FEATURING LOCAL ARTISTS OF VARIOUS MEDIUMS
JOHN URSILLO YOANNE LEMOINE RASHID JOHNSON BERT HORNBECK ANISH KAPOOR RAFAEL ROZENDAAL
CONTENTS JOHN URSILLO
1
YOANNE LEMOINE
5
RASHID JOHNSON
9
BERT HORNBECK
13
ANISH KAPOOR
17
RAFAEL ROZENDAAL
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. PABLO PICASSO
Good King 2 by RASHID JOHNSON
21
COLORED PENCIL
John Ursillo
Antipast with Anchovies
EDUCATION
University of Kansas, School of Design MEDIUM
Colored Pencil CONNECT
bearcubstudio.com
ohn Ursillo’s colored pencil pieces are absolutely brilliant. Every piece I’ve observed is strengthened by John’s ability to capture light and texture. [He] explores what many describe as a difficult medium with apparent ease: A true master.” Brian Sherwin, Art Critic said “I can add nothing to Sherwin’s comments about John Ursillo’s colored pencil artwork. Whether his subjects are architectural, floral, landscape, or human, he is able to infuse his drawings with light and mystery.” HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH COLORED PENCIL?
Colored pencils have been a part of my choice of media since I was a child, along with the usual crayons, fingerpaint and kiddie watercolor sets. My Mom did paint by number oils, some quite large, and I was encouraged to work on my own alongside her. So my involvement with our favorite medium started early out of necessity. Colored pencil was then, as now, portable, clean and easy to carry about, set up and clean up. My art education started as a direct result of my failure with colored pencils. I recall struggling with the face on a drawing I was attempting to copy in colored pencil. I erased so much that I wore a hole where the face should have been but patched it up with glue and a swatch of paper to keep at it. My Mom, who was my first “best critic,” decided that if I were that determined I should get some instruction. She made arrangements with a friend who was a pastel artist to give me private sessions.
JOHN URSILLO
Venetian Red #2
Hydrangea Landscape #2
I have always been a “realist.” I was joined by a girl student in this and we two embarked on a 3 year course starting with graphite, charcoal and newsprint. We drew from still life setups and didn’t touch color in the classroom for the first year. We then graduated to watercolor, pastel and finally oils—but never colored pencil. Mrs. Grande, our teacher, apparently didn’t consider colored pencil to be much of a professional medium. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DRAW?
The range of subject matter in my work is broad: still life, landscapes, the American Civil War, seascapes, ships, mountains, deserts, people—almost every genre one can put on a surface. Maybe one day I’ll get so passionate about some one subject that I will paint nothing else. But I hope not. . . there’s just too much out there to work with.
2
COLORED PENCIL
SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CHOOSING A SUBJECT?
I have nearly always kept a library of reference photographs, mostly my own and some from published sources. As I acquired some professionalism I put the published material away for my students to use. I take photographs constantly, always looking for interesting subjects, lighting effects, colors etc. as you mentioned. This is the grist for my idea mill. I use the database for ideas by tagging pictures I take with a rating: 1 star = maybe, 2 stars = maybe more, up to 4 stars = probable, and 5 stars=work in progress (either planning or under way). As an aside, when I photograph I generally capture three kinds of image: one for general reference, the second for composition, third I will take shots of the second, compositional subject with bracketed exposures to lighten the shadows and suppress the highlights—thus gathering information about what’s in those shadows and highlights that the human eye can see but the casual camera shot misses Ever wonder why some artists make pictures where the shadows are so very dark or the lights so blown out? Probably they are working from references in which important areas have not been exposed properly to give them the information they need. WHAT MOST OFTEN INSPIRES YOUR COLORED PENCIL WORK?
The love of light is my inspiration and informs all the subjects I choose. As a colorist at heart, I make paintings that have been critically noted for their ability to render light; giving them an almost palpable sense of time, realism, depth, and volume. I consider myself a “story teller” artist. I work to intentionally build into my pieces via subject, composition, color, and light a bit of mystery, unexpectedness or emotion as a way of conveying to the viewer my experience of the time or place captured on the canvas or paper. Isn’t that, after all is said, what it’s all about? WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DRAW?
The range of subject matter in my work is rather broad: still life, landscapes, the American Civil War, seascapes, ships, mountains, deserts, people—almost every genre one can put on a surface. Maybe one day I’ll get so passionate about some one subject that I will paint nothing else. But I hope not. . . there’s just too much out there given to us for work. WHAT ARTISTS INFLUENCE YOUR WORK MOST?
I’m a student of the history of art and take inspiration from a number of additional, diverse sources. My spring of influence flows out from the Italian Renaissance but only marginally into the modern. I think Vincent is about my current limit in that direction, while the American Impressionists and moderns, particularly Robert Henri, give me much to think about especially through their writings as well as paintings.
Forged in the USA, 2011
JOHN URSILLO
“Cuppa Irish Breakfast?”, 2015
SS Venture, 2005
4
MUSIC DIRECTION
Yoann Lemoine
NOTABLE WORKS
Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”, Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” MEDIUM
Music Direction and Design CONNECT
woodkid.com
YOANN, WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE WHEN YOU STARTED YOUR MUSICAL PROJECT WOODKID?
When I started the project I wanted to be heard, a lot. That was probably my biggest mistake. I did it to be heard more than to do a project I was extremely satisfied about. I wanted to do something that people would talk about, that would shock people, that would shake people. THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND PERSONAL SUCCESS.
I’m extremely lucky because I don’t think I’ve sold myself to the devil with the project. I’m not completely satisfied - I’ve already evolved since the album and I think there are a lot of things that are really dumb in it, that are too over the top. Then again it was just a step in the process of learning and creating. I think you can make beautiful things with it and that’s what I’ve always tried to do in my work as a musician and a director. That’s what we’re all facing right now. I always find it funny when people take what you do as a final object. It’s not, it’s just a step in the process. Of course it isn’t perfect. I mean, I’m only 30, which is pretty young for an artist to develop their artistic statement and their thoughts on the world. I’m not the best director and I’m not the best musician but at least there is a little space in between where I can be the king.
YOANN LEMOINE
Stills from the WoodKid music video WHERE ARE YOU CURRENTLY IN THAT PROCESS?
I can’t make a life choice between music, film, directing, directing a ballet, being a cinematographer, a singer, a dancer, a comedian, or whatever it is, but this one choice I can make is that I want to be an artist. I still don’t know what I’m doing and there are a lot of things that I’m experimenting with, but at the end of the day I want people to tell that I was an artist. I THINK THINGS ARE SHIFTING A LOT NOW, AND WORKING BETWEEN FIELDS LIKE THAT IS BECOMING MORE COMMON.
It’s a very good thing, but I come from a culture in France where it’s not good to do that. People don’t like that. They don’t like people who are in between. I always said the best place to be is in between – between two countries, two worlds, two cultures – because then you can take from one and put it in the other and vice-versa. I think all the art fields that I’m working in are pretty mature. Whatever you do, it’s pretty much going to be something that sounds or looks like something that’s already been done. But I think the frontiers between all the art fields haven’t been explored yet. What is there between being a painter and being a filmmaker? What is there between being a singer and between a post-producer? What is there between a music producer and being a poet?
6
MUSIC DIRECTION
Lemoine enjoys combining classical and contemporary
IF YOU THINK YOU’RE NOT THE BEST DIRECTOR OR THE BEST MUSICIAN, IS COMBINING THE TWO YOUR ONLY SHOT TO DO SOMETHING GREAT?
I could not come into the music world and just take my guitar and make folk songs. If I did that there would be millions of guys with a guitar that play much better than me, sing much better than me, have much better songs and better voices. So when I came into the music world, I tried to bring the aesthetic and the experience I had as a music video director, the intuitions that I had about technology and how I was using it. I like to explore through the tools I have. WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ARE YOU EXPLORING?
One of the big things I have been exploring through all my work as a director and as a musician is if there is any hope and emotion in the future and in the technology. In my live show I was very interested in projecting completely digital images that would generate real emotion. Because that’s what we’re all facing right now. We’re facing TVs that go 4K, 3D, frame rates are increasing. With sound we went from stereo, to THX, to Dolby surround, to whatever come afterwards. As a musician, when you do an album, when you create, you don’t owe anything to anyone. But when people start paying for a show, when they pay in advance to come see you, then you’ve got to give them a fucking show.
YOANN LEMOINE
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN ARTIST AND THE AUDIENCE NEEDS TO BE A GIVE AND TAKE AND NOT JUST A ONE-SIDED THING.
Yeah. As a musician, when you do an album, when you create, you don’t owe anything to anyone. But when people start paying for a show, when they pay in advance to come see you, then you’ve got to give them a fucking show. And you cannot give them a good show if you don’t have a good album, good visuals, good lights, good energy, a good attitude, and a good voice. So you’ve got to work for that at the end of the day. WAS THAT A DIFFICULT ADJUSTMENT FOR YOU TO GET OUT ON STAGE AND PERFORM AS WOODKID?
I didn’t like it at the beginning, but I’m trying to perfect myself as an entertainer. I’ve learned a lot about my body and my confidence by doing this. And I really love it. I think I really like performing. Though I wouldn’t spend my life doing it and I always keep a little distance that protects me from it, I was on the edge this year of being like, “Fuck it, this is what I’m going to do my whole life. I love it so much.” And then I was about to trigger that switch where I would give myself completely on stage.
Stills from WoodKid
I’m not the best director and I’m not the best musician but at least there is a little country in between where I can be the king. Because I know that it could stop. I could stop selling records, people could dislike me, and if I have embraced it 100 percent, made it a life statement, then I would lose everything. I don’t want to end up like one of these old rock singers who keep on touring all their life because they have nothing else. There is something extremely beautiful about live performance, but I don’t think it’s made for me. Now anything could stop at any moment and I’d still have something else. I have no stress in whatever I do. Even when I shoot a video for Drake or creative direct a project for Pharrell Williams, I have so many other things in my head – as a singer, my personal life, working on the ballet with JR at the New York City Ballet – it’s like I’m always giving myself a little escape door. SO AS LONG AS YOU HAVE A PLAN B AND A PLAN C, YOU CAN BE MUCH MORE RELAXED WHEN PURSUING WITH PLAN A?
Totally. The pressure of wanting to absolutely succeed precisely on the one thing is very toxic. I do want to succeed in general, but I’ve been asking myself, “What is success really to you?” And I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I think that success to me is to manage to be free, but also to do things that I like. It seems very stupid, but at the end of the day if I completely like and am proud of what I do, then to me it’s success.
8
ALT MEDIUMS
Rashid Johnson
EDUCATION
Columbia College, School of the Art Institute of Chicago MEDIUM
Mixed Media and Alternative Media CONNECT
artspace.com/ rashid_johnson
alk inside the spacious first room of Rashid Johnson’s new solo exhibition “Fly Away,” at Hauser & Wirth’s 18th Street gallery, and you’ll be faced with six large paintings depicting hundreds of figures, drawn aggressively with black soap and wax. These panels, lined with white ceramic tiles, are part of a series called “Anxious Audiences.” And conspicuously, on four of the panels— originally individually conceived as “Anxious Men” for a 2015 commission for The Draw ing Center—many of the figures are missing. “The spaces that are blank are not completely blank—they are not without marking,” Johnson tells me as we stand beside the paintings at the gallery. The abstract markings that fill the faceless spaces appear as if they were violently snatched away. Motioning toward the emptiness, Johnson says, the work “is an opportunity to think about the missing.” “That’s one of my big dreams. I don’t know if I’ll be good at it, but I want to try,” he sighs. YOU GREW UP IN CHICAGO DURING A VIBRANT TIME FOR THE CITY’S THRIVING MUSIC AND ART SCENES. DOES THAT FIND ITS WAY INTO YOUR ART?
There was such a great energy in Chicago when I was growing up. But what influenced me early on was my family. My mother was a historian, so I became really accustomed to thinking about the value of history. She made it really clear to me that the importance of history are in our “now” space, and the things that we’re going to engage with, the stories we’re going to be told now were stories that have been affected by history; I came by that honestly. My interest in race, in masculinity and historical narratives… It just makes sense to me, I never came to those things... I never had a moment. Those things have always been important to me and on the forefront of my thought process. It was only natural to translate their importance into my artwork; it let the thoughts transform, and educate. Chicago when I was young was a black and
RASHID JOHNSON
Barn Burner, 2011
Cast bronze, black soap, wax
Black Yoga Communication Station, 2016 Blackened steel, books, plants, shea butter, oyster shells, CB radios, red oak
Latino city. In a lot of ways, I miss the city that I knew as a young man. The majority of white people that I knew were more suburban, and now Wicker Park is completely gentrified. It often starts with that one bar occupied by ‘new people,’ you know? Then a coffee shop, a bookstore, a record store… IT SEEMS LIKE OUR PAST INEVITABLY INFLUENCES US, EVEN IF WE DON’T REALIZE IT AT THE TIME.
Chicago when I was young was a black city — a black and Latino city. In a lot of ways, I miss the city that I knew as a young man.
Yeah, it’s going to influence you. I also had a real foundation with my mother hav’en me several books when I was young. We had a fairly substantial library in our basement, I remember being really intimidated by a lot of the book titles. The ones that really jump out at me was a book by Harold Cruse called The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, and I remember thinking, “What is in there? What is in that book?” Knowing that there was something really loaded and complicated discourse that was taking place there, that one day I would want to find myself. IS IT FAIR TO SAY YOU EVENTUALLY FOUND YOURSELF IN THAT DISCOURSE?
My work and ideas have been about my experience. Not every black American’s experience is this one. That’s why the autobiographical moments in my work are almost inherently political because they tell a story that I think is often under-told about the black character’s negotiation with this kind of intellectual engagement, with their own sense of privilege, with the battle and negotiation of living in this body… How you can be a privileged, middle class person but then still engaged in a discourse of how black America has to negotiate the problems that it’s facing.
10
ALT MEDIUMS
The Squared Circle, 2011 Branded red oak floor, paint
Untitled Anxious Audience, 2016 Black soap, wax
IS THAT WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED AS WELL WHEN YOU FIRST MOVED TO NYC?
Absolutely, when I got a space in Bushwick, I was the bad guy! I was bringing the coffee shop, I wanted the bookstore… For some reason when I first got to New York I wanted to be in Manhattan. I’d grown up watching Woody Allen movies... Of course, I loved Brooklyn because of Spike Lee, but the romance of Manhattan… So, we lived in shoebox for seven years, I mean the smallest apartment on the planet but I needed to be in the city. If you think about these historical figures and artists I was so interested in, they were all Manhattan artists — they were living in a different Manhattan though. (Laughs) I was in their basement. THEY WERE LIVING IN A MANHATTAN WHERE YOU COULD GET SHOT ON THE STREET CORNER…
And I was living in more of like a Disney World space that was built for tourists to freely walk the streets without any inhibition. I was totally cognizant of the different experiences that we were having, but I still was dead set on having that experience to some degree. I think it affected my childhood, absolutely. The kinds of spaces that I was working in, you know, a basement in Chinatown with seven foot ceilings and zero windows — the negotiation was that I had to allow the belly dancers that danced in the restaurant to change in my studio. (Laughs) You can’t help but be influenced by that! The diversity of the city, black, Chinese — every kind of person is here every single day; crazy,
Johnson with his Anxious Audience Installation
RASHID JOHNSON
Pleasure Town, 2016
sane, rich, poor, and there’s something about that energy that I needed. The energy is different everywhere you go. Chicago and New York have some things in common, so I didn’t necessarily need to trade what I was getting in Chicago for what I would get in Brooklyn — it was more romantic than it was practical, my investment. POP CULTURE ALSO SEEMS TO BE A STRONG INFLUENCE FOR YOU. WAS IT MOSTLY BOOKS AND FILMS THAT WERE INSPIRING YOU?
Growing up, it was the music, the style, it was what you saw, you read, you looked at, the vernacular that influenced you the most. I carried that, it was so important to me. When you turn 18, you stop thinking that the museum is boring and you actually get really invested in what’s there. Seeing Richard Tuttle put a small piece of cloth on the wall, I thought to myself, “There’s two kinds of people in this world, the type of people who see Richard Tuttle put a piece of cloth on the wall and both of them say, ‘I can do this.’ But one of them says, ‘I can do this?!’ while the other one says, ‘I can do this,’ in disappointment.” “There’s space for me, you have a space for my voice.” You think I can do that, I can do this other thing and we should all be able to find some acceptance in that. That kind of optimism led me to really feeling such a strong influence from artists
12
OIL/ACRYLIC
Bert Hornbeck
Antipast with Anchovies
Oil paints
hen Bert Hornbeck was in high school she entered an art competition in which she attempted to paint a soldier. When she could not get the soldier to appear on the paper, she swirled the paint, creating one large nose and an eye. With that painting she won an award, and grew the confidence to keep painting. Today, Bert creates commissioned pieces for art collectors around the world, finding complete and utter joy in knowing that her art is appreciated because it touches the heart of her buyers.
CONNECT
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE OIL PAINTS RATHER THAN ACRYLICS AS YOUR MEDIUM?
EDUCATION
University of Kansas, School of Design MEDIUM
paintingpetsandpeople.com
Oils always just seemed so natural for me to be able to work with. The medium gives you time to work through different stages of a painting. It gives me the ability to create just the right blend of color and highlight to make the project perfect. It’s important for me to create depth and have the painting speak to you. Since oils require drying time, they give you time to think. My projects can evolve into something completely new during these moments of reflection.
BERT HORNBECK
Darby Girl
Gixiloo
Since oils and even acrylic require time to dry, they give you time to think. Dillon WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE KEY TO CREATING A GOOD OIL PAINTING?
Besides having good paint and a great subject, I would say it is the photograph of what I am trying to work with. The more detail I can get and even more photos to work from, the better. Subjects don’t have time to pose for a portrait any longer nor will a dog sit for more than 3 seconds to get a picture.
14
OIL/ACRYLIC
“Leona” WHAT IS THE BEST PART ABOUT WORKING WITH OILS?
The beauty of oils is getting that right color shading for your subjects and being able to change that one color to so many variations. Like, painting skin tones, how they can vary so much with each subject. The ability to blend and layer colors let’s me start with a basic color then add a little of this or that and go from light to having wonderful shadows, without interrupting my flow of thoughts. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE SUBJECT OF YOUR PAINTING?
Most of my work is commissioned portraits so they choose the subject for me. I have them send multiple photographs, then I sort through them to select the perfect one. . . one that I feel will bring my subject to life. I always want my paintings to speak to me and my client. At this time, working with a photo with pets is really the easiest. I have looked in magazines for portrait poses more than actual subjects but when something catches your eye it may end up being a part of what you are trying to create. I saw a gift card with a dog in a car and ended up doing a 4′ x 3′ oil of three bulldogs in a corvette that I absolutely love. If I am creating the pose for my subject it has to be a part of their personality. . . the way I see the inner person or pet. It may not really be them, but I definitely add more interest. A sad person vs. a big smile can draw interest.
BERT HORNBECK
WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU KNEW ABOUT OILS BEFORE YOU STARTED?
Perhaps more about paint thinners and poppy seed oils and varnishes that enhance the painting or change the flow of the paint while working on a larger project. It can be difficult sometimes trying to get that perfect flow going on your brush when animal fur. WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS LIKE?
If I am looking for some special item I want in my paintings, I research the different ways that it may look. The internet is a good place to look for ideas. If I’m looking for a special design that will draw the eye to engage the viewer, I may pick 30 different views of the same item just to see what will draw my interest more. I do not practice techniques each day; I do not have the luxury to do this in my schedule. HOW HAS YOUR STYLE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?
My style has changed a small bit. I started with oil paints working on only people portraits. I have continued painting them but really enjoy pet portraits. I have also branched out to oil pastels and love working with them as well. They can be a fun crazy type of painting. A new medium for me is digital drawing. It is fun, much quicker, and can have tons of color with no clean up.
“William”
I have grown to have more confidence as time has gone on and do not take the worries of being judged to get in the way of what I am doing. Just seeing the happiness in my client’s face when I deliver their portrait, or those purchasing my art at an event, have given me great confidence. HOW DO YOU HANDLE CREATIVE BLOCKS?
There are times when a subject can be very difficult to come to life. When that happens I stop for a while to regroup or research some new ideas. I look through old photos or go outside and meet a new dog. I will sometimes look to my friend’s facebooks for pictures of loved pets. Recently I was commissioned to do a black cat. My client specifically wanted him completely black as he did not have any other colors in his fur. This was a bit of a test. I worked on it for weeks and my client was thrilled. Then sometimes you have one you can’t overcome and those canvases go in the closet to be painted over someday or tossed out and set free. They can do nothing but distract you. You have to know when to let those projects go, when to recycle them, and when to walk away.
16
ALT MEDIA
Anish Kapoor
EDUCATION
Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art MEDIUM
Alternative Media and Sculpture CONNECT
anishkapoor.com
nish Kapoor is one of the most influential sculptors of his generation. Perhaps most famous for public sculptures that are both adventures in form and feats of engineering, he manoeuvres between vastly different scales, across numerous series of work. Immense PVC skins, stretched or deflated; concave or convex mirrors whose reflections attract and swallow the viewer; recesses carved in stone and pigmented so as to disappear: these voids and protrusions summon up deep-felt metaphysical polarities of presence and absence, concealment and revelation. Forms turn themselves inside out, womb-like, and materials are not painted but impregnated with colour, as if to negate the idea of an outer surface, inviting the viewer to the inner reaches of the imagination. Kapoor’s geometric forms from the early 1980s, for example, rise up from the floor and appear to be made of pure pigment, while the viscous, blood-red wax sculptures from the last ten years – kinetic and self-generating – ravage their own surfaces and explode the quiet of the gallery environment. There are resonances with mythologies of the ancient world – Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman – and with modern times, where 20th century events loom large. YOU ARE IN THE PRIVILEGED POSITION WHERE YOU ARE ABLE TO MAKE FANTASTIC, ELABORATE ART WORKS THAT COST A LOT OF MONEY. DOES THAT MEAN YOU HAVE A BIGGER CANVAS TO WORK WITH THAN OTHER ARTISTS
don’t think it works like that. I probably am in a privileged position, yes. And cost is always an issue, of course, but I think the bigness of a thing can also be banal. Being big can be meaningless. It’s not the point. The point is that bigness has to be related to what it’s about, the content.
ANISH KAPOOR
IN WHAT WAY?
I want to write an opera! I want to deal with all the great human issues. I hope the scale of my works is way bigger than what you see. I hope they live in you. ALL OF THEM? THAT SOUNDS QUITE AMBITIOUS.
Of course one would kid oneself to believe one could do that. But what one can do is to allow spaces in the work that don’t exclude the possibilities of death or joy or beauty and all those things. To say, “I’m making a work about joy,” or, “This work is all about death,” is too banal. You just don’t get that. So I think allowing the space, allowing the work, having confidence enough in the process – it’s very process oriented. I’m not really interested in expression.
Mirror, 2016 Solid gold over steel
YOU ARE NOT? ISN’T THAT WHAT ART IS ABOUT?
I’ve often said that I have nothing to say as an artist. The journey of an artist is a journey of discovery and some engagement with the nature of material, with bodily things and all that has led me to this place. A fascination with red, over many, many years. Red has a terrifying kind of darkness in it. I feel that one wants to open the story and not close it. I want this object to be here as if a real thing, as if a phenomena, a self-evident truth. If I make a comment about some issue, possibility of real discovery is sort of excluded. Ultimately I go into the studio and say, “I don’t know what to do. I’m lost.” Then stuff arises and it’s the thing in the room that you work with. I’m really interested in that as a process because the process moves you in directions that you couldn’t put there. WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOUR WORK IS INTROSPECTIVE?
I always have been introspective. It’s like going to the psychoanalyst, where you lie on a couch and say, “I feel terrible about this,” and then suddenly there is this whole thing in the room and you think, “Look what’s happened, it’s all here!” Even the very big work that I made at the Tate that was called Marsyas. I called it that in a way of course on purpose because it’s the myth of the flaying of the man Marsyas by Apollo. The object itself, this stretched form, is referring to an interior. Mirror, 2016 Cobalt blue to magenta over pagan gold
18
ALT MEDIA
YOUR WORK IS STRIKING FOR THE WAY YOU USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE MATERIAL THAT YOU WORK WITH?
I’m very drawn to exotic materials. I like pink marble. It depends on what one is trying to do. I have worked with lots and lots of materials. Vantablack is this incredible new material. It’s the blackest material after black holes. At the moment they can only make it the size of an A4 sheet of paper, so we are working together trying to get the scale up. But a new material brings all kinds of possibility. I’ve been long engaged in the idea of the void object, the object that absorbs all light, which is kind of a non-object in a way. And this material seems ready made. BLACK IS ALWAYS SEEN AS THE EPITOME OF COOL. DO YOU THINK IT MAY FIND AN APPLICATION IN THE FASHION WORLD?
(Laughs) This black is so extraordinary, I promise you that you can hold it in your hand, you can crease it, and you can’t see the crease. It absorbs so much light. So you could make absorbent clothing that is hard to see. SOME OF YOUR RECENT WORKS, LIKE HERE IN THE LISSON GALLERY, USE SILICON. HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT THIS MATERIAL?
You know I was looking for something that could be more physical than paint, more three dimensional in a way. And I’ve been using this material a little bit for other things and it occurred to me that it would actually be quite a good painting material. So it’s pure process, working from one thing to another. That is what sculpture is, even though these are semi-paintings. They are whatever. HAVE YOU FOUND SOME MATERIAL YOU WORK WITH MORE POPULAR THAN OTHERS?
Yes. FOR INSTANCE WHEN YOU WORK WITH STEEL THAT SEEMS TO POLARIZE PEOPLE MORE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
Well some people like shiny things, other people don’t. Inevitably. That’s not the reason to do it. It doesn’t matter what people like. I think one has to follow one’s gut, follow the feeling, and then hopefully it leads to something meaningful. If it’s meaningful for me, it’ll be meaningful. DOES THE SAME APPLY FOR BEAUTY?
Beauty is not something that is static. Beauty is always changing; our concepts of beauty change all the time. They are dependent on the beholder, on the viewer’s life experiences, on their expectations, desires, needs and inspiration.. It is never just one thing. However beautiful a person, a thing, whatever else, there is always that other side. “Oh yes, very beautiful, but…” and depending on the situation, the time… It’s a fragile condition and I think that is the key to recognize. Both beauty and ugliness, beauty and its opposite, are in flux.
ANISH KAPOOR
I READ THAT WHEN YOU DECIDED TO BECOME AN ARTIST YOU WERE IN A KIBBUTZ. WAS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE THAT MADE YOU GO I WANT TO BE AN ARTIST?
No, not particularly. It was a, “What the hell am I doing with myself?” kind of moment. I was a young guy working on a Kibbutz and I was supposed to go to university, but I decided that the right thing to do for me was not that. “I don’t want to go to university. I want to go to art school and be an artist.” I was lucky, I think. I knew that when I was 17 and very lucky to know what you want to do was a great gift.
Black to deep red over sandbar
Alice - Circle, 2014 Stainless Steel
Shine, 2012 Stainless Steel and gold
20
WEB DEVELOPMENT
Rafael Rozendaal
EXHIBITS
Time Square, Centre Pompidou, Venice Biennial, TSCA Gallery Tokyo, Seoul Art Squarem, Stedelijk Museum MEDIUM
Digital Media CONNECT
newrafael.com
If you buy one of Rafael Rozendaal’s art pieces, don’t expect to keep it all for yourself. His works must remain readily available to anyone on the Internet. That’s because the New York-based Dutch-Brazilian digital artist creates captivating websites, simple shapes in striking colors that move, bend, and twist continuously in ways that are never the same. Unlike a painting or sculpture, his works exist online for everyone to enjoy. But like their more tactical counterparts, they are worth a lot. At the first digital auction ever, Paddles On!, a sale curated by Lindsay Howard of 319 Scholes and hosted by Phillips and Tumblr, Rozendaal sold a website called If No Yes. The brilliantly hued site was listed at $6,000. The success of his work speaks to a rise in popularity of digital artists, and Rozendaal is one of the pixel veterans who has paved the way for rising stars in his field. HOW DID YOU START DEVELOPING WEBSITES AND GET INTO DIGITAL ART?
I started very young as a child with drawing, and my parents are artists, so I always took it seriously. Some kids grow out of it, but I just kept on drawing. I always liked cartoons. My father is a painter, so I’ve always kind of felt like I was in that space between animated cartoons and painting. When I was five years old, I was already imagining that one day I would like to make
RAFAEL ROZENDAAL
Getting rid of things makes me really calm, having my house as empty as possible and only the things I really need. I think I am the same, visually.
something that’s like a cartoon character moving on the wall but without a story. I went to art school, and I studied a lot of video art and experimented with moving images. I discovered the Internet, and I thought immediately, “This is very interesting, and it’s great that there is no authority. I can publish whatever I want. I don’t have to know the right people.” Because that part of the art world is really terrifying. Then I thought I could make a website with my drawings. It’s more interesting to treat the medium as a medium itself, not as a medium for documentation. And that was really the key decision, to treat it as a medium and not as documentation. That’s the bottom line. SO YOUR PARENTS’ BEING PAINTERS WERE STILL INTERESTED IN DIGITAL ART?
They never liked computers, but I made a few sites and thought it would be cool to put each one in its own domain name because it felt more finished. If it wasn’t, then it just felt like some file. I don’t know if you understand the difference, but to me if you don’t put things in a domain name they feel kind of lost. YOU BUY THE DOMAIN NAMES, CORRECT?
Yeah, and it’s not too expensive. I met Reinier who is a coder. I started by myself because I can code a little bit, but then I ran into problems where for him it was like five seconds of work. He’s like, “Let me look at that… boom boom boom.” Then we started making more and more, and slowly doing shows, and thinking about how to exhibit the work, and it just grew. The most rewarding thing was that the audience grew with me. When you do an exhibition especially when you are young, you’re not at the most prestigious place. Say you have 200 people come to a show, maybe 250, and then you make a Web piece, and all of the sudden it’s 10,000 people. All of the sudden one of the sites goes viral and tops the other sites. Then all of the sudden its 1 million. WHEN YOU WORK WITH REINIER, DO YOU SEE HIM AS A FELLOW COLLABORATOR OR ARTIST?
I would say it is the same as a photographer who works with a printer. If you work with a different printer, the results will be different, even if they use the same machine. But it’s very clear that the photographer comes in with the ideas. So I guess I see them as both, because its a collaboration that will produce different work because they’re all artists.
22
WEB DEVELOPMENT
In To Time, 2013 lenticular painting, mounted and framed
Insomnia Exhibit at Bonniers Konsthall Gallery, Stockholm
HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR DISTINCT LANGUAGE AND STYLE?
I call it digital frugality, using less because, especially in the beginning, the bigger your file is the longer it takes to get there. Also I have a personal affinity with clarity and graphic character. That’s why I always loved cartoons as a kid, but also things like [Piet] Mondrian. I’m very interested in abstraction for the sake of reproduction. Throughout history humans have made drawings, and the medium is never—well up until a while—realistic as what you see around you, so you have to do tricks to exaggerate things, to make them feel real. If you look at the capital “A” letter, it used to be a bull’s head turned upside down. After a while it became the character “A,” so I’m interested in these abstractions. If you think of early computers and early video games, they had maybe eight pixels to draw a character. You had to see the difference between the villain and the hero, and then you have to get very creative in creating a story within the eight pixels. One of the reasons I’m using these line-based images, vector images, is because from the beginning I wanted the works to be scalable. I like reducing also in my personal life. Getting rid of things makes me really calm, having my house as empty as possible and only the things I really need. I think visually I am the same. I only want to have the things there that are really needed. A lot of times an idea will start off a little more complicated, and as I go along I get rid of certain aspects until I really get to the core. Complex Computational Compositions Exhibit at Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam
RAFAEL ROZENDAAL
Popular Screen Sizes Exhibit at Nordin Gallery, Stockholm YOUR SITES FEEL CALMING BECAUSE THEY’RE HYPNOTIZING, BUT THEY ALSO MAKES ME FEEL ANXIOUS THAT THE LOOP WILL NEVER END.
It’s a bit like a waterfall, where you know that the water will keep on falling. You know that the water is not all of the sudden going to go upwards, but it’s always different. The technical term is generative—that’s the term for software art. That’s the difference between linear animation and something that is programmed. If you play GTA for example, the video game, in the background there might be trash blowing around. It’s a little different every time you go back to that street. What you try to do when you find a medium is find its strengths and weaknesses. I found out that if you want to go really 3D realistic, the browser can’t handle it, so I thought, “Let’s go the opposite way. Let’s make it simple as possible.” DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SITE? HOW DOES THE AVAILABILITY OF YOUR WORK MAKE YOU FEEL?
No. If I go to the Van Gogh Museum, it is full of paintings, and you see about 100 of them. You see him struggling, and sometimes you see him have a moment of clarity, but the interesting thing to me is the journey. One of my collectors travels a lot, and every hotel room he gets to, he puts his iPad in and puts up one of my works that he has. He has this one art piece that exists everywhere in the world. It is kind of magical. It is also a bit of a combination of vanity and generosity, which is hard.
24