Art! The Magazine Issue 2

In This Issue I

I

Art! The Magazine Issue 2 May/June 2013

www.artthemagazine.com | info@artthemagazine.com

FEATURES

SPOTLIGHT

Master of Horror

The Life and Art of Graham Humphreys — 4

Journey’s into the Unknown

Inside the Mind of Mixed-Media Maverick

Billy Chainsaw — 10

Euphoria/Dysphoria:

Doc 43

Sergio Rueda Taking Graff to the Executive Level — 18

Germizm

Coloring Outside the Lines —

28

The Horror The Horror

Jason Crawley: The Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror — 36

The Secret World of Dr. Gaz - “A Comic Strip of Life”

An appreciate of Jeff Keen

By His daughter Stella Keen —

40

A Contemporary Dance Experience presented by Shannon Janet Smith —

24

MUSIC Chicano Batman — 44 Infer Stellar — 47

EATS Holy Grounds

Inspiration With Every Grain — 50

READS Vincent Redux

Cartoon by Jose Lozano — 63

ARTIST BOX Mandy Renard — 55 ghostpatrol — 58

Cover by Germizm Title: Turqish Art! The Magazine | 1

OUR TEAM alex trillo

EditOr In Chief

*

billy chainsaw

rick manny quintana susan marie seim

creative director andee gomez

jessie cao

*

manko

*

executive editor

music editor robert munoz

*

*

senior graphic designer

director of public relations

*

jose lozano

*

production assistant’s jojo rodriguez * rubi jaramillo

liz evans

*

contributing writers jason atomic * david flint

ricky j hernandez

assistant editor

sunshine maria editor a large

kid jared trillo

*

alicia vargas

*

*

sandra maya

art director

cartoonist

*

bella robles

stella keen

contributing photographers * tim brick * roberto foddai

*

sarah sigler

*

haste malaise

EDITORS COMMENTS Keep it moving as I was once told by a friend and now that I have, here we are with issue 2.

Putting this one together was simply rad for me. From checking out Infer Stellar at their EP release party to seeing Doc 43 and his riders put in work. It’s always amazing to see art in all its forms. Well with that said I hope you read and continue to enjoy Art! The Magazine.

Alex Trillo

Editor in Chief

2 | Art! The Magazine

Image: Basket Case

Master of Horror

W

THE LIFE AND ART OF GRAHAM HUMPHREYS

W

hile you may not be familiar with his name, British artist Graham Humphreys is the paint-slinging maestro behind some of the most iconic horror movie art of the past several decades. Which is good enough reason to track him down, strap him to a chair, and shine a bright light in his eyes till he ’fessed all about himself and his career.

WHERE AND RAISED?

HOW

WERE

YOU

My humble beginnings began on the outskirts of Bristol [in the UK], a small place called Winterbourne Down. My grandmother ran a village shop [which at the time seemed] very Wild West, wooden floors, ancient balance scales and very dangerous cheese-wire. The property backed onto a quarry, which to my child’s eyes seemed to be the Grand Canyon. A play-swing was erected dangerously close to the edge.

Eventually, my parents relocated with my dad’s work to Wiltshire, where I eventually went to Salisbury College of Art. DID THE WAY YOU WERE RAISED HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON YOUR BECOMING AN ARTIST? I don’t really believe so. My influences came from TV and later from the cinema. William Hartnell’s Dr Who and the Daleks made a profound impact, as did The Munsters. My childhood was innocent and I was a shy introverted soul, but my imagination was always very vivid. At secondary school [the UK equivalent of high school] I discovered horror fiction and had my first encounters with Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft - now that’s what school libraries should be about.

ASIDE FROM THE USUAL STUFF THAT KIDS DRAW/PAINT, WAS THERE EVER

ANYTHING STRANGER THAT STARTED APPEARING IN YOUR ART BACK THEN? From the moment I could draw, I scrawled skulls on everything, literally from age three. Then I saw the Daleks on TV and started drawing them as well.

Later, like most kids at the time, I began to include dinosaurs. Tyranosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus were my favorites, and always with volcanoes. Greek and Roman mythology also began to interest me - I presume because of the monsters (and possibly because of the film Jason And The Argonauts, which I’d been taken to see at the local cinema).

CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR INTRODUCTION TO HORROR AS A GENRE? In 1970, the Aurora (Glow In The Dark) Monster Kits appeared in the local department store. The boxes for Dracula and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame fascinated me. The ghoulish images and the lurid greens and purples (that were to resurface when I worked on The Evil Dead poster 13 years later) resonated spectacularly. Simultaneously, The Scars Of Dracula and The Horror Of Frankenstein appeared as a double-bill at the town cinema. Though I was too young to see the films, I saw the posters pasted around town and could see the lobby cards outside the theatre. This was my first introduction to Hammer [Horror films].

A school friend would invite me around to her parents’ house after school and at weekends, her father had a library of books, many of them literary horror classics and books on horror cinema.

This is when I borrowed and read The Phantom Of The Opera, Frankenstein, and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, heavy stuff for a pre-teen. Interestingly, my friend’s father also collected records.

This is when I first heard Screaming Lord Sutch’s Vampire Mary and Bobby Boris Pickett’s The Monster Mash.

By now, I was bitten. My parent’s could see a drift towards the ‘macabre’ and whilst not exactly forbidding my tastes, were certainly not keen to encourage my engagement with the dark side. I was prevented from buying the Hammer presents Dracula with Christopher Lee LP. Late night TV began to provide me with the horror film foundation that I still rely on today. From the Universal Monsters of Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney, to Roger Corman’s Poe adaptations and Hammer. My interest in cinema began to widen, and among the late night horror programming I began to discover what might be described as ‘art house’ cinema. Late night viewing was far more interesting than daytime and I felt that here was a place I belonged, somewhere exotic and free from the tyranny of ‘normal’.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT HORROR THAT FASCINATES YOU? I’d never felt any affinity for the normal pursuits of other kids, I loathed sports and though confirmed as a ‘christian’ during my mid-teens (I think I liked the ritual and gothic thrills of church.), I have long since distanced myself from the institution of religious belief. At college (1976) I became exposed to the growing Punk Rock music that had begun to filter through the sludge of popular music - it was apparent that here was something I could again identify with. Like transgressive cinema, transgressive music could empower the ‘outsider’ and bring together kindred spirits. There appeared to be a far more creative and colorful world beyond the popular culture adopted by the willing audiences that I had felt excluded from. Once free of the need to conform, everything seems possible. The horror film can explore transgressive ideas and politics - human and geopolitical - it is liberating and filled with possibility.

ARE YOU MORE INTERESTED IN Art! The Magazine | 5

Image: Davros and Daleks

‘CLASSIC’ HORROR AS OPPOSED TO MORE CONTEMPORARY SPLATTER STUFF. The films that had the most profound effect were those that shaped me in my early life, and I cannot deny that these are the foundation for my love of horror. I try to be as open as possible to all stimuli and love to discover hitherto hidden treasures, but I’ve also developed my own critical faculties, which may not (and should not) concur with anybody else. There are some great films being made, but I am resistant to lazy, formulaic crowd pleasers. But we all have our own tastes. At Cut. [Billy Chainsaw’s monthly film club in London – which he runs in collaboration with Bizarre magazine] I’ve been genuinely exited about new films, Blood Car, The Revenant, and Community; and I absolutely love Alex Chandon’s Inbred, and got a perverse kick out of Dear God No..

There are fantastic films being made in Europe and Asia which are not getting a fair crack at the whip simply because they are subtitled. Remakes that merely relocate for commercial gain make me furious.

WHEN AND HOW DID YOU MAKE A BREAK INTO BEING A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST? After I finished my college course in graphic design I moved to London in order to begin a freelance career as an illustrator. This involved phoning magazines, agencies, and publishers (and 6 | Art! The Magazine

whomever might seem plausible as a source of freelance work), and dragging around my small folio of work. These were very impoverished years. I had very little money and survived on bowls of kidney beans, carrot and Oxo. [Oxo is a brand of stock cube]. Beer was very cheap then, so the evenings were mostly spent in the local pub, where heating was paid for by someone else. Three other college friends were sharing a bedsit [one room apartment] in Blackheath, I moved in with them. Three of us slept on the floor, the name-on-the- deeds had the single bed. They went to work and I had the little room to myself to work on whatever came in. Initially I worked on commissions for educational publishers and various magazines, then I started getting regular work for the [weekly UK music paper] NME, from an art director for whom I’d previously worked at [adult publications] Knave and Fiesta magazines.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN DOING MOVIE POSTER AND VHS COVER ART? I can’t quite remember how the first poster commission came about, either I’d sent samples of work or I’d been able to show my folio to an art director, but I was commissioned to paint an illustration for The Monster Club. On the face of it, a dream job, it starred Vincent Price.

My illustration took a week to complete and it was rejected having been consider to frightening for the young target audience. Devastated, I was given the

chance to repaint the job in a ‘less scary way’. I worked over two nights and days without sleep and produced a very substandard piece or work, which upsets me to think of even now. However it paid fairly well and I took on The Funhouse, and My Bloody Valentine double-bill poster. Not that great but I gained confidence. Then a visit to the fledgling Palace Pictures office resulted in a phone call inviting me to a screening of The Evil Dead. This is where my career really began. VHS covers followed.

WHY IS THE PAINTBRUSH MIGHTIER THAN THE COMPUTER… DO YOU EVER USE A COMPUTER WHILE CREATING ART? The gouache on paper is a medium I feel I can handle very swiftly and effectively. There is still a degree of ‘accident’ whilst working and the results cannot be predicted with absolute accuracy - this small element of ‘chaos’ keeps it exciting or me. I enjoy the tactile experience of using water, paint and brushwork.

Photoshop features in my work continuously: partly as a tool for constructing layouts and visual but also for the final scan and ‘tweaking’ and delivery. So I do use the computer but have no interest in tablet work as long as the paint medium exists. Computer generated images are looking better and better, but I still like the raw feel of the paint.

DOES YOUR HOME ENVIRONMENT REFLECT YOUR LOVE OF HORROR? My home is very much a shrine to horror.

IMAGE SERIES: Zombie Flesh Eaters Process from start to finish Art! The Magazine | 7

ABOVE: The Return of the Living Dead (old and new)

The flat is Victorian and I have a modest collection of horror posters, mostly Hammer (or of the period), and a collection of objects and items that might be best described as ‘curios’ in the best Victorian sense. There is also a full size Dalek [from Doctor Who]. I have an interest in Tibetan Buddhist imagery, and there are a number of ritual items and paintings.

It’s a conducive mix. Although I work from home, I also have desk space in a Soho based film promotion company.

CAN YOU PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF YOUR MORE RECENT [HORROR] COMMISSIONS, AND TALK US THROUGH THE CREATIVE PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH. The Death Waltz Recording company commissioned art for their vinyl release of the Zombie Flesh Eaters soundtrack.

After watching the film (familiar though I 8 | Art! The Magazine

already was with the key scenes), I identified the images that I felt were the most evocative, and using a bit of software called ‘DVD Capture’, I made a selection of stills. The layouts were intended to create a setting and capture the mood and action of the film and, of course, the soundtrack.

The images were traced on a light-box as pencil sketches, then scanned into Photoshop. I then composed my layouts by cut and paste and resizing until I felt I’d covered all bases. I already had a basic color scheme in my head - orange and green to suggest heat and rotten flesh. The variations were emailed to the client who chose two designs, then [I subsequently] made an amendment to one of them as requested. In fact two paintings were requested. Using the selected sketches, I created a simple black & white photo composite over the existing layout, using Photoshop. This

ABOVE: Film Gambit DVD cover

was printed out to the size I was going to paint, and used for tracing the image onto watercolor stock.

After taping the paper to a wooden board I mixed the color theme and created a wash which was then allowed to dry creating a background texture. By constant reference to the stills I built the image in paint until I felt happy. I try to never overwork the painting, as I like to keep things looking raw. I normally begin by ensuring that faces are completed as soon as possible, as these will usually be the focus of attention. A mirror is used to view the progress in reverse - this gives the work a fresh perspective and allows more objectivity.

YOU’VE MOST RECENTLY BEEN REIMAGINING COVER/PACKAGING ART FOR THE DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASES OF TITLES YOU DID DECADES AGO FOR THEIR VHS RELEASE. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT… WAS IT LIKE REUNITING WITH OLD FRIENDS? That’s a good way of putting it. Yes. It’s been interesting to see how I’ve progressed (or otherwise.). In particular with The Return Of The Living Dead, which was a bit of an experiment. I took the same layout and subject and repeated the illustration, but with the benefit of almost three decades experience.

YOU OCCASIONALLY DO STUFF OUTSIDE THE HORROR ARENA THOUGH, DON’T YOU? Like anybody else I need to pay bills and cannot be choosy about work. There have been many commissions that are not genre pieces, and I’ve done my share of fluffy animals and happy faces.

I’ve been working on DVD sleeves for the BFI [British Film Institute] releases of the Children Film Foundation collections, and painted a Bond (Octopussy) pastiche for the film Gambit. My approach is generally the same. I look for the most visually interesting images and experiment with compositions to create the most powerful layout. Almost everything I do tends to have a cinematic reference point.

YOU’VE ALSO DONE TOY PACKAGING ART TOO, HAVEN’T YOU? The companies Product Enterprise Limited and Iconic Replicas commissioned a

Image: Inbred

series of illustrated box designs for their range of licensed collectibles. I’ve painted a very large number of Daleks, plus many of the Gerry Anderson craft. An added advantage was receiving crates of product. I have a cupboard brimming with Daleks.

WHAT IS IT THAT CONTINUES TO DRIVE YOU AS AN ARTIST? [PLEASE SAY IF My love of image and color makes creating a compulsion. It’s a way of sharing the things that excite me. There is a big mix of places I’ve seen, film, music and experience that stimulate my imagination - if I can convey a distillation of all these things then I feel that I’ve achieved — Billy Chainsaw something worthwhile.

Website: www.grahamhumphreys.com email: info@grahamhumphreys.com

ABOVE: Graham Humphreys Portrait by MANKO

Art! The Magazine | 9

o O

INSIDE THE MIND OF MIXED-MEDIA MAVERICK BILLY CHAINSAW

n a cold March day, walking through Golden Square, in London’s notorious Soho district, I pass a white haired middle-aged man who has paused while exiting his shiny black car. He is smart, rather dashing – he looks like an actor. As I pass him the car door shuts with a loud ‘click!’ I look up at that moment and see three black crows swooping overhead cawing, spiky black silhouettes against a blank white snow cloud sky. Instinctively I follow their movement and out of the corner of my eye I spot a bold number 23 in sharp black numerals on a gloss white door. I think to myself “It’s started already”. I’m on my way to chat with Billy Chainsaw about his life, his art, and the powerful influence the legendary beat author William S. Burroughs has had on it all.

Billy is a rising star on the UK’s indie art scene: his multi layered, collage-based works on canvas and ceramic vases, which remix pop culture in an exuberant mash-up of super heroes, science fiction, horror films, cowboys and much, much more, are currently selling like hot cakes.

To start things off, can you tell us a little about your background?

I was born and raised in Birmingham – England not Alabama.

I was always encouraged to be creative as a kid, always making things out of cardboard and bits of paper, and completely obsessed with comics. As I was born in ’56, it was a good time for comics; in fact, when I started reading American comics in the mid to late ’60s I wanted to be American! I wanted to buy all the weird shit that was in comic book ads, it seemed like a world of wonder compared to industrial, working class Britain. Where I grew up, our house was surrounded by factories: it was so 10 | Art! The Magazine

hot in them that their doors would be open onto the street and you could see molten metal pouring into drop forges – the noise was incredible. That’s probably why Black Sabbath exist, the band came from the same city and are the reason I got into rock music.

Backtracking a bit… reading comics became the foundation stone for what has become my creative force.

So there is a seam of pop culture running through your upbringing that you are returning to and mining.

Not so much returning to, it never went away.

More like riding a wave then?

Yeah, it’s viral: which is an over used term now, but that’s what it is, a virus.

A virus that can take on many forms, it was catching... I got bitten by the bug!

What was your first job?

When I left school in 1972, it was hard to get a job because my hair was too long.

It still is.

Cheeky fucker… anyway, I eventually got a job in a factory doing engineering on all manner of machines. I hated it and used to silently spout a mantra: “one day, I’ll show these fuckers! This isn’t me, this isn’t what I was put on this earth for” – because deep inside, I wanted to become a writer or an artist.

Then punk rock happened. I wound up meeting Siouxsie and The Banshees, and after a year or so they asked me to run their fan club in London. So the next day at the factory where I worked, I went into the boss’s office and said, “I know I’m supposed to give a month no-

tice, but I’m leaving next week, I’m moving to London. I didn’t have any money, and that’s how it was – none, or next to no money – for about 30 years. (laughs) So you had a ‘proper job’ once and didn’t like it?

An understatement! I just knew inside me that I had to do something creative, but whenever I tried, it never came out right, I didn’t know where to go with it.

When punk rock happened it moved me in that direction, it got me out of home and into a creative environment. What I learned being involved with ’The Banshees was stuff you can put into play regardless of what you’re doing or what costume you wear; stuff you can adapt to any situation. It becomes second nature, part of your psyche.

I learned more about myself and equally as important, other people – learning about other people and their bullshit was priceless, one of the hardest things in life is to hone the bullshit detector!

Of course I still make some mistakes in the people department, but for the most part I’ve got it down. I’m rarely cynical about stuff because that constricts things, its preventative, it won’t let you explore. How can I be interested in the unknown and be a cynic? You have to take chances.

Being an artist you don’t earn a lot of money, unless you become famous; but as long as I get by that’s all I’m interested in.

I had one of my worst nightmares the other night: I dreamt that I got a proper job and my first thought was “How can I do my art”. Even though it would have helped my family, it would have destroyed my current calling. I told myself “This is a nightmare, wake up” – and I woke up.

IMAGE: Back to Reality? #2

So being an artist is your main focus now, what kind of environment do you work in?

It’s getting messier. (laughs) I always work down at the studio now. I have a beautiful son called Lucian B., when you’ve got a kid it’s very difficult to work at home, because as well as the constant interruptions, when you stop you have to tidy everything up. Which is something you don’t have to do when you have a studio.

Excuse my geekiness but I’m fascinated by the conditions artists work in, what kind of lighting do you have in there for example?

Just some old shit little spots you can move to suit when you need some light.

It’s only a 20 minute walk up the beach from where I live, and is part of a garage. I call it “The Lock-up”, because they’re often used as secure storage units. Because I can come and go as I please, I have worked through the night there. I go there as often as I can: juggling it between my family life and writing/editing for magazines such as Bizarre and ART! The Magazine.

Can you describe a bit about your creative process?

My mind is constantly full of pictures.

[William] Burroughs once said: “Open your mind and let the pictures out” and that’s basically where my head is at all the time now. Burroughs is my guiding light throughout my creative process. Even when it’s not overtly obvious in my work, I guarantee that his influence is always there.

As for ‘the process’: I do the decal aspect at home because there’s technology involved, then take them to the studio. I’ll take a canvas or vase, do an abstract background, then decide how the decals will piece together – before going nuts throwing down layer-upon-layer of paint and decals. I rarely do thumbnails or anything like that because the idea/ideas are already in my head and they morph as the art comes together. The reason I like working in layers, is because I don’t like everything to be obvious straight away when you look at the finished piece.

You told me earlier that you have five canvases on the go at the moment.

12 | Art! The Magazine

ABOVE: What the..?

Do you paint backgrounds on all of them at the same time, before moving on to the next layer, building up all five simultaneously?

It varies. With the Burroughs-inspired canvases I did for an event based around The Beat Hotel and Cut-Ups recently, I got the ideas for what I wanted to do, and did three backgrounds straight off. I hadn’t intended to do it that way, but everything I do art-wise is really experimental – which is probably down to the fact that I’m self-taught.

In this instance, I started slashing into pieces of brown wrapping paper with a blade, then fired aerosol paint through the slashes – moving the slashes around and firing through different colors. There’s nothing methodical about how I work – so I’m happy that the end results all look like they were all done by the same person. (laughs) You talk a lot about the Brion Gysin and William Burroughs’ Cut-Up method. One thing they reported about their experiments was that Cut-Up often seemed to predict the future. Have you noticed anything like that cropping up in your work?

As regards the actual state of what goes on outside?

It depends on your definition of the future, plus there’s also synchronicity to consider. One of the multi-layered can-

vases I did – inspired by Burroughs’ novel The Place of Dead Roads – features two panels that I’d cut out of a 1950s cowboy comic. One of the panels had a speech bubble that said “They’re coming!”, but there was an irritating space that I felt needed filling. So I randomly opened the novel that had inspired the piece, and my eyes fell on ‘consider the menace potential posed to you and your compadres by decent churchgoing folk’ – which as far as I was concerned fitted perfectly. I guess that can be interpreted as a form of precognition.

It happens a lot with my art and how the pictures come together. I have a rough idea, and then I just scan through things on the ’net, in comics, whatever… until bang, bang, bang, there it is.

So you are constantly looking around and piecing together the stuff you see, finding patterns, and so forth?

Yeah, I think that’s how we naturally view things.

Dreams are like that, an amalgamation of sensory input jumbled around to create new meanings.

Does dreaming affect your work or vice versa?

Sometimes… I don’t have nice dreams.

I always have nightmares. I have a lot

IMAGE: Kiss of Death?

of post-apocalyptic nightmares.

I hate those. Is the post-apocalyptic scenario your fault?

I never know. I have a lot of chase nightmares too. But the most common nightmare I have is of being lost – it’s never in places that really exist though. There will be elements of places I’ve visited, like East L.A., London, and where I live in Hove... so they are actually like CutUps. Come to think of it, am I awake now?

Don’t ask me, I haven’t slept for days.

Well if I am asleep, this is one of the most pleasant dreams I’ve ever had.

So you’re not trying to predict the future or influence events through your works?

Never consciously… but that’s not to say it might not happen.

So what are you trying to do then?

I’m opening my mind and letting the pictures out. I have no control of it. I’ve never been more creative in my life.

What’s coming out creatively is an ac-

cumulation of all my years, all the stuff that went in.

I’ve always drawn and painted, but I always thought what I created was shit.

I rarely showed my art to people, but once I did, it was like having a broken faucet with the tap stuck open –it’s all pouring out of me.

When I first heard of you it was as a writer (in the UK Billy is a much respected film & music critic) then last year you had your first solo exhibition at the Horse Hospital in London, it’s as if you’ve suddenly leapt into the deep end.

I had only started showing in May 2012 at an underground art open house in Brighton, well Hove actually. The first weekend, an artist/art teacher walked in, liked my work, and asked if I knew anyone who needed studio space. To cut a long story short, I took the space and I haven’t looked back.

Pretty soon after, thanks to you Mr Atomic, I was in two London group shows at the Orbital Gallery in London: Magick Eye 2 [see Spotlight in issue 1 of Art! The Magazine] and The Illustrated Ape. Then at the end of the year, I had my first solo show, at London’s Horse Hospital, Billy Chainsaw: X – More Than A

Journey Into The Unknown. And this year I got flown out to LA by Zebra Marketing’s awesome Bob Fierro to do two limited edition William Burroughs prints – one of them for Richard Duardo and his prestigious Modern Multiples studio.

Burroughs is like your guardian angel or something...

Everything’s Burroughs at the minute: I’ve been into him since my late teens.

His words were something of a mystery to me at the time, but as I got older and acquired more knowledge of what personally stimulated me, they made perfect sense. Hey, Burroughs was a genius. In fact I think he was a fuckin’ alien! I’ve just done a canvas featuring him and David Bowie, called The Men Who Fell to Earth. To me they are both like alien life forms. I actually discovered Burroughs through a Rolling Stone interview between him and Bowie circa the latter’s Diamond Dogs album, in which they discuss Cut-Ups. It’s funny that you and I often talk about magick, the number 23, and coincidence… because all of that is currently hitting home runs with me regarding Burroughs – from the limited edition prints to Joe Ambrose’s (who knew Burroughs) Beat Hotel/Cut-Ups event.

Art! The Magazine | 13

IMAGE: Fatal?

Burroughs is, and will remain so until I die, a major part of my life. Hey, my son Lucian’s middle name is Burroughs in his honor – that was my wonderful wife, Sloan’s idea by the way. In true Burroughsian fashion, Lucian was born on 01.14.08 (which equals 23); and, something Sloan only realized last week, the number of letters in his name totals 23!

What kind of artist do you consider yourself to be?

Not being an egotistical fucker, I only recently became comfortable considering myself as an artist, because when I was at Modern Multiples I was introduced as such.

I just make art that mixes it all up – painting and collage. Everything’s just one big experiment, in which the errors are as important as anything else; I consider it a form of creative chaos that was meant to happen.

Just today, I was doing a Burroughs-inspired vase for someone, when I accidentally fired aerosol paint that splattered up the almost finished vase.

Some people would panic in such a situation, but I smiled and worked with it. Burroughs often said that there was no such thing as chance, which I wholly agree with, because it buys into my whole experimentation routine.

In retrospect, being scared to experiment with art is what had held me back all these years. There’s a holy trinity of artists whose work eventually informed and inspired me above all others: Andy Warhol, Julian Schnabel, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. When Warhol did screen prints it didn’t matter if they were off register – I don’t believe in perfection, it’s the imperfections that make things special. Schnabel’s influence comes from how he would do these huge works, then he’d pour resin over them: I bought some resin many years ago to experiment with the process, but was too scared to in case I fucked up the work. I love the way that Basquiat crossed things out in his art, and the crossing out became part of the picture.

a piece featuring the image of a werewolf which I recognized as coming from a Mike Ploog illustration in the 1970’s Marvel Comic Werewolf by Night.

(laughs)

When I use details from old comics, it’s because that’s what I want as part of my creation, that exact feel, that exact style, not my interpretation. Like Burroughs, I figure that if it already exists like that, why try to improve it.

I hate it when people say, things like “I could have done that” or “How much did it cost you to make that?”; but what really pisses me of is when they say “How long did it take you to do that? Because there’s not a lot to it” – to which my answer is always “ It took all the years that led up to it!”.

So you combine, images from comics with abstract painting, working in layers, embracing chance ‘mistakes’?

Absolutely. Art is a many-headed beast, or should that be a many-layered beast.

Is there anything you hate about being an artist?

Damn straight! They don’t watch some guy sprinting in the Olympics and go “That’s not much of a run, it only took him 15 seconds”, they appreciate that it took a lifetime of hard BELOW: Dem Bones

Talking about Burroughs, I’m reminded of some advice he gave in an essay about writing. He said, and I paraphrase, “If you find a piece of writing that sums up exactly how you feel, take that and put it directly into your work instead of trying to re-write it” Now for the Magick Eye 2 show you contributed Art! The Magazine | 15

IMAGE: Fear #1

16 | Art! The Magazine

physical training to get to that point.

Exactly. Actually, hate is too strong a word regarding such nogoodnicks, because I don’t actually care what people say or think about my art. The biggest kick I got when I first showed it was to hear people’s thoughts – good or bad.

I’d put something out there, and it was a point of discussion. Then when people bought my art and I knew it was going to be on their wall, that was inspirational, a driving force. A bunch of my work sold to people who’d never bought a painting in their lives. I like that they chose me to pop their art cherry.

Why do you think your work is so accessible to these people?

Maybe it’s because the stuff I’m using from inside my headspace is what’s in theirs too. When I make art I never set out to be in any way deliberately commercial. My art is simply an extension of my thoughts: Cut-Ups of such diverse stuff as cinema, comic books, tattoos, Lucha Libre, Burroughs (of course), and the unknown. I am a firm believer in parallel universes, portals to other places… the blurring of boundaries.

You know… what’s real? What’s on the other side of these portals? Are we

looking into them, or are we looking out of them?

I also love masks and the anonymity, the fantasy they create... that unknown aspect again.

Do you have any grand ambition?

Just to be successful as an artist, because it will prove to my son, Lucian B., that you can do what you want, that you don’t need to conform to get on in life.

Do you have a more material goal?

To make bigger pieces and see them hang on more people’s walls – the artists who most inspired me always did big pieces. Which brings me beautifully around to a realization I had the other morning: I woke up thinking that the three artists that most changed my mind about art, Warhol, Schnabel and Basquiat, and how their initials correspond with those of my greatest influence, William Seward Burroughs!

Need I say more..?

— Jason Atomic WEBSITE: koolkrakenincorporated.com All art inquiries email: billychainsaw666@aol.com

BELOW: Chainsaw in front of X: In Loving Memory – Going Up? at his debut London solo show X – More Than A Journey Into The Unknown

All photos by Tim Brick (unless noted otherwise)

Photo By Manko

Art! The Magazine | 17

Doc 43

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Sergio Rueda Taking Graff to the Executive Level

had a chance to speak with Doc 43 at an event last year and immediately became a fan of his work. BUT what really hooked me was something other than his art. Sergio Rueda has started to brand Doc 43 by way of the skateboard industry. He has own team of riders that he sponsors and amongst everything else he is even part of a hip-hop school for children. Hold on did I also mention he illustrates children’s books; it’s like what doesn’t this guy do. An avid snowboarder and graff artist I asked him when is he going to bust a mural while snowboarding. His response “it’s on the agenda.” Check out what he had to say about all his ventures he has going on at the moment.

Sergio, Sergio, Sergio where do we start lol. Father, Husband, Snowboarder, Graff Writer, CEO, Mentor is there anything we are leaving out?

First off let’s ask the big question Graffiti or Snowboarding which do you prefer and why?

Yeah, you left out “Computer geek” LOL. My profession is completely opposite of all you listed above.

Hmm, that’s a tough one…. But to be honest… SNOWBOARDING for sure!

I think if I had started riding at a young age I would have loved to pursue it as a profession or at least work in the industry, but, at least I ride and do it for the fun.

How did you get involved with Graffiti and what has it meant to you?

Well, I first got introduced to graffiti art during my “bboy” days, around ’82. I had just started Junior High at Virgil when I got introduced to break dance and the whole hip hop culture.

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It wasn’t until early ’84 (freshmen at Belmont High) that I started taking graff more seriously.

Graff has meant a lot to me. As I was starting out I really didn’t know the impact it “would” have on me. As a young kid in the inner city, surrounded by bad influences, gangs, drugs, and all that goes into a typical urban setting it was my art and love for sports that kept me focused and, for the most part, out of trouble. I will admit, getting a good whipping by my mom was a bit more terrifying for me than to it was to get beat up or jumped by a random person(s) LOL. It may sound a bit contradictive, but even though graffiti art came from the street and the practice at that time was to tag and drop bombs on whatever wall we could hit, graff kept me out of the streets. What I mean by that is, graffiti was an avenue for me to expand my artistic ability and because of that I started to focus on making a career doing art, which consisted of continuing my education and gaining as much knowledge as possible.

So, to answer the question in a few sentences, graffiti art was a very instrumental element of Hip Hop that played a huge role in my decisions in life. Because of graff I pursued and achieved goals that have put me where I am today. Even though my current career as a computer network engineer for a global telecommunications company may not be directly tied to graff, it was the pursuit of being a computer/cinema animation artist that led me to a career in the computer technology field.. hence to the answer to the first question “Computer Geek” LOL. Doc 43 the brand that’s a fairly new venture for you. Of course that’s what you write but you’ve done what very

few have done you have branded it and found a market for it. You even have sponsored your own skate team what’s that been like?

Yeah man, DOC 43 Gear is the brand that I started, officially in 2010, but has been in the works for several years before that. The brand name DOC43 Gear and Protected/PROTKTD clothing are synonymous.

The name DOC43 was given to me by my late friend and graff mentor; David “Sine” Davilas. As David, Galo “Make” Canote, and I were starting a graff crew (Second To None) I had a hard time picking a street name. One day, before school, David just came up to me and said, “what’s up Doc?” (Like the bugs bunny character) and he just yelled out “That’s’ IT!!!” DOC is your name! I paused for a moment and told him I didn’t like the name because it was a very common name. It wasn’t really common in the graff world, but it was common in so many other ways. David’s response was, “well, I’ll come up with something to add to it” and later that day he came to me and showed me a piece of paper that read “DOC43”. At first I didn’t want it but he (David) was not taking no for an answer and as far as he knew, that was my name. Shortly after, all the tags he would hit included Make, Sine, Doc43 and it just stuck.

In June of 1987 my life changed in so many different ways. I got a call from my crew partner and long time friend, Galo. Right away I knew it was not good news. Galo had informed me that David had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The reason I took it hard is because I was supposed to be with him that afternoon and for some reason or another I couldn’t make it. That decision laid

IMAGE: KGB Piece

IMAGE: El Velorio for Juan Rodriguez

IMAGE: Doc 43 and Make Collaboration

heavy on me for years because if I was with him would things have turned out different? Knowing how I am, I probably would have told him to calm down and not start any trouble. Or, if he needed my help I probably would have jumped in and helped him. So who knows what would have happened.

On another occasion, a year or so before David passed away. Galo, David and myself were out tagging. On the particular area we were in we knew it was gang territory and knew exactly who that gang was. We all understood NOT to tag in a certain section of that territory (Beverly Blvd, near Rampart).

After passing that area, we all were in the clear and started tagging our names and crew “MakeDocSine- Second To None Crew”. Right after we hit the wall with our tags I looked eastward and saw a number of guys running towards us.

The guys we saw were a few blocks away and we knew they wouldn’t catch us. As all 3 of us ran, David decides to yell out a gang name, even though he wasn’t in that gang at that time. Little did we know that there was a car full of guys waiting for us at the end of the street.

The guys managed to get David while Galo and I managed to get away. I think Galo and I got a few blocks away and we both stopped. We knew that the gang of guys had gotten David. We both knew that they were going to hurt him bad and possibly even kill him. I won’t mention the gang but if I do, anyone that knows the history of Belmont will instantly know

what I’m talking about. Anyways, Galo and I decided to go back for our friend, risking our own lives. Both Galo and I did not say a word to each other, we just knew that if we went back it might not be good, however, if David had been killed I don’t think Galo and I would have been able to live with that.

As we got to the place where they had David we saw David bleeding and laying on the ground. Suddenly, Galo and I got hit and fell to the ground followed by a bunch of guys just kicking and punching us.

After a few minutes of that pounding, one of the gang members knew Galo.

For some reason or another, I believe it

was God looking out for us, one of the gang members managed to talk to the main head of that gang and told them that we were not gang members but instead were graffiti artists. The main guy and others dragged Galo, David and me to where we had “tagged” and said that if it wasn’t true we would be killed. To our relief, another guy from the gang yelled out, “yeah, these guys aren’t gangsters, they’re just taggers”. Sure enough, this was followed by a few more minutes of pounding but eventually ended and let us walk away.

That moment was a wake up call for me.

I knew that many of these scenarios would occur if I continued. I still tagged

IMAGE: Team Art! The Magazine | 21

IMAGE: Doc 43 at Mammoth

from time to time, but honestly, I was more focused on making a career and to do that, I would have to continue higher education.

The reason I wanted to bring up that part of history is because it is the reason I started the DOC43 Gear brand.

Although DOC43 didn’t really mean anything when David gave me that name, after David was killed I promised myself and to him that I would turn something that started out as a negative and turn it into something positive. Also, I wanted to make David’s death mean something.

As I mentioned, we also use PROTECTED or PROTKTD Clothing because graffiti saved our lives, literally.

DOC means: Determined, Open-minded, Confident. The number 43 represents the number 7, which typically is a representation of “complete”.

How does sponsoring riders make me feel? Well, that feeling is amazing because the riders we sponsor are for the most part, at risk. We sponsor some really good skaters and the most important part is to make them feel a sense of accomplishment and worth. I can tell you 22 | Art! The Magazine

this, sponsoring someone will empower and encourage that person and will encourage him/her to continue growing in all areas of life. Whether they continue skating or not, all we care about is to bring something positive in their life.

Sorry for the long answer, but the question as not one I can answer in a few words.

Hip Hop, Break Dancing and Art what’s your take on it? I mean tell us about the hip hop school you help out with. How did all that come about?

Wow, As I stated, Hip Hop culture has played a huge role in my life and has influenced me in who I am today, some directly and some indirectly. The reason I’m in the career I am today is because of Hip Hop, particularly graff art.

As for teaming up with the Hip Hop School of Arts, it just happened. Because of Facebook I met up with Little Cesar again. As you know, Cesar is very influential in the hip hop culture and eventually lead him to start this school.

Cesar and I met up and he really liked

my work. Him and I hadn’t seen each other since the early 90’s and was pleasantly surprised by my artwork and the brand that I started.

The fact that I’ll be one of the instructors at HHSA is very humbling and at the same time, honored. The mission that Cesar uses for his school goes hand in hand with what our brand (DOC43 Gear) brand is about. The ultimate goal is to uplift and help the youth.

What’s your take on the whole Graff scene?

For the readers out there that want to understand why there is always negativity thrown on graff writers maybe you can shed some light on this subject.

Well, I think naturally anyone that is not familiar with graffit “art” will automatically assume that taggers, gangs and graffit art is all the same. There is some truth to that now though. There are tagbangers that basically just go out and “tag” and also promote gangs. The negative connotation will not really change until people get educated on the history

of graffiti and what the true graff artist is.

Personally, I will not do an illegal piece or promote that. Does that now make me a “non-graff” artist now? I honestly don’t care. All I care about is my family and to help people, especially the youth.

My sole goal in life is to provide for my family and be productive in society. I want to teach young artists to use their talents and funnel all their energy into something positive instead of destroying property. I think we have enough destruction in other parts of life, right?

Where do you see the graff scene moving next?

I see it going everywhere it is today… which is all over. LOL. If you really look around, graff art has influenced corporations, from fast foods, clothing departments, film, video games and many more to use it for logo designs and apparel to name a few. Even cartoons now are influenced by graff art.

Funny question have you ever tried to rock a production while snowboarding?

Ha! No, I have not!! But… that’s a heck of a good idea! I’m going have to rock one now that you brought it up!!! Look for winter 2013/2014, seriously!!!

Is there anything you would like to share about the art scene from your point of view?

Yeah, I LOVE IT!!! If anything, art is eye candy for anyone. If you are an artist you know how soothing and therapeutic it can be! I think if people tapped into drawing/painting I think Yoga and meditation classes would go out of business!

What’s next for the brand Doc43?

Well, we’re in it for the long run! Our goal is not just to get big, we want to get big with a purpose. Our goal is to give back to the community and promote positive messages. I think that’s what’s missing today. Our youth is so inundated with negative messages via media, movies, TV shows, video games we want to just put a product(s) that are positively influential.

Well Sergio as you know we are all for helping out everyone and anyone and we would like to give you big props for all that you give back to the community. If someone were to need your services how could they go about it?

Alex, Art The Magazine, Thank you so much for being an avenue and for the support of the DOC43 Gear brand and myself.

— Alex Trillo

If anyone wants to know more about us, here is our info: Website coming up May 1st: www.doc43gear.com Facebeook Like page: www.facebook.com/protectedclothing Twitter and Instagram: @doc43gear Email: doc43gear.com Our gear is currently selling at The Garage Boardshop and our goal is to be on many more shops in the Los Angeles area. Our website will have locations where our products will be selling.

IMAGE: Doc 43 at work - Charlie Evans Jr.

| SPOTLIGHT |

Euphoria/Dysphoria

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resented by dancer and choreographer, Shannon Janet Smith, Euphoria/Dysphoria intimately brought life and movement to the stage at The Lounge Theater in Los Angeles, California on the weekend of May 24th, 2013. Stated by Shannon, “the ultimate goal for this dance performance is to connect with the audience emotionally through the language of movement.” That she did! With intense music ranging from The xx to Portishead to Radiohead, these talented dancers brought emotion, passion and inspiration to their performance and brought a new vision of beauty to the human body. Shannon Janet Smith, with the help of choreographers Kaitlyn Schwalbe, Meredith Flores White, Juan Toledo, Jos McKain, and Dana Fukagawa, mastered movement with song bringing forth visions of love, pain, desire, struggle, and hope in a vulnerable and intimate fashion.

To add to these performances, in the lobby of the theater, exhibited art from the well-known artist D.W.

A Contemporary Dance Experience Frydendall, along with artists Ian Dietz, Estefano Suazo, and Trevor Takahashi. Based in Los Angeles, D.W. has made his mark as a comic book artist and illustrator and is best known for his work in the horror genre. The art exhibited complimented the aura of the show, setting the mood and tone of intimacy, creativity, and intensity.

Shannon Janet Smith currently teaches contemporary lyrical dance at Athletic Garage in Pasadena, California. Her goals and focus is to evoke an emotional response from the audience and performers. We hope to see more work and shows coming from this amazing and in-tuned choreographer.

—Susan Seim & Rick Manny Images by Mari Provencher

For more information on Shannon Janet Smith www.shannonjanetsmith.com For more information on D.W. Frydendall www.dfrydendall.net

BELOW: Shannon Janet Smith (bottom center) with the dancers and co-choreographers of Euphoria/Dysphoria

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Coloring outside the lines

n 1985 there were only two things Germ could think about after watching the film Beat Street- graffiti & walls. It was at that moment, at the young age of thirteen, before he even donned his artist name Germ, that his love for edge art compelled him to eat breath & live graffiti. Over the next decade the walls of the streets of Los Angeles became his canvas & his roots as Germ One the underground graffiti artist were shaped.

Today, Germizm’s mixed media fine art pieces combine elements of pop art with the rawness of graffiti art into a flashy colored hybrid style all his own. At 38 years old, Germ has lived through the transformation of graffiti itself and has undergone a series of awe-inspiring transformations as an artist himself.

With that he has also came in to his own with a new identity GERMIZM

Germizm describes how he views his work in a single sentence, “I consider what I do urban pop art. As a graffiti artist I always had to have a certain message, but now, for me I want it to be visually stimulating.”

Today’s popular demand for street art, or urban art seems to signal that the timing couldn’t be better for an artist like Germ whose work encompasses this urban 28 | Art! The Magazine

attitude. While success may seem like a shared desire for artists, it is a seemingly instant success that Germ can brag about. His pieces sell almost as quickly as he produces them. Most recently, he has began to pursue his latest goal of producing at least one independent show annually. All while juggling a full time career as a graphic designer, artist, father & occasional DJ. Germizm is the hard working underground artist who does it all himself & he pursues it all with determination of someone whose known no other way.

He is a self-taught artist since he has never had any formal training or schooling in art or technique at all.

“I think because I didn’t take the traditional route & go to college, I’ve had to work twice as hard to get to where I am.

I know I have a gift but that‘s why I have to put it to use & I’m grateful to be really busy with my career & my freelance accounts.” He chuckles adding, “I always tell my dad, I’ll relax when I’m dead, which is kind of funny to put it that way, but it’s true, I want to work as hard as I right now that I have the energy to do it.

In fact I think the hardest part for me is to find balance. Everything I do, I do it full force.”

Do you think this is your motto for achiev-

ing in your life?

“You know what? Yes! I think I can always go bigger. For me getting into mixed media art was just like everything else I learned on my own, trial and error, I learned by watching other artists. Even graphic design, I taught myself and now that’s my career.”

After high school Germizm started a personal business as a screen printer, which lead to a stint screen printing rock posters. For the next couple of years he created some of the first concert posters for the Coachella Music Festival & for musical talents ranging from Culture Club, DJ Paul Oakenfold, Stan Ridgeway, & Nina Hagen just to name a couple.

“When I was doing it for bands, I was doing their stuff & getting paid, but I wanted to go bigger, but the bigger I went I found the more expensive it got.”

Through his freelance projects & full time job as a graphic designer he has been able to finance the growth of his personal business.

“Little by little I went from a small table in my living room I used to do my stencils on to converting my entire garage into my work shop. Then I started hand cutting my own stencils which is what ini-

Photo by Angela Yen

Photo by Miguel Espinoza

IMAGE: Germizm at work

IMAGE: Germizm with spray can

tially got me into mixed media fine art.

And this is what I‘ve been doing for the last couple of years. It’s still expensive, but this way I can afford to keep it going.”

So where does Germizm draw inspiration from for his style? He pauses thinking about his response.

“I’ve always liked layers, I experimented with collages in the past and I really liked it. I think I’ve created my own style & to me it comes from my graffiti roots, I notice the pain splatters on walls billboards or alleys you see on the streets and I bring those elements to have depth in my art “Lately what I’ve come to be known for you can say, are these edgy, sexy womyn’s portraits.”

Although his signature collection of mixed media portraits are what Germ has come to be recognized for, he is clear to note that in his eyes he has taken mixed media art as far as he believes he can & like all of his other accomplishments up until this point, he isn’t going to stop there. But before we get into what’s next for Germizm I have to ask what is it like working for world famous designer Christian Audigier.

“I like to constantly challenge myself & I feel that, I always have to be on top of my game as a designer to impress my boss who has been all over the world & seen it all.”

Germizm is not exaggerating his passion for challenging himself, about a year ago an outing with his step daughter led them to Hold Up Art, a gallery in Little Tokyo Los Angeles where he winds up interning.

“People may think that at my age interning is not what I should be doing, but I take it as another opportunity to learn something new. They loved my stuff, I got to help put on many big shows & network with other artists I don’t think I would have had I not taken this opportunity.”

Germizm shares a special bond with his stepdaughter who is also an artist.

Pursuing her career as an artist while battling Lupus is something he greatly admires in her. And Germ likes to think that in some ways he has been an artistic influence to her. In fact, he is so committed to raising awareness about this

Photo by Miguel Espinoza

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IMAGE: Beauty & Brains

Photo by Angela Yen

disease that last year he co-organized a Lupus Awareness art show with his stepdaughter.

As far as where Germizm wants to head next with his artwork, he would like to focus on his illustrations and possibly make them the focal point in his future art shows.

Despite all of his accomplishments & successes Germizm remains a humble artist who doesn‘t forget his East LA roots. He shares an anecdote about a conversation he had recently with a photographer who told him that he is no longer sharing his technique with other photographers because he didn’t want the competition biting his technique. An issue that can & does come up in the art

IMAGE: Germizm with artt Photos by Ricky Hernandez

scene as well, but Germizm thinks differently about this situation. His newest idea is putting together a workshop for other artists.

“I’ve been thinking about putting on a workshop to share techniques with youth who may want to learn like I once did.

When I was learning I experienced both sides of the coin, the artists that don’t want to share their techniques and the ones that are happy to help you out. But at the end of the day you’re a creative person, they’re a creative person and I believe you can both create something totally different.”

This is the same train of thought that Germizm carried when he met another graffiti artist who goes by the name of Germs.

“We’ve met & we’re cool our styles are very different.” He adds, “in fact I think it would be cool to do a show together some day so we can both share the exposure & display our work.”

So what would make Germizm the relentless artists feel like he’s arrived?

“My goal is to have artists I admire be my fans. I know that this that may not mean anything to anyone, but I think that would validate all of my hard work to me.”

— Alicia Vargas www.germizm.blogspot.com

IMAGE: Germizm with stencil

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IMAGE: TOMB Family Portrait (artwork by Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo)

Y JASON CRAWLE

H

THE BLOKE’S TERRIBLE TOMB OF TERROR

H

orror comics have a long – if not entirely respectable – tradition, from the deliciously lurid EC comics of the 1950s (Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror etc) that sparked a moral panic and censorship in the US and the UK, through the likes of Eerie, Creepy, assorted DC monthlies and the notorious Skywald publications of the 1960s and 70s, to darker, edgier indie publications of today that range from ongoing series like The Walking Dead to the publication under discussion now – Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror.

‘The Bloke’ is Jason Crawley, an Englishman abroad, currently living in Virginia after relocating from Basildon to get married in 2003. As English as moaning about the weather, the ‘Bloke’ name “came about soon after I started working in the US. Workmates who watched British TV shows and films, would come up to me and ask me what different British words meant and bloke was one of them. From that day onwards it was my nickname.”

Crawley’s entry into the world of horror comics came about through pure chance.

idea for a horror anthology comic which I called Bloke’s Tomb Of Horror. I hadn’t written anything since I had left school, so once again I was treading in unknown waters, but I was eager to learn. Issue 1 came out in September 2009 and featured a collection of short stories written by myself and other writers that I had got to know during the creation process.

The series carried on for a couple of years and also spawned the Bloke’s Tomb Of Horror Halloween Annual 2010 and 2011, a trade paperback release made up of stories entirely written by myself and illustrated by various artists.

Both books went on to be voted Best Anthology Of The Year in the Comicmonsters.com Horror Comic Awards.”

From here, it was a small step to Terrible Tomb of Terror.

“My transition to producing Bloke’s Terrible Tomb Of Terror came about after artist Mike Hoffman had read the 2010 Annual and liked what I had been doing. He offered to illustrate a story for the 2011 Annual and that’s how it all began...

“I had a Myspace page set up to celebrate my love for horror called Tomb Of Bloke, and I met a friend, Ju Gomez, who was looking for someone to help do the lettering on a comic he was going to self publish. I had no experience but was a keen comic fan, so by watching Youtube tutorial videos and basically trial and error, I learnt how to do the lettering. At the time there had been someone else doing the other work needed to prepare a comic for him, but soon after, this person jumped ship and so I took it upon myself to learn everything else that was needed to get the comic ready for print.

“Soon after the 2011 Annuals release, Mike was about to go on a planned road trip down to South Carolina and on the way he would be stopping to see friends and family. He let me know that he wouldn’t be too far from where I lived as he came through and suggested that we meet! As a fan of Mike’s work, this was like a dream come true – I wasn’t having to go to a convention to see him, he was going to come to me! So he arrived late one night and we stayed up into the early hours talking about comics and all kinds of other things. The following morning during breakfast, Mike said something that took me completely by surprise. He wanted to know if I would be interested in working with him!

“Before long, I was hungry to create my own comic and so I came up with an

“The idea he ran by me was to produce a horror anthology with me doing the main

part of the writing and he would paint the covers as well as do some of the interior art. The main purpose was to associate the writing that I was doing with him and his work, to help get me noticed more.

The thing that would set it apart from other anthologies, was that it would be magazine size, just like the books that were produced back in the 60’s and 70’s.

To keep on track with the old fashioned look we would do it in a mainly retro art style too with a bit of modern looking work thrown in to mix things up a bit and for it to appeal to all kinds of people.

After picking up my jaw from the floor I obviously said that I was interested and so plans began.”

Among the changes in style for the new magazine was an emphasis on the character of ‘Bloke’, the horror host who introduces the stories in the grand comic book tradition.

“Previously, in Bloke’s Tomb Of Horror, my host character self was a zombie, so we decided to reinvent the character with something better. So I came up with the idea of The Bloke being an undertaker of sorts with the black outfit and top hat and to cement the whole British character concept I came up with him also wearing a Union Jack waistcoat. This new character idea would also make it possible for me to dress up at conventions to promote the magazine.”

Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror features stories written by Crawley, but illustrated by a variety of artists, giving the book a genuine sense of variety. The services of many of these illustrators have been secured in a very 21st century way, via social networking.

“I’m currently working with some truly amazing people and all of these connections have come about through Facebook where I regularly preview and advertise the magazine, both on my own Art! The Magazine | 37

ABOVE: Issue 6 Until Death Do Us Not Part (story by Jason Crawley artwork by Rob Moran) RIGHT: Issue 6 Tomb of Terror Cover

38 | Art! The Magazine

personal page and a page which I set up especially for the magazine. The interest shown by people for the magazine is amazing and it’s on a global scale.

“Once you start to read the series, you soon see that there are quite a few recurring artists like Mike Hoffman, Jason Paulos, Rock Baker and Scott Shriver.

There is also a nice mix of other artists, some who have never been published before. More recently, I have begun to do a lot of work for the magazine with an artist named Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo. Like everyone else I met Juan through Facebook, in fact he sent me a cool Bloke caricature as a way of introducing himself, saying how much he loved the look of the magazine, and we started up a great friendship. Juan also did the final character design work for me on my two new characters who will be introduced in issue 7 Miss Ghoulgeous and Limpy, a new co-host and her trusty companion!

“Mike Hoffman isn’t as involved in the magazine now as he used to be as he has a lot of other work going on now along with the fact that he felt the ultimate goal of me getting noticed more was achieved, but he still does the awe-

some painted covers for me and also still contributes to the mag itself when he can, either as a story or pin up illustrator as he still has a great fondness for TOMB and the work that we started together. Obviously, I wouldn’t be where I am today, producing this series if it wasn’t for him and his kindness, so I owe him a great deal and will never forget what he did and continues to do for me.

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to all of the artists and writers on board the magazine, all of whom understand the difficulty of self publishing, because again, without them, I wouldn’t be able to carry this on and we all share the fondness in producing something special, each and every issue!”

Of course, comics, like so many other traditional media, are currently having to face up to the idea of a shift in the way people consume the product – from physical to digital. I wondered how Crawley saw the future for the industry and his own publication?

“In recent years we’ve seen a huge increase in the digital format of comics. I myself have just added PDF downloads of the magazine series to my online store as some people simply prefer the digital

option as it is so convenient to have your reading material available at the click of a button whether on a portable device or on a home computer.

“Personally, I prefer the feel of a book in my hand and I don’t think that we’ll see the end of the printed format anytime soon. I have found that a lot of the interest shown towards it comes from the fact that it is a printed, magazine size anthology just like people used to buy back in the day and I will continue to produce it for as long as I can while the interest is there. Self-publishing isn’t just about trying to make money, it’s about putting your heart into something you love doing and hoping that other people love what you are doing as much as you do yourself!

— David Flint There are currently six editions of Bloke’s terrible Tomb of Terror available, with issue 7 due in June.

The magazines, PDF downloads, and cover art prints can be purchased at: http://www. etsy.com/shop/BlokesTomb.

Contact The Bloke on Facebook: http://www. facebook.com/pages/Blokes-Terrible-TombOf-Terror/177605358954830

BELOW: The Bloke: photography and edits by Sarah Sigler

Art! The Magazine | 39

E

- “A COMIC STRIP OF LIFE”

E

ven from an early age I understood that my father, the British artist and independent filmmaker Jeff Keen, was a visionary genius, driven by the most incredible mind, energy and sense of humor. When I was a child he taught me about the mechanics and magic of film editing. He taught me the importance of play in creativity, and how it’s possible to create magic from nothing. I was fascinated by his experiments with double-exposing film to create a dreamlike layering of beautiful effects. The results of his meticulous attention to detail in animation and editing techniques may have looked chaotic but were all carefully planned. As a film director he encouraged friends and family (myself included) to create their own personae and fabulous mad performances for his camera. His relaxed, fun-loving methodology belied a focused vision of what he wanted to achieve. Utterly uninter-

40 | Art! The Magazine

An appreciation of Jeff Keen by his daughter Stella Keen ested in joining any art establishment, for most of his life Jeff worked in a kind of self-imposed obscurity. Despite this, he earned a cult following for his richly animated and multi-layered films – well over fifty of them. Since his recent death I’ve inherited his archive and been able to spread the word about what a hugely talented, prolific artist and poet he was – as well as filmmaker – having created a vast body of drawings, paintings, sculptures, poems and experimental sound work. He’s now been recognized – by the very art establishment he avoided – as “a missing link in British art history, between Surrealism, Neo-Romanticism, Bomb Culture and Pop - fusing film collage, assemblage, paintings and happenings” (Andrew Wilson, curator at Tate Britain), and has been internationally exhibited. His astounding body of work – dating from the 1940s to 2012, the year he died – is impossible to categorize in any particular art genre, his portfolio reading like a potted history of 20th Century cultural influences. Various pieces bear the influences of Pop Art, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism or Outsider Art, but ultimately the work defies categorization. I’ll try here to unravel the many layers and references within the ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ - total artwork - of Jeff Keen. From humble origins in rural Wiltshire, England, in 1923, Jeff’s abrupt enrollment into the army for World War II at the tender age of 17 had a profound effect on his life.

He narrowly missed getting sent to Normandy for the D-Day landings. Most of his friends got killed there and he never forgot it. Demobbed in 1948, he moved to London to study commercial art at Chelsea Art School. He then saw lots of exhibitions, concerts and movies and became a prolific painter and poet, trying out many techniques to find his own

style. Surrealism and Dada became his key influences, alongside Abstract Expressionism, Art Brut, Outsider Art and the Cobra Group. He particularly loved the work of Picasso, Wilfredo Lam, Matta, Dubuffet, and the 1940s British Neo-romantics associated with Graham Sutherland. In the early 50s Jeff moved to Brighton, working as a postman and gardener, and met and married my mother Jackie. The couple lived a Beatnik lifestyle. My mother was Jeff’s great love and muse. The films he made with her comprise a great love letter to her. Bearing a remarkable resemblance to the exotically beautiful movie star Maria Montez – the muse of American underground filmmaker Jack Smith – Jackie had a chameleon-like ability to transform herself into different characters for Jeff’s films. In 1961 Jeff collaborated with poet, filmmaker and Warhol Factory performer Piero Heliczer, then a fellow Brighton resident, on the 8mm short “The Autumn Feast”. There are two main phases in my father’s body of work – before and after 1980. The work before 1980 is celebratory – full of love, life, exuberance and humor. After 1980, when my parents’ marriage broke down, Jeff’s work, while still showing enormous energy, became more introspective. Jeff always thought of himself as a Surrealist rather than a Pop artist. His love of Surrealist aesthetics and wordplay is prevalent throughout his work. Unlike the British Pop artists of the 1960s, who used contemporary images of 1960s ‘Bomb Culture’ (the phrase of Jeff’s counter-culture contemporary, Jeff Nuttall) in a political or ironic way, Jeff used it in a celebratory way to tell a bigger story of archetypes and natural forces.

It’s a story everyone can recognize if they scratch through the fast and furious multi-layered action coming at them

IMAGE: Untitled OPPOSITE RIGHT: Secret Origins 1

at 24 frames per second! It’s the hero/ anti-hero on his quest for answers to the big questions - constantly attacked by external forces while also fighting his own internal battles. When you see Jeff’s artwork in relation to his films you start to recognize these themes more clearly. I still find something new to marvel at each time I see them!

Ahead of his time, Jeff pre-empted Pop Art with his early collage work. The paintings are snapshots from his expansive mind, but even these are not completely still – they leap off the wall at you, alive with energy and ideas. We’re struck by what a fine draughtsman Jeff was. The delicacy and beauty of his early work leads through to the confident, expressive freedom of line in later work.

In Jeff’s universe, the quest for creative fulfillment is always elusive – the artist is always striving to reach a goal he never fully attains; hence the quest will always continue. The creative process reiterates the cycle of life, death and renewal. As Jeff wrote across one of his paintings, “All life is war and the long voyage home.” “ArtWar” is simultaneously a creative and a destructive force.

Jeff visualized life itself as a war: we’re constantly under attack from many enemies, be they viruses, elements of nature, or ourselves, in a struggle that defines our very existence. And although war was constant, Jeff kept reinforcing Virgil’s “Amor omnia vincit (Love conquers all).” Jeff was particularly drawn to ancient myths – Homer’s Iliad, Ulysses and Orpheus – about the epic journey we’re all on. He was interested in the way the heroes of Arthurian, Celtic and Norse mythology were ‘holy innocents’ who defied the gods, enduring adverse conditions to attain the sublime. Seeing these same themes reiterated in trash culture, he maintained that “B-movies, comics and Hollywood took over from romantic fiction and myths. Archetypal themes and moral issues are resolved through action.” Jeff loved the way American comic books dealt with these big, archetypal themes. Naturally, his favorite comic artist was his fellow Pop Art renaissance man Jack “King” Kirby.

The love of lowbrow and highbrow mingles brilliantly in Jeff’s work. I remember discussing with him how great Douglas Sirk’s melodramas were, and how the titles were like trashy pulp fiction titles.

There is a wonderful poetry in that lurid language which Jeff constantly emulated in his punchy art sloganeering 42 | Art! The Magazine

style, which also drew on beat poetry, the advertising in comic books and film trailer dialogue. A defining moment in Jeff’s formative years was seeing an early Disney Mickey Mouse movie. On returning to his home in Wiltshire he swept everything off the kitchen table in frustrated rage at not being able to emulate its brilliance. This was the impulse that inspired his cartoon drawing style and led him to make his own films.

He drew several homages to the great animator Tex Avery – the dynamic energy of his drawings explode from the page. The influence of American comics appears everywhere in my dad’s work: brash colors, the blue-black of Superman’s hair, the extreme cartoon graphics and crazy characters of Plastic Man and Dick Tracy, as well as the punning language of old-time “funnies” – Mutt ‘n’ Jeff, the Katzenjammer Kids and Blondie. Inspired by these, Jeff devised a personal mythopoetic universe inhabited by a rogue’s gallery of pulp/ movie-influenced characters – The Breathless Investigator, Silverhead, Naturalman, Dr Volta, Motler the Word Killer, Mothman, Rita Ray, Nadine the Catwoman and the beautiful Vulva-

na. Among the favorites of magazines and comic books Jeff collected were Life magazine, Famous Monsters, Mad magazine and 60’s underground comics. He also collected cinema memorabilia, and created his own ‘books of the film’ with signed photos of the stars of “White Dust” and “Mad Love”. Film as theatre; film as emblem. Filmically, Jeff was inspired by early Russian cinema, particularly Vertov’s “Man with a Movie Camera”, as well as by Slavko Vorkapić, the creator of many great Hollywood montage sequences. Jeff’s cinematic work references practically every film genre you can think of: silent movies, ‘sword and sandal’ epics, Surrealist work (particularly Cocteau’s “Orphée”), film noir, B-movies, Z-movies, macabre horror, kung fu, war movies, westerns, cliffhanger thriller matinée serials… All had an innocent, poetic quality for Jeff, who was interested in ways of playing with narrative. Of course, Jeff also empathized with freaks and B-movie monsters; innocents attacked by a society trying to kill or tame them.

His editing technique was perfectly attuned to the driving, rhythmic musicality of the jazz, rock ’n’ roll and Latin dance BELOW: Laff

music he used as soundtracks. Sound was also Jeff’s medium – Trunk Records have just produced “Noise Art”, the first in a series of albums of Jeff’s experimental sound work, with great sleeve notes by David Toop. As much as he loved the rockets, ray guns and robots of science fiction, the ideas of ‘hard’ science also motivated Jeff. Astrophysical theories of matter and anti-matter, microcosm and macrocosm were all inspiring.

There was also the visceral nature of the body, and its susceptibility to microbes and viruses. Until war, and then art, intervened, the young animal lover Jeff had been all set on a career as a vet.

His lifelong fascination with natural science is referenced constantly in his art.

Jeff’s childlike fascination with technology meant he always tried out new gadgets and experimented with rudimentary but effective video special effects. His scientific credentials were bona fide: during the war Jeff had worked on top secret weaponry developments including aircraft engine improvements and the floating tank! The artist as scientist, and the mad scientist role in B-movies, originating in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, is a central figure in his work. Dr Gaz was his “art destruct alter ego”; a catalyst for chaos, but also the director at large!

Way before Banksy, my father prefigured graffiti art in the 1960s, combining free form spray painting and stenciled army lettering in pictures and on derelict walls, developing his unique symbolic visual language and mysterious slogans. My dad loved words, especially the ways they could be visualized, whether in comic book onomatopoeia – Zap!, Pow! – or the simple directness of Chinese calligraphy. The word as symbol; a universal language, as with comic book heroes and their insignia. He read Japanese Haiku, Milton, Metaphysical poets, English Romantics, William Blake, Surrealists and post-war American innovators such as Henry Miller and William Burroughs. I recently found out that Burroughs had contributed text to my father’s early “Rayday” publications - both men were involved in the art scene at Better Books bookstore in 60s London. My father’s interest in wordplay led him to alchemize the poetry of film titles, cinema trailer language and comic book advertising in his Expanded Cinema performances. From Jeff’s personal art lexicography, “Omozap” is a play on

ABOVE: Jeff Keen as Marvo

homo sapien. “Blatz” comes from Blitz, the German Second World War bombing campaign against Britain, as well as “blatts”, slang for newspapers (he was an avid zine publisher). “Rayday” refers to the wartime alert signal “mayday!” as well as the ray of light from a movie projector. “Plasticator” refers to both Plastic Man and the Terminator.

My father always referred to himself as a mild-mannered English watercolorist.

In spite of the sometimes violent imagery in his work, he was a gentle, kind man with a love of the English countryside. His interest in nature got him thinking about the strange beauty accompanying the cycles of creation and destruction; order and chaos. The rural idyll has its dark side, which equates to the brutality of war. Out of destruction comes rebirth – the explosive nature of birth (stars, planets, creatures) as well as death. Children also like to destroy in play, breaking toys, then reassembling them in different forms. It’s a natural, creative as well as cathartic urge. Jeff had participated in Gustav Metzger’s “Destruction in Art” Symposium in London in 1966, alongside his friend and early collaborator, the sound poet Jas H Duke. Personally I always found great poignancy in my father’s burnt, melted dolls and other domestic detritus, recalling the bombed-out chaos left in the streets after the Blitz. As with Surrealist automatic writing, Jeff’s work seemed to flow from him automatically, as though he were channeling some important message from outside

himself. He allowed play and chance to become key elements in his Expanded Cinema work, with multiple projections, live (and toxic smelling!) toy melting and experimental noise producing magical and surprising results. Cinema became theatre; a live experience breaking out of the movie frame, painting with light and surround sound – a total sensory overload. Throughout, Jeff’s voice could be heard driving the whole experience to its ultimate conclusion – the sound of the empty film reel clattering in the projector… For Jeff, the finest human inventions were the bicycle and the hand gun. He used his brush, pen and camera like a gun. Each tool was simply a device – a means to an end.

The creative act itself was the important thing, rather than the finished work.

This would explain my father’s frequent habit of destroying his own work once he’d finished it; to ‘rip it up and start again’. This form of collage – the cutup re-invented story – is fundamental to Jeff’s metier. His writing, film and painting transgresses all boundaries – but ultimately it always comes back to the drawn line. The artist’s hand is ever present, and the artist himself is always active, often viewed in action. In Jeff’s words, “It’s auto-bio-graphik, not auto-biography… direct projection, not an illustration… a comic strip of life, printed on semtex.”

Art! The Magazine | 43

| MUSIC |

I

I

t is a lazy Monday night in La Mirada, a Southern California suburb of LA that embodies our kind and your kind. In the end, it is the kind of summer evening that makes you want to take walks and eat ice cream after sundown. Maybe from a truck or a perennial paletero.

around the globe. Beyond that, having someone as notable as Dave Cooley master Joven Navegante and getting consistent air play in both the Bay area and on LA alternative radio (including KCRW and KPFA & KPFK), is further evidence of a band to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, in the bat cave, an attractive woman with curly brown hair and a smile that could light up a room greets me, nudging me inside the house and before even proper introductions are exchanged, she’s invited me to sit down and share a glass of sandia water with her. She shares her and her son’s family history in an animated passionate way that speaks the language of her proud Columbian heritage, with animated hand gestures and contagious laughter. All the while, she’s preparing a meal that will fill our pansas and gladden our corazones.

She is the proud mother of Chicano Batman singer-composer-guitarist-keyboard/accordion-player Bardo Martinez.

If You’re Gonna DIY, Do it Good

Preparing to Launch

“The other guys were my monitors of sound, since I was mixing this down and listening to it through nothing else but my earphones among the sounds of roosters, dogs and gritaderas,” says Eduardo. “I asked them to listen to it in their cars, on the computer speakers, in the shower,” he adds laughing. “I mean pretty much any place they could to make sure it was precisely the sound we are going for.”

Since their first album & vinyl release in 2011, Chicano Batman has managed to complete their latest EP, Joven Novegante, while living & traveling in different parts of Latin America and the states.

Just as they did with their first self titled EP Chicano Batman, the band has continued to be DIY in the creation, production & distribution of their music. They’ve done it all. From using their personal mattresses to build sound block walls, to making use of vintage ‘60s sound mixers, passed down by family members.

Pooling their networks, they have been able to do what few start up bands get an opportunity to do in such a short amount of time. Their initial recording has reached over 20 different countries 44 | Art! The Magazine

The band describes Joven Navegante as a cleaner, more soulful sound with shorter songs than their first eponymous titled EP Chicano Batman, a mix of “tropicalia” and “recuerdo” grooves. Joven Navegante was recorded and produced almost entirely through email and Skype meetings.

Eduardo Arenas, bassist and self-taught producer for Chicano Batman, was living in Panama during the production of the album. Arenas mixed it down with about 18 channels of instruments on Pro Tools, the music production software program.

panded to include fender guitar player Carlos Arevalo.

“We met him as a member of The Truffles, and last year when we were starting to play huge shows like Bloomfest and the California Plaza shows, we asked him to join us,” explains Bardo Martinez.

“He picked up on our sound almost instantly which is pretty awesome considering he hardly had a chance to practice with us,” adds Bardo proudly.

“Yea,” jibes Eduardo, “he asked if he had permission to be an official member of Chicano Batman to be more popular with the girls.”

Arevalo’s efforts & networks have resulted in a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the pressing of Joven Navegante into vinyl, and the mastering of it by Light & Attic Records, producer Dave Cooley.

No It’s Not A Balloon Far Away…

So what compels fans from around the globe to help a band meet their goal to press a new album on vinyl? The fans, border-less, are the followers that have gravitated unfailingly to their signature Tropicalia/Recuerdo neo-vintage sound, a reflection of the cosmic generation.

“It feels bad ass to continue this trend of creating & recording our own albums!“ exclaims Eduardo. “That’s our signature thing, DIY and you gotta’ do it good to be able to compete with what’s out there.”

“We didn’t do this to have it stay here, in L.A,” says Arenas. “We want to explore.

And would love to travel to the countries where there are people buying our records. Everywhere from Panama, Mexico, Columbia, Canada, Australia, Amsterdam, Denmark, Holland, Japan, buying our record!” Arenas remarks so excited he can‘t sit in his chair.

From A 3 Piece To a 4 Piece Suit

“Wow Japan?”

The colony of Chicano Batmen has ex-

“Oh yea says Martinez, they love us

there. In fact, I’ve spoken to Shin Mayata head of Barrio Gold records who is promoting our record in Japan. He says they also experienced an emergence of Recuerdo bands and music in the 1960’s. So the new generations like the generations from here love that sound.”

| MUSIC |

Sau Dagie Unsurprising, many fans admit to having mistaken their LP for a record from the ‘60s. During a recording session show the band held in Highland Park, a fan shared a story with me about how he had made his father cry by giving him a copy of the Chicano Batman LP. His father, a former musician who could no longer play due to ailing health had once been in a recuerdos group similar to Los Angeles Negros and Los Pasteles. Upon listening to Chicano Batman, he said, his father broke into tears and asked his son if he was sure Chicano Batman wasn’t a band from the 1960s.

There is complete silence as I’m sharing this story with the band. Maybe it has moved them.

Martinez speaks first, “I think it was Caetano Veloso, that said, ‘Sometimes when you think about a moment that passed it hits you more in the act of remembering than in the act of living it.’”

“Yes,” adds Arenas, “I really don’t know how to explain this, but we have been told this time and time again,” he pauses to think, adding, “I think it reminds us that our music appeals to both the younger and older generations.”

“We spend a lot of time trying to get to that feeling, called sau dagie in Portugese, that feeling of richness of reminiscence,” adds Martinez. “That 1960s and 70s era was an amazing point in history, there were so many interconnections socially, politically, between people and of course musically. I think for us, it stems from this deeper connection to this reality combined with ours.”

Keeping it Real Upon spending some time with Chicano Batman, you realize that their shared humility is genuine. More often than not, local bands with these accomplishments Art! The Magazine | 45

under their belt can’t seem to stay accessible to their fan base. This is far from it for each of the members of Chicano Batman. All of them have pursued higher education, and each of them comes from a working-class family.

A large part of their fan base is composed of their friends and family. In fact their managers Jorge Avila & Veronica Thomas, are long time friends of the band who offered their services as tour, merchandise and media mavens.

They enjoy sharing stories about growing up with a shared passion for music, while growing up in the hoods and isolated suburban enclaves of L.A. In the case of drummer/percussionist Gabriel Villa, who band-mates affectionately refer to as, “the guisado of the group,” Gabriel Villa, an alliance with the Batmen came only after he left his home in Columbia to avoid the military draft and study music in France before finally winding up in the U.S. The band often plays at all ages shows because they are aware of their large

| MUSIC |

youth fan base.

“When I was in high school, I didn’t have a band that I could fall in love with. I couldn’t say ‘Hey these people are from my city. They look like me. I love their album.’ I never had that kind of relationship with a local band,” says Arenas. “So I think this is important to talk to our fans, be accessible. I think it can inspire a lot of youngsters to do and pursue that kind of thing.”

Chicano Batman Takes Flight What would you all like to see happen in the next couple of years for Chicano Batman?

“Music flows through me, it always has,” says Martinez, “I’m indebted to these guys for allowing me to pursue my artistic endeavors through our band,” adding, “I know both Eduardo & Carlos compose music, as well. So we will definitely be putting that down in the future, as well.

“Definitely we’ll continue to make our

music timeless by preserving it on vinyl.

The artwork, the richness of the analog sound is unmatched and very important to us,” adds Arevalo.

“Even if we make the decision to sign to a label, I think we all would like to continue to remain in the driver’s seat of our own destiny as a band, says an impassioned Martinez.

Is your music sexy?

They all look around at each other with tell-tale smiles on their faces that break into laughter. “We guess so. If you take a look around when we play “Sea of 100 Dead & Loving Souls” you can actually see people pair up and sweet talk to one another.”

What does Chicano Batman fear?

They band is quiet for a moment seeming to read one another‘s thoughts they answer in unison, “Chicano Batman is fearless.”

—Alicia Vargas www.chicanobatman.com

| MUSIC |

Infer Stellar

H H

ot on the heels of their first EP Release, Infer Stellar is burning through Los Angeles. Their eclectic sound sends a listener on a nostalgic trip filled with tunes and melodies that were born somewhere in the listener’s memories. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly where the band has drawn its inspiration from, giving them an alluring and enigmatic quality.

This is Rock N Roll Today. This is Infer Stellar.

in Echo Park.

On April 6, Los Angeles gathered in Highland Park at the legendary Mr. T’s Bowl to witness a little piece of history. It was an evening of fantastic music, as friends and fans flocked to celebrate the undeniable promise of an epic full album. The first bands to hit the stage that night were Daisy and the Wild, The Sundowners, The Bare Monads, respectively.

Having formed the band in 2010, the gentlemen of Infer Stellar have wasted no time in laying down the foundation for what they hope to be a less than Tainted future. In 3 short years, they’ve gone from garage sessions in City Terrace, LA to jamming in the dimly lit bars of North Hollywood (the ones with the swirling dance floor lights that make you sway), to headlining Art and Music Showcases

The clock struck 11. The lights went down. The crowd went wild. Piercing through the darkness came the first chords of Tainted, the first single to drop from the EP entitled Infer Stellar. The lights rose. The crowd closed in. Los Angeles had been formally introduced to their new favorite local band who now would shoulder the hope of everyone there who hoped to either drag their own

bands out of garage sessions or just drag their asses in the direction of their dreams.

I had the opportunity to sit down with 2 of the guys from Infer Stellar, shortly after the EP Release Party, for a little Q&A sesh. They invited me over to take in the magic of City Terrace. We cracked open a cold one and got down to business.

How long have you all know each other?

JOSE: Well. Albert and I have known each other since the beginning of the 2000’s. The era where I was lost in meth and the neighborhood I grew up in; Echo Park. Albert was about 16 years old and still in high school when he asked me to jam out with him. We’ve been playing ever since. As far as Victor, I’ve known him since high school. We lost contact

Art! The Magazine | 47

with each other for a decade but reached out to him when Albert and I started to jam out in the 2010 ALBERTO: (I was 14 years old when I first met Carlos. We started a band called “Demoted” which eventually broke up around 2008. After that, Carlos and I lost contact for a few years, but then reconnected to form Infer Stellar.

What other musicians are you influenced by?

JOSE: There’s tons of musicians who have influence us so there’s no true influence only the fact we love to play music. I personally listen to the whole spectrum of music from the Delta blues, to Bach’s cello suites, to Son Jarocho, to the godfather of afrobeatFelaKuti. Music is so vast it can be a beautiful feeling to

48 | Art! The Magazine

| MUSIC |

get lost in it.

ALBERTO: Not really influenced by any artist/musician. I agree with Carlos on the fact that we just love to play. Don’t get me wrong, Smashing Pumpkins have been a huge part of my life, but I can’t really say that I try to sound like Darcy on the bass. If I can show you my iPod you can see that the list goes on!

But, if I must answer this question…….

I would say Rage Against The Machine started it all for me.

How did the band get its name?

JOSE: Albert came up with a brilliant name and he misspelled it when he text me the name. Infer Stellar he text me and I looked at it for a while but as soon as I came back from the back of my mind, I loved it. The name is telling you

to imply the cosmos. The name implies to our music, to our nature. It’s our universe where we get to share our passion with people who feel the same way. Infer Stellar when listening to music. Always.

ALBERTO: The original name that I was trying to text the guys was “Inferred Stellar.” I got the idea from the Observatory (Griffith Park). There was a something in the name that described the sound that we wanted to put out.

What genre would you classify the Infer Stellar sound as?

JOSE: Alternative Atmospheric Rock.

ALBERTO: Sounds about right. I have trouble explaining that when asked. We are all on the same page with the sound we are creating. I think it’s different from

what’s coming out of Los Angeles right now.

What goals has the band set and where do you hope Infer Stellar will be in 5 years?

JOSE: The band is fresh off our EP release which you can buy on Bandcamp. com or if you come to one of our shows.

Our goals this year is to record a fulllength album and support it with a tour.

In five years, we hope to keep writing music also collaborating with different artists. —Andee Gomez Infer Stellar is: Jose Carlos Ramos: Lead Guitar/Vocals Alberto Caro: Bass Victor Arrazabal: Drums For More info: www.inferstellar.com

| MUSIC |

| EATS |

Holy Grounds L

L

Inspiration With Every Grain

ocated in a somewhat industrial area of the Northeast L.A. community of El Sereno, you will find Holy Grounds! A local café with a name that couldn’t be more appropriate! Holy Grounds Coffee & Tea has a unique environment, as you enter you will find yourself immersed in a space of art and culture with work of local artists in a display case at the front counter and hanging on the walls. After ordering your choice of drink at the counter you can then settle in outside in the patio where you can find you own little sanctuary with soothing sounds coming from the fountain made of found objects and a very eclectic bohemian feel all around with much of the furniture also being found and up-cycled objects.

Owner Steve Boland opened his doors less than a year ago in July 2012 after finding himself suddenly without a job! He was laid off as a result of many budget cuts in Los Angeles during 2009. With a degree in Child Development, a former Child Care director and six years in Non-Profits he had become the Program director on

50 | Art! The Magazine

Skid Row with the organization known as Para Los Ninos. For ten years Boland ran the after school programs and youth center serving up to 2000 under served youth a day through ten after school programs.

“You know you can’t really second guess a layoff” Boland remarks as he tells me his story…it was after some thought and soul searching for direction, that the idea of opening a coffee shop came to him and it was sort of out of the blue. Boland explains “it started taking on a life of it’s own”. Boland actually owns and lives there in the house that he describes as an old market, built in 1927, the front area that is now the counter and Barista area used to be an office. With so much Traffic going by he thought it would be perfect to have a coffee stand.

Eventually Boland decided to have seating and open up his backyard garden area to be included as part of Holy Grounds Café.

This Café has truly taken on a life of it’s own!

Soon after opening up for business someone came in and asked if they can do a recycling-up-cycling craft workshop, then a kundalini yoga class that they had at night and called it candle-lini, then one Saturday morning there were 25 kids and their parents doing paper-mache.

Boland realized that although he thought he might have had the non-profit world behind him that his café was evolving and becoming a defacto community center. He explains:

“It’s all very strange how this is revealing itself because there is not much of a difference between a youth center and a coffee shop. It’s about having a good environment, good music, we have the literacy component out side with the book exchange, friends are meeting friends, we have the free WiFi, so I’m just sitting back and watching it kind of evolve…I could tell you that you can come back in a year and I have absolutely no idea what’s gonna happen but my heart and my mind is open to what will serve the community and how I can be of service…”

Steve Boland has been a resident of El Sereno now for 6 years and has also been very involved, he was on the neighborhood counsel committee for Arts and Culture and he points out he is a property owner not a renter so he is very invested as a resident in the community. Holy Grounds Coffee & Tea supports many local businesses as well, the coffee beans are from Antigua Coffee Roasters of Highland Park, coffee cakes are from

| EATS |

Homegirl Café/Homeboy Industry, and other pastries are from El Aguilar Bakery in El Sereno. The patio space has also been utilized for various workshops, informational meetings, poetry readings, NA or AA meetings, and is also available to rent for private functions. Recently a customer requested to rent the space for their 40th birthday party!

When Boland built a vent over the roof to help keep it cooler he disguised it with a tower. When he began getting day old bread and pan dulce donated and left at the door, he realized people thought it was a church!

This was what inspired the name Holy Grounds. The owner sees the café as not really fitting into any category and likes it that way, he said he had this idea he wrote down, “Deviate from the norm whenever possible”.

I myself grew up here in El Sereno and have always envisioned a café to be in the area. Finally in the last few years this has become a reality! Two other cafes have come and gone however Holy Grounds Coffee and Tea is the newest and only café of it’s kind in El Sereno and the owner plans to stay. The timing couldn’t be better, located on Alhambra Ave. this area is the latest up and coming underground arts district and the presence of the

café is very fitting. The Vex arts is located further down the road along with Quinto Sol’s music studio and Sacred Steel custom Motorcycles shop right next door to the studio, of course all of this mixed in with tire shops and auto shops, graphic print shops, taco trucks and the train tracks near by with plenty of graffiti art in the background this area is definitely worth visiting.

On the menu you will find all of the common espresso drinks and teas including green tea, Chai and Yerba mate. My favorite drink is the house specialty Café de Olla served over ice or hot, it is a traditional recipe created by a friend of the owners Grandmother, a perfect blend with a hint of cinnamon, you’ll find yourself wanting to escape to this oasis in El Sereno to sit and enjoy a tranquil moment outside by the fountain.

Owner Steve Boland’s favorite artists and influences are: Antonio Gaudi, Eudora Welty and musician P.J. Harvey.

—Sunshine Maria

Holy Grounds Coffee and Tea 5371 Alhambra Ave. El Sereno, CA. 90032 323.222.8884

BELOW: Holy Grounds

Images from Holy Grounds

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Cartoon by Jose Lozano Art! The Magazine | 53

A peek into Art! The Magazine’s artist community

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Mandy Renard

ake a trip along Hobart’s small, but bustling waterfront, Salamanca Place, and you’ll find yourself outside a row of converted warehouse buildings facing the small harbor. These buildings now house galleries and shops selling some of Tasmania’s finest art, crafts, and jewelery, together with lively cafes and tiny boutiques packed with handmade clothes, hand spun wool, and local artisan gourmet produce, Unlike many other shopping strips across the world, Salamanca retains an air of intimacy and comfort. There’s nothing glitzy about this part of the city, even though it’s one of the more exclusive areas. It’s still a warm, friendly, relaxing place to spend your dollars, or sit on the pavement with a flat white. And it’s here you can find the Handmark Gallery, a beautiful, light-filled contemporary space with a welcoming atmosphere, packed with works by local artists.

And there are plenty of them. Tasmania is an artist’s haven, particularly for those wanting to learn the skill of printmaking. Technically challenging, time consuming and BELOW: Kookyburra

ABOVE: Love is All...

labor intensive, printmaking has a healthy tradition down here at the edge of the world, and among its finest exponents is Mandy Renard, who is currently exhibiting her latest, and arguably finest collection at Handmark - The Butterfly Ball. Fourteen sensual images line the gallery walls, delighting, entrancing, captivating – just as a butterfly would. Inspired by the 1974 Roger Glover composition, which was an early childhood favorite of Mandy’s, the show is a celebration of love and beauty, the fleetingness of life, and the sense of belonging waiting for all of us if we know where to look.

Mandy has been represented at Handmark for several years now, having achieved success and recognition while still an art student. Born in Melbourne, she moved to Tasmania in 1999 to study Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania where she majored in printmaking, minored in drawing and finished with a high distinction and a place in the Head of the Art School’s ‘Summer Selection’ show at the Plimsoll Gallery. Since this time Mandy has enjoyed 12 successful group and solo shows in Hobart and Melbourne, and continues to work from her studio at AlArt! The Magazine | 55

IMAGE: Love Song

len’s Rivulet, near her home in Neika, both just south of Hobart.

Mandy’s work has always focused on themes of love and beauty, the sense of home, and her attachment to the Tasmanian landscape. Some of her past works have even used personification to transform iconic Tasmanian locations such as Mount Wellington, Cradle Mountain and Mount Field into intriguing Elizabethan or Dickensian characters by placing ABOVE: Calling the Wild the landscape within the character’s garments - a technique that has earned her immediate success.

This new exhibition muses further on home, love, joy, and celebration continuing Mandy’s exploration of place and

beauty. But these images represent a departure from her usual method of researching her chosen inspiration, because this time she began the works without a concept.

The only framework was time. By consciously embarking on what was essentially an unconscious process, Mandy finished ten of the 14 prints before realizing the connection with her first favorite song, The Butterfly Ball – a song she had listened to with her mother at the age of two, a song that laid down an early, formative memory of love, home, joy, and a song she now shares with her own children.

Being a thing of transient beauty, the butterfly can symbolize illusion. It has also been linked with love, good luck, anxiety, death, and rebirth, as well as soul and the mind. Throughout history, around the globe, there have been many cultural interpretations of the butterfly’s symbolic value. Mandy’s butterflies are creatures of potential, unfolding into life, playful, engaging, curious, full of lightness and riches, open-hearted, wise, and wondering. And her Butterfly Ball is a place for everyone, where everyone has a place, if only for a moment…. —Liz Evans CONTACT: www.handmarkgallery.com/tasmanian-artists/artist.php?id=40

ABOVE: Butterfly Ball Is Everywhere

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Ghostpatrol

ucked away under the mountains in a northern suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, behind a pair of huge wooden doors, is an exquisite artisan bakery bursting with bread, pies, cakes, and all manner of treats.

Like many small, independent eateries in this little-known part of the world, the Pigeon Whole Bakery is no ordinary bread shop. There’s a touch of magic at work here… and just to re-iterate the point, the bakery’s logo is a charm – a small, ethereal boy with the look of an imp about him, and a couple of French sticks poking out of his satchel, set to fly away on the back of a bird. It’s a work of art, and a stroke of genius for the bakery, whose identity is now bound up with a beautiful image that manages to evoke a sense of nostalgia and innocence, while remaining utterly contemporary.

For those who know his work, the Pigeon Whole Bakery logo will be instantly recognizable as a ghostpatrol design.

Other-worldly, whimsical, dreamy, straight from a land of childhood where nature and imagination grow gently wild together, ghostpatrol’s images glimmer softly wherever they

ABOVE: ghostpatrol at work 58 | Art! The Magazine

land. They have a comforting, yet foreign atmosphere, drawing us back into a world that’s becoming more and more difficult to find, reconnecting us to an increasingly lost part of ourselves. ghostpatrol says he likes to think his images can make people smile, and remove them from the everyday waking world to somewhere more beautiful. A self-taught artist of some nine years standing now, his real name is Dave, and he grew up in Hobart, Tasmania before relocating to Melbourne where he now lives in the central northern suburb of Fitzroy, one of the few areas in the city which has managed to retain a truly individual identity. He works nearby, sharing both home and studio space with partner and fellow artist, Miso, recently featured in Art! The Magazine. And, like Miso, he has decorated Melbourne, scattering his unmistakable child-animal figures throughout the urban grime, adorning doors, walls, old buildings and alleyways with these mini, almost shamanic creatures, who silently tread that precious, childhood sense of the wild throughout the adult cityscape.

In past interviews, ghostpatrol has cited nature documentaries and manga among his influences. Like Japanese animator Miyakazi (creator of My Neighbor Totoro) he calls up characters from fantastical forest-type scenarios who bring a quiet sense of pensive wistfulness along with leaves in

IMAGE: Gocco

ABOVE: Across the Sea of Space, the Stars Are Other Suns

their pockets. Fresh from the dream dimension, they possess keen instinct and a calm playfulness, captivating us with echoes of folk and fairy tales, reminding us of our deep, all-too often unconscious connections with the wild world.

This is why these images resonate with us, and why these little figures work their magic so beautifully whether on a private garden wall or in a city backalley full of shadows, carrying their whispers of nature with them. ghostpatrol’s recent projects include a somewhat ambitious painting of a wind turbine an hour and a half’s drive outside Melbourne, at Hepburn Windfarm, where spectators were invited to watch him paint the mural from a basket crane; a residency with Miso at the Harvest Workroom in Melbourne’s East Brunswick; a stint at the amazing People’s Market in hip inner-Melbourne suburb, Collingwood, where he unveiled a mural and showed his sculptural collabora60 | Art! The Magazine

tion with Tristan Jalleh; and a screenprinted handkerchief for prestigious design collective Craft Victoria. Later this year, he will be exhibiting at the Hugo Michell Gallery in Adelaide, and his work can be also found at Collingwood’s Backwoods Gallery, a showcase for street artists.

And all of this is just a snippet. ghostpatrol is nothing if not prolific and industriously busy, spending most of his week at the studio, drawing, and no doubt dreaming. He’s been described as a man of few words, and that makes sense when you look at his work, which has an elusive quality about it – like a mystery that makes you smile, and that takes you somewhere strange, yet wholly familiar…. —Liz Evans CONTACT: http://ghostpatrol.net