In the arts, there is a long tradition of artists creating bodies of works using alter egos. The rapper Eminem produced “The Slim Shady LP” through his alter ego Slim Shady. Comedian Andy Kaufman created the Tony Clifton character to counter-balance his own innocent persona. One of the most well-known examples is writer Robert Louis Stevenson’s characters Jekyll and Hyde.
Artist Jake Thomas has just completed three bodies of work created by his own stall of fictional artists, Roy G. Bivens, Fats R. Skinny and Mark “X” Setty for his new exhibit at the Felix Kulpa Gallery entitled “Bright Spots.”
Jake who grew up in Ben Lomond, completed a B.F.A. in painting at Lewis & Clark College in Portland and received a Ph.D. in Literature at UC Santa Cruz in 2011. As a result, his work combines his love of art and fiction. His choice to develop the three artists stems from his desire to follow their aesthetic choices and their intellectual processes, imagining how they might respond to certain interactions or questions.
In the case of Mark “X” Setty, he has created a photographer who takes portraits of his dog Luck that he believes posses magical powers. Fats is a skater girl who draws on iPads and Roy is a painter who explores his soul through self-portraits.
I caught up with Jake at the Felix Kulpa Gallery to talk about Roy, Fats and Mark.
Kirby Scudder: Tell me about the artists Roy, Fats and Mark.
Jake Thomas: When I thought about the characters, I thought about Fats R. Skinny. The choices that Fats would make became evident to me. And it was something that I wouldn’t do on my own, so it became much more interesting to me to explore paintings through her eyes. It allowed me to explore some territory that I would normally not go into. It also gave the ability to create a dialogue between the work. So from three different points of view focused on the one central theme “Bright Lights” it gave me the opportunity to see how these mediums play off of each other. I have black-and-white photographs paired off between these bright, very colorful digital paintings and they all have very different effects.
KS: The artist Mark “X “Setty takes pictures of your dog Luck. What is his obsession with the dog?
JT: It’s my dog Luck and I take her out on these long walks, but especially at night because she is a raccoon-hunting dog and her instinct is to want to go out at night and look for things. So I transposed this metaphorical hunter as some kind of mystical quest that Luck is on. Mark thinks the dog is a being of higher intelligence and he is documenting her journey. I kind of think that about Luck myself. This series is entitled “Life and Love are Luck.”
KS: You have had a long relationship with the Felix Kulpa Gallery. What is it that draws you to this Gallery?
JT: The concept of the Felix Kulpa Gallery comes from St. Augustine, the sin that allows for redemption. For me it’s that kind of mixed tone in art that I really love, where it’s edgy but it’s also peaceful. I think it is the most cutting-edge gallery in Santa Cruz. The Felix Kulpa Gallery is a staple in the Santa Cruz art scene and has a long tradition of exhibiting experimental works of local artists. They bring in very high level artists such as Lewis Watts and Norman Locks whose work is incredibly sophisticated and daring. I really like that.
As we ended our interview, Luck walked me out and sent me on my way.
You can see the full video interview with Jake Thomas at www.santacruzsentinel.com. For more information, go to www.felixkulpa.com
Kirby Scudder is the director of the Santa Cruz Institute of Contemporary Art. Details: www.scica.org.
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