Sears stays punk, despite Jackson

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Scott Sears moved to Jackson Hole from British Columbia this summer with his 8-year-old son Cedar, taking up residence in the U.S. for the first time in 25 years.

He brings with him art informed by 15 years as a London punk, five years living in India and several more years making sets for Hollywood movies and large-scale sculptures for festivals. Recently, as the Jackson cold keeps him from working on large sculptures, he started dabbling with spray paint stencils.

His first series are six spray enamel stencils of musicians and cultural icons hanging at Full Circle Gallery and Frame shop including images of Bob Marley, Sid Vicious, Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash. The subjects appear the way the leader of a revolution would in propaganda posters, and below the images are the words “Viva la Muerte.”

“These are people that begged the world to think a little bit differently,” Sears said about the subjects of his first series. “They are my heroes.”

Punk rockers like the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious and The Clash’s Joe Strummer loosened their culture’s grip on long-clenched inhibitions. Their potent style and political message were the motivation for Sears to get out of Florida at the age of 18, where he said he’d wind up listening to Lyndrd Skynrd and being ineffectual if he had never left for art school in London.

There, Sears was quickly swept away by the punk movement. It was more interesting and challenging than school, he said, and also paid money – he would design posters for rock shows and also participated in some clandestine art projects with fellow students that helped contribute to political causes. He joined squatter groups and helped figure out how to stage multi-year squats.

“It was all artists [who were squatting] because artists were always broke and homeless,” Sears said.
Back then he made art using scissors and a Xerox machine, and always had a sharpie on him.

And though “Viva la Muerte” is steeped in Sears’ punk roots, the subject matter comes from the mild side of his mind. Sears said small-town Jackson might be a little tame for some of the more cynical and humorous commentary that art can make. At his home, a flourescent stencil of Pablo Escobar dressed as Willy Wonka (titled “Candyman”) leaned up against the house. Inside was a large stencil of Barak Obama dressed as Jesus in a white robe. There might be coins dripping from his hands someday.

“I feel bad for the guy,” Sears said about Obama. “A lot of people have put a lot of pressure on him. I think it’s time for the world to solve their own shit instead of looking for a savior.”

For his own part, Sears said he’s trying to make a little money with art in a time when money is scarce. That is one reason Sears found stenciling to be such a perfect fit during tough economic times after several members of Jackson’s art community re-introduced the medium to him when he arrived in Jackson – they are simple to make and often utilize recycled materials.

To make the stencils he first found an image on Google, projected it onto paper and drew the tones freehand. Then he cut the stencils – using skills he learned as a kid making signs - and selected a color for each tone.

Though 25 years of experience in commercial art give Sears a special knack for creating this kind of art,  Sears thinks everyone should grab a razor blade, some cardboard, spray paint and a surface to do it on.

He said the alleyways in Jackson could hold good artwork, and he and a couple of other artists have permission to make a large mural that will be appearing on a business’ wall in the next few weeks.

His goal is to run a nonprofit to teach kids how to make graffiti art and posts their work on the outside of businesses in alleys. In his travels around India and South America he said graffiti walls are like “third-world message boards,” and he thinks Jackson could benefit from a space that didn’t restrict its citizens’ freedom of expression. PJH

“Viva la Muerte” will hang at Full Circle Frameworks and Gallery, 345 N. Glenwood, until March 11.

"Frank Zappa" by Scott Sears

PERMALINK:
Sears stays punk, despite Jackson | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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