My name is Russell Jones, and I am a student at Sheffield Hallam studying a Masters in Fine Art. I am from a working-class background and the first in my family to attend university apart from my nephew. I left school in 1994 at the age of 16 and I didn’t excel at school, in fact I got an E in Art. It took me to my forties to realise I’m any good at Art.
I grew up on a diet of movies in the eighties such as video nasties thanks to having older brothers. I feel my love of movies, TV shows and documentaries informed my viewpoint of the world.
Throughout the years I have embraced more arthouse indie films that have informed my thinking and influenced my practice; cultural milestones that have opened my mind to alternative approaches ideal for the world of Fine Art.
I view watching movies and documentaries as part of my research and to recognise a director’s oeuvre and intent to a subject as part of my process for learning.
As well as movies comic books have had a major influence on my life and my perception of the world. They have introduced me to narratives and concepts that encapsulate the world illustrated by some of the finest artists. I have a letterboxd account which I update and review whenever possible https://letterboxd.com/Rustyjudas/films/diary/
Art has always informed the medium of comic books, a good example is Herge(1) including a black panel in his strip Tintin in the land of the Soviets referencing Malevich’s black square.
Herge the creator of Tintin was a fan of modern art and his last unpublished book Alph-art was to be about this subject.
There are always references found throughout his ouvre.
I am a big fan of Herge and his minimalist cartoon style which has influenced artists such as Pete McKee and myself with my Trainspotting/Tintin mash-up.
Using Procreate a digital painting app I drew the images of the innocent and pure Tintin and Captain Haddock as Trainspotting characters.
Pete McKee was influenced by a single image in Tintin and the land of black gold of a petrol pump, he was so impressed by the minimalist approach of Herge it inspired him to utilise a spare style of simplicity. I have myself paid homage to McKee with my version of my parents drawn in his inimitable style.
As well as movies comics play a huge part in my research, I grew up on a diet of British comics most notably the publication 2000 A.D. a weekly comic with different strips.
Pertinent issues of the time and still relevant now were addressed in these comic panels such as bigotry, fascism and warfare.
One such strip was entitled Nemesis the warlock about an alien fleeing the persecution of humans and addressing the real life atrocities of human history which puts you as the reader firmly in the aliens’ camp creating empathy. for their plight A cartoon panel where one of the inquisitors is spitting vitriol in response to freckled people is a good example of the mindless bigotry inherent in society to be satirised.
My all-time favourite character is an unconventional one by traditional standards, it is The Ballad of Halo Jones created by Alan Moore.
A female centric story of someone who isn’t special but just wants to get out of a literal hoop of unemployment and see the galaxy.
Ultimately, she finds employment in a luxury star cruiser and becomes a soldier in an intergalactic conflict.
Halo Jones even addressed gender dysmorphia in 1985 and was prescient and sympathetic to gender and identity politics which to this day has divided and created a schism within the LGBT community. This sample from the comic highlights the depersonalisation and the feeling of invisibility such a condition could cause in a world unadjusted to gender politics.
Literature has had a huge influence on my practice reading about art history and black history through authors such as David Olusuga.
I grew up on authors such as Roald Dahl and progressed onto Stephen King and then finally moving onto authors such as Charles Bukowski an American writer, poet and novelist whose work addresses the lowlifes, alcohol, women and working menial jobs.
Post office gave my experiences a poetic voice, a chance to make the mundane into something beautiful.
There are many authors who have had a profound effect on me such as Elizabeth Wurtzel’s writings on feminism and depression in Prozac Nation.
Kurt Vonnegut is another author who has had a profound effect on me with his humanist and humorous satire on the human condition informed by his survival of the Dresden bombing.
Kurt Vonnegut is an American author who writes darkly humorous novels with an antiwar message and science fiction elements.
One of his many quotes that I like is “I am a humanist, which means in part, that I have tried to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishments after I am dead.”
Music has been part of my research and methodology and are intrinsically linked. My interest in the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers helped bridge the elements between art, literature and music which continues to this day. Their commentary on modernity and political sloganeering was a huge influence. I have an account on Goodreads which I update every time I read a book or new comic book https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/27707239-russell-jones.
I was introduced to Jenny Saville who is one of my favourite artists a British painter whose paintings adorned two of the album covers by the Manic Street Preachers. Jenny Saville depicts human forms applied in heavy layers of oil https://russelljonesblog.com/artist-reseacrh/
My Bachelor’s degree show concerned itself with the content of their seminal third album The Holy Bible.
https://russelljonesblog.com/research-on-manic-street-preachers/ This link will take you to my extensive research regarding that subject plus the artworks that were created.
I archive every gig I have been to including venue, setlist, who I attended the gig with often with an illustration in a sketch book and updated on my rateyourmusic account https://rateyourmusic.com/list/rustyjudas/bands_i_have_seen_live/ and Songkick https://www.songkick.com/users/russell-jones-1.
For my BA degree show I focused on making art for every track on the album The Holy Bible.
Using procreate and the band’s lyrics I conjured up thirteen images which I am extremely proud of.
Harmony Korine is an American filmmaker, artist and writer whose work delves into unconventional narratives and dysfunctional families.
I was introduced to his work in 1996 watching Gummo a non-linear collection of vignettes of Americana.
David Lynch an auteur of the weird and wonderful was an American filmmaker, artist and musician who sadly passed away this year.
His surrealist and dreamlike logic combining the darkest and lightest of human nature fascinates and delights.
I visit exhibitions and galleries weekly even more so since I started this art course.
I have also been involved in the curation of an exhibition at Brown St entitled Occurrence with Anton Hecht a lecturer from Sheffield Hallam and a friend.
I attend weekly lectures entitled Transmission https://russelljonesblog.com/transmission-2023-2024/ which I have been introduced to some fantastic and talented individuals, my favourite being Conor Rogers an award-winning Sheffield based artist.
His work explores storytelling from a working-class perspective. His canvases are found objects such as a betting slip and his subjects are the everyday people we see in such establishments.
All the artists I have mentioned whether they’re from mediums I have sought or from institutions have one thing in common they all provide a framework and context to work from.
My work tends to focus on shifting politics, film and media and the role of art in a digital era.
Digital art has allowed me to flex my skillset, work fast and adopt montage, text and photography.
Procreate, Indesign enabled me to create my own art book featuring my digital works which I have for sale at the independent cinema that I work in.
Artists that have had an impact are Daniel Halksworth, Raymond Pettibon, Pete McKee, Stanley Donwood, Ellie Kammer, Sean Williams, Vivian Meier, Willard Wiggan and David Lynch.
My making process is to isolate an idea and then work out how I can execute that idea. Recently I saw a film called The Zone of Interest a film that deals with the affectionless psychopathy of a German family living adjacent to a concentration camp based on actual facts.
A still from the movie portraying an idyllic scene of the family in the garden oblivious or unconcerned with the misery surrounding them complicit in a regime’s ideology.
This fascinates me and repulses me in equal measure and I drew a thumbnail of an isometric viewpoint popular in computer games like The Sims.
I replicated the idea by using procreate to illustrate the scene in my head to fruition.
For the Test Bed an experimental exhibition amongst peers I focused on male-on-male violence resurrecting an old photo from when I was assaulted which I needn’t have done as I was assaulted on 22nd December in McDonald’s. I did get an up-to-date reference photo(not an ideal way of gathering research material).
I carried on with my project concerning itself with male violence.
I had begun a picture using pastel pencils which I used for my test bed exhibition.
This test bed was in Yorkshire Art Space and we had three days to install our work, to experiment and work with each other.
Six artists were in the space.
I occupied the corner with the concrete wall.
I used my boxing gear to create an installation and my oil painting and pastel picture as the examples of art.
I liked the happy accidents such as the red string on the gloves and the haiku I wrote for the easel.
I work in an independent cinema which is invaluable for research purposes. I have access to free cinema where I can watch documentaries and world cinema.
The Showroom prides itself on diversity and inclusion and is a cultural hub for the arts which is ideal for networking.
Films are screened regularly on diverse issues such as LGBT, Palestine, Black lives matter and feminism et al. and all contribute and inform my art practice and research.
I document my practice on my website and on Instagram respectively. https://russelljonesblog.com/blog/ and https://www.instagram.com/rustamatic2.0/
I archive what I read on the site Goodreads and what I listen to on Rateyourmusic.
As well as an online presence I have a physical collection of books, Blu-rays, comics.
I stream Mubi and Netflix and keep sketch books and portfolios of my work including the aforementioned art book.
I would like to continue to push my work and try new mediums whilst keeping one foot in the digital world for its ease.
I like scenes of people in domestic environments of people eating in mid-discussion or sometimes solitary such as my latest picture of Jeanne Dielman.
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles directed by Chantal Akerman is a seventies movie which has a feminist outlook on the role of women in movies.
I found the film fascinating in its endurance of boredom in a domestic setting.
My artworks are often imbibed with some macabre humour which downplays the darker elements.
I am influenced by Dadaist surrealism which led to leftfield artists such as Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
Again dark comedy plays it part with the fantastic humour of The League of Gentlemen.
I like to explore and expose artists and introduce them to a different audience which I had the chance to do when I had a Showroom Spotlight where I chose Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract and introduced it.
My degree show is coming up and I want to have a retrospective of the Angry Spectrum digital book with some current digital works.
Question and answers
I presented on the 8th of May and it went very well.
Penny asked if I was going to use the presentation and use it in a book form.
My original intention was to create a comic book/pamphlet.
Col enquired if I was interested in animation instead of just film stills and I said that I was but I was aware of how time consuming and referenced Anna-May’s work (a fellow colleague).
Andrew gave an observation that I didn’t include any of my pastel work in my presentation and I guess I feel that medium doesn’t represent me at the moment especially coming up to my degree show.
Bibliography (in order of appearance in text)
1 Michael Farr: Tintin the complete guide. A fully illustrated guide to the world-famous comic character Tintin and his creator Herge. This well-researched and gorgeously presented overview follows Tintin through the 23 titles of the complete series.
2 Trainspotting 1996 directed by Danny Boyle
3 Pete McKee https://www.petemckee.com/ Sheffield-based artist
4 2000 A.D. British comic https://2000ad.com/
5 Nemesis the Warlock created by Pat Mills https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_the_Warlock
6 The ballad of Halo Jones created by Alan Moore
https://2000ad.com/news/tag/halo-jones/
7 David Olusuga OBE is a British-Nigerian historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter, and filmmaker who has made significant contributions to public understanding of Black British history and the legacy of the British Empire. https://www.blackheroesfoundation.org/people/david-olusoga/
8 Roald Dahl British writer https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roald-Dahl
9 Stephen King American writer https://stephenking.com/
10. Charles Bukowski American novelist https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Bukowski
11 Elizabeth Wurtzel American writer https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20200108-elizabeth-wurtzel-the-shocking-writer-who-defined-gen-x
12 Kurt Vonnegut American author/satirist https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kurt-Vonnegut
13 Jenny Saville British painter https://gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/
14 Manic Street Preachers Welsh band https://www.manicstreetpreachers.com/
15 Harmony Korine American director https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/harmony-korine-movie-guide/
16 David Lynch https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Lynch-American-director-and-screenwriter
17 Daniel Halksworth https://danielhalksworth.com/
18 Raymond Pettibon https://www.artnet.com/artists/raymond-pettibon/
19 Stanley Donwood https://www.slowlydownward.com/
20 Ellie Kammer https://www.huckmag.com/article/pain-every-minute-artist-showing-world-endometriosis
21 Sean Williams https://www.contemporarybritishpainting.com/sean-williams/
22. Vivian Meier https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vivian-Maier
23. Willard Wigan https://www.thewiganfoundation.com/willard-wigan-mbe
24. The zone of interest written by Martin Amis and adapted to the screen by director Jonathan Glazer https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230520-the-zone-of-interest-review-from-cannes-five-stars-for-jonathan-glazers-holocaust-masterpiece
25. Jeanne Dielman directed by Chantal Akerman https://www.criterion.com/films/302-jeanne-dielman-23-quai-du-commerce-1080-bruxelles
List of sites used
Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/Rustyjudas/films/diary/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rustamatic2.0/
Rusty’s artwerk https://russelljonesblog.com/artist-statement/
Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com/user/show/27707239-russell-jones
Songkick https://www.songkick.com/users/russell-jones-1
Rateyourmusic https://rateyourmusic.com/~rustyjudas
Rusty'sArtWerk 