Artist of the day

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Artist of the Day, July 5, 2022: Joshua Noom, an Australian-American graphic designer, illustrator, typographer (#1613)

Joshua Noom is a Florida-based talented graphic designer and illustrator originally from Australia, he’s worked with different brands and freelanced as an artist for almost ten years. Moving to Florida at the age of 17, he finished high school in America and proceeded to explore a career in graphic design.

“Out of high school, I wanted to take a break,” Joshua explains. “I took a year off and worked in a skate shop, still doing art on the side, painting things – and then my mom suggested that I try graphic design. I had never really thought about it. There was a local technical school here that was affordable, so I spent two years there, got my certificate in commercial art, and then got my first job at an auto agency shortly after that.”

Growing up around skate culture and working in a skate shop, Joshua was always surrounded by a plethora of radical designs. Skateboards sport some of the most amazing and unique art styles, and this was something that had an impact on Joshua moving forward.

“I liked [skateboard] deck graphics and all that kind of art that was on the shirts and the shoes and the apparel that I tried to convince my parents to buy for me—and then music I listened to. Back then it was CD covers for me too. I just thought they were cool, and, as I got older, that kind of stuff played a role in shaping the kind of design I’m into.”

Music has played an influential role in Joshua’s designs. As seen on album art, CD covers, and even in video games, high energy rock music and skateboarding are two creative areas continuously intertwined. Crafting content while listening to music, Joshua quickly learned how inseparable music and visual arts are.

“When I first was getting into more of the illustration side of things, I would practice creating things based upon the music I was listening to. I was really inspired by the lyrics, it gave me a lot to draw and practice when you look at that side of music. That’s what also helped me land job opportunities. I focused a lot on bringing music and art together ‘cause I also saw it as a chance to potentially get hired by these bands or other people who saw it.”

With influences clearly drawn from his skateboard-laden history and the intricate font that echoes all of the time he spent working on hand lettering, Joshua Noom’s enVISION lineup takes our mascot in a spooky new direction. The combination of the black cat and the musical elements, such as the synths and headphones and DJ equipment, speaks to the Monstercat that fans are familiar with. The inclusion of the third eye and the particular color scheme he chose results in a chilling quality that’s both foreign to fans and thematically befitting of October.

“I wanted to focus on the music side of it more because I can personally relate to that,” adds Joshua. “That's where the synthesizer and headphones came in and, obviously, the cat ‘cause of the name. I like to make it a little weirder – that's where the third eye came from. I wanted to keep it fun and playful but with an edge, like he’s got a bit of a smirk on. I wanted a combo of a cool looking cat and some music and then I always do some different skulls and put that all in the pot and just kinda came up with all this stuff.”
© 2022. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Joshua Noom or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Joshua Noom

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Poster

Holy Bible

Nugget Nectar illustration for packaging

Ross Copperman Human Record album

Bones Coffee illustration for packaging

Bones Coffee Company identity

Curatre SW Florida Illustration

Grateful Dead Playing cards

Rest record album

Wayfarer cigar logotype

Wine labels

Shift Fort Meyers brand illustration

Old Spice illustration for packaging

In my head illustration

Fine folk pizza illustration for packaging

Billy Strings poster

Go with the Flow record album

Johnny Swim illustration

Paradoxology Elevation Worship record album

Shift illustration

Sydney Cider illustration for packaging

PHISH illustration

Lover fighter

Con Moto Pomade branding

Mike Mains & the Branches record album

Phish Summer tour tickets

Voyager playing cards

Monday, July 4, 2022

Artist of the Day, July 4, 2022: Titus Kaphar, an American contemporary painter (#1612)

Happy Birthday America!

Titus Kaphar (1976) is an American contemporary painter whose work reconfigures and regenerates art history to include the African-American subject.

Titus Kaphar was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His first introduction to art was in a junior college art history course, and he taught himself to paint by visiting museums. He received his BFA from San Jose State University in 2001 and his MFA from Yale University. His work is often multidimensional and sculptural, with canvases slashed and dangling off the frame, or hanging over another painting. One such example is his portrait of Thomas Jefferson, painted in the Neoclassical style, which he attached to the corner of a nude Sally Hemings' portrait frame. The juxtaposition of the fully clothed Jefferson with Hemmings' nudity reinforces the unfair power dynamic between the two, and revises Jefferson's public image to include his sexual relationship with his much younger slave.

The Vesper Project
The Vesper Project is one of Kaphar's most immersive installations. It concerns a fictional African-American family in the 19th century that passes for white. Kaphar created an installation where visitors would walk through a 19th-century house, uncertain about what was reality and what was remembrance. The project was inspired by Kaphar's attempt to paint a portrait of his aunt, only to realize that parts of his memories of her were fictive. He spoke about the experience while promoting his show: "It occurred to me that, for some reason, my brain had decided to insert her into periods in my life when I needed extra support. That left me reeling; it left me frightened. It made me feel as if I couldn’t trust my own memory. I felt like I was losing my mind." The Vesper Project was also a collaboration with a visitor to the Yale Art Gallery, where one of Kaphar's paintings was displayed. The visitor, Benjamin Vesper, experienced a mental breakdown during his visit and punched one of Kaphar’s paintings. During Vesper's subsequent institutionalization,[9] Kaphar and Vesper began a correspondence. The two exchanged letters for some time, writing about family and mental instability. Vesper broke out of the hospital and visited a 19th-century house, believing it was his family's home. Kaphar intended to create a physical space for Vesper to return and face his memories, and this became the foundation of The Vesper Project. The rooms contain fragments of memories, specters, and paintings. These rooms are able to be walked through and experienced.

Kaphar was commissioned in 2014 by Time magazine to paint a response to the Ferguson Uprising. The work was a 4 ft x 5 ft oil on canvas and used Kaphar's signature style of painting over his own work with white paint. The painting is titled Yet Another Fight for Remembrance and depicts two protesters with their hands raised with white paint streaked over their bodies and faces.

Behind the Myth of Benevolence
In 2014, Kaphar painted Behind the Myth of Benevolence, which depicts President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman held captive by Jefferson and the mother of six children fathered by Jefferson. Kaphar painted the canvas in such a way as to create the illusion that the portrait of Jefferson painted by Rembrandt Peale in 1800 is being pulled back like a curtain to reveal a seated Hemings. The portrait is effectively a painting within a painting. Kaphar, speaking about the painting and its subject, Sally Hemings, said, "This painting is about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, and yet it is not. The reason I say, ‘And yet it is not,’ is because we know from the actual history that Sally Hemings was very fair. Very, very fair. The woman who sits here is not just simply a representation of Sally Hemings, she’s more of a symbol of many of the Black women whose stories have been shrouded by the narratives of our deified founding fathers."

Behind the Myth of Benevolence was damaged on three occasions while it was on view at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., prompting the museum to post security guards by the painting for the remainder of its exhibition.
© 2022. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Titus Kaphar or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only