I first became aware of Joe Murtagh a few months ago, and since then his bold and exciting and sexy art has caught my eye time after time. I had a little chat with him about his work.
Who/what inspires you and informs your style?
I’ve always been fond of drawing, from an early age I’d copy things, from Disney cartoons to Marvel Comics. I’d get praise for what I’d done, which would encourage me to do more. Later in life, as a pupil then student, I’d pick up influences on the way – Gustav Klimt, Eric Gill, early Japanese art, Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl), ‘Vogue’ magazine, ‘Face’ magazine (80s/90s), Nick Knight, music videos, album sleeves…Now, everything I see and hear goes into the mix. It’s taken me a while to make my own style and make it my own.
What made you choose the medium that you work in?
I always used to work in black biro pen, or acrylic paint. But after getting the hang of working with the mouse when drawing with Adobe illustrator I got heavily into doing digital artwork. I like the clean lines, but also the experimental side of using illustrator. I love the way I can change a colour palette quickly. It helps me to free up my approach. I often start a piece with a vague idea of what I’m doing, then hit a wall of uncertainty, then rescue it at the 11th hour.
To what extent does your art influence your life and your experiences and vice versa?
I get moody if I don’t create something for a while. Ideas well up inside and want to be expressed. Lately my work has been touching on lots of different subjects, all the big stuff – death, sex, guilt, beauty….all the timeless stuff really. I guess I have more to say now than I did when I was younger. It could be a confidence thing, or a life experience thing. I’ve seen my kids come into this world, and I’ve had loved ones leave it.
After completing a fine art degree I became a sculptor for a while, fell into teaching, then became a web/graphic designer, then a photo-retoucher. Now I’ve almost gone full circle and come back to what I really enjoy – drawing. I plan to create some paintings soon too.
Have you noticed any difference in the intent of your work and the way it is perceived by other people?
I don’t really know what people make of my artwork. I try to please myself, and make things that I haven’t seen or done before. If I feel excited by something I’ve made, and it gives me a buzz, then I’m happy. My focus lately has been on mortality and the notion of death being something we shouldn’t shy away from. The Buddhist notion that you can’t fully appreciate life unless you accept the fact that we are all at some point going to die, fascinates me. If anything, that seems to be sprinkled over everything I do. And of course balanced out by my use of colour. I get obsessed with certain colours. You may have noticed!
People are forced to swallow thousands of images a day in advertising; how do you ensure that your art has an impact on people and cuts through the mass of bullshit? -
I’ll buy Vogue magazine and eat up the adverts! Which is probably one reason way I dabbled in fashion photo retouching, and still feature the female figure in a lot of my artwork.
My influences are pop culture, but I know what you mean. There is so much coming at you, and a lot of it is very samey, very copy cat, and becoming dull for me. The same goes for a lot of graphic design and illustration. Too many people copying each other, using the same techniques and the same images and themes. Maybe that’s one of the downsides of technology, people think you can just click a button and hey presto, you’ve created something unique. Because there’s so much of the same work out there, it makes things bland. People need to show some personality in their artwork, that is the point after all.
What is your definition of art? -
I have no one definition of art. There are so many definitions of art. Like there are many definitions of what makes a good song etc, or what is love? For me, at this moment in time, my definition of art is to ask questions that aren’t so easy to ask in words. A lot of how we feel, how we live our lives, what drives our deepest darkest passions are not so easy to communicate in words. Art, be it visual, drama, music, the written word, should all (in my opinion) put us in the here and now. Helping us reflect on what’s really important to us.
If you want to have a look at Joe’s work or want to buy a print, he has an online shop here.
