JASON DORLEY-BROWN Bath artist on his pop art and pansy potholes

POP CULTURE

Bath artist Jason Dorley-Brown on photography, potholes, and pansies By Sarah Moolla

You may not recognise him but Jason Dorley-Brown has other without the constant replays of the towers collapsing. Anyone been responsible for many of Bath Life’s most striking who has visited New York prior to this period, will know that one of the covers including the collectors’ issue of five pop art constants is the sound of car horns blaring as traffic lights turn green. historical figures from Bath back in March 2018. Jason, That stopped after 9/11. who is not quite born Bath but definitely bred, tells us about his career path that includes a Bath bar, a London When did you first start painting? darkroom, and discovering his artistry later in life. I spent a week in Barcelona in 2006, with my future wife, and was Hi Jason, first tell us a little about your Bath upbringing.. I am attracted to mainly the abstract and Jean Miro’s art was, and still I lived on Highbury Place, between Camden and Snow Hill through is, an inspiration. I started painting on my return to the UK. my years at Beechen Cliff school. I left school after taking my ‘O’ levels and Did you like art at school? started working at Sweeney Todd’s as I have to admit that my school days a kitchen hand. I became the bar were not amongst my happiest. There manager before moving to Evelyn and wasn’t much parental control or Owens, eventually becoming the bar support so I was fairly wild. I studied manager there. It was pretty much the photography at school but have never only ‘cocktail’ bar in Bath and many had any formal education in art. a story, both notorious and hilarious a job as a manager of the top colour and black and white photo lab that my decision to stay and be a part of the healing process in anyway struck by the use of mainly primary colours in art and advertising. (especially about the Happy Hour) are You came relatively late to the still being told to this day. I look back prospect of being an artist then? fondly on my time at E&O’s, and still I had never considered myself an ‘artist’ remain tight friends with many of the until very recently! I always used art as people I worked with there. a creative outlet. My creative process has been a tool to gain and maintain Have you always worked in Bath? good mental health. It was only when I worked for a company in London I created a website as a library for my that finds and supplies audiences for TV shows. The Graham Norton Show, Ready Steady Cook and the wonderful music show The White Room among many others. I also owned and ran my own black and white photographic darkroom, Browns, in London in the late “We filled three or four potholes with compost and pansies” images that my friends and my wife suggested that my work was good enough to show, and so I did. When did you actually start calling yourself an artist? After receiving a mainly positive reaction 1980s through to the mid 1990s. from my first couple of shows and with What was a career high? I should concentrate on my art. This was in 2015. I now have the Probably the best job I ever had was in New York. In 1996 I was offered confidence to describe myself as an artist. in NYC. How do you like to create?

I was there two weeks later on a tourist visa (naughty!) but quickly Being a photographer and artist is a very solitary life. Saying that had a work visa. I lived in an apartment in midtown Manhattan I have always loved collaboration and I try and work with other and worked two blocks from home. Working with the top fashion creatives whenever possible. So you will either find me wandering photographers, fashion houses, and magazines was wonderful and I with a camera, or camera phone in hand, or I will be at home editing was living an incredible life. That all ended on 11 September 2001. or creating on my Mac. Music is a huge part of my personal and What was that like, being in New York during 9/11? of the greatest tools that I rely on to bring something positive to the You would need an entire issue for me to talk about that time. I will say creative process. my wife’s incredible support, we decided creative life. Music creates mood. It can inspire and energise and is one I could was the most important decision I have ever made. New Yorkers Who were your early influences? came together with compassion and empathy. It was remarkable to I would say that Ellsworth Kelly, Piet Mondrian, Jean Miro and Francis see TVs in bars turned off so that people could talk and support each Baudevin and Andy Warhol are my art influences. In photography

clockwise from top left: Getting the Jason pop treatment is Beau Nash; Audrey Hepburn; Jane Austen; Marilyn Monroe; Elvis Presley; and David Bowie

Bleed digital painting of the Royal Crescent: Jason uses image software from phone apps and Photoshop to manipulate his work

it will be photographers that I have worked with or met. So, Helmut his professional and personal generosity, his boundless energy, and Newton, Norman Parkinson (I had the great privilege and honour to creative style have always been so inspirational. He is also one of my help print an exhibition of Black and White images for him before he closest friends and confidants and my love for him knows no bounds. passed) and Albert Watson among many more. You must have met many famous people throughout your work.. this come about? As well as Norman Parkinson, Eve Arnold (Marilyn Monroe’s friend Andy and I were introduced by a mutual friend. We soon discovered and photographer) stand out. Helena Christensen was a client when that we shared a passion for photography and when Andy showed me I was a photographer in NYC and is as lovely as a few images from a series he shot in Tokyo, she is beautiful. I met Hugh Grant in NYC on while he was there for the Rugby World Cup in a shoot and he was a true gentleman, generous, incredibly handsome and witty. When working “The genesis of all 2019, I was impressed by his eye for portraiture and composition and his use of symmetry is on the music show The White Room I met so many of my musical heroes including, Stevie of my imagery is an something that repeats in my own work. When Andy was given the opportunity to exhibit at Wonder, David Bowie and Paul Weller. original photograph” the BRSLI, he asked me to meet him to cast a critical eye over the series of images. It was at Has your style evolved over recent years? that meeting that Andy asked me to design and I guess that ‘contemporary’ would be a general curate the exhibition for him. description for my work. I produce a wide range of images from abstract to pop art, to pure photography. I use Have you curated before? image software from phone apps to Photoshop to manipulate the vast This is my first time and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I do majority of my work. The one constant is that the genesis of all of my have 30 plus years experience of working with and editing photos for imagery is an original photograph. photographers and magazines – I would say that it’s a passion.

Who has inspired you along the way? My wife has always been my biggest inspiration. She is my toughest critic, my collaborator, and has always been incredibly supportive and patient. I am far more inspired and influenced by the criticism, support and character of friends than by any particular artist.

In a professional sense, the photographer Rick Guest has been a huge inspiration. His attitude toward our industry, his incredible work ethic, You curated the upcoming Andrew Polson exhibition – how did

When can we see the collection? Hopefully the public can visit from 4 – 21 December. The images will be for sale with profits going to the wonderful Dorothy House.

Where, and when can we see your own work? I currently have work on display at the Abbey Hotel Art Bar and restaurant. I will also be exhibiting my first collaborative pieces with

ABOVE: A ‘mirror’ image of the Griffi n Inn on Monmouth Street; BELOW: Pulteney Bridge built in 1774 gets a contemporary makeover

And this is where the fl owers come in…? the wonderful Bath artist Tracy Rees Oliviere at The Abbey Hotel restaurant, post lockdown. What sort of art do you have in your own home? We have lots of contemporary art. From Warhol’s Debbie Harry to work by Jamie Reid, James Cauty. Also Norman Parkinson black and white photos, and my favourite artist of the moment, Siena Barnes. The biggest selection of work in our home though is from swapping and bartering with artists and photographers I have met over the years In 2017 a friend and I were discussing the huge number of potholes in Bath and how dangerous they were. My friend Mark is a car and scooter owner, and I am a cyclist and thus we both had experience of swerving potholes to avoid physical injury. We looked into BANES funding and discovered that they had received £4.4 million to repair potholes in 2017, which we both found outrageous as nothing seemed to have been done.

Mark had seen an image from the US of a pothole that had been fi lled with fl owers to highlight the problem and we decided to do the same in Bath. We fi lled three or four potholes with compost and pansies and took photos to put on Facebook for our friends to see and react to. We had agreed to do it in a way that was not aggressive or confrontational and also with a thought to which potholes we ‘decorated’. We made sure not to use potholes on corners, or in a position that would cause a sudden surprise.

It was a very effective campaign wasn’t it? Within 24 hours I had been contacted by the Chronicle, the BBC and ITV. Then several national newspapers wanted interviews. We realised that we had already achieved our aim of highlighting a problem that aff ects all road users but decided to carry on. We would like to think that, even in a small way, the council felt pressured to spend the budget they had received due to our highlighting the real risk to people’s safety, let alone the staggering cost of repairs due to the damage caused by these holes in the road.

What are your ambitions for the future? I want to continue to collaborate with other artists on creative projects and keep developing my own creative and photographic eye. I would also like to help show that Bath has a rich pool of incredibly talented artists and creative professionals that could, and should, be used to reclaim Bath’s reputation as a creative centre of excellence in the South West.

How do you believe this can be best achieved? I believe that combining creative with retail, while investing in local businesses, is the key to reinvigorating the high street with longevity in mind. We must invest in the people of our city to insure its future. ■

We hear you spent a summer fi lling Bath potholes with pansies… For more: www.jasondorleybrown.com

A Week in Tokyo is a collection of photographs by Andrew Polson, and curated by Jason Dorley-Brown. The exhibition is planned for after lockdown at BRSLI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath. Prints are available for sale with all profi ts donated to Dorothy House.