George Grosz once said that any art is pointless if it does not put itself at the disposal of political struggle. Bearing in mind these words, I personally thought that the eye-appealing, pop-culture centred art JJ Adams produced was not my kind of art, but I was proven wrong.
Robertson Fine Art hosted today the opening of JJ Adams new collection Rule Britannia. Adams is a mixed media artist from South West England and Cape Town who has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and GQ. I had the chance to interview him and discuss some of the recurrent themes and ideas explored by his art.
JJ Adams affirms that the key to his production is humour each of his pieces is charged with. Many of his artworks, in fact, share visual puns as well as literal ones in their names, such as A Wunch of Bankers. However, don’t let this light-hearted approach mislead you. Talking with the artist I realized how the majority of his artworks are responding to current political situations or contemporary events. He is, however, extremely skilful in disguising such references as a colourful and shiny snapshot of pop culture. Some pieces are more openly political such as England Expects (Too Much), which was inspired by the action of Greenpeace activists on top of Nelson’s Column protesting about global warming. Some other such as Wonder Woman seems instead quite apolitical, but Adams explained to me that this piece was inspired by the MeToo movement, connecting the fictional to contemporary events.
This light-hearted appearance and the controversial consumerist culture subject of his production were initially holding me back from connecting with Adams’ art. However, he brightly answered to my doubts, affirming that whilst he is aware of being a commercial artist he takes into great consideration the public’s reaction during his creative process. He explained that this partially depends on his professional background, highly finalized to the creation of a brand, as well as being a published artist. This vision can act as a double-edged sword. In fact, Adams affirms that he sometimes had to tone down his art to appeal to a wider public. But on the other hand, on some occasions, the public’s reaction allowed him to publish bold political artworks such as Make America Golf Again, considered originally too straightforward by his publisher.
Altogether, this exhibition turned into a rather pleasant surprise. The curators of Robertson Fine Art set up an immersive experience. The brand created by JJ Adams was extended to the walls of the gallery with graffiti-like signatures of the artist and condensed in a mixtape of the artist’s favourite British songs gifted to the first fifty visitors. Being among those lucky ones, I had the chance to listen to this selection of music, which creates an enriching dialogue with the rest of the exhibition.
- Backbone @ Underbelly Bristo Square - 23rd August 2019
- Goliath in the Water @ Assembly Checkpoint - 22nd August 2019