Trust Your Style: marcus oakley on art, riding his bicycle and drinking tea

marcus oakley on art, riding his bicycle and drinking tea

Monday, May 12, 2008

Lady With Owl

After Marcus Oakley stopped by TrustYourStyle last year, his interview became a bit of a cult hit. With solo shows in London, Edinburgh, Milan, New York, and Tokyo, it's easy to see why his cheery paintings have garnered quite an international following. I love his charming work, so I'm really happy that Marcus has stopped by today to chat a bit about his new show, "Pictoral Aural", opening at gallery hanahou on May 22.

mj: As you know, I'm a fan of your work, and am so glad you have a new show opening. How long have you been working on Pictoral Aural?

marcus: I haven't been working on Pictoral Aural as long as I have wanted to. For the exhibition I decided to show only new artworks specifically made for for the exhibition, so that has been a challenge of sorts, but it also meant that hopefully by making all the work at the same time then all the artworks will relate to each other.

mj: How did you go about working on these new pieces? Can you describe your process or a typical day making art?

Down by the River

marcus: Most of the work is about a piece of music or inspired about how music makes me feel. So everything started with me sitting down with a cup of tea and listening to lots music that I like. I would drink tea and daydream and visualize the music in my mind, and then draw and write down notes and ideas to use later to base my artwork on.

Time

mj: How do you think this new show fits into the overall body of your work? Do you see it as a progression or as something totally new?

marcus: I like to think that every time I make a new piece of new work that I am progressing forward. The artworks I have made for the exhibition do fit into what I have been doing previously, I originally started to investigate the concept of visually interpreting music 12 years ago. This the first time I have only exhibited artworks related just to music.

mj: Do you have a favorite piece (or pieces) in the show and why?

marcus: I have many pieces that I am happy with, but at the moment I like the cat collage, it's a simple interpretation for the song 'cool for cats' by the band Squeeze. The cat just seems to be very relaxed wearing sun glasses and a pink bow tie.

mj: What's next? Are you working on new pieces or do you have plans for a new grouping of work after this show?

marcus: So far I have had a rather busy year working and exhibiting my artwork. So I need to take it easy just for a little, and so I am looking forward to riding my bicycle and drinking tea.

Thanks Marcus for stopping by!

posted by Mary Jo at TrustYourStyle at Monday, May 12, 2008