The 3rd Annual National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) kicks off this Friday. Planet Illogica is one of the many great sponsors and as a result, collaborated with the talented Jason Límon from San Antonio. Jason will have 5 paintings on display, on on loan from Gallery 1988, as well as his artwork on banners, a CD, and T-shirts.
Jason has a critical eye for design and typography and frequently incorporates both into his paintings. Jason created a piece for Miami’s Art Basel last year for me. Initially, I recognized that Jason and his work is emerging, way finding and discovering new pathways for his electronics characters, journeying between graphic design and illustration en route to a world of fine art and who knows what.
Jason was kind enough to take a moment to answer a few questions during our month long collaboration to ready the promotional materials for NFFTY.
Mm : What inspired you to emerge yourself into the fine arts?
Límon : The main thing that drove me to finding my place in the fine art world was watching and admiring what other artists were doing. I used to spend my days sitting behind a computer working in the graphic design biz and almost every single day I'd scour through illustration annuals and art books we had lying about in shelves and piled on our desks. I was always amazed at the great new things many of these artists were creating. For the longest time it was a place where I always felt I belonged, but was frightened to jump into seeing as I have a family to support and all. Over time these feelings just became stronger and I grew really tired and felt restricted by the computer. I decided to dive in head first in 2007 and began painting full time and all good things just snowballed from there. It's been a tremendous honor and pleasure to be able to be in the exhibits I've been in. I do look forward to seeing what more this avenue has in store for me.
Mm : Your painting collection, “Electrickeries,” has a unified theme of electric plugs and outlets. How did this them come about and when did you start working on this body of work?
Límon : In 2005 I had started to create drawings and paintings on old electrical schematic (engineering) diagrams. Mostly pencil, watercolor and ink pieces over these papers. The diagrams themselves invoked the creation of electrical themed characters. Some were made up of resistors, transistors, wires, circuit boards, vacuum tubes and the likes. Later on I decided to try different surfaces and mediums and ended up with acrylics on canvas panels. Of all the characters, the good & evil plugs and all of the batteries made it out alive. To me these things are a symbol of life. They bring energy to lifeless objects and make our world a brighter place.
Mm : Where will your artwork be on display next? Do you have a solo show coming up that you wish to chat about?
Límon : My schedule seems to be growing by the week. Which is a good thing, keeps me busy! Right around the corner (May 1) I'll be part of a group show at Gallery1988:San Francisco that is based around children's books called "Beyond the Page". I'll be showing a "Cat in the Hat" piece. In late July I have a two-artist exhibit with Kelly Vivanco over at Subtext in San Diego. I'm also in Crazy 4 Cult 3D in July, that's always fun. In November I'm going to be in a group show with Brandt Peters, Jason D'Aquino and Jonathan Bergeron. I do have a solo show planned for next April at Rotofuji in Chicago, which will be my first. There are also a few large group shows sprinkled throughout, which I'm still sorting.
Mm : Do you have a favorite piece that you have created thus far?
Límon : Well, for a while now my favorite piece has been "Evolve". The painting is about my daughter, whom I still cannot believe is sixteen years old. I was thinking about all the times when she was really young and we would do everything together and how it took so little to make her smile. I'm not sure it's the same with all dads, but there came a moment in her time where she was much closer to her mom. Now that she was older they could relate more to life as being women and I just had to step aside for a bit. All I really wanted to do then was take her to the zoo or the park with me, but she was no longer intrigued by those things. She was changing and I wasn't ready. Everything is getting good again though. We are finding new things to enjoy together.
Mm : What is next for you in the painting world? Are you working on new themes or a new body of work?
Límon : Lots of exciting new stuff coming out. I just recently decided to split up all the electrical based work you mentioned above and my new explorative work. After taking a look back at all my work I started to see that all of the electrical themed work has reached a point where I am comfortable with how things look and are created. But as for the other side, the side that is still growing, wants to just totally break out and do things I've never tried before.
In a way, I felt held back and a bit confined by my own restrictions. Although things may look similar in both of these platforms, to me they feel totally different. I am extremely thrilled about exploring more in this new direction made up of mechanical and organic beings. Many of these new characters are bringing out my true self and feelings. You may notice that they shroud themselves behind masks and helmets and such. I've always been one that likes to hide behind the scenes and set myself into seclusion as the work itself finds its way out into the world.
Check out more of Jason’s electrically charged characters and projects down below. Kind thanks to Jason and all great fortunes. Nice work on all of the NFFTY pieces for Planet Illogica. More soon.
http://www.jasonlimon.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/limon-art/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Jason-Limon/28550378571
Shirt will be available at www.planetillogica.com in May 2009 and Five original pieces are available for acquisition by clicking here http://www.limon-art.com/artlist/nffty09.html