Having studied art at school, Adam Jacobs took a prolonged break – not producing any pieces until after he had finished university. Once Jacobs moved to London from Essex he didn’t want to just sit in front of the television every night. He decided to get back into art and has produced around three pieces a year since 2005. Jacobs has no formal training but over the last year or two, has looked at ways to get his art out there into the wider public space. Jacob’s work is inspired by a number of different factors – found pieces from magazines and cuttings, graffiti, pop art, bold colours, plays on words, and a haphazard style in the sense that he does not produce any preparation pieces beforehand. Jacob’s likes to produce pieces that could be described as a talking point and provoke a reaction.
Self-taught or art school?
Self-taught – did art up to A-Level standard but since then, no other formal training
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Jean Michel Basquiat’s ”Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump’ – my favourite artist, love the technique, brushwork and colour.
How would you describe your style?
Slightly haphazard and experimental influenced by pop art, street art and abstract expressionism.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
I tend to be influenced by seeing something around me that triggers a response and the initial thoughts on a new piece – this can e be adverts, magazine clippings, TV and film. I do not do any kind of prep work at all but go on instinct and images I have in my head. I then get straight to work on the canvas but it’s a long process. I have to be in the zone and work only when it feels right which means pieces form over a prolonged period of time. I’m therefore not that prolific an artist.
Is narrative important within your work? Yes and no. There is usually a point I am trying to make or get across. Plus I do like to play on words also. But sometimes there is no agenda at all – what’s on my mind comes straight onto the canvas without much thought as to what the finished product might be.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Basquiat, Warhol, De Kooning, Toulouse-Lautrec, Haring, Hockney, Futura, Rammellzee Harmony Korine, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Johns, 3D, Rosenquist, Pollock, Krasner, David Lynch, Freud. I think collectively, it’s a mixture of words and images, mixed media, street art and pop art, graffiti and abstract, a touch of surrealism. all of these artists combined are essentially what my work is all about.
What or who inspires your art?
Essentially culture. I love music, art, fashion, photography, film, TV, news and magazine in all of their forms. So it’s generally something in one of these areas that sparks an idea in me.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio is a converted shed in the garden! All of my artworks, paints and canvas are there along with posters and postcards from recent galleries I’ve been to. Plus the odd power tool and garden furniture, ha!
Do you have any studio rituals?
I must have the radio playing at all times. It goes on as soon as I enter, it’s the first thing I do.
What are you working on currently?
A personal mixed media piece that covers around 25 years of my life and an insight into who I am and what I’m about. It’s a bold mixed media piece and certainly more personal than anything I’ve done before.
Where can we buy your art?
Direct via myself! either through Instagram or my website. Always open to offers and keen for the work to go to a good home.
