Planet Of 'The Drawing Ape'

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
By Midori McSwain

Catching up with Detroit's own James Grady, 20, a.k.a JEscobar, a.k.a "The Drawing Ape." The School Of Art Institute of Chicago student who's unique hip-h(p)op culture-meets-fashion-meets-anime artwork is catching mad glimpses from the street up. Here's what he had to say about art, his influences, style and Batman.

When did you first pick up a paintbrush?

1994 in Ms.Rhodes' art class at Vandenberg Elementary school, then I went back to drawing, retired from painting for 13 years. Back in '92 or '93, I just got done watching Batman, and was about start jumping around the house until my grandmother stopped me, and she drew me a picture of Batman. I thought the picture was amazing, so I asked her to show me how she made this "magic," and once I learned you couldn't stop me from drawing. I loved drawing so much that some times to punish me my mom wouldn't let me draw, so she'd take away my pencil and paper for a day. When I was 12 or 13, my uncle Derrick looked at my art, and said it was amazing, but it'd be better if it were in pen; I haven't drawn in pencil since.

How would you describe the art you do now?

As of lately, my work has been inspired by childhood memories (good and bad), personal experiences, social-political news, and vicarious experiences from stories of my peers. I've been using contemporary pop references to help me tell stories, and I've been giving "substance" equal and some times more value than "style" in my work.

Who/what are your influences?

My biggest influence would be my Mother, love you mom. Pop art, urban art, surrealism, abstraction (non-objective and expressionism), music, retro videogames, anime, and fashion have directly influenced my art. Artists who have inspired me would include: Amy Sol, Jeff Soto, Chiho Aoshima, David Flores, Ben Frost, and Takashi Murakami. Music artists who have inspired me would include: Detroit rapper Khary "WAE" Frazier, C.R.S., Michael Jackson, Prince, Nas, and Jay-Z. I listen to a lot music, I tried to stay away from rap music for this show though. I listened to a lot of Prince, Death From Above 1979, Chromeo, and Michael Jackson. I did this because the work in the first show was heavily hip-hop inspired, and I just wanted to venture into the rock and electronica realms of music.

What sets you apart from other artists?

I'd like to say my charm and dashing good looks separate me from other artist, so yea, I'll stick with that answer. I can't say I'm better than any other artist nor am I trying to be; I've always been competitive with myself, I want to outdo myself each and every time I produce a piece of art. In all honesty, I want to be the Michael Jackson of art. Not in the sense where I'm some "larger than life" character, but I admire his ambition and dedication to his craft (music/dance.) In the music and entertainment business he rose the bar so high that he become the bar, and he was crowned the King; I'm 99.9% sure I won't be "king," but I'm going to keep pushing myself to and beyond the limit, try to be innovative and relevant with the style of art I choose to make. I'm just going to continue being hard on myself, and give my best effort every time I make something; I give myself headaches ... ha.

How many art shows have you done?

I've done three art shows. In the summer of 2007 I was involved in two group exhibitions in Chicago, and 100% of the funds were donated to refugee aid in Darfur and D.R. Congo through the International Rescue Committee. January 12th, 2008 was my first solo art exhibition, and that was held at REVIVE in downtown Birmingham.

What separates this art show (Pretty Ugly) from your last one?

Well, the first show, Teriyaki Tokyo was the first time I used the character "Astroboy James," and it was just an introduction, it was me saying, "hello Michigan, I paint and I draw." 6 months later, I'm more experienced with painting, the concepts are stronger/bolder, and I've just grown. I'm no longer being "polite" to my audience; I'm just going to flat out control the viewers. I envision the show and my art acting as television or other devices where "media" can be received. Television controls people by bombarding them with information until they lose their sense of reality. They become vulnerable, and begin to imitate what's being embedded in their subconscious through this simulated reality or rather television/radio, but in my case art. For example, a McDonald's commercial advertises a "new, delicious, and improved" Big Mac hamburger for just 99 cent, and people buy that burger because they were told it's new, delicious, and improved, but they don't think about how unhealthy the burger is because the consequences aren't advertised, and the company knows the consequences but they disguise it with positive adjectives such as delicious and improved. For the show, I'm the company, and I make the art…the images are "pretty," the messages behind them are "ugly," but the ugliness or rather the message is disguised behind the "pretty image."

Why "Pretty Ugly"?

Originally, the show was going to be called "Sushi Sunshine," and that was going to be the playful follow up to "Teriyaki Tokyo." Then as I did work, and realized how serious some of the messages were I knew that the title of the show was too playful to suite the substance of my work, so I got rid of "Sushi Sunshine." A few weeks had gone by, and the show still had no title, but I knew I wanted an oxymoronic title with a lasting impression. Then I went online, and talked to my two fashion line co-workers from Oregon (Elton Sherman and Phillip Nguyen), and realized the title of my show was sitting right under my nose…it was the title of our clothing line, "PRETTY UGLY." It was perfect, pretty images with ugly messages.

Why at Revive?

Back in the fall, I was talking to my older cousin, Michael about how when I came back to Michigan I was going to talk to a few stores to see if I could display art in their store and/or have a show. Then Aaron Cohen, owner of Revive, had contacted me through myspace.com because he liked my work, and asked if I wanted to display some stuff in his store. Winter break came, I walk in there, and said "hey, would you be down for a show?" He said yea, and the first show turned out to be a success, so we were like we have to do one more the show for the summer. I don't think I'm going to do a winter show because I want to collect one year's worth of art, and have a Summer 2009 show…I want to get Burn Rubber, Revive, and Motivation sneaker & streetwear boutiques to sponsor that show…If I can, then that's going to be big. The '09 show will feature a lot of collaboration work between my older cousin, Michael Willingham and me.

Describe your fashion sense.

As of late, it's been a combination of high-end fashion juxtaposed with urban/streetwear, the two types of fashion draw a bit of comparison and contrast, and compliment each nicely, so I'll stick with that until I hit 30, and have to start dressing like "agent smith."

And your favorite things to wear ...

Tee shirt, jeans, Gloomy Bear Claw, and Air Jordan sneakers. This year I think I may start wearing Rittenhouse, Fred Perry, and Comme des Garcons because I love what those brands have been putting out so far this year.

To check what Grady's putting out this year, drop by REVIVE (383 Hamilton Row Birmingham, MI) Saturday, July 12 from 7 - 11:15 p.m. for his solo art show. For more on Grady, peep his blog.