Demo Pop Art Diaries 12 - Drawing Conclusions

In Which Taylor packs a surprise “Punch” as a Cartoonist

I know I have talked at great length over the past few weeks about the Parallax art fair but I couldn’t let this edition go by without mentioning the cartoon that Taylor has drawn for his blog entitled “Loz Taylor a Warhol wannabe?” normally I would post a copy of it here on my blog but why don’t you check it out at http://stored-images.blogspot.com/

Of course I have known for some time, since doing the early biographical entries of the diaries in fact that my friend Loz Taylor was much earlier in life a cartoonist of some ability having been published in several local papers. He began this part of his career after being granted a paid, youth work experience place doing basically whatever he was good at! He chose drawing cartoons and this kept him in very reasonable style for a teenager whilst he also indulged himself in his other interests of Horse Racing, gambling and other youthful pursuits!

His Cartoons covered several different styles and he loved from the start, that cartoons were totally by definition illustrated ideas, showing that from his very early teens he has had a bias for art that is ideas based.
Running through his cartoon works are two main themes.  There is a keen wit which is softened and distanced from the hard edged and often coarse humour of the day due in part to the young Taylors love of earlier cartoon books such as Punch and the popular American cartoon books of the 1950’s and an equally keen cynicism based largely on his experiences in and around the Methodist Church his Parents used to tend. He witnessed a great deal of hypocrisy there and it left its mark.  It is also important to mention I think at this time that almost all of his cartoons were drawn in either Birmingham or Dudley Central Libraries which provided not only access to an endless supply of works of reference, a great boon to an aspiring artist but also to a haven away from home.

Surroundings at these respected establishments were plush; Taylor had a desk to himself, a table lamp, and quiet surroundings with only the Church clock to alert him to the time on the hour every hour. All was very different from the frankly sub-standard accommodation provided by the Church for his family, there was a quality here it was a window into another world.  Taylor paints a vivid picture as he recalls that as he walked into the Libraries he felt he was “leaving the real world and escaping from reality one floor at a time” it was truly a glimpse of what life could have been perhaps a vision for a young man of what his life could be in the future.

Gentle it may be but look here at the expressions on the father and son characters, the acceptance and pleasure on the face of the child seeing the plough pub floating unnaturally in the sky and the father, wearing a slightly world weary expression. Either he is just upset that his favourite pub is floating around in space or, and this is what I would like to think he is just resigned to disappointment in the fact that his son accepts its appearance without question!!

We have all been in conversation with someone and felt that warm glow when something funny we have said has been received with the laughter we had hoped for. It is a glorious affirmation indeed, but to have an idea and then to be able to perfectly execute it on paper as a cartoon is a separate skill. It is a cold black and white medium and you have to immediately take the viewer out of whatever mood they are in or whatever they are thinking about, maybe the worries of the day and transport them to your characters world and make them smile or even laugh, that is no mean feat! The following cartoon did that for me!

This, my own personal favourite of Taylor’s Cartoons is a study in hope and despair, it shows what could be any one of us having got dressed to face the day, we psyche ourselves up for whatever it can throw at us and then we fall unceremoniously at the first hurdle, that split second realization that we have failed at something so unimportant as forgetting our sandwiches instantly removing all our confidence and bravado and reminding us of our infinite fallibility.  Once again I am drawn to the expression created by a simple single line in the third frame, have you ever seen dejection done better?

Above Martin has the sympathy of us all, or perhaps his wife has? Here is a wonderful statement poking fun at the ridiculous nature of certain advertising hook lines. Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rollo? You might ask instead how likely your relationship is to succeed if, not sacrificing your last chocolate to your loved one could lead to its downfall?? Beware what lies in store for the poor man of the house when an inability to choose the correct wash cycle could lead to a future of self- harming!

Drawing under his usual pseudonym of Laurie, Taylor here surely speaks to many a hen-pecked husband or son-in-law (Or both) just observe the despair in his face and the ultra-dark dress of the wife and mother or mother-in-law who are far too busy gossiping to notice that the poor sap behind them is becoming the first human “Gas guzzler” also note the over long nose of the “Nosy” Mother-in-law, perfect characterisations.

Taylor tells me it has become obvious to him of late that in not releasing all of his work he is restricting what the potential collector can see of his work and in doing so restricting many possible business opportunities also.  Below in “Just can’t face Lorraine” we see what Taylor tells me is his reminder not to hold on to an idea too long without putting it into the public domain. Approximately fifteen years after he drew it and recorded the phrase on paper, he saw the same phrase utilizing the same implication on a bill hoarding!  I have left the explanation of the image to the Artist as thankfully he saw fit to record it at the time.

Below: we see a rare but nonetheless well observed political statement from Taylor portraying his reflection of how he saw life and its effect on us all from the 1960’s to the 1990’s.

Below: Again the gentle side of Taylor’s humour, the hat and lack of hair on the man in this piece possibly giving clues as to the time period.

During his time as a cartoonist Taylor also flirted for a while with the idea of being a comic- book artist in the super hero style (Below) thankfully however Taylor’s humour has since proved a lot more difficult to defeat than the hapless “Hula Hoop Man” We can only hope for the future of the art world that all the people in the City Hall Library were eventually saved, but hopefully by a super hero representative of a more robust snack, one with a tougher hide maybe, perhaps Pork Scratching Man?   

Whilst it is true to say that some of Taylor’s cartoon work does highlight a cynical view of the world, religion and politics this is juxtaposed by the usual character of the man himself who I have always found to be a firmly hopeful and positive individual who propels himself forward with great power and enthusiasm in a world of numerous knock backs and great competition. We are at the end of our meeting now and we have chatted for two hours about what was only a fleeting part of Taylor’s art career, a part that has been put to bed for many years now to enable him to concentrate on his “Fine art” work but I can’t help but smile when I see him pack away the works he has been showing me, they are lovingly placed in individual plastic wallets which are then filed in two large binders covered in his own art work, I know there is a pride in everything this man does, but more importantly perhaps a knowledge that nothing is wasted and that perhaps when the time is right…after all you never know when you may need to produce a cartoon, oh isn't that where we came in??

Richard Gibbons 28th September 2011
     

Demo Pop Art Diaries 11 - A Parallax AF Special

Parallax Art Fair London from Oct 14th – 16th 

An Interview with Loz Taylor

I met with My friend Loz Taylor today and rather than follow our usual format where I ask questions and we have a conversation which I then relay to you in my own words, we felt that an interview style piece would work well as he wishes to give his very specific thoughts on the forthcoming Parallax Art Fair as mentioned previously in these pages. Taylor is very excited this morning and buzzing not surprisingly about his forthcoming showing at Parallax, so I ask him:

Is this the first Art Fair you have done?

“Yes, usually Art Fairs are for galleries to show the works of the Artists they represent, whereas this one is for self-representing Artists to show their works. There is a rigorous selection process whereby Chris Barlow will request a link from an Artist’s website and then decide from what he sees which Artists will be included – I have done shows in Wolverhampton, London and even Slovenia but none of the size of Parallax.  There will be critics, dealers, collectors and a knowledgeable public in attendance, and it will be taking place at the same time as the Frieze Art Fair, so the whole of the Art world will be around at the same time”.

Tell me a little about the digital images you will be showing:

a) Ribbons and razor wire:

 “Yes, this image will be used as an example for the catalogue, as I feel it is a strong piece which depicts the double edged sword of success: for example, you hear of a couple who have been married for years winning several million on the Lottery and it splits them up. Or Amy Winehouse, would she have gone down the same road if not for her success? The ribbons therefore represent the positive side of success, and the razor wire the failure. It is one of my favourite images, and is done in a true Pop Art style, which I am addicted to, and feel is still relevant today”.

b) Positive race riot:

 “Influenced, to some degree, by Warhol, who produced several stark images of actual race riots. In my image ‘race’ is depicted as a horse race and riot as in what would happen if you got a great many riders and horses together at the same time. It would resemble a riot but would be a “positive” thing turning the original negative depiction into a strong positive image. Also there is the very deliberate use of the many different colours to represent mixed race harmony”.

c) Dogs of War:

“Another strong image I feel. I realised that a chess family is composed of six individuals, and related this naturally to the six greyhound racing colours. I designed and drew the image which was then produced in 3D on computer by my artist friend Lloyd Austins. The name “Dogs of War” presented itself to me because of the link between dogs and war i.e. dogs -greyhounds and war – the game of chess itself”.

d) Perfect Score:

“This is a still from a video which I feel perfectly demonstrates the meaning of Demo Pop Art. The dance theme led me to think of Ice Skating and the perfect score of 6. The woman in the video is provocatively dressed in black and white stripes (the number 6 greyhound colour) also the word score has a sexual reference which I found fitted perfectly with the image. Because for me it represents exactly what I am about with Demo Pop Art, I added the words “Demo Pop” to the image, the first time I had done so”. 

e) The Audition:

“One of my very favourite images, Demo Pop is about, among other things, ambition and competition, and auditions are a hotbed of both. The girls in the image are competing against one another, hence the greyhound colours that they are wearing. It is to me a perfect piece of Demo pop Art. I am very happy with the appearance of it. It is cute like a piece of candy!.”

f) Young Blades Are Just So Glam:

 “One of the original pieces of mine to use the greyhound jacket colours. Pointing to the fact that life is of course a race. It represents the bright young things “going for it” and using Edie Sedgwick seemed a good choice as she epitomised exactly that”.

So tell me Loz will there any surprises in store at Parallax?

“Well, I will definitely be taking along a 3D sample of the Greyhound Footstool, which will be going into production shortly, so people will be able to order those. I would like to mention here that I have received a lot of help with the footstool from Sara Macnab, a fashion designer from London, who has been brilliant throughout the whole process of its pre-production. The stool will be available at the Fair to sit on so it will be just the thing for a weary Fair-goer after a long day walking around"


"Also I will have an Arts Browser at the Fair because I want to present a selection of A3 prints to allow people to browse examples of my other work i.e. Power of Radio, Painted Bottles, Kidnap, Servants of Time etc. I intend to show one of each in the browser so that the visitor to the stand can rummage through and discover them. The idea behind A3 is to offer Fine Art prints to people who want the quality image but may not necessarily have the space for A1."


"I may have a few posters as well! I want to make 
some posters available of certain non-catalogue images such as the Pop Art cartoon “couple in the car” or the single girl “Audition” image, things that are on the periphery of Demo Pop Art but are pointing to it, promoting or advertising it if you like, but they work aesthetically and make great posters!”




So what about your catalogue for the event, how is that coming along? 


“I am currently putting together the catalogue for Parallax which will include most of my Demo Pop images, each of which will have a unique reference number. There will be another section on the 3D products i.e. the footstool, the clock, and the rug, and also a section on the posters I just mentioned. I will also include a description of Demo Pop Art and Limited Issue Prints or (LIPS). I want very much for everyone to be able to walk away from the stand with something solid and memorable - people sometimes need time to digest all they have seen and also the idea, the concept of Demo Pop Art. The catalogue will enable them to do this at their leisure. It also provides a permanency, a way to look back to the Art and the images at a later time, and who knows maybe even fall in love with an image or two - all the necessary contact details will be there!”

Any Freebies?


“Yes, apart from the catalogues I will have a selection of free Demo-Pop badges, providing again something solid and eye catching. Strong and colourful mini Demo Pop Art to take away! There will also be fridge magnets, adding a bit of variety to the mix, which I feel has always been an aspect of some of my art anyway.”

What do you hope to achieve by showing at Parallax?


“I want to above all raise my profile as a Demo Pop Artist, to deliver a message that I feel needs to be repeated so it can sink into the conscience of the art buying public. I am acutely aware that before people will collect DPA they need to understand it, and I am confident that with understanding will come a deeper appreciation”.

You’re hoping for a few sales then?


“Yes, of course! Sales mean that the Demo Pop Art family can be developed still further from digital prints to the transposing of my images/designs onto 3D objects such as chess sets, clocks, rugs, table lamps etc, and then even further into fashion and jewellery. Also, personally, sales validate what I am doing and are personally gratifying. I am not afraid of being commercial and producing “Business Art” there is no stigma attached to it any more, this is the 21st century and the current generation of artists and collectors are completely at home with the concept”.

Will you be looking at other Artist’s work?


“Absolutely, this is a great opportunity to see a collection of artworks from all over the world, and also to measure the standard of work present. I am sure it will only serve to help me make better art in the future. I am also looking forward to meeting with other artists.”    
             

So, what’s next after Parallax?


“The East London Design Show: I am looking forward to the ELDS and to showing my design work. I should have samples of the cushions and a properly manufactured “Greyhound Clock” by then!”

The East London Design Show (or ELDS) is an annual event that brings together the best of the UK's independent product, interior and jewellery designers, all under one roof and will take place at Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London in early December. For more info visit:
http://www.eastlondondesignshow.co.uk/info/





 

Demo Pop Art Diaries 10

Is the Picture still the same even when the people taking it have changed?

The Relevance of a Pop Artist in the 21st century: A Personal Opinion.

I am not meeting my friend Loz Taylor this week as he has a very important meeting involving his other great love beside Demo Pop Art - Horse Racing - and although, as we have seen, the two worlds can be compatible, he has not yet found a successful way of being in two places at once! Therefore it is left for me to ponder a subject matter for this the latest in my series on Demo Pop Art.

In putting together these articles I often, as you know, quote from Pop Art legends such as Warhol, Lichtenstein and the like, and I am often conscious that even though Lichtenstein only passed away as recently as 1997, I am constantly quoting from dead Artists, Artists that popularised their movement 40 years or more ago. I can’t help but ponder then whether it can be as relevant now to base art production on today’s Popular Culture, since that “mass” is taken for granted as being our main means of production and celebrity culture has become so commonplace it appears available to us all for far more than 15 minutes.  Indeed a contestant on big brother or the apprentice can have very realistic expectations of their own chat show series and having their weddings photographed by Hello magazine!

But I think personally that when Warhol was referring to the picture never changing, even if the people in it do, I don’t think he was referring to the physical change of the subject matter in subsequent years, but more the capturing of a moment in time as proof positive that it existed. He loved that the photograph preserved an exact and perfect beauty, regardless of how that perfection may fade in time. Indeed all through his productive phase he used photography and printing techniques as a way of “capturing” the present as a portent to the future because for all his obsession with the here and now Warhol was an astute and intelligent man who could not have succeeded in the way he did without an eye on both the present and the future and what was to come. He was also a romantic who would have wanted some form of preservation for not just his work but the times in which he enjoyed creating it. I have observed this as a recurring theme when delving into the background of Pop Art and Pop Artists. It is interesting to me as a non-practitioner of the visual arts to note the drive of these men and women was to exploit much of what was around them and that which was “Popular” by taking the subject matter they wished to use out of its original context and mix it with other media or objects to create what they considered to be relevant Art and yet instead of breaking away in some new form of surrealist movement to propagate their ideals they all felt an overwhelming urge to in some way copy and therefore preserve the very things they were taking out of context. In other words the subject matter of the piece became just as important to the fame or infamy of the piece as the artistic idea it was trying to purvey.

The difference with Warhol though is that he was not concerned about leaving intact the connection between his work and its subject matter for all to see indeed in his later years his work became almost like that of the Royal Portrait painter except rather than being commissioned by Royalty he sought out his subjects Marilyn Munroe, Elvis Presley, Jackie Onassis, driven by his own deep fascination with Celebrity culture and mass media. I truly believe that Warhol enjoyed creating images that although augmentations of the reality were no less an homage to it for that. In short what Warhol was doing in his silk screen print work and his “normal” photographic studies was leaving for posterity a trace element of the truth behind his beloved popular culture.

 Marilyn silk screen print

                   

Elvis silk screen print

                                                                                           

                                                                                                        Jackie Onassis silk screen print

So, yes it is now 64 years since Eduardo Paolozzi  first used the term “pop” in his work “ I was a rich man’s plaything”, 15 years since we lost Lichtenstein nearly 25 years since Warhol’s departure and my question of the relevance of Demo Pop Art seems to be answering itself as I write. Is it necessary in 2011 to create “time capsules” of the now for the future whether in their existing or some altered state….No the media now exists to preserve anyone or anything in a million and one ways and for all time and incredibly Warhol’s screen printing techniques are now available as an I phone app! (I feel he would have somehow approved) so you can transform the appearance of your friends (or enemies) for fun. However the salient point here is the need to retain the relevance of creating that trace between beauty and truth in the time which is yours and yours alone.

                                             Eduardo Paolozzi’s I was a rich man’s plaything.

Some may feel when you see the vast array of Warhol merchandise that is out there at present that it is a “cheapening” of his legacy that he has become in many ways the victim of his own predictions that when we repeat the same thing over and over we get acclimatised to or de-sensitised to it. It is my belief however that in knowing that it would happen he was already planning for it and that the incredible growth in the mass production of his own images and the still huge demand for them shows just what an extraordinary visionary he was.

It is with exactly this belief and also (having researched the genre) with the knowledge that there is a distinct lack of non-conceptual and non-traditional art out there at present, that I can foursquare place Demo Pop Art in the frame as the 21st century representative of the Pop Art tradition and say YES it is entirely relevant.
Having said that then I need to clarify my reasoning and that is the very thing that should have been obvious to me all along. It is that very “traceable element” not that Taylor does not use contemporary imagery, he does, and not that he does not in certain works then re-hone that imagery and extrapolate or modify it by adding his own connotation, he does this also, as in “perfect score” for example, but it is the fact that his images have the same perceptible and observable link to some solid theme or concept as many major Pop Art Works.

                                                                      “Perfect Score”

Of course it could be argued that Warhol himself was not a true Pop Artist in that he spent a large part of his productive era replicating pre-existing items rather than going down the more traditional metamorphic path of say Richard Hamilton’s “Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?” below.

Richard Hamilton (24 February 1922 – 13 September 2011) 

The fact that Taylor also produces purely aesthetically pleasing pieces as part of his portfolio only seems to add, for me to the enigma that is the link between the two men. However I am not intending here to make crude and sensationalist comparisons between Warhol and Taylor, apart from anything else the time that stands between them removes any possibility for this.  The media and Arts landscape is very different now and many of the things Warhol foretold have become stark and often alarming truths not only is fame now commonplace but it is also infinitely disposable.

Taylor is operating in a world that is now changed irrevocably the innocent eyes that were startled and sometimes blinded by the assault of Pop Art’s bold imagery are now steeled and cynical and they cast a doubting glance on any art that big money hasn’t shown them is good art.

However there are many links of course between Taylor’s work and that of the Pop Art pioneers, but I believe there are even more between Taylor and Warhol, not only artistically but ideologically. Taylor considers his Art to be contemporary and meaningful but also that it should be aesthetically appealing. He employs modern imagery to present his own thoughts on the world and it is important to him that the themes he illustrates can be traced back to something solid and meaningful he also believes that Art should be available for the masses to collect but more than that he has the same ideology regarding producing his work as a business and employs the same work ethic with a view to making his art and products successful in the market place.

Of course there are also major inherent flaws in this comparison the most notable of which becomes apparent when you compare what their individual works are meant to convey when viewed by their audience. When you view the works of Warhol of course you have to keep a certain context in mind, that being that he was making a strong statement about what was then a burgeoning world of mass production, consumerism and celebrity culture reminding the world how available it all was regardless of who or what you were and it is difficult to look at them coolly in isolation and perhaps it is a mistake to do so.  But I feel it is true to say that primarily, instead of finding his own individual and unique subject matter, though at first he tried to, in reality he perfected his own unique and individual style instead.  At the suggestion of his friends he painted the things he loved i.e. consumer products, celebrities, money etc.  He replicated and then sometimes remodelled what he saw and because of that from then on he stood apart from the main stream of Pop Art.  In short the message in a Warhol piece is in essence what the image itself is saying, his Campbell’s soup cans or Brillo boxes are brilliant symbols of the time and the society that created them, but they are still representations of something already conceived and designed elsewhere.

 Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s soup can.

However, What Taylor does in his best work I feel is present an image that instead of itself being an entirely complete message it is in effect a conduit, channelling a strong idea or a theme and delivering it directly to the viewer. The difference being that the idea or theme is often something that is not necessarily within the piece itself but can directly be traced from it. Less direct, more subtle. Yes, he uses imagery from his own world and his own time and in this way he provides a genuine continuance of the Pop Art genre, but unlike Warhol, these images have a deeper meaning individually rather than as the kind of mass statement Warhol was making.

So here is an interesting question to leave you with. If we accept that the previous paragraph can be accurately said to describe the qualities of both Warhol and Taylor, then I dare to extrapolate the theory even further and ask…Does Loz Taylor and his work “stack up” as an extension of an Art form from more than 40 years ago? Or does in fact Andy Warhol have more in common with 21st Century Demo Pop Art than with 20th Century Pop Art?