Tuesday 23 June 2009

French kisses xxx



A couple of days ago I rediscoverd the French pop duo 'Air' in my album collection. I put on 'Moon Safari' while I was working in the studio trying to get my head around the drawing for my next sailor tattoo inspired pin up painting, and something just clicked! The tone of the music, it's sultry melancholy sounds, the disco edge mixed with the breathy pop; something just made complete sense with regard to my work!

It's hard to explain, so with that in mind, I thought I'd share a few of my other inspirations which are all being stirred in the melting pot to create the images for my new work:

Pierre and Gilles
These French artists have been a favourite of mine for a long time. Once you've seen one of their magical photos you'll never forget them. Their brand of glamour and iconography is the perfect blend for erotic images of saliors goddesses and fairies.




Oh, and nuns, as you can see here. This image of Kylie Minogue is just one of many celebrity portraits they have produced since the 70's. I love Pierre and Giles work because you can see the work that has gone into every photograph. They don't use computer effects to create the fantastical landscapes and props. Everything is sourced and painted. Even the photos once taken are then painted over which adds to the magical otherworldy quality.

In more recent years the duo have embraced digital technology, which brings me onto my next inspiration; the tour programme for Kylie's X tour 2008.



I knew as soon as I bought it that P&G had something to do with this lush art book. I couldn't find them acknowledged anywhere but my thoughts were confirmed with a little digging on the internet.
The sacred heart motif is a trademark of theirs and here it has been put to beautiful use. The tour and programme also feature heavily homo erotic images of the backing dancers dressed as buff sailors;



The overall link that ties all these subjects together for me is the glamorous and sexy iconic images and narrative which have an underlying hint of drama. Even the music by Air has the same ambience and conjures up the same stories in my head. All these things combined with the sailor tattoo are pushing my work in a glorious melancholy direction. I'm loving putting these ideas down on paper!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your work look's fantastic

MYCLOSETGARDEN said...

Love it!!