Art News
The Art of Music: How artists find inspiration from an alternative art form
As part of our Global Online Studios initiative, we’re getting to know our artists a little better each week. This week, we’re exploring the relationship between music and art. We’ve asked six of our Fair artists from around the world to talk us through the influence a particular musical artist has had on their work, and how music inspires their practice in general.
Steve Salo, Sydney
Steve in his studio in Geelong.
Who is your favourite musical artist?
Nick Cave
Why in particular do you like this artist?
Nick Cave’s voice and lyrics touch me deeply and connect me more closely to myself and my subject when I paint. His communication of grief and pain, hope and love, has the power to free the mind and connect us to humanity.
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
My boldest and most experimental paintings have been created listening to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I also love Lisa Gerrard, she created her own language to sing in and this combined with her incredible voice can portray any emotion. My connection to them feels so strong that my brush stokes often follow their music. The art comes from the soul rather than the conscious mind.
Vicky Barranguet, Brooklyn
Who is your favourite musical artist?
Gustavo Casenave
Gustavo Casenave is a very passionate composer and performer, great person, optimistic, inspiring, my best friend and my husband! His music has inspired my painting (and life) from the beginning. The fusion of styles, jazz, tango, classical in his composition, guides the movement and rhythm of my art.
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
I paint to music and emotions! Right now emotions are pretty surreal… wishing all health, peace, music, colors and love through these hard times!
Justin Robertson, London
Who is your favourite musical artist?
It’s almost impossible to pick a musical hero for me, it changes everyday, but if i had to pick one artist who has influenced the way I make music as well as providing hours of out of body experiences, I’d have to go for Osbourne Ruddock aka King Tubby.
Why in particular do you like this artist?
King Tubby could make electricity dance, he bends the frequencies into improbable shapes, and always leaves an infinite space for the sound to wander about in.
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
I am self taught as both a musician and artist, and that gives me a certain freedom to experiment and grow in unpredictable ways. A dose of chaos is often good for the soul.
Amy Stone, Chicago
Who is your favourite musical artist?
John Prine
Why in particular do you like this artist?
I love John Prine’s music. Clay Pigeons came on randomly after one of my spotify playlists and I could not stop listening to it for days. I needed the words, they kept reminding me that I needed my art practice.
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
I have always been inspired by words, but haven’t always been able to get my thoughts down on paper, at least not eloquently. That is where art has taken over for me. I talk about music a lot because many of my paintings are inspired by this other beautiful art form.
Steve Spencer, Dallas
Steve in his studio in Little Rock.
Who is your favourite musical artist?
Earth, Wind and Fire
Why in particular do you like this artist?
“The color of the horns, the bite of the guitars, the brilliant textures, the drums percolating and Verdine’s bass pushing the whole thing forward. The voices of Maurice White and Phillip Bailey. As Miles Davis put it, “They’ve got everything,”
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
I have synesthesia. I hear colors and feel rhythms in visual design. When I started painting I made conveying music through visuals a priority. I find or create rhythms in the subject matter. I work through a piece of art striving to end up with a color balance that sings to me. My paintings are music on a flat surface. To me anyway. Given this sonic orientation I shouldn’t be surprised that I find myself using musicians as the text of my work, not just the subtext.
Last summer Google invited me to create the visuals for a Google Doodle celebrating B.B. King. When we shot the behind-the-scenes video I got to poke around Memphis with the art directors and find out why they chose me, specifically. They told me that they HEARD music when they scanned my online portfolio. And that every other department member they forwarded the images to made the same observation. I was floored.
Priyanka Mac, Los Angeles
Who is your favourite musical artist?
Thievery Corporation
Why in particular do you like this artist?
Thievery Corporation is my favorite music group because they are two DJs/composers who bring so many different sounds and elements together that resonate with me. Their music hits that spot in my soul, which ends up pouring into my art.
How does music in general inspire or influence your work?
Music is very influential in my art as it can take you back to a moment in history and make you feel the experience all over again. I try to put those same feelings on a canvas, so that when one sees the painting it can have the same effect as music and evoke the same emotions or maybe even new ones.
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