off and didn’t force me
to join any clubs or sports. I loved making up stories
and drawing them out like picture books, and then
comic books when I got a little older. I was also a huge
sponge for television. I think since my mother was
raised by TV she didn’t put too many restrictions on
it for my sister and I. Narrative storytelling has always
been a huge part of how I communicate and it’s the
foundation for all my work today.
At what point did you decide to become an artist?
Do you remember your first encounter with art?
AS: I’ve always been one, I just needed a little time to
strip off the other bits of me that occluded artist-ness.
MF: I’m not sure about my first encounter with art
specifically. I have been drawing for a very long time,
but I would say that it is only recently that I have felt
comfortable calling myself an artist. I feel that pursuing
art was more of a natural attraction than a conscious
decision.
SR: There was never any deciding moment, like the
heavens opening and an almighty light shines down.
One time in kindergarten I drew a many-limbed
leopard and everyone praised me to no end about it.
I think that might have been the closest I ever got to
a defining feeling of “So this is how it’s gonna be”
and then I kept at it.
What do you imagine you would have turned to if not
the creative field?
AS: Animal husbandry of one sort or another.
MF: I always joke that if I wasn’t making art I would
want to be a taxidermist or jeweler, or I’d want to
host wildlife documentaries. I’m really fascinated
by the natural sciences, world history, and cultural
anthropology. I think if I wasn’t making art, I should like
to work in a museum, or perhaps start a cult.
SR: I’ve thought that many times, like what kind of
person would I be if I got a more constructive and
stable job? What if i went to a real college? I probably
would have done something in writing, or worse—
theater. I think I’ve always been doomed to do
something creatively fulfilling. I would probably wilt
like a flower and become a huge jerk if I got an office
job and crunched numbers all day.
How would you describe your work to someone who
has never seen it?
AS: I struggle terribly with that. At cocktail parties,
I usually start with “Ah… there are… dogs… and
guts…” and trail off in the hopes that they’ll volunteer
something helpful about what I might, in fact, do.
MF: I would say my work has ethereal, dream-like
qualities with dark visceral undertones. I think that
the bright saturated colors and decorative quality of
my work makes it approachable, but ultimately my
WHAT IF I WENT TO A REAL COLLEGE? I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE DONE
SOMETHING IN WRITING, OR WORSE: THEATER.
opposite page
Ainselby Morgaine Faye
Ink, gouche, colored pencil,
and spray paint on wood
18" x 24"
2012
MORGAINE FAYE
BEYOND THE STORY
My mother named me after a witch.
I am fascinated by mummies.
I have a bionic leg.
SHROUDS & SINEW: ANTLER GALLERY
AUGUST 2013 107JUXTAPOZ.COM
Merry Widowby Allison Sommers
Gouache on illustration board
7" x 9.25"
2013
ALLISON SOMMERS
BEYOND THE STORY
I’m a synaesthete.
I have a medieval history degree.
I’m an incorrigible magpie and
trash-picker.
intention is to make people feel a little uncomfortable.
My subjects typically include natural forms in states of
decay, animals, figures, and iconic imagery.
SR: I do this all the time and it never fails to give me
a tiny heart attack every time. It feels so exposed
telling a stranger about something as personal as your
artwork. Now it’s my full-time career, I have to talk
about it all the time. Saying “I make art, I’m an artist”
is the equivalent of saying “I smoke weed and take
improv classes” to most people. Now I just explain that
I work in folkloric vignettes that focus on pop culture,
textiles and pattern—and it’s all done in watercolor.
What color are you most identifying with right now?
AS: Always greys… grey-green...
SR: Greige. A combo of beige and gray. You wouldn’t
think so looking at my work which is so full of eye-
numbing color. But that seemingly benign non-shade
is so interesting to me. It’s the antedote to my need to
splash six different colors on something.
What is your preferred medium?
AS: Gouache, with graphite as a very close second.
MF: I love to work with a ton of different media.
When I’m making 2D images I generally use pencil,
gouache, ink, acrylic, and collage. Experimentation is
a central part of my studio practice, but I expect that
my preferred methods will always be changing.
SR: Watercolor, always and forever. I feel like I could
use it in my sleep, it’s second nature.
What direction do you see your work going in?
AS: Larger! I’ve set aside a few months this year to
do Big Works, or at least Big Ideas. My work has been
changing dramatically over the past year or two as
SHROUDS & SINEW: ANTLER GALLERY
108 JUXTAPOZ
Indee Fixeby Allison Sommers
Mixed media on paper
41 cm x 31 cm
2013
I have been thinking harder about what it is I want to
do with art.
MF: Similar to how my mediums are constantly
changing, I see my work doing the same. I think it
evolves and shifts focus as I do, and I always try to
challenge myself when I feel that I’m getting stuck in
my comfort-zone. I’d really like to make much larger
work and try my hand at painting murals...
SR: Always forward, never backward. I see it going in
a range of different mediums now. I’m obsessed with
usability: I want my work to be on housewares and
textiles, things you can take with you and look at and
get dirty.
Did you consider the work of the other two artists
involved or the title of the show, Shrouds & Sinew,
when making or choosing work to exhibit?
MF: I was definitely trying to imagine what it all might
look like together in the end. Stacey and Allison
both have such unique visions and outstanding work.
I wanted my work to present the same strength
and authenticity.
SR: Ostensibly no, but the fact we all work in similar
realms of animals and symbolism will help tie them all
together, however loosely.
Do you have any rituals when it comes to making art?
What are they?
AS: I split into two. There’s the artist Allison, and the
school bus driver Allison, who’s ornery and hollers
at me when my attention wanders. “SIT DOWN AND
SHUT UP.”
MF: Often my art-making rituals are my morning rituals:
Coffee first, put on a record, make a to-do list. I like to
start with a clean space. I’ll often do a quick sweep of
my work surfaces before I sit down at my desk. And I
AUGUST 2013 109JUXTAPOZ.COM
SAYING “I MAKE ART, I’M AN ARTIST” IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SAYING “I SMOKE WEED AND TAKE
IMPROV CLASSES” TO MOST PEOPLE.
always maintain some noise or music playing.
SR: I like to look back at all the stuff I’ve collected:
books, dusty mascot heads, masks, or even image
links. I like to look at my research materials to help
mold whatever situation I have cooking in my brain.
I also became a huge devotee to the Stuff You Should
Know podcasts. Knowledge is power.
What do you listen to while you work and at what volume?
AS: It varies. I have been trying to limit my “word diet”
(podcasts etc.) so that my mind can wander a little more
aimlessly. I have been listening to a lot of minimalist
stuff as loudly as I can stand.
MF: When I’m painting, it has to be something driving
and upbeat like classic soul, or golden age hip-hop.
Sharon Jones always knows how to put me in the mood.
SR: Podcasts, and NPR. For music, it’s always changing.
Junip’s new album has been on heavy repeat, Frank
Ocean, Com Truise, Smog, Fleetwood Mac. It’s a varied
group; I have musical ADD.
Tell me five things that you can’t live without.
AS: Sketchbooks. That’s actually all I can come up with.
Everything else is negotiable, unless we’re talking
biological necessities.
MF: Home-made breakfast burritos, my hands,
Wolfgang, sunshine and love.
SR: Pen and paper, Julius the tuxedo cat, snacks,
humor and Sam Macon.
Vices, indulgences?
SR: Ritz Bits cheese crackers, sleeping late, air drying
on my bed after a shower while looking at Thai beauty
queens showing off their manicures on Instagram.
MF: Sex, Drugs, Wu Tang Clan.
AS: Oh, no, of course not. I’m pious as a damned saint.
For more information on Allison Sommers,
visit AllisonSommers.Typepad.com
For more information on Morgaine Faye,
visit MorgaineFaye.com
For more information on Stacey Rozich,
visit StaceyRozich.com
JUXTAPOZ.COM / ALLISON-SOMMERS
JUXTAPOZ.COM / MORGAINE-FAYE
JUXTAPOZ.COM / STACEY-ROZICH
This Can Only
End Badlyby Stacey Rozich
2013
PORTLAND, OREGON
SHROUDS & SINEW: ANTLER GALLERY
AUGUST 2013 111JUXTAPOZ.COM
JULIE NORDInterview by KRISTIN FARR Portrait by SOREN SOLKAER STARBIRD
112
She isolates tense and suspenseful moments,
summoning feelings of unease, and distilling those feelings
into puzzling vignettes, working persistently to leave clues for
which there is no case to solve. If you want to know what
her work is about, you’re on your own. The meaning
is up to you and your psyche.
Kristin Farr: You must be thinking a lot about good and evil forces in your work.
Julie Nord: It’s pretty much a plague. If I’m making something very sweet, I’ll have to
make something to contradict it. Or if a picture gets too scary, I have to make a stupid
little bird with a scarf blowing bubbles. It’s a little bit like playing chess with yourself. If it
gets too much on one side, I have to do something that moves it toward the other side.
Does living in Copenhagen influence your work?
It’s hard to say. For many years I was traveling through the third world, but more and
more, I think my images have a Scandinavian feel to them. My colors were much stronger
and vivid, but now they are more calm and laid back, and maybe more Scandinavian.
Where have you traveled?
When I was young, I traveled to Africa for a couple of years altogether, and I’ve been
to India, Tibet and other places, but mostly Africa.
I noticed the cultural influence in the pattern of the blob character that often shows
up in your work. Let’s talk about the blobs.
I’ve been interested in outsider art for many years, and especially compulsive
patterns. In the beginning, I made them as a contrast to these very polished child
LITTLE SECRETS AND SYMBOLS THAT APPEAR TO LEAD TO A DESTINATION,
BUT THEY DON’T.
JULIE NORD LEAVES TRAILSOF BREADCRUMBS
THAT WIND THROUGH HER WORK—
AUGUST 2013 113JUXTAPOZ.COM
images. A lot of my work is very controlled, and it’s
important to have these slips of something that is out of
control. It can be ink splotches, big white spaces, or the
blobs of patterns. I don’t plan them, I just flow with it.
You get lost when you do it,
and it’s very hard to leave any space. You have to fill
it up, and it’s a mesmerizing way of working. It can be
pretty hard to find home afterwards because you make
these small patterns in your head; and if you sit with
them for six or seven hours, you get really weird, but in
a nice way.
Tell me about your upcoming show at the
Kunsten Museum.
It’s in November, and will be traveling to Copenhagen
afterwards. It has a family album theme. So far, the title
is Just Like Home, and I’m building three rooms where
the installation part will be quite important. I’m trying to
design some wallpapers and carpets, so you actually
enter my work instead of just looking at it. I’m getting
closer to making some sounds for the rooms. I really
want you to be swallowed up by my work. It gets more
and more important for me to drag the viewer into the
works instead of having this distance that gallery and
museum walls give.
You mentioned the family theme, and I noticed that
recurring words used to describe your work are
childhood, family, identity, and reality.
I’m questioning reality, and I’m using pictures that
we normally associate with a safe zone, like pictures
from childhood and family, Romantic era children’s
book illustrations and cute animals. That’s my base.
Of course, they’re also playing with the whole aspect
of innocense, and there’s always a blur between reality
and illusion. Sometimes these children are not so
innocent, so there’s always some insecurity involved.
Do animals play specific roles in the pictures?
In one work, an animal can be very cute and
comforting. And in another one, it gives you this feeling
of impending doom, like something is about to happen,
because animals are supposed to feel these things
a little bit before people do. They give this nervous
energy and emotional instability, but they’re rarely the
main characters.
What are your thoughts on anthropomorphized animals?
I have a weird passion for everything that is really
absurd and perverted, things like animals driving
cars—it’s pretty mad! I like to put these kinds of animals
in a picture where you also see more natural-looking
animals, just to have this change in reality, and make
it look somehow normal that they’re standing beside
each other.
Let’s talk about the identity aspect in your new work.
I’ve been doing family pictures for two years now, and
they consist of three things: identity, patterns, and the
empty space or white paper. It’s interesting to see what
it takes to create this feeling of identity. This person
may only exist because of their hair and clothes and the
wallpaper behind them. I like to make the surroundings
create the person’s character. It’s an examination of
where identity starts. And in family patterns there is
also this construction of who you are.
Do you obscure faces in your work for reasons other
than leaving things open for interpretation?
That’s part of it, but also if you’ve seen photos where
people have scratched the eyes out, or cut someone
out of the picture, that tells you a story—the mystery of
disappearing people. Identity is not a very steady thing,
so that’s why it’s funny to play with some finely drawn
faces together with faces that don’t exist, or faces that
are just blobs.
What are some weird aspects of families that
interest you?
I think everybody has known the feeling of being in a
family—especially when you’re young or a teenager—
and feeling totally out of it, like you’re from a different
planet, or they are. You’re supposed to have things in
common with them, but it just seems like an illusion.
To make it simple, I guess it’s based on that feeling
I HAVE A WEIRD PASSION FOR EVERYTHING THAT IS REALLY ABSURD AND PERVERTED, THINGS LIKE ANIMALS DRIVING CARS—IT’S PRETTY MAD!
JonasWatercolor, felt-tip pen and
ink on paper
76 cm x 57 cm
2012
JULIE NORD
114 JUXTAPOZ
of strangeness and identity confusion, which is very
strong when you’re a teenager, but still follows all of us.
With my newer work, I needed to find a simpler frame.
I got tired of all the storytelling and different elements,
so I tried to narrow it down to just identity, patterns,
and empty space to see how I could explore my theme
in a more simple way, and dig a bit deeper.
It seems like you became more focused on empty
space in the last couple of years.
It’s coming back a bit now, in the faces. It’s so nice to
leave the face open with no eyes and mouth. For a
while, the empty spaces were overridden by the blobs,
which are somehow the same as blank space because
there is no narration or certain meaning.
I’m so fascinated by our need to find meaning and
understand things. I’m interested in creating a new
confusion, and I think the empty space is the base
from where all these stories and meanings are derived.
It’s just as important to leave the white space open,
as it is to put down all the meanings and figures.
Let’s talk more about your intricate patterns.
I’m very interested in wallpapers from history, and our
concrete need for patterns. In a philosophical way,
we put things in order and create repetitions, enforcing
ourselves in patterns and routines all the time as a way
to have a fixed identity.
Some people approach timelessness by non-referential,
but you do it by combining references from so many
different eras.
It’s also because I think patterns are like music.
For instance, my grandmother had certain wallpaper,
and I’m sure if I entered a room with the same
wallpaper, I could almost be able to smell the food
she made. Patterns are full of emotion in a very
subconscious way, just like sounds, music, and smells.
Maybe you don’t remember how a certain shirt looked,
but the pattern is stuck inside you somehow. If you see
SiblingsWatercolor, felt-tip pen and
ink on paper
57 cm x 76 cm
2013
116 JUXTAPOZ
patterns from the Romantic era, it imparts a feeling of
innocence and the good old times, even if you weren’t
there. It goes into your brain without you really noticing
what it’s doing.
Are you working from photographs with your
family portraits?
Yes, I’m working from photographs of people I don’t
know. It’s quite important that I have no relation
to these people so that I can change them. I might
take the eyes from one person, and so on, like
Dr. Frankenstein. I make up characters, and I get
to know these people while I’m working on them.
I don’t know their story, but I get a feeling of what
might have happened to them, and I make up a name.
If you find an old photo album from a family you
don’t know, you start thinking about stories, like,
“Why does she look so sad?” Or “What a coy smile he
has.” You make up these stories, which are probably
somehow related to your own family. They’re strangers,
but it gets sort of voyeuristic. I get to know them, and
I spend maybe two weeks with this person, and they
somehow come to life, even though I don’t know them
like my own family. But, of course, I put myself into it.
Every so often the faces look like me even though
I don’t want them to. I like that I don’t know them.
I need that distance to feel free when I work.
Tell me about your own family.
I’m sorry to say it’s not that unusual. Maybe that’s why
I have to make these pictures! If I go back into my family
history, it does have its share of secrets: shameful
events nobody wants to talk about, strange deaths,
restless outsiders and abandoned children... If you
look close enough there’s always something hidden
in the cupboards.
What are some of your darker influences?
I’m really into horror movies because of this very banal
thing where you start with a happy family—a boy, a girl,
above
FeverWatercolour and felt-tip pen
on paper.
115 cm x 185 cm
2010
◊
next spread
SéanceWatercolor and felt-tip pen
on paper
76 cm x 57 cm
2008
AUGUST 2013 117JUXTAPOZ.COM
EVERY SO OFTEN THE FACES LOOK LIKE ME EVEN THOUGH I DON’T WANT THEM TO.
I LIKE THAT I DON’T KNOW THEM.
a golden retriever, and a mother and father in a nice
house—and you just know it’s going to fall apart. In
horror movies, it’s always evil that pulls things apart—
that’s how we see it. If you have a steady system or
pattern that actually works, then it must be evil.
I’m very interested in the building up of suspense:
how a window or a cat can be made to seem really
spooky or scary. I think these small things in horror
movies that make you fear something is going to
happen are really intriguing. I’m never interested
in the end when the monster is actually coming,
but the whole buildup part is really inspiring.
There’s a certain amount of humor that plays with
your expectations of good and evil.
Do you think about nightmares when you’re working?
Yes, in the sense of how reality starts to melt or break
down. That’s always a nightmarish feeling because you
can’t control it. That aspect fascinates me, if I totally
understand the work I’ve done, then it’s not working;
it’s not good. If it’s not disturbing me a little bit and
keeping me wondering, then it’s just not fulfilled.
I think that’s what nightmares and dreams are like.
You don’t really understand them, and the narration
is always abrupt and changing very quickly.
In your earlier work, the compositions were really full,
and you seemed to use a lot of symbols or secrets.
Through the years, I’ve been building a whole toolbox
of figures, and maybe by chance, they have shown up
in one work or another. For instance, a helicopter has
been used quite a lot. In some of the works, it’s odd
because they seem old fashioned and nostalgic,
and a helicopter makes some kind of disturbance
because it really doesn’t belong, and it obscures things
a bit. Then maybe a few years later, I’ll put it in a shirt
pattern, so it’s like a little recurring friend. There are
always these little parts where you know a needle or
a match is going to be really important later on in the
story. A secret is a good word for it. They have to have
this meaning that you’re trying to find, especially if you
go into a big exhibition, and you see these symbols
used in different works in different ways.
But then there’s nothing to figure out.
No. There’s no ending or solution. There are just a
lot of clues. This Rorschach thing is really important
for me. You feel like there has to be some meaning,
and you really want to find it. I get a lot of emails from
people who have been reading different things into my
work because it feels just like their lives, or something
they’ve been doing. It’s really important for me that the
work is open to interpretation. And at the same time,
there are all these clues, so you feel you have to find
out what it’s about. But it’s not anything targeted.
It’s really up to you.
For more information about Julie Nord, visit JulieNord.dk
JUXTAPOZ.COM / JULIE-NORD
BEYOND THE STORY
She grew up in the Danish countryside.
If she were a horror movie character, she says she would be Carrie.
There is an experimental documentary about her called Fever.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
JULIE NORD
AUGUST 2013 119JUXTAPOZ.COM
CODY HUDSONA CITY GUIDE TO CHICAGO
GOING TO CHICAGO IN AUGUST FOR LOLLAPALOOZA? We asked Cody Hudson, artist
behind Struggle Inc, and partner of Chicago restaurants Longman & Eagle and the brand new
Parson’s Chicken & Fish about his best tips for seeing the Windy City. “I’m a bit of an old man and
tend to not get out much,” Hudson told us. “If I do I usually go to the same ten spots I have always
gone to. It helps simplify my life a bit. So this is a list of some of the places that make me feel at home.”
BEER & WHISKEYI have been known to drink an Old Style with a little
Old Grand Dad in between. After a long day in the
studio you sometimes need a shot for the walk
home. My old watering hole when we lived in Pilsen
was the Skylark. It was like Cheers but for grumpy
artists. Also on that side of town is Maria’s Packaged
Goods and Community Bar. A “slashie” (half liquor
store / half bar) that Ed Marszewski took over from
his mom after she ran it for years. If running the bar
wasn’t enough, Edmar also publishes Proximity art
magazine, Mash Tun Craft Beer journal and Lumpen
(now on it’s 120th issue).
Other spots to hit on your way back north:• Rainbo Club
• Bob Inn
TRAVEL INSIDER
122 JUXTAPOZ
FOOD
Lula Café I’ve been eating here for years and always enjoy
the food, art and people in the space. They have
an amazing painting of Cam’ron wearing a pink
fur coat by Alex Cohen up now and the Monday
Farm dinners are as great as that is.
Hot Doug’sI could give a shit about a deep-dish pizza, but
it’s hard to talk Chicago without talking Hot
Dogs. There are a lot of classic spots in every
neighborhood but I tend to hit up Hot Doug’s when
I can. People go for the specialty sausages like
rattlesnake and Foie gras but I usually stick to the
classics: Char Dog with everything but no onions.
Other spots I like to hit up on the regular include:Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen
The Publican
Bang Bang Pie Shop
Phil’s Last Stand
JP Graziano
Avec
GT Fish & Oyster
opposite page bottom
Maria’s Packaged Goods
top left
Lulu Cafe
mid left
Hot Doug’s
bottom left
Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen
bottom right
Skylark
All photography by
Clayton Hauck
JUXTAPOZ.COM AUGUST 2013 123
AROUND TOWN
Sometimes you need to end a hectic week with a good haircut and
a straight razor shave. The spot I always go to is Joe’s Barbershop.
In business since 1968, the father/son team of Joe Caccavella
Sr. and Jr. will give you a good cut and share some good stories
(and maybe some barber shop wine if you are lucky). If a razor
scrapping up against your face isn’t enough to wake you up,
you can head down to Great Lakes Tattoo where the Nick Colella,
Mario Desa and crew will work some classic no nonsense ink into
your skin.
Some other great spots to check out:
• Quimby’s Books
• Saint Alfred
• Independence
• Penelope’s
• Uprise
For more information about Cody Hudson, visit Struggleinc.com.
His restaurants are managed by his company, Land & Sea Dept.
Lollapalooza runs from August 2—4, 2013 at Grant Park.
JUXTAPOZ.COM / CODY-HUDSON
ARTA lot of people go to school here and leave for better pastures but I’m originally
from one hour north in Kenosha, WI. I am a Midwesterner at heart and my
daughter Birdie was born here, so I think I’ll end up staying here for the long
haul. I’ve been showing work with Andrew Rafacz Gallery in the West Loop
for almost ten years. We have a show of new drawings opening July 27,
titled Some Times I Feel Like Shit.
The MCA has been putting on some great shows recently including Paul
Cowan, Jason Lazarus, Rashid Johnson and Scott Reeder. And Chicago has a
number of interesting Public Art pieces—Calder’s Flamingo from 1974 and Jean
Dubuff et’s Monument with Standing Beast are some good ones to start with.
Other spaces I like to visit:• Document
• Western Exhibitions
• Kavi Gupta
• Volume Gallery
• Paris London Hong Kong
• Roots and Culture
• Devening Projects + Editions
• The Marshfi eld Project
I COULD GIVE A SHIT ABOUT A DEEP-DISH PIZZA, BUT IT’S HARD TO TALK CHICAGO WITHOUT TALKING HOT DOGS.
top left
Flamingoby Alexander Calder
top right
Volume Gallery
bottom
Joe’s Barber Shop
124 JUXTAPOZ
TRAVEL INSIDER
WHEN WE FIRST covered Naughty Dog’s The Last Of
Us during E3 2012, we never expected it would exceed our
expectations. This is a new breed of video game that underplays
action and speed for story and emotion. Rather than follow along
with a script, the player advances the plot with every action.
Within the first ten minutes of playing The Last of Us, I found myself
enthralled. I knew the fictitious relationship with my character’s
in-game daughter wasn’t real, but that didn’t make me feel any more
confident when attempting to protect her. This isn’t kill-everything-
in-sight aggression, but more fleeing-for-our-lives as we outwit
the horde. For a story based on zombies and the post-apocalyptic
planet, The Last of Us is magnificent at vividly portraying the
relationships we might have in the face of ultimate uncertainty and
fear instead of common video game rotation of horrific after horrific
act. Advancing into the game, new relationships develop with your
survival crew. Cognizant of your control of the action, the process
becomes more exhilarating like shifting into concentrated autopilot,
completing tasks as if you’re breathing in real life.
I don’t know if this style of game could be experienced in any
other genre, but developers should take notes on this The Last
of Us, where the horror/zombie thriller supersedes anticipation. If
the video game community wants to outgrow the stigma of being
“child’s play,” this is the style of game to emulate. —Nick Lattner
Developed by Naughty Dog, published by Sony, and available on the PS3.
For more information, visit TheLastOfUs.com
THE LAST OF USIT HURTS TO JUST CALL THIS A “GAME”
LEFT 4 DEAD SERIESConsidered one of the best “zombie” series games ever, these brought the team atmosphere into gaming but lacked any sense of caring about the characters.
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 ZOMBIE MODE
Considered one of the most exhilirating “Gameplay” modes ever, Black Ops 2 brought an onslaught of never-ending zombies and new areas to battle them in. However, it lacked real environmental appeal.
FALLOUT SERIES
Although a good story, as well as a great series of fighting sequences, the cinematic quality was a bit lacking.
MORE SUPER RESPECTABLE GAMES
BEAUTIFUL BITS
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BOOKSTITLES JUXTAPOZ IS READING NOW
NUDITY TODAY: REVEALING WORKS BY EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS edited by JESSE PEARSONIt seems more so than ever, people just like getting naked. Somehow, the prevailing culture of
social networking has already broken down our separation anxieties and barriers. I’m pretty sure
that most of us have exposed more of ourselves, either emotionally or physically, than we would
have to a greater audience of friends, say, 10 years ago. So, what is next after posting a soliloquy
about your break up on Facebook? You get naked, maybe in public, have sex, take a shower,
or pee on your Godzilla toy… and take a picture doing it. It’s the next frontier of exhibitionism,
the next level of social interaction and intimacy in our attempt to usurp the sterility of mobile
communication. Nudity Today captures this new youth movement, taking a group of contemporary
photographers and their “boobs, butts, pussies, and dicks,” and showcasing them in one long
cinematic presentation. From the established names of Tim Barber, Aurel Schmidt, and Sandy Kim to
some of our favorites like Jerry Hsu and Lele Saveri, Nudity Today is intimate, voyeuristic, and bold.
PictureBox, PictureBoxInc.com Artbook D.A.P., ArtBook.com
THE PURPLE BOOK by ANGUS HYLAND & ANGHARAD LEWISAnd now… from the complete opposite end of the spectrum in the depiction
of sensuality and sexuality that we see in Nudity Today: The Purple Book is an
ambrosial compilation and curation of the sensual and erotic arts, taking both
the overt and subtle sexual details of contemporary art and pairing them with the
stories and poems of Poe, Joyce, and Bataille. The works of Vania Zouravliov, Jules
Julien, Miss Van, Tim Hon Hung Lee, Conrad Roset, and others, each with their own
narrative artistic styles, pair harmoniously with some of the great literary fi gures of
the 19th and 20th centuries. As Angus Hyland notes in the introduction, “Many of the
artists featured here share both a particular aesthetic vision and a commitment to the
hand-drawn-image… such intensity results in a powerful fetishism.” There may not be
a better compilation of erotica all year. A must-have.
Laurence King Publishing, LaurenceKing.com
JOHN VAN HAMERSVELD: FIFTY YEARS OF GRAPHIC DESIGNThe fact that Van Hamersveld’s most famous design, the iconic poster for the fi lm, Endless
Summer, is not on the cover of this book is both a blessing and a curse. It is one of those designs
that exceed the artist’s hands, almost too perfect to have been created by one person on a
commercial assignment. Thousands of dorm rooms and rip-off s later, Gingko Press has now given
the entire body of work of John Van Hamersveld a closer look. John Van Hamersveld: Fifty Years
of Graphic Design looks not only at Endless Summer, but album cover works that resulted in The
Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., and the Grateful Dead’s
Skeletons in the Closet, as well as concert posters, logo designs, and poster art that have defi ned
California design for the past half century. Now that the original Endless Summer poster is in
the collection of LACMA and recognized as a truly original, historic West Coast art piece, Van
Hamersveld’s full career is now rightly put into context.
Gingko Press, GingkoPress.com
REVIEWS
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WALL TO WALL IN HONG KONGCONVERSE BRINGS THEIR INTERNATIONAL MURAL
PROGRAM TO A SURGING CITY
Story by EVAN PRICCO
THE RECENT EMERGENCE of Hong
Kong as an art capital was in the forecast, as
the shift and focus of the world’s economic
attention has been focusing toward Asia for
years. A new group of blue chip art collectors
has always symbolized powerful spending
and egos in equal measure. When the world’s
leading art fair, Art Basel, bought ART Hong
Kong in 2011 and premiered the HK edition
in May 2013, the question for most wasn’t
whether the fair would succeed, but how
would the city would react and contribute
to the overall art experience. Public art has
thrived at Art Basel Miami in recent years,
almost overwhelming the south Florida city each
December. Yet the immutable permanence of
those murals sustains the creative juices
in the city long after the fair leaves.
This May, Converse curated a group of
international artist to contribute to their
public art program, Wall to Wall, ushering
the already robust art gallery and fair
schedules out into public view. For this Wall
to Wall, Brazil’s Alex Hornest, Berlin-based
Buff Diss, French-born, Hong Kong-based,
Charles Munka, and Shenzen, and China’s
IDT Crew all took
to different corners
of the mega-city to
create site-specific
works. Not only
was the program
unprecedented
in the city itself,
but Converse’s Asia-based team was able to
secure public spaces that intersected with
the daily lives of Hong Kong residents as
opposed to typical tourist hotspots.
“The location was great,” Buff Diss told us.
THE QUESTION FOR MOST WASN’T WHETHER THE FAIR WOULD SUCCEED, BUT HOW WOULD THE CITY REACT
EVENT
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opposite page and right
CHARLES MUNKA’s
mixed media
canvas grabbed
center stage
right in the heart
of Hong Kong’s
commercial district
above and left
IDT CREW
took to the emerging
and trendy
neighborhood of
Sheung Wan
JUXTAPOZ.COM AUGUST 2013 131
All photography by
Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Courtesy of Converse
Just to the left, ferries were docking, and further
back, freighters were passing. The contrast between
the bustling harbor and the dead ship was ideal.
What I liked was that lots of people stopped and
touched the piece as it went up. I really appreciated
that directness—the tape lends itself to it.”
This magazine has long championed public art as an
active ingredient in art fair programs, such as murals
or other outdoor projects, that interact and include
residents of the city. As more and more fairs benefit
from the patronage of both locals and guests, projects
such as Wall to Wall allow that creative spark to stoke
an urban center for the 51 weeks of the year that don’t
see a major burst of art tourism. We saw this system
thrive in Miami, and it looks like Hong Kong is ready
to carry the torch.
For more information, visit ArtBasel.com/Hong-Kong
JUXTAPOZ.COM / HONG-KONG
bottom left and right
BUFF DISS’
outstanding
nautical themed,
masking tape
mural provided
prominent entry to
the bustling Star
Ferry terminal on
Pier 7
top left and right
ALEX HORNEST’s
playful characters
settled over a
market in Tsuen
Wan away from the
city center
EVENT
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AUGUST 2013SUMMER PRODUCTS
UNDRCRWN X EBBETS FIELD HAT COLLECTION
Seattle-based Ebbets Field Flannels makes the best
hats in the world, all locally crafted and based on the
classic silhouettes of vintage baseball teams. NYC-
based UNDRCRWN, our favorite sports and art apparel
brand, teamed up with the hat maker for a 3-piece
collection, each styled with a touch of collegiate
lettering and UNDRCRWN’s tongue-in-cheek humor.
ShopUndrcrwn.com, Ebbets.com
TODD JAMES X PUMA 2013 FALL/WINTER CAPSULE COLLECTION
In our skewed opinion, there aren’t many artists making
such riveting work as Todd James. Now, James has
teamed up with PUMA for a capsule collection that
slaps his playful cartoony colors onto a few tees and
hooded and crewneck sweatshirts. It may not be a
Somali pirate, but we will take a REAS panther any day.
Puma.com
TOPO DESIGNS BAG COLLECTIONAt Juxtapoz, we are constantly moving about the
country on planes, trains, and automobiles, always
looking for good bags and carry-alls to transport our
gear. Colorado-based Topo Designs has a collection
of fantastic Made in the USA backpacks, duff els,
laptop and iPad sleeves in a variety of color ways that
not only hold up, but are some of the most functional
and smartly designed on the market.
TopoDesigns.com
STYLE
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TORTURE SOUNDS INCREDIBLETHE ELEGANT NOISE OF CONFUSION
LAST MONTH, my buddy Brian Willey
asked me if I’d consider displaying a
sculpture in the front window of Okay
Mountain—a gallery I co-own in Austin, TX.
Brian and his business partner, Thao Votang,
run an art space (also in Austin) called Tiny
Park. They were preparing to install a show
of work by Joel Ross and Jason Creps and
wanted to secure an off-site location to install
a sculpture by the duo. Okay Mountain didn’t
have anything going on at the time, so it
seemed like an easy enough thing to do.
Much of Ross and Crep’s work are text-based
sculptural pieces installed in public spaces
and subsequently documented in the form
of dramatic, large-scale photographs.
The sculptures are then left behind to endure
the elements, including human interactions,
that may befall upon them. The piece that
we installed at Okay Mountain differed in the
sense that it would be located behind glass,
so direct, physical interaction would
be not be an option. Or at least that’s what
we thought.
Ross and Crep’s sculptures play with
language and construct environments in
which the viewer experiences the pieces
based upon their own personal history.
Much of the work
is intentionally
ambiguous, but often
loaded with words or
phrases that are meant
to push the viewer out
of their comfort zone.
For example, the piece
we displayed at Okay
Mountain was a large neon sign that read,
“TORTURE SOUNDS INCREDIBLE.” Note the
fact that the word incredible was used versus
a word that infers that torture is something
positive—the definition of incredible being,
impossible or difficult to believe. The piece,
in my opinion, should easily be read as an
anti-torture message, but apparently it could
also be misconstrued as a sign promoting
torture—judging by the cinder block that
was hurled through our front window late
one night.
As an artist, all you can hope to do with your
work is elicit a reaction, positive or negative,
from somebody. The worst-case scenario
is that absolutely nobody gives a shit about
your output. Given that, I’d say that Joel and
Jason knocked a fuckin’ home run with their
torture sculpture. I love imagining how mad
(and most likely drunk) the person was who
threw the brick through our front window.
Trust me, I’ve felt that anger. Although it’s
usually about some injustice in the world,
not directed at a small, artist-run gallery
barely covering its bills and only trying
to inject some critical discourse into its
community. But I get it—you no like!
You mad! You smash! Eloquent critique.
In the future, shall we try to exhibit
artwork that everybody can agree is
non-confrontational? Watercolor-bluebonnet
paintings are pretty soothing, yeah?
Also, if anybody has any information
about the culprit, please let us know.
We’d enjoy meeting the critic in person;
they seem pretty cool. We’d love the
opportunity to visit their house and critique
their personal art collection. We’ll bring the
cinder blocks. —Michael Sieben
Photograph by Jason Creps
IT COULD ALSO BE MISCONSTRUED AS A SIGN PROMOTING TORTURE—JUDGING BY THE
CINDER BLOCK THAT WAS HURLED THROUGH OUR FRONT WINDOW LATE ONE NIGHT.
SIEBEN ON LIFE
136 JUXTAPOZ
Did you ever want your art, band, or logo plastered on a hoodie with built-in heaphones? The standard issue is a completely screenprint friendly hoodie with high fidelity sound.
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ART BASEL HONG KONG+ NEW IMAGE ART + MARTHA OTERO
HONG KONG + LOS ANGELES
Photos by EVAN PRICCO, JONATHAN LEIJONHUFVUD, and AMY DURAN
1
2
3
7 8 9
4 5 6
1 A lady to be reckoned with at Art Basel
Hong in the Mondecor Jakarta Gallery booth
2 Juxtapoz editor Evan Pricco, with Converse
Asia’s Vivian Chen, Wall to Wall producer
Philip Rodgers, Converse Asia’s Sherry
Wan, and Converse’s Adam Cohn
3 Charles Munka…
4 …Buff Diss…
5 …Alex Hornest…
6 …and the IDT Crew in Hong Kong
7 Pedro Matos at his opening in Los Angeles
with Martha Otero Gallery
8 New Image Art Gallery’s Marsea Goldberg
with Neck Face
9 Chad Muska at his Transitions opening at
New Image Art, LA
POP LIFE
138 JUXTAPOZ
THE STANDARD DOWNTOWN + JOSHUA LINER GALLERY + GOOGAMOOGA
LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, BROOKLYN
Photos by IAN CAMPBELL, ERIC MINH SWENSON, and VARENKA RUIZ
1 Hannah Stouff er and Jesse Figueroa
at the Jux x Standard celebration for
Stouff er’s mural at the Standard Downtown
in Los Angeles
2 Dave Frey and Madsteez
3 ESPN producer and fi lmmaker,
Steve Lawrence
4 Shark Toof and Nima Navabi
5 Donny Miller and Juxtapoz’
David Sypniewski
6 The celebration
7 Matt Furie, Aiyana Udesen and friends
8 Thank You X working with Juxtapoz to
wrap this Lexus at the GoogaMooga NYC
in Brooklyn
9 Oliver Vernon and wife Anita at his solo
show with Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC
1
2 3
45
6 7
8
9
POP LIFE
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THE PATRIOT’S ACTA TRADITION OF REVELATION TAKES A DRAMATIC, PUBLIC TURN
Illustration by MUNK ONE
THE AMERICA of yesteryear rewarded
do-gooders, ones that enlightened the masses
about agendas infringing upon their freedoms.
I think you even got statues in town squares
for being a patriot, maybe even got parade.
I remember growing up and thinking of Daniel
Ellsberg as an extremely important figure
in enlightening America’s extreme military
interventionist spirit during the post WWII
era. I considered him a hero for releasing the
Pentagon Papers in 1971. In 2010, Bradley
Manning seemed to be speaking to the greater
good of the US and international community,
and not personal glory, when he secretely
passed us military records from the Middle
East wars to WikiLeaks, eschewing attention.
Last month came the odd case of ex-CIA
employee Edward Snowden. At first, we
cheered his actions: passing classified
information to the London Guardian about
the National Security Agency’s in-depth
surveillance of its citizens felt like the act of
a true proponent of freedom. But then it got
a little weird. We wanted to call him a hero,
but his escape to Hong Kong, subsequent
interview tour, and very public announcements
that he would battle the US government from
his current location because of his “faith in
Hong Kong’s rule of law” felt a bit like a thrill
seeking young man who just pantsed the
mighty US government. What was initially
perceived as a noble mission took another
twist when Snowden told the South China
Morning Post about the US’ hacking practices
toward the Chinese themselves. Wait,
whose side are you on, besides your own?
All of a sudden, the patriot’s act became a
personal vendetta. Ego blurred the message.
What Snowden revealed was monumental,
even if we suspected it was already
happening. In the great tradition of Ellsberg
or Manning, we learned of seemingly
unconstitutional activities occurring daily in
and around our lives. “I do not want to live
in a world where everything I do and say
is recorded, “ Manning told us. We agree.
But for whom are you speaking? —Juxtapoz
PERSPECTIVE
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