If you’ve lived in Brighton for any length of time then you’ll surely have seen the bright flashes of colour and iconic graphics that announce the retro-futuro work of artist Pinky. A big fish in our little pond, he’s been exhibiting work for around seven years now, included solo and group shows in London, Berlin, Seattle, Manchester and Amsterdam.
What’s your earliest recollection of drawing or painting?
As a kid I loved comic books and cartoons, anything drawn with a fat black outline. I soon started copying them and making my own weird little comics.
How did your current style develop?
The icons I use come from the need to tell stories and narratives. Simple but powerful messages can be told with the Skull, the Owl, The Apple, The Pyramid, The Eye, Heads. The abstract work is a contrast to that… hopefully letting people see the wonder in the random, the chaos, the patterns and colours of life.
What’s your favourite piece from the last year?
Hmm. Well, I’ve done so much in the last year it’s hard to say… I’ve really enjoyed painting BIG again. ‘HEAD’, the group show I curated at the Prescription Art Gallery in the old Music Library was a real highlight. I painted a huge radiating sun beaming down on the good people of Brighton in the middle of the bleakest winter in years. Seeing people’s reaction to that was amazing… they were freaking out!
Who, where or what influences you?
Who… The work of other artists I know and love. Where… Brighton, St Ives, New Mexico, Hull, California – all places that have crept into my soul and exploded in my artwork. What… pattern, colour, shape, form. Getting wiggy, getting wild, getting precise, getting abstract, getting into it, living a free life, free expression, love, peace, unity and fun, fun, fun.
Do you have a muse?
Lonny Pop is my muse, she’s a writer and poet. She has a true eye, without her I’d be swimming in world of half baked thoughts and ideas.
Can you give any clues as to where your work is heading?
Right now, it’s heading in a more abstract direction. I’ve always been into colour and pattern and it seems to feel right to follow that path at the moment. Saying that, next week I might feel like drawing something more recognisable.
The big news: I’ve just been selected to create a huge public art piece that will take up a whole street right in the middle of Hull! It’s a really exciting development for me. It’ll be seen by thousands of people from all over the world as it’s being done to coincide with the return to Hull of the Clipper Round the world race in June! I’ll be hanging huge banners across the street and filling the windows of the shops with my art.
I have a solo show coming up in Amsterdam this summer and a piece in group show at the Grass Hut in Portland, USA. Oh and I just had a print selected by the V&A’s Word & Image Department that will be touring the country as part of a major exhibition in 2011/2012. I’ve been invited to be in several books this year including a Street Art colouring book, so keep an eye out for that nearer to Christmas. Things are looking up!
Do you produce work to commission?
I have done work to commission… the odd painting or papercut. My papercuts are always popular. Ink_D in Brighton have a range of my original artworks for sale. Recently I’ve been working on a lot of tee shirt designs for a range of clients including Levi’s (an artist led range out this summer) and a really cool US skate label Altamont Apparel. I also have small originals artworks and a large range of limited edition screen prints available on my website: www.pinkyvision.com
Written by Jo Dimbleby
