Interview and foreword by Jamfingers for Artillery Magazine.
Images courtesy of Mark Alcorn, Vans The Omega and Jamfingers.
VANS THE OMEGA’s zany energy and dedication to his graffiti has sent him whirl-winding around the globe for much longer than I’ve known him. As far back as I can remember it was always understood that if Vansy wasn’t answering his phone it was simply because he was floating about between continents, or as some more recently believe, the realms beyond our atmosphere.
Last week I was fortunate enough to head down to Adelaide and help VTO set up the space at ABEO for his solo exhibition ‘Plutonic Relationships’.
The show itself was immense; a series of tightly themed works woven together through a highly sensual display of layering and other exploratory techniques. An array of puzzling geometric studies also formed the base of several portraits including one of the lovely Tara, VTO’s partner. I’d seen a few preview snaps, but it must be said that these works featured with infinite times more impact in person than a photograph could ever capture.
Together with the support of South Australia’s finest purveyors of booze the hosts of the evening, ABEO Interior Design, put on a fine display and met the gathering with the very warmest of hospitality – the cheese platters were second to none.
It was invigorating to witness the wider public’s responsiveness to an artist, who for the most part in times passed, would have been pigeonholed as representing a certain thing with certain connotations. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times in some ways; a differing of appreciation from one generation to the next, a bridging of recognition toward previously less accepted forms of art. I think mostly however the response was reflective of Joel’s character; his perseverance, compassion and an astounding work ethic. As the many who know him will verify, the guy is simply relentless.
I arrived late the evening before and on advisement, copped a healthy dose of rest in lieu of the day to come. I awoke and headed to a burgeoning hotspot near the gallery space to meet Joel and luckily, managed to squeeze in a few words edgeways over some italian-style baked eggs.
So when did you first start working on this show?
The first piece I did was easily four months ago, it was mostly just geometric starts on the boards… nothing was completed at that stage. It was all about taking the first initial steps, just throwing down stuff quite quickly.
It all stemmed from having to do this painting for Tara. It was a Christmas present that she was kinda hounding me about and I was like, “alright I gotta pump this out.” I did some stuff that I wouldn’t normally do because I wanted to get something down quicker and use some layering techniques that I hadn’t put together all at once… then something very fruitful came out of that.
So the first one was four months ago, then for the two months that followed I was at a standstill. It’s really only been over the last eight weeks that I’ve been powering through. Been working 12-16 hour days to get it done.
Read/see the full recap here.
More Info:
– VansTheOmega.com
– Abeodesign.com.au
– BigSpinMagazine.com