#jay kaes

[moon-sun-thyme]

sociopolitical art at its finest

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[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🎨 Sat 11 Jan 🎦

A Walls wall!

Louis' livestream happened! We got ready, we tuned in, we waited a long time past 8 for it to start and at last it opened to show...a wall. Which is fitting and all and Louis did tell us "when I say wall I just mean a wall mate" and it was a wall with a sketched out painting of Louis' face on it but still... just a wall. With nothing happening. Would you like me to hurry up and get to the point well TOO BAD I spent an hour watching primer get swabbed on a wall if I want to honor the spirit of Louis' Warhol-esque performance art stream in my writing I WILL! Anyway eventually the mysterious primer paint rolling figure who had emerged at the wall got out some spray paint and got down to business, beginning the process of filling in Louis' portrait with color and detail, but I would like you to know that the stream was already trending globally while it was seriously still just thousands of people watching paint dry (and making memes about Louis being like I bet I can make them watch a stream of paint drying). But over time the little excitements (delivery van conflict! Guy with no pants on! Identification of the artist!) gave way to the bigger thrills of the art really developing into something beautiful, the Walls track list being revealed as it was painted on one letter at a time (and simultaneously through single title location specific Snapchat filters but it ended up being pieced together from the livestream first) and Louis himself showing up! Anyway, to finally skip ahead a bit, the finished product is just, CHEF'S KISS, it's so gorgeous and I want a poster of it. Yep, it's just a big ol painting of Louis' gorgeous face with a huge ass rainbow splashed out as a backdrop and no other graphics to muddy it up. Clearly Louis had heard what everyone was saying about the rainbows in his pre-show video and on the WMI artwork and on his shirts and was like, as a very Heterosexual Straight Man I need to take control of this narrative and shut these misguided freaks up... heyyy wait. He didn't do that! Instead he commissioned an artist whose signature style is big swoopy rainbows and had them paint his face with no extra adornment other than a giant, yes I'm going to say that word yet again, rainbow. Interesting choice!

Anyway so yes, the track list! Everything is on there! The only song we were told would be on the album that isn't is the new version of Just Hold On, which was available briefly as a vinyl single but sold out quickly but will possibly be an extra track with some versions of the album, and there are five whole songs we haven't heard at all, OMG. Well 'we' excluding the lucky listening party people, and soon there will be a few more of those people- at least one more listening party is coming, in London next week.

Obviously topping the surreality of an artistically challenging six hour livestream experience like we had today is difficult to do but the mysterious quantity of driving Niall and Mully (they seem to have shed some companions) are doing through parts unknown does have a trippy kind of liminal vibe viewed from outside. Today they're somewhere cold, they drove hours and hours again it seems, they went on a nine mile hike, and Niall says they're going "all over the place."

Liam, not the type for artsy weirdness, was characteristically more straightforward today: he performed at the Brit awards nomination launch! He says his plans for this year are to take some time off then get started on LP2.

Harry absolutely does go in for artsy weirdness, of course, but sadly he kept that to himself today. His name came up though: he was nominated for two Brits! He's up for best male solo artist and album of the year. Neither are fan voted so the outcome is out of our hands, and somewhat less easily predicted.

Possibly this last item could have been predicted by some though: Zayn was photographed arm in arm with Gigi in New York tonight. Big zews to be sure but imo his quilted jacket kind of steals the show.

[dailytomlinson]

You can vote for Louis’ mural on Street Art Cities Instagram story - 29.01

[stuffwotidone]

JAY KAES ( @jaykaes ), RMGW.

Brick Lane, London.

[impermanent-art]

Jay Kaes in Los Angeles.

[dimensionsvelo]

The Art Of Cycling × Jay Kaes, un Look 795 Blade RS au Mondrian revisité

L’artiste espagnol de Street-Art Jay Kaes a élaboré une décoration pour 50 Look 795 Blade RS. Une série limitée qui joue avec les couleurs originelles de la marque. Plutôt réussi non ? Effectuée lors de l’évènement londonien Rouleur Live 2024, la performance The Art Of Cycling × Jay Kaes débouche sur une série limitée de 50 kits cadre décorés à la main par l’artiste. Lors de la manifestation,…

The Art Of Cycling × Jay Kaes, un Look 795 Blade RS au Mondrian revisité

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

What do you think about people saying it's not an actual rainbow but a tv color test because the colors' order is different?

I’m making a circuitous post about art— I have a few thoughts about it but in general I agree with @larents’ post.

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I made this post about Louis’ choice of artist and location yesterday.

The artist, Jay Kaes, answered an interview question about the use of multicolors: The use of multicolors, which is what was done in the mural of the building of Carlos Picabea, has to do with integration and tolerance...

Looking at Jay’s art, I see specific instances when color is used in a rainbow spectrum, when it is used (as in Louis’ art) in a non-rainbow spectrum, and when there is multicolors without any implication of the spectrum.

Rainbow:

Non-rainbow spectrum:

Multicolors without a spectrum:

Now compare these murals with Louis’ :

Like you say, the colors are not a true rainbow. They are similar to non-rainbow spectrums that Jay has done, and incorporate the black and white lines that he’s done in the other art. Let’s take a closer look at Louis’ face.

The use of color around Louis’ face is subtle— the multicolors are not overwhelming, but they frame him, as do the black and white lines. The multiple colors and the idea of a spectrum are subtle but unmistakable.

The effect of the framing is to zoom our attention to his face. Check out the use of color and lines on the other artwork— they also draw attention to the most expressive part of the faces.

The color spectrum around Louis’ face is separated by black and white lines. The lines are suggestive of piano keys and prison bars: both evocative of Louis’ personal history, as well as the semantics behind Walls. What the visual design allows us to do is use our imagination to extend the portrait outward. The drawing itself doesn’t end at the black and white lines. As @currently-amazing pointed out to me yesterday, Louis’ lower lip and beard visually extend under the black and white bars. We can see a trace outline of his lip and the barbs of his beard. Underneath the prison bars, the same Louis that was always there is still there. He is still there. Do you see how the blue color above and below Louis also follow his portrait? On top, blue follows the shape of his hair, and on the bottom, his collar. Beyond the color spectrum on top, we see an outline of his hair again. The “blue” and the color spectrum are not separate from him, and neither are the black and white bars: they are part of him.

@currently-amazing directed me to this sculpture of Nelson Mandela by Marco Cianfanelli in South Africa, erected 50 years later at the place where he was arrested by apartheid police.

The sculpture is made from 50 separate metal posts, and looks like this from close up:

A certain perspective is needed to see the entire sculpture:

A certain perspective is also necessary to see Louis’ art entirely. Both the art and the intentions behind the art are beautifully layered, with brilliant sophistication.

Louis’ art is an advertisement for his album, but the album itself is a declaration— a rebellion, one might even say— against the mold that he has been cast in.

Louis’ public persona is often depicted by media as narrow-minded, homophobic, unintelligent, from a lower socioeconomic class, uncultured, drunken/ slovenly/ vulgar/ drug-using (“headlines I can’t stand”). He is often contrasted with other boys from the band in this fashion, and his own PR (Simon Jones PR, Syco PR) has done little to counter the image.

However, from Louis’ choice of media (free livestream) to his choice of artist, to the selection of location (Brick Lane), to the depiction of the art (rendered from Ryan Saradjola’s photo but with key modifications), to his brilliant choice of album title, to the titles of each song, and to the song lyrics themselves, Louis is meticulous in refuting this image and reclaiming his own tolerance and representation, with his trademark humor and humanity.

So I would say the art is about much more than a “true rainbow” or Louis’ sexuality, although that’s a part of it. I know fans want him to pick up a rainbow flag on stage, but I hope I’ve made the point that that is a very narrow way to view what Louis has done with his career and his presentation.

The multicolor artwork falls into the many ways Louis has shown his support for tolerance and identification with Pride in the past— too many to count. The choice is consistently toward tolerance, for LGBT support and identification, but done in ways that are subtle and plausibly deniable. It is always done with true love and without shame.

Louis’ choices show his perfectionism and complexity as a creative artist, his intelligence and self-awareness. He is in control of his own destiny and communicates love on his journey. His message is one of tolerance and inclusion, and — make no mistake— of pride. In every important way.

[longlistshort]

For more of Jay Kaes work, check out his website and Instagram