Quentin vs Coen: An Artist Speaks on Innovative New Show

Art — By jESiO on April 8, 2011 1:42 pm

 

Quentin Tarantino once said, “I steal from every movie ever made.” With this weekend’s Quentin vs. Coen art show at Bold Hype Gallery in New York, it would seem the tables have turned on the homage-generating director. His films, coupled with the equally stirring works of the Coen Brothers, serve as the inspiration for over 100 artists from around the country. Curator Eric Althin explained the idea originated via Ken Harman, online media manager at Hi-Fructose Magazine and Spoke Art, out of San Francisco. Althin says, “Being movie buffs and fans of the directors, it was easy to see the great potential for artists to interpret and work with all the imagery available in their films. It sounded like a great idea and we were all in.”

With over 100 artists participating, there are obviously many mediums and variations on Tarantino or Coen Brothers characters for the artists to sift through. Althin shouted out to a few Bold Hype’s worked with in the past, including Johannah O’Donnell, Scott Scheidly, Rafael Santiago, Andrew Spear, and Ewelina Ferruso.

I found out about the show from artist Cassie Podish of Williamsburg, VA, a graphic designer I worked with on an event poster last year. That poster (which was also turned into a t-shirt due to its awesomeness) prompted me to start paying more attention to the (relatively) up and coming artist. The Bold Hype show is her NYC debut and she took the time out to do a Q&A with Bizarre Bytes.

How did you get involved with this show? Had you worked with the gallery before, or was it a call to artists?

This is my first time working with Bold Hype Gallery and Spoke Art; actually this will be my first gallery show! My work has never been displayed in any gallery so this is pretty exciting for me! Before I did this I was looking into doing some gallery shows, then I saw Spoke Art was doing this show and thought it would be a perfect way for me to break into the whole gallery thing. So, I asked Ken (from Spoke Art) and he said yes.

How familiar were you with Tarantino and the Coen Brothers before this? Did you rent/watch more of their films upon getting involved?

 

Tarantino is one of my favorite directors so I’m very familiar with his films. As for the Coen Brothers I’ve seen quite a few of their films but not all of them. I’ve got some Coen films sitting in my Netflix queue right now because I’m trying to check out the ones I haven’t seen yet. Before I began my piece I watched Inglorious Basterds for inspiration, then after I finished I watched it again. When I was working I had the soundtrack on nonstop, which helped inspire me too. The soundtracks for Tarantino movies are just as great as the films

What’s your favorite Tarantino film? And Coen Bros film? Why?

Every Tarantino movie is awesome but I guess I would say Kill Bill is my favorite of the bunch, I’ve seen it about a million times. It’s just an all around awesome movie. It’s like a mash up of the forgotten genres kung fu; spaghetti westerns, exploitation and the overall plot it very similar to another favorite movie of mine Lady Snowblood. That’s the thing about Tarantino that I like, he pays homage to all of these genres that otherwise would be forgotten. Like I said before I haven’t seen all of the Coen Brothers films but I really enjoyed No Country for Old Men. Also of course The Big Lebowski was a pretty cool movie.

Did your favorite movies inspire the works you ended up presenting? Or were you looking at it from a different angle?

Going into this I knew I would do a Tarantino piece and I kind of surprised myself when I choose to do a piece that wasn’t Kill Bill related. When I build any piece of art I brainstorm first, for this show I originally had ideas for Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, and Inglourious Basterds. I love Jackie Brown and Kill Bill but when it came down to it I really liked the idea I had for Inglourious Basterds and just went for that. My piece is based on Shosanna Dreyfus. The basterds were cool and all but Shosanna was the real hero of the film.

Have you shown in NYC before?

This will be the first time that I have shown art in NYC.

If no, how do you feel getting that city under your belt?

I’ve been excited and nervous at the same time about the show because New York is such a big city and it’s the first gallery show I’ve ever been involved in. Now that my piece is completed I feel a lot better though because it turned out really cool. I’m confident it will do well up there in the big city and hopefully it will get my name out there so I can work in more gallery shows! I feel like if I can tackle New York than I can handle any city.

Are you a full-time artist or still dayjobbing it?

Right now I’m a full- time freelance artist.

 

Judging from your portfolio, your biggest client looks like its bands. This show provides you with so many visuals to start with (iconic images from these films). I’d think bands are giving you more of a sonic landscape. Which do you find more challenging? Why?

Well I think in a way each has its own challenges. Gallery shows are a lot less limiting; you can pretty much go off in your own direction. That can be fun if you aren’t stressed out about building something epic to be shown in your first gallery show in New York City. When you’re working with bands it’s good to have some sort direction from them. Typically if you don’t have some sort of direction than the project can be a huge challenge. The challenge depends on each individual project really. It’s not always easy being involved in a creative job. There will be times where you just roll through a project with no problems, and sometimes you get stuck it’s just what happens.

 

If you happen to be in NYC please check out the show. It’s at the Bold Hype Gallery 547 W 27^th Street New York, NY. The show runs from April 7^th 6pm to April 9^th. The show is free and you can check out my piece and a ton of other artist will be there as well!

Can’t make it to NYC this weekend? No problem! Spoke Art will be selling prints of the show here.