Interview with JPS
/
Weston Super Mare based artist JPS has triumphed over adversity fighting his demons and becoming the artist he is today. He has risen to great heights in a short space of time winner of bizarre Magazines alternate artist 2012 and been behind some of the most high profile art events organised in the west of the country in the last couple of years and has taken part in large exhibitions in London, Los Angeles and Houston. He is currently the subject of a documentary called "If Walls Could Talk' and filming will end at the opening of a solo show by the same title at Centrespace Gallery in Bristol on the 30th of May.
Hi JPS, today MoW selected 7 of your artworks inspired by music. Can you tell MoW why you chose to create about these music artist ? What was the music behind them ? What inspired you to create those ?
I have always been a massive fan of rap and hip hop and all my artworks are inspired by things I either love or in some cases scarred me mentally lol, it wouldn't sit well with me as a street artist to just put images of these people on walls without adding my own twist or joke sometimes the ideas just trigger very quickly others take longer to come up with, the Biggie Small's idea was triggered by my friend and fellow artist Art Tresspasser we were cruising about in his car and I was saying I wanted to do a street piece of Tupac but was still trying to think of a spin on it, he was like "screw pac do biggie everyone forgets about biggie". I responded with "I'd need a pretty damn big wall then" I just said "I know..." I could'nt find a nice big wall I'll have to paint my Biggie Small I knew straight away it was a strong idea I wasn't aware that it would rapidly go viral.
Why is music important to you and your art?
iIthink music is important in normal life just as much as it is with art, music can be art to your ears however only a portion of my art is influenced by music.
If you had to choose between the artworks presented today, which of your artwork would be your favorite?
It would be hard to pinpoint a favourite it would be easy to say Biggie because of the popularity of that one however it would probably be the Jackson stone because I was proud of how I was able to clearly see it was exactly the right angle break on the stone.
Can you tell MoW more about the techniques you used. How old is your technique? How did it start? How long does it take you to make an artwork ?
For my street art work I use a stencil technique usually associated with Banksy, I got into street art just under 5 years ago. A stencil like the ones pictured takes me no more than a couple of hours to create and only a few minutes to paint onto a wall.
Do you have plans on creating new artworks insipired by music ?
Yes there is definitely a lot more music inspired pieces to come. I'm not saying who... but there are many more great artists I wish to immortalize in my work.
Do you listen to music when you're working? If so what kind of music?
Yes I do however it does vary dependant on what work I'm producing. I listen to all types of music however I wouldn't class myself as that up to date with it. It can range from death metal to country and western depending on what is happening in my life at the time.
What is the song you liked the most lately? Or album ? What was the last gig you went to ?
I was impressed with Eminem's latest album "MMLP2" that had a lot of plays lately. I often listen to Alice Cooper "The Man Behind The Mask".
Are you a musician yourself ? If so can you tell MoW more about your music projects ?
No my musical talent consisted of being the triangle player at school lol I can sometimes write good lyrics when the mood takes me. Well I won't give too much away but I'm intending on doing some of the next wave music inspired pieces full size as I did with my horror artworks at Barrow Gurney Mental hospital.
Find out more about JPS here :