We Don’t Surf Magazine caught up with critically acclaimed Waterford artist, John O’ Connell this month. A past student of model making and special effects in Dun Laoghaire I.T. and currently the Company Manager at the Red Kettle Theatre Company, over the years John has moved from model making to his own form of pop art using a technique we’ve never seen before. A humble yet incredibly talented artist, we feel John O’ Connell, a diamond in the rough of what is Waterford City, could be the future to what is known as Pop Art.
Character Assassination
Racers Road
Tell us a little bit about yourself, and your path so far.. Well, in terms of how I started out as an artist, I did all the usual things, I was always into it, my grandad was an artist, so it was always kind of in me and always in the family, as kids we’d sit around his kitchen table and draw away. So it was always in me in that kind of way, but I never would have thought of myself as being an artist or that it was something that I would do. I always just had that interest. Growing up as a teenager I was very lucky I was allowed paint on my bedroom walls, so I had all this space around me and I just covered the walls in paint… But again, not thinking of myself as an artist, just something to do and something to fill in time and a way to express myself I suppose, and when it came time to choose what I was going to do with myself, I hadn’t a clue, so I just looked up all the courses on the CAO form [college applications process in Ireland] and there was a course in model making and special effects, I thought that sounded cool, so I went for that, and luckily I got that and went off to Dun Laoghaire to do it. I spent two years at that, came out of that then and realised I wasn’t going to do that at all because there was no work in it, and it was kind of a fun thing to do but it wasn’t a very practical way to proceed.
So then i went off and got a real job, but at the same time I started painting, and teaching myself to paint, and yeah, here I am ten years later.. Jesus, more, more than ten years.. fifteen years later.. Then I moved back down, back home, I was still living in Dublin at that stage, moved back down from Dublin and met up with Sean Corcoran at the Salvage Shop and became one of the artists in residence out there.. What medium is your favourite to work with.
Television
Always with paint, as you can see, obviously. But not really acrylics anymore, it’s emulsion now.. house paints.. and always on MDF, I’ve found what I like doing and I stick to Attrition that and I don’t mix it up, I don’t do mix media. I know what I like, it’s nice house paints, emulsions on MDF.. Lot’s of masking tape, an Exacto knife and four inch foam rollers.. Who or what influences you and your work? In terms of other artists, I mean, the artists I love are people like, obviously classic pop artists like, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and stuff like Robert Williams, I absolutely love his work, and comic artists like Robert
Return of the Fly
Burns, I love that stuff. But the stuff that really informs my work is little bits and pieces of stuff you might see here and there. Something I commonly pick up on or stuff on tv you might take a screen grab of or things in the newspaper would find it’s way into my work. Tell us a little about the Sun news paper.
Vulture Town
That was back in my days in the Salvage Shop when I was a year into my residence in there and I was having my first exhibition, and at the age I was at and the way my mind was working, there was an awful lot of nudes in it, some of them were based on the ‘Page 3’ girls in The Sun and the exhibition was going to be called ‘Mondo Topless’ so I was being a real publicity whore and was pushing publicity wherever I could get it and managed to get word to The Sun, can’t quiet remember how, but someone knew someone in The Sun and rang to say “you know there’s this artist in Waterford who’s doing an exhibition based on your page 3 girls”. So they called me and I lapped up the publicity and they interviewed me, very nice chap from the Sun, and I told them how much I love reading
the Sun and the next day, there I was on page 3.. Holding up one of my paintings next to a real topless Page 3 girl. Definite highlight of my career. “Avid Irish reader John O’Connell.. Easel-y the best” What was it like working in the salvage shop during the days when it was open? It was great craic, there was always something different it would always keep you going… It would drive you mad sometimes because I started out as an artist in residence there and then gradually became the administrator and had my studio as well.. It was a strange kind of set up where I was upstairs painting and then coming downstairs to answer phones and do the books. I had my first exhibition there, and then moved the art stuff away from the salvage shop, but still kept at it there. It was always a very interesting and inspiring kind of place to work in. It was great that even though all I was doing was essentially office work there was still something different every day and you’d meet a
different character or head every day.. You never know what you’re coming into. It was good, it was always different. Sean was a great character to be around as well, he was a great fella for the ideas, always firing out the ideas as well. Does your art come naturally or is it something strictly planned? It definitely doesn’t come naturally, I don’t believe there is such a thing as inspiration, I don’t feel you’re walking around and you become inspired and the art flows out of you. I think you have to sit and work at it, but when you are sitting and working at it then it comes naturally when you’re putting the effort and the time in. I heard someone say that inspiration comes at the drawing board, when you’re working at it, it comes.. But it doesn’t if you’re not.. You’re technique is very tight, why do you work like this? and explain your technique.. I think it’s very tight like that because I’m a bit of a control
freak.. I tried being loose with stuff years ago and I tried action painting and collages and all that stuff. But when it comes down to it I want it to be very tight and very exact. I work in very flat colours a lot of the time, because I am colour blind, I can’t really get colours right so I need to know what I’m at with colours and I need to know I’m working with a green or brown because it says ‘green’ or ‘brown’ on the tin. I don’t use purples because I can’t get purples and if I try doing blends of colours they might look right to me, but not necessarily right to the rest of the world… I think there’s a bit of that in there as well.. The technique I use is, I lay all my images out on masking tape and then I cut everything out with an Exacto knife and roll the paint out with a roller.. So there’s no brushes involved until the very last minute when you need to tidy everything up and make it all look nice and get rid of all the places where the paint’s leaked in under the tape and that kind of thing…
the time I suppose. My most recent exhibition, which was called ‘corrosion’, That was a show which is still on in Bodega, [cafe/restaurant Waterford City] which is finishing up round about now. There was a lot of war images in it, and lots of images based on tv and distorted images, series of dead flies and some skulls. I think I wouldn’t set out with ‘alright this is the theme I’m going to do an exhibition with ten or fifteen or twenty painting based on this theme’, but when you look back on the body of work that’s formed, you see kind of a big theme in there. There was something going on around death definitely in all that work, and corrosion, hence the title. But as to why? I don’t know.. I don’t know why that stuff pops into my head, but it does.
What subjects appear in your art and why?
Born Dead is based on a cover from the magazine “Watchtower”, I think Jahova’s Witnesses give them out, an A5 sized religious magazine,
It’s a bit of everything, and it depends what’s going on in my head at
Tell us a little about your cover photo.
and there’s a picture of a little African boy on the cover of it, and the story was he’d been born with AIDS, there was just something about him, and his big sad eyes that kind of caught my imagination, that’s why I painted him, and that’s why it’s titled; Born Dead. That’s why he has the plaster on his face, it’s something to do with that, that there’s something wrong with the poor kid...
www. mondojohn.deviantart.com
Revolver
This issue, we went to check out Muse Boutique on Merchants Quay, Waterford City. We had a chat with owner Clodagh Roche about running a boutique and selling fashion. Here’s what Clodagh had to say...
Tell us little bit about yourself? I’m from Waterford, but left for a few years to return in 2000. I left for another year in the middle of that to get the itch out of my feet, only to return to open Muse with my best friend and here I remain with no regrets. What got you interested in fashion? I have always had a love of fashion, as I have always had a love of all things creative so for me fashion is just an extension of that. How long are you selling fashion in waterford? Muse is open 7 years since September. What’s it like running a business in waterford? Running a business in Waterford is no different than running a business in any other town in Ireland at the moment. There are difficulties in every business but the last 5 years of a tough recession have made us even more
aware of how important customer service is and we are very lucky to have very loyal customers that have stuck with us,from that our customer base is continually growing. What do you think of waterford sense of fashion? I think there are some very cool people in Waterford with a great sense of style. There has always been a great arts scene in Waterford, so there has always been people that are great at experimenting and having fun with clothes. However like every city there is a mixed bag of style and it won’t all be to everyones taste! What trends do you see appearing this winter? There are always lots of trends each season and the key to any of it is if you like something enough just wear it regardless of trends or not. Nothing is ever out of fashion as fashion just keeps going around again and again with a few twerks in between.... For example we have had quiet a revival of the 80’s for the last few years... Yet those of us that grew up in the 80’s would ask why? Yet seeing these items reworked and worn on a younger generation makes them cool again.
The fashion you sell looks like pieces of art ... Is there a certain link between art and fashion ? There is absolutely a link between both and for many people they are one. This has always been the case, this is nothing new as both fashion and art are all about expressing yourself. You only have to look at people like Iris Apfel or Isabella Blow to see how fashion had morphed into art for these people. Fashion shows off all the major fashion houses are theatrical performances these days often showcasing design that are solely for the catwalk and not for the street... This in itself shows how designers always wants to show their artistic side. Fashion and Art will always go hand in hand. Who are your top five designers right now ? This would obviously be a personal choice as there are so many fashion designers that I really admire but maybe cannot afford... e.g. Chanel.... However at Muse we always carry designers that we personally love so they would have to be included in my top 5 I love different designers for different reasons but the common theme for me is wearability. There is no point hanging clothes in the wardrobe to look at. Beautiful things have to worn either dress it up or down but the most important thing is to enjoy it. Isabel Marant the Parisian designer who blends ethnic bohemia with tomboy street chic effortlessly is the perfect example of wearable clothing. (stocked at Muse) Sophie Hulme who is a young London designer, does the most amazing Leather bags. (stocked at Muse)
The Danish designer Malene Birger also has the great talent of creating beautiful yet wearable clothes. (stocked at Muse) Stella McCartney always has great tailoring and I absolutely adore her suits... In my opinion every woman should invest in a great tailored suit... Colour doesn’t matter. Alexander Wang is also another favorite of mine and we are stocking his diffusion line this season which again is so simple it’s nearly perfect.
Visit MUSE on the Quay, Waterford City or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Muse-waterford or on their website http://www.museboutique.ie
“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal labotomy.”
Trapdoor Theatre Company are proud to present the world premiere of Simple And Familiar by Robert Doherty and Brian Coady. After the success of their sell-out short play last Christmas, Simple and Familiar return in their new, full-length adventure. Having been friends for over thirty years, Simple and Familiar’s friendship is tested with the arrival in their local pub of one Paddy Lucas. Add to this the new woman in town, Fanny Butler(what’s her agenda?), Tony, the barman’s worries over his daughter, Coimhe’s immenent emigration up to Dublin. Leave simmer for two hours and voila, Comedy Soup. Drink it up! Directed by Joe Meagher and Shauna Farrell, starring a fantastic local cast of Deborah Cunningham, Fatz Dunphy, Vivienne Coughlan, Damien Walsh, Robert Doherty and Brian Coady. It’s sure to sell fast, so get your tickets early!
Young child on a swing, Grosovo Orphanage, Kyopl, Belarus. www.chanbling.com
Why is your gallery called ‘Southpaw’? The gist of it is, I’m left handed and I wanted to do arts and crafts by hand so the natural thing was, I’m left handed, I’d call it ‘Southpaw’ because southpaw’s are left handed, generally it’s boxers, but I haven’t any boxing background. I kept referring to it as ‘Southpaw’ so when it happened, I had to keep it as Southpaw not to confuse people. And it stuck. Why did you open a gallery and studio? Basically, it was a thing I always wanted to do, I always wanted to have a gallery space and I was looking for somewhere to do my own work, and needed a studio space, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and had a studio and a gallery together.. It became Southpaw studio and gallery. Lombard Street is becoming an artists hub, what do you think of that? it’s part of the city councils idea, they’ve located a lot of buildings in the street. You have
SOMA across the road, the old Hive used to be around the corner on Bank Street.. So they’ve had to be moved for various reasons, SOMA is back in now, and they’ve gotten in contact with the Tower Hotel on this side, which owned the building here, and they’ve basically leased them from the Tower Hotel and made them into studios. I’ve gotten the only one with a shop front, with proper public access.. What’s going on in Southpaw? What isn’t going on? I’ve got my own projects, general prints and stuff, I make notebooks and stuff, I’m printing under River Post and Southpaw, that’s all the same thing really.. I have exhibitions, it’s a gallery space, anyone can come along and hire the space for any purpose, the last two have been photography exhibitions which another is coming up soon [Polaroid//Android]. I’ve got the Sunday Art School, which are pop-up art classes basically, it takes different art theme every week, people come in for a few hours every week and learn a new art technique for those few hours.. Then they go and try it for the week if they like, and come back to learn something else, I chop and change every week. Last week was print, two weeks ago we had origami, and in a couple of weeks is ceramics, clay. November will be Screen-print your own tote bag or t-shirt. In November we have the ‘MO(VEMBER)na Lisa’ art project, where I screen print one hundred versions of the Mona Lisa, and people come along and draw there own face on the Mona Lisa, which will be on the wall for the month of November.. Possibly they will be auctioned off at the end of the month to raise more money.
D.I.Y. seems important in your art and this building.. My main aim is to show you don’t need expensive equipment to be creative, you can create art using the simplest things possible.. I use recycled wallpaper as notebook covers that I make and i print with sheets of foam… lot’s of stuff.. The only expensive equipment I have is the silk screen… and they aren’t that expensive, i’m starting to use net curtains which work just as well when stretched over the canvas as a silk screen print. Outline your journey as an artist so far… When I was young I remember watching television and anytime there was a demonstration where there were people on television throwing pots and it grabbed my attention and I’d daydream about owning a pottery studio and thought when I was twenty-two I’d have a pottery studio… I was four at the time.. I’ve always wanted to do pottery.. I’ve done a course recently but never got to throw anything. It’s a goal of mine to throw a pot. I finally experimented with photography when I was twelve, with a small basic camera.. I took a few pictures, which I liked.. Then school took over, and I lost all artistic stuff through school… When I started working in a photolab I got into photography properly, what got me going was when I got my first proper camera. So then after I left and managed to get back to college when I was 29 to do graphic design. I did that for four years, did photography, that’s where all my proper art training kicked in.. I took the background route, I trained as a florist when I was 20 for a while.. so I’ve been trying to get in through the back door for a few years.. After college i applied for the residence in the Healing Artist Trust, and I got that, and spent six months out there having great fun. In January 2013 I got talking to Conor Nolan, applied for grants and the rest is history..
A piece of street art recently went up on a lane way under the arch by Great Georges street in Waterford. This piece of street art was done in the middle of the night by two unknown rebellious artists, it was a black and white image of a famous street character of Waterford City. It was a poster pasted to the wall, measuring fifteen feet high and eight feet wide, an impressive size. The art was hung amongst other, shoddy, graffiti type art, and made the lane seem so much more impressive. Due to unforeseen circumstances it was recently removed. Why was it removed? Who decided to remove it? We Don’t Surf Magazine investigated, and spoke to the artists involved. We discovered that the person/ subject in the artwork known as “My Town” was fully aware of his image being used in the world of art. In fact, the skint artists donated a few bob to the kind man in thanks for his photograph being taken. During it’s time on the wall it shocked, educated and entertained the people passing the lane. Making people smile and brighten up their day was it’s purpose. We think it was pretty childish and took a LOT of pointless effort to remove this giant feat of urban art. It didn’t get in the way or destroy anybody’s property. It stood out amongst other works, which the artists recognise as a ‘legal wall’, and almost innovated the beginning of the lane to be a new place to see street art in Waterford. Hopefully the artists will come back another night and own the spot.