Last month I mistakenly deleted the interview I did with IDN magazine last year from my blog. Only just got the chance to upload it now so here it is again for the few people who asked:
IdN: How would you describe your work / style to those coming across it for the first time?
I guess a lot of my work is steeped in nostalgia but I try hard to examine it in a contemporary setting. I try to use methods that produce strange (and often awkward) combinations of images and ideas.
Mixing analog techniques from the past with imagery and subject matter from the present can create strange hybrid worlds - which in themselves feel new and of their time.
This often means my style is quite diverse - it can jump from hand painted portraits to complex collage work to very simple graphic pieces - though hopefully a certain spirit runs throughout.
IdN: The colours in your works are quite contrasting - how do you see the relationship between color application and retro / nostalgia?
In terms of direct influences a couple of things really stick out from my childhood that I think have affected my understanding of colour and its nostalgic qualities.
I grew up in The Byker Wall in Newcastle Upon Tyne, a huge council estate development built by the architect Ralph Eskine. At the time it represented a major break from the high-rise Brutalist architectural orthodoxy in Britain and rather than dull concrete tones I grew up around complex, textured facades, colourful brick, wood and plastic panels. I was surrounded by bright, primary colours everywhere I looked and this definitely left an indelible mark on me and consequently my work
Also as a young boy I distinctly remember being entranced by my Dad's copy of Disraeli Gears by Cream and being totally blown away by the fluorescent pink artwork on the cover.
He also had old copies of Oz and International Times which also effected my appreciation of colour within print. Later on as a student I became a big fan of 60's Polish and Cuban poster art which again utilized the same bright, poppy colours.
IdN: How you would describe the term retro and how you would title works as retro / nostalgia?
It's sometime hard to know what constitutes as "retro" now as the world around us moves so quickly, but in my eyes the best work does more than just mimic past styles by simply duplicating whole movements within design history. It does however have a healthy respect for its source material and forms an aesthetic that can create a specific mood or awaken memories within people while still creating something vibrant and fresh.
Sometimes the most interesting work can come from an individual not truly understanding or even experiencing that aesthetic first hand. I grew up in the Eighties but I feel that my take on the Sixties has a certain warped twist to it - like I'm trying to experience the decade vicariously through my work but then getting it slightly wrong. Which can then throw up interesting results.
IdN: From your perspective, what role does retro / nostalgia play in popular culture?
The past in itself is vital to popular culture as it represents the main source of the reference points that inspire us. So whether it's Push Pin being inspired by 19th Century Victoriana, The Psychedelia movement referencing Art Deco or even say, LCD Soundsystem being influenced by Krautrock - in some sense every creative person is looking for guidance from the past in some way.
Its how we adapt, integrate and make relevant those influences that's most important.
IdN: Making retro / nostalgia work with up-to-date technology / software actually is a bit contradictory. Whats your take on it?
In terms of technique I tend to try to explore as many different pathways as I can. I often use classic methods (screenprinting, watercolours and inks) and antiquated technology (old fax machines and typewriters) to examine very contemporary subject matter - and vice versa. As long as it's honest I don't think there's really a right or wrong way to create this type of work.
Its almost a re-imagining of the past and it holds a yearning for a more idealistic time.
Movements such as Retro-Futurism and Steampunk take it one step forward - taking depictions of the future created in the past and then updating them for the 21st Century. This might sound paradoxical but this collision of ideas and themes has truly helped to create new aesthetic languages.
Nostalgic design is often bolstered by optimism about human potential and the so called "good old days" but at the same time it can suggests a half ironic, half melancholic longing for the past that i think we can all appreciate.
Thanks to Dazed and Confused, Creative Review And Mr A. Shaughnessy
by jimmy turrell on Friday, 27 January 2012
Apologies for the lack of action on the blog over the last month - I've been a bit snowed under.
Anyway this is just a quick one to thank a few people. First up is Dazed and Confused. Their exhibition
Making It Up As We Go Along finishes this weekend at Somerset House so pop along and catch it if you can - its really great. It celebrates 20 years of one of the worlds greatest style magazines and I'm lucky enough to feature in both the exhibition and the book that accompanies it.
Dazed was one of the first magazines that took a chance on me when I first moved to London so big up to them and their Art Director at the time Peter Stitson. I did lots of illustrations for them over the years - heres a small selection from the early 2000's - Jordan with a boozoka (which features in the book), French cheesebomb Johnny Halliday and an illustration for an article on child soldiers in Sierra Lione. My style has moved on a bit since then but I thought I'd show them here anyway.
Next up is Creative Review who featured my Yellowire project in their last issue - The Music Issue. It was included in an article about special editions and how independent labels are using this format to keep the physical product alive and kicking.
And I'd also like to thank Adrian Shaughnessy as his tweet about our other project Primitive Heritage lead to an inordinate amount of traffic to the site. Cheers to IDN (we have a small feature in the next issue), blog.iso.com, ventilate, reformrevolution, Adobe, Computer Arts Magazine and Building A Wolf for similar posts about the work.
Heres some imagery from Dazed and various one-offs and limited editions which we've sold through Primitive Heritage.
Over the last few months I've been commisioned by Richard Turley at Bloomberg Businessweek to illustrate portraits for their Hard Choices column. Basically various business people are interviewed about a crucial decision they've had to make which affected the course of their company.
Before I took over they had a problem in that the straight photographic portraits often resulted in a rather stiff and unattractive outcome.Instead they wanted a painted portrait of each person surrounded by extra elements which were relevant to that particular story i.e. company logos, other relevant characters, symbols etc.
It's sometimes a challenge to make these guys look interesting but here's a select few that I think have worked.
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Political Magazines - Covers For Newsweek and Internazionale
by jimmy turrell on Wednesday, 21 December 2011
I've worked on a few illustrations for magazines of a more political bent lately including the covers for both Italian magazine Internazionale and Newsweek. For their cover story about the crisis of capitalism they wanted Karl Marx as Santa Claus - a fairly straightforward assignment that I gave them three options for. They went for the more photographic piece with the sun over NYC.
Another cover I worked on for them concerned Assad's censorship of the media in Syria. Again I gave them two options - the Syrian flag blocking out his mouth was chosen over the barbed wire.
The Newsweek illo's were both based around the negative connotations of the financial collapse so I tried to keep them both relatively gritty - there of Angela Merkel and Jon Corzeen. Big up to the Art Directors - Giovanni De Mauro and Nick Mrozowski for Internazionale and Leah Purcell and Lindsay Ballant for Newsweek.
Just set up this morning down in Great Western Studios. I'm selling prints from the new collaborative project I'm working on - Primitive Heritage. Working alongside James Horwitz from 2xelliot and Mark Bloom at Mashcreative we aim to produce a series of limited edition risoprints and screenprints and the occasional one off piece. The torn up Michael Jackson and Kanye Prints are the first of this run. If you get a chance pop down to the open studios this weekend - it runs from 12 - 6 Saturday and Sunday.
Details are here: http://www.greatwesternstudios.com/events/399-05-10-11-open-studios
Pop down to Great Western Studios this weekend if you get the chance. I'll be opening my studio along with hundreds of the other artists, designers and craftspeople. I'll be selling Primitive Heritage prints (see the Kanye and Michael Jacksons prints above - only £25) and some one off collage pieces and screenprints (the other two pics). It would be great to meet up and have a cup of tea so hopefully see you down there.
Heres the details: http://www.greatwesternstudios.com/events/399-05-10-11-open-studios