Yashuah Klos & Work in Progress
Q: How do you describe yourself as an artist?
A: I’d like to appraoch that question by describing the art I make. Of course everybody’s process is specific to their personal predilections and the goals of their work. Being in grad school and thinking comparatively amongst my peers there- I guess I’d say that I’m a more product-concerned artist than process-concerned. Though I am enjoying my process and it does reflect a certain painstaking dedication to forging the image- I think more about how a piece looks and operates aeshetically and conceptually when the viewer is in front on it.
"G"
Q: So to you, being product concerned entails what specifically? When you are creating art are there any overall aesthetics and concepts that you are looking to express?
A: Product, to me, in this case just means the final image. So I’m more invested in what the viewer will experience when confronted by the image rather than what myself or the viewer could find during the ‘making’ experience of the work. Though I should say that people do sometimes ask me how the hell I’m making these things.
Q: Speaking of materials, your work to date has spanned several – from paintings on canvas, to sketches on and in conjunction with recycled materials and most recently large wood block prints on fabric. Has working with such varied medium been a conscious decision with the viewers experience that you speak of in mind or would you say that these works have been a more evolutionary journey of you as an artist?
"They Came Like Thieves In The Night"
A: You could say I have a sort of traditional painting background starting with illustration as an undergrad and my training in Italian Renaissance oil painting. Photorealism painting was a way to marry my need to make representational images with a ‘fine art’ medium. Before I discovered Kehinde Wiley I think I was trying to use the status of academic European tradition to ‘elevate’ my paintings, but ultimately I felt that the imagery and material wasn’t textured nor complex enough. That’s when I started doing the collages with painted cardboard mounted on wood panel. They became more like actual signage and all about surface, as opposed to trying to deal with 2D illusionary space which denied the surface and denied themselves as objects. I wanted them to announce that they were man-made weathered objects, or something like a contemporary relic. The woodblock prints developed through realizing that I wasn’t that interested in color or paint- and that I constructed tight paintings because of my affinity for drawing. So woodcutting is just drawing by removing the negative space with a chisel. That’s where I’m at now- but this transition through mediums wasn’t ever planned. I’ve only worked with one medium at a time thus far.
“Monique”
Q: Throughout all these mediums your work has also consistently featured a large amount of mystical symbolism and allegory related to initiatory rights and high sciences. As a viewer I interpreted these as a personal expression of you as an individual and also as statement to the viewers themselves. Some seemed more literal than others, some even came close to being narrative and often they seemed like lessons about the spiritual nature of man, the struggle between higher and lower self and the realization of ones true identity. These are my impressions but would you like to shed some light on these features?
A: Well you know… you and I have studied some of those same schools of thought as we were comin up. Being from Hyde Park you are in the mix with the Nation of Islam’s headquarters, the Jesse Jackson legacy of Operation Breadbasket/ Push/Rainbow Coalition…plus you’ve got Hebrew israelites and all types of Freemasons and Christians and the Black Stone gang with all their Moorish Science and Islamic influence. So I used to represent that ‘higher school’ environment through symbols. I think that all that time I was trying to get at how in the black community in America- we are very determined to undo our dishevelment from slavery. On the southside of Chicago there is a militant attitude toward spiritual and political progress, and cultural reclamation. Rather than use the symbols now- I try to deal with that attitude of recouperating.
“ALMITY”
Untitled
Q: There’s been a recent explosion of pop artist collaborations with major luxury brands and corporations. What is your perception and take on this?
A: I feel like this is a question about the commercialization of fine art for corporate agendas, and I would have opinions on a case-by-case basis since there are differing degrees of that inherent compromise in the culture-consumption game.
It seems like the most basic trouble for the artist in that deal is that he or she must speak to the lowest common denominator- which is who the corporation aims to sell to. That means the art usually blatantly, or if it’s ‘fine art’- more subtly, use devices that are readable and attractive to a large audience- usually sex and stereotypes. As artists though, we get funded from corporate sponsors sometimes and they have boundaries on what they will be associated with, of course. Every artist makes desicions based on what they believe their gain is from that relationship. It hasn’t gotten tricky for me like that yet- I speak as a bystander on those deals…for now.
Q: Your recent work in woodblock prints has gained you a few awards and even a write up in the New York Times. Do you feel that this medium is the future of your work? What drew you to it? Can you share how you plan to incorporate it in the future?
“Banners” Series
A: Yes! That work is the ‘Banners’ series that’s getting some attention- and that’s great. I am really enjoying woodblock printing right now- though I’m exploring diverse ways of printing and constructing the print. As we speak I’m working on some large collages that are 2D images ‘built’ of inked paper, and woodblock prints. (see ‘work-in-progress’ photo) Though I’m pushing woodblock in ways that make contemporary the medium- I’m very interested in studying traditional woodblock printing techniques. Maybe the future will hold a trip to Japan!
Yashua Klos is a visual artist and MFA candidate at Hunter College in New York City. He has attended the Pratt Institute, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture & L’Atelier Neo Medici in Monflanquin France. Originally from Chicago, he currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. His work is in private collections in Chicago and New York as well as in the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation in Atlanta. For more information on him and his work please visit: YashuaKlos.com
