Last of the Meteors | 22” x 28” 2009
Jake Kelly churns out a ton of work – fliers, comics, murals, gallery works and even smoke drawings. They’re almost always black and white illustrations…and typically “strange” in their subject matter. From snake-girls to alien fish-men…tough women, awkward geeks, hippie zombies, space robots and mutations of every sort – oddities and curiosities abound. It’s basically a collection of fringe icons from a trash culture of cast-offs and runaways. It’s the type of material that speaks to the “others” out there (not unconscious sheep primarily concerned with material possessions) – they are fantasies, regrets, hopes and nightmares, but almost always done with a hilarious sense of absurdity (and melodrama) throughout.
As a self-described comic book junkie growing up, Jake’s influences are clear (he’s also put out some comics himself over the years, namely – the “Crosston” series). Plotlines run in and out of his work, some start where other comics have left off, pushing the original idea beyond the edge of reason…other subjects rely on his personal re-imaginations of past experiences, which he may or may not have remembered. And he does cite drugs and alcohol as a major influence on his art:
“That point before you need to be wheel-barreled home is kind of the point that I try to capture – getting messed-up to the point of insanity, remembering that, and transferring it. I’ve been known to “tipple”, but I can’t drink and draw – it’s impossible for me. All of my art is created stone sober.”
Harem Kept | 22” x 18” 2009
And Jake may well be some sort of role model for the anti-college sect out there…those misunderstood geniuses who truly believe that Universities are businesses, and not necessary, given the wide access to knowledge available for free (Jake could tell you the strong point of almost every public library within an hour’s bus-ride of downtown Cleveland). It just takes more personal motivation, devotion and concentrated effort to hone a craft…and Jake has done exactly that, perfecting his technique through years and years of daily execution, from conception to finalization…he’s become a cornerstone of the Cleveland underground art scene.
I sat down with Jake after a recent group show we displayed over at Low Life Gallery in Collinwood (which also featured the art of Stephe DK). And I hope that the following (at least) comes close to nudging the tip of the iceberg known as JAKE KELLY…and if you want to get in contact with him – try: myspace.com/rapidtransient
REALLY? YOU FELT THAT ENTITLED AS AN ARTIST, TO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT YOUR ART DISERVED TO BE ON THAT MANY FLIERS?
I’ve known I was an artist since I was four years old. There is a drawing of a rhino that my mom has and will not give up. It’s the first thing I ever drew…when I was three years old. IT LOOKS LIKE A RHINO. I drew it from memory after we got back from the zoo. It has all the bony plates familiar to a rhino and even the double nose – a lot of little kids will just draw one pointy nose, but I drew the DOUBLE pointy nose. I could see something, remember it, and then draw it. So I’ve known how to draw forever. Obviously, reading comic books also helped me learn how to draw.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD FLIER?
The clubs tell me to do fliers for certain bands and I don’t always know what the band is all about. But more often than not, when I ask – “What’s it sound like?”, and they say – “Indie Rock”…if I happen to be at that show and run into a person from the band, they’ll say – “Man, you really captured it” – even though I’d never heard their music before.
DOES THE NAME OF THE BAND GIVE YOU THE IDEA FOR THE FLIER?
In this day and age, the name rarely tips you off…and this is something I’d like to address – there are, I believe, in the Oxford English Dictionary some 23 million words. And beyond that, in medical dictionaries there are yet another 50 million words – THERE ARE PLENTY OF WORDS OUT THERE! THERE IS NO NEED ON THIS GREEN EARTH TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE WORD IN YOUR BAND NAME. Because for me, when I have to write – “The Volcano Sleeps at Night and Becomes Electric” – and that’s a band name, it pisses me off!
Flyers:
YOU ALSO HAVE SOME VERY LARGE WORKS AROUND, HOW’S THAT RELATE TO YOUR FLIER ART?
What do you mean?
SOMETHING, LIKE SAY – “ANTLER GIRL”. WAS THAT PREVIOUSLY A FLIER, OR DID YOU SAVE IT FOR A LARGER PIECE?
No, I read in Juxtapose that antlers were passé. So I decided to pursue antler art work.
I AGREE WITH JUXTAPOSE, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN THE SOLE PROLIFERATOR OF THE DREADED “ANTLER ART” FOR MANY YEARS NOW…
Yeah, but now they’re into tentacles. And you know what…I really know tentacles. I’ve been doing tentacles forever!
Loser #2 | 11″ x 8.5″
ALMOST ALL OF YOUR WORK IS STRICTLY BLACK AND WHITE…IS THAT BECAUSE IT’S MORE EASILY XEROXED?
I guess my artwork has been based around “Xerox-graphy”. Between the fliers and the comics I’ve done, I know that the only way that I can reproduce them is by Xerox machine, because no one else is going to do it for me. So black and white has become my forte…I used to paint a lot, and now I’m just kind of relearning that after throwing myself headlong for the last 9 years into understanding how to just use a pen and black India ink.
Loser #1 | 11″ x 8.5″
YOU ALSO USE BRUSHES, RIGHT?
I use brushes – I wish I was like Charles Burns and could use a brush like he did, but I have to use pens to get those fine feathered lines.
HOW ABOUT SUBJECT MATTER? THE WORD DYSTOPIAN COMES TO MIND.
Dystopian works. But it’s also Cherubic, bringing across feelings of love and good things. The big works are trying to approach somewhat of a fine arts (although I don’t know what that is) approach to my work. I mean, making art [with no buyer beforehand] is a weird concept to me. For our past show, making “Trip Trap” was kind of an odd thing. People have bought the other large works that I’ve done, because there were always people saying – “If you make a big piece, I’ll buy it” …then I’ll make a big piece, and they’ll buy it. In that way, I’m lucky…even though I’m at a station, monetarily, where I’m still scraping and struggling to get by.
YEAH, YOU LIVE SOME SORT OF VICTORIAN ERA EXISTENCE…NO PHONE, NO CAR – YOU NEED A PERSONAL PAGE THOUGH – WHO YOU CAN SEND OUT AND LET US KNOW THAT – “JAKE KELLY IS NOW ACCEPTING GUESTS”!
Well, what I would really like, would be an agent. If there is an agent out there who wants 30 percent, who is willing to represent me, let’s go to the moon!
LET’S TALK SMOKE DRAWINGS…
Well, I guess I have to go back to the beginning. I saw a really terrible drawing in a magazine, but the material was candle smoke on paper. And I said to myself – “candle smoke on paper aye”, and I held a candle to paper, then scraped it with my fingernail and said – “Oh, I see – you can just scrape it away and it’s white underneath”. So that led to a huge glut of work on my part. Once I started riding the horse of “smoke art” I started figuring a lot out, like – you have to wear a smoke suit…an old T-Shirt and pants that you don’t care about, because hot wax is going to be dripping down on you. But getting down to the why…I can be a lot more impressionistic than I can be with a solid pen and ink drawing.
Owl #10 | Smoke on Paper | 11” x 8.5” 2009
MOST OF YOUR WORK SEEMS TO DRAW FROM SUBCULTURAL IDEAS…
Yeah, you’re kind of right. My entire life is based around counterculture, as they used to call it. They’ve called it punk. They’ve called it alternative. They’ve called it a thousand things. I identify myself mostly as a punk rocker, and I don’t know what that means anymore, but I don’t care. And as a punk, I became fascinated with other subcultures, be it – Ken Kesey’s Further Bus, or freak shows of the 1890’s…imagining how similar all these different things are. Being a lizard girl isn’t that much different than being able to paint. It’s a talent that people want to see, and they also want to pay for. And every subculture has identified itself with being creatively different.
I’M GUESSING THAT ROBERT CRUMB HAS AN INFLUENCE ON YOUR WORK…
Robert Crumb is an influence, not necessarily drawing-wise, but he showed me that…for instance – you can put a dick in your drawing…you don’t have to be afraid of anything – just put yourself out there. Technique-wise, some illustrators that I admire – number one, hands down is John Totleben. His work on Swamp Thing completely influenced exactly what I do. Now I don’t know who he was influenced by…this is kind of a Sonic Youth paradigm, I love the Archers of Loaf who are influenced by them, but I hate Sonic Youth. Charles Burns who did “Black Hole” – available at your local library, “Black Hole” is an amazing book. And I also love Daniel Clowes. A painter that I like is Norman Rockwell, even though the people at the Guggenheim would scream – “He’s an illustrator not a painter”. I think Norman Rockwell’s pictures capture more emotion, feeling and sense of time and even provoke more thought than “Lot’s Wife” by Anselm Kiefer. “Lot’s Wife” is meaningless to most people, but everyone can relate to a Norman Rockwell illustration. I also love Picasso because he was a fucking asshole. I love everybody who did DC Comics, especially Wally Wood and Jack Davis…and Jack Davis also worked for Mad Magazine, another huge influence in itself.
Rock | 11” x 8.5” 2009
