A new exhibition at Antonio Colombo Gallery presents work by Grotesk, Russ Pope, and Nathaniel Russell. The exhibition title is a reference to the cover of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by the Slits. It contains works inspired by music, the act of listening, playing, sharing music with friends, dancing to music, and living with and through music.
Kimou, Nat and Russ have created a long collaborative playlist on Spotify, and this has been the primary source of inspiration for the exhibition. Telling stories of audible pleasure, the movement of dance, the good mental vibes of songs are the center of the drawings and paintings by the three artists, who live far from each other (in Oregon, Indiana and New Hampshire), but share a background of skateboarding, graffiti and music. They share a passion for art without borders, ranging through various collaborations with brands like Nike, Zoo York, Vans, Element, and many others. Each has an original style, a recognizable mark or stroke.
Grotesk, aka Kimou Meyer, is a Swiss artist and graphic designer. In 1999 he moved to New York, where he was strongly influenced by the culture and aesthetic of graffiti. His practice links back to Swiss minimalism, with clean designs and essential forms. His art is intrinsically connected to his observations and interactions with people around him, focusing on their behaviors and body postures These observations can trigger an idea or leave an impression in his subconscious, ultimately inspiring his creations. As Kimou refines a sketch, old situations, breaking news, jokes, friends, or an image from the past may resurface, guiding him toward the final output.
Russ Pope focuses primarily on the unpredictability (and sometimes predictability) of everyday life, reporting on those days with wit and intimacy. He enjoys putting people and places into context and fostering the circulation of ideas and narratives. His impressionist attitude is balanced by his use of color and contour lines. He is a steadfast creator, sharing daily reportings of his life through a prolific output of drawings which often become the subject of paintings, you can count on regular visual offerings from him day to day and year to year.
Nathaniel Russell balances a fine art practice with a rich and varied body of work in design and illustration. His work runs the spectrum of traditional drawing, painting and sculpture to stage design and multi-media performance. His art stands out for essential forms and colors, generally with written words or phrases, encouraging others to fill in the blanks he intentionally leaves behind, and choosing the medium that fits the idea best. Nathaniel’s work draws inspiration from music and reading and often combines text and writing with drawing. He uses an economy of line and word to hint at subconscious links to universal connections and his text often reads as imagined book titles, song lyrics and poetry. Humor plays a role and is used as a balance and remedy for the sometimes dark state of affairs that is being a human on planet Earth today.
