{"id":870,"date":"2017-10-25T10:07:28","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T07:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devp.karmagroup.com\/blog\/?p=870"},"modified":"2018-05-25T16:33:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T08:33:35","slug":"an-interview-with-james-holdsworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devp.karmagroup.com\/blog\/an-interview-with-james-holdsworth\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with James Holdsworth, artist."},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh from shows in the US, Berlin, and Paris, James Holdsworth\u2019s latest exhibition debuts at Karma Sanctum Soho from October 23 to December 29 at Karma Sanctum Soho. The show melds cartoon classics, pop icons and famous personalities in a quirky yet hard-edged way. Faces of familiar figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Marlon Brando, and David Bowie stand alongside Disney characters such as Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. \u00a0An eye-popping contemporary homage to childhood heroes all mythologized and romanticized, almost invariably made to seem tragic and crazy. <\/span><\/p>\n

A few days before the opening of the exhibition we chatted with James about the creative process, consumer culture and when art and music collided during London\u2019s punk era in the 1970s.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why did you choose Minnie as your muse, and how difficult was it to reinvent her? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Minnie was once an innocent cartoon character, but was manipulated into a vehicle for mass consumerism and has thus lost her innocence and become – in my imagination – a voracious consumer herself. Now she wants all the fame and fortune that is prevalent in our celebrity culture society today and flaunts her sexual prowess, clad in the height of high fashion and smelling of costly perfume. A victim, perhaps, of the media frenzy around our selfie-obsessed, solipsistic state of existence today… \u201cbut it\u2019s fun \u2013 isn\u2019t it \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In your opinion, what is the most critical problem that people face in their everyday life?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Self-image, extreme self-consciousness, the need to be admired and accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about the future? Are you optimistic about the current socio-political crisis sweeping Europe, and societies in general?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not optimistic about the state of affairs in Europe and the UK at the moment. \u201cunited we stand divided we fall \u2026” But I think it’s essential to maintain an identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every generation has its heroes. Regarding the icons depicted in your artworks, is there someone you love most?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Probably Andy Warhol, because of his extraordinary influence on art.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the outside looking in, it feels like there is a motif of danger or horror in your art. Is there anything in life that scares or disappoints you? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Society\u2019s, (this civilization\u2019s), need for greed, thus the darkness that follows through ignorance and the lack of compassion for our collective life on this precious planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Which was the most challenging time of your career?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The most difficult and challenging time in my life and career was when I lived in New York City for two years while working on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Artists induction artwork commissions in 1993-94. <\/span><\/p>\n

Organising solo exhibitions in NYC and adapting to the more dramatic, more extreme cultural differences between New York and London was challenging but also positively enlightening. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why did you decide to leave London and go to New York? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I left London for New York City to develop my painting and art career while I completed two years of commissions for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Seymour Stein of Sire Records (Madonna’s manager) commissioned me at the time. \u00a0I also set-up exhibitions in C.B.G.B.’s, Club U.S.A. and other galleries in downtown NYC.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was the challenge of creating art in NYC?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Designing the prestigious cover of the magazine for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of music artists, managers, and directors in the music business, who were influencers in the industry. \u00a0I worked on the covers for two years 1993 and 1994, portraying the inducted artists for those two years, guys like Van Morrison, Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, and John Lennon. I lived in several exciting addresses in Manhattan, from a room in the infamous Hotel 17 in East 17th Street to Olympic Tower just off 5th Avenue on the 42nd floor overlooking Central Park \u2013 unbelievable really. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You met Donald Trump, what vibe did you get from him? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I met Donald Trump in an exclusive uptown nightclub in Manhattan in 1993. He was sitting with his then dollybird partner on the table next to me; I recognised his characteristic brush over hairdo. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I looked over to him and said \u201cDonald Trump!\u201d he said \u201cyes\u201d and reached out his hand, which I shook. \u00a0He then said \u201cand who are you?\u201d to which I replied, \u201cI am the artist, James Holdsworth.\u201d I would never have imagined that this crass wealthy ladies\u2019 man sitting next to me was going to be President of the United States of America twenty-four years later. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you had to make a new piece of art with Minnie, can you tell us who would be the current politician\/artist\/pop icon that you would choose to stand next to her and why? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donald Trump \u2013 with my versions of Minnie and Daisy arm-in-arm with him, because he likes the ladies and there’s plenty of darkness surrounding Mr. Trump to explore. \u00a0I must do that painting of him\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why do you believe Karma Sanctum Soho is an ideal home for your exhibition? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because the Karma Sanctum Soho Hotel is a very cool rock hang out. \u00a0And my work ROCKS.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Considering you graduated from Chelsea Art School during a pivotal period in London\u2019s music scene, how significant has been the impact of rock \u2019n roll in your work? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Elvis Presley – all these legendary names had a significant influence on my life at different times in my life. That\u2019s why I paint them. \u00a0But I think the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Ian Dury, Poly Styrene, The Slits, and others (from around that time) did have a powerful impact on my artistic career as I was at Chelsea Art School during a tumultuous time of change \u2026 \u00a0I did help to organize a very early Sex Pistols gig at Chelsea Art School in 1976. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How was it? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sex Pistols gig that I helped organise at the Chelsea School of Art in 1976 was a chance that came up out of nowhere. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A few students were putting a party on at the school with some extra cash from the student union funds. \u00a0Along came this chap (Malcolm McLaren) from a clothes shop called SEX, just down the Kings Road. He had a bunch of local young lads who had only just formed a band called the Sex Pistols, and he wanted to give them an opportunity to perform, we agreed. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They played – it was disastrous. \u00a0They did rock and roll covers. \u00a0Technically, that is instrumentally and vocally; they were very rough and seemingly unrehearsed. The sound was discordant, and the audience of art students were silent. \u00a0The band shouted verbal abuse and even spat! Halfway through the set, the band walked out of the venue (the college canteen), leaving dressed in their torn jeans and hand painted slogan T-shirts and short untidy hair. \u00a0What Attitude! \u00a0Punk was being born.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Did you have the chance to meet any of these icons? <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, I have met a lot of my influences. The Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer, Lou Reed, Poly Styrene, Lemmy, Phil Lynott, Keith Richard, Prince, Madonna, Andy Warhol \u2026 the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was it like meeting some of them?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I met the Sex Pistols individually on numerous occasions socially. Poly Styrene was a terrific friend; we hung out together along King\u2019s Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I introduced George Michael to Prince: it was their first meeting which was at Prince\u2019s request. It was at a club just off Bond Street in London that I was running on Friday nights back in 1990\u2026 and I met Keith Richard at a dinner party given by the photographer Bob Carlos Clarke and his partner at their house in Fulham London in 1987. \u00a0It was a small, exciting, and drunken affair. I met Andy Warhol at an exhibition of his flower paintings in a gallery in South Moulton Street, London, back in the mid-seventies. \u00a0I took his portrait photograph with a cheap camera I had, but I never collected the developed pictures because I was too skint at the time. \u00a0They remained in a chemist opposite Chelsea Art School.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

James Holdsworth\u2019s solo exhibition at Karma Sanctum Soho opens October 23. For more info visit the event page here<\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh from shows in the US, Berlin, and Paris, James Holdsworth\u2019s latest exhibition debuts at Karma Sanctum Soho from October 23 to December 29 at Karma Sanctum Soho. The show melds cartoon classics, pop icons and famous personalities in a quirky yet hard-edged way. Faces of familiar figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Marlon Brando, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","blog-preview-content","post-without-tags"],"acf":[],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/devp.karmagroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cover-1.jpg","yoast_head":"\nAn interview with James Holdsworth, artist | Karma Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A discussion with James Holdsworth about the role of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll in everyday life, ahead of the opening of his exhibition at Karma Sanctum Soho.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta 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