Jairus Tonel

I'd like to introduce you to my pal Jairus Tonel.

Jairus, these are my friends;
Friends, this is Jairus.

Jairus and I met in 2005, because we were in the "I.Y.D.M.I.D.Y" show together.
Here's the flier for that show.
See us?



Jairus is one of my favorite Sacramento artists, and if my calculations are correct, he'll be remembered in what Duchamp calls "the posterity of important art".
(I know how pretentious it is to quote Duchamp)

Anyway, Jairus is a Manchester United fan, but don't hold it against him.
You'll see how cool he is.
Trust me.



(Sparkies For Breakfast
24in x 24in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)



Anyway, this is word-for-word a conversation that we had via email a week or so ago.
I'm in bold and he's in italic.

Hey
I wanna interview you for my blog
are you down?

Yeah I'm totally up for it .
How did you want to this?
Email, phone, over drinks.

Let me know dawg.

(Flower Drum Song
12in x 12in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)

email is probably best, right?
that way you can delete anything that you didn't mean to say.
maybe we should get a beer though, to celebrate when the interview is over.

You seem to incorporate a lot of vintage icons and old advertisements in your art. Does this have a particular meaning for you, or a particular place in your heart, or is it strictly visual?

I've always liked illustrations that would fill magazines from the 1940s up to the 1950s.
During that time many magazines were just predominately black and white.
So, at that time in order to get your point across via adverts many illustrators used line weights, odd ball looking characters and typography—and, I really enjoy that.

Presently, adverts are just splashed with colours and nonsense that you forget what product you're trying to buy into.
Just the other day I saw an advert with a black women breast feeding a white baby, and for a second there I was to believe that the advertisement was focusing interracial mating.
But, in actuality it was an advert for a clothing line called The United Colors of Benneton—some piss posh shop.

But to answer your question, they do have a lot of meaning for me and in the same sense are strictly visual.
I channel most of my sadistic comedy into my paintings in a very light hearted way and what better way to compose them than some fucked up and cooky looking advert. People are already aquaint to consuming them—why not.

Most of those images and icons you see in my work are just basic ideas and then I like to see how far I can twist them.
Sure, it may be a bit cartoonish, a bit Disney meets Gacy the Serial Killer Clown, but if you get a kick out of it, then my job is done and we can both laugh together tinker around a glass of scotch single malt—the older the better—and come up with more stupid ideas


(Captain Evil
24in x 24in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)

I've noticed that you use a lot of text in your work as well. Could you talk about that?
Where does the text come from? I've always been told that text is to art what salt is too cooking (a little is great, but too much and it's uneatable) yet you seem to really incorporate it well, and it really works for you.

You know I've never actually heard that saying before, but I like it.


When I was younger one of my first jobs I had was a sign painter.
You know, one of those guys who would paint "sale" signs and "bargain" deals on mom and pop shops around town.
I think I was 17 or 18 at the time.
I didn't want a "real" job, but I wanted something that paid me well and good—and you would be surprised how much those guys make now a days.


So, that experience got me into typography and that lead me to Emigre and that lead me to more typography related books, magazines, et al.
Then, I started drawing my own typefaces; which included the entire alphabet, numbers, ligatures and variants of the same typeface—bold, italic, etc.


The larger text, or what some of my friend's call "headlines", of my paintings are typefaces I've drawn and collected over the years and just reuse them.

The text also serves as another form of shape, line, contour, and negative space for my paintings.


I'm glad you think they work well, because at times I think I've just gone over board hahah.

(Salute Your Toast
12in x 12in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)

So would you say that you're as careful about content, or meaning of the text as you are with the typography?

I would say so.
I think everyone needs to be careful and thoughtful about what they present and put on canvas/paper/et al...

You are, after all, sharing a bit of yourself to the world when you put pen to paper.
To not be careful and thoughtful of the content, to me, is to not care about your work and the people that would like to enjoy it.

Painting to paint is far different than painting to paint with no motive.

(Yew Stoopid Dummy
24in x 24in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)

1. as an artist in Sacramento, can you describe the scene here?
2. who are the three best artists that no one had ever heard of?
3. if crepeville had a "Jairus" what would be in it?

01. You know, I don't go out too much but when I first moved here I met a lot of great people who were and are still in the art world. A lot of them are my friends today—including you. What I have noticed from time to time, when I set a day to leave the house, is how Sacramento can easily accept new styles once it is spotlighted.
When I first moved here stenciling was nowhere near what it is now in Sacramento, but it slowly became another medium for people to exercise. What I have also noticed is that more and more of the audience is willing to accept this new wave of art. Almost to the same effect as when neo-expressionism first came out. The audience had no idea how to react, but slowly and surely they came to accept it. Now a Basquiat painting can go for well over $10 million, before they wouldn't even spare to leak change in a cup for him.


02. My Dad, My Mom and Penelope Magnussen.

03. You're going to have to elaborate more on this question haha. At first I thought it read creepville. haha.

(Rot, Ok?
12in x 12in
Mixed Media on Wood Panel)