Many artists, writers, and singers have been inspired by an individual whom they refer to as their own muse. Think of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz, Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman. Or think of the women behind Pablo Picasso’s creativity.
Truly, the artist-muse relationship is intense, intuitive and intricate, like an intimate, platonic love. Here painter Req talks about his new exhibition London Muse at Cre8 Gallery, which is a celebration of his own source of inspiration and creativity Coco Kolè.
Q. You started your career in the ‘80s, working mainly as a graffiti artist. How have you and your work evolved and changed during these years?
A. Well during those early years, in the 80s, my artistic motivations were quite different. It was desirable to me then to be part of a subculture that was new and cool. I refer to the NY graffiti movement. It was in fact just a formula for expression but the connotations were of a kind of rebellious romanticism.
I remember thinking of Hong Kong Phooey, the animated children’s program character who was a ‘mild mannered janitor’ by day and became a superhero at night. The double life part was interesting to me as was the design of the lettering. I was never much of a ‘bad boy’ artist or want to be seen as that because I had already built up some skill in art and didn’t feel the need to prove myself in that way.
In this era of my life I’ve left that all behind. I see it as a phase necessary for my development though but eventually the style restricted me too much. Also I felt that graffiti was by boys for boys and that became an extremely dull and tedious proposition for me. So I gave it up.
My motivation now is my Muse and the attempt to capture her unique beauty in spray paint or pastel.
Q. Let’s focus on your new show London Muse now on view at the Cre8 Gallery. How would you describe this exhibition? What are the differences between it and your recent solo show Tokyo Muse?
A. Tokyo Muse was great fun. I was in Tokyo for nearly a month and had to make the images there in the studio room above Wish-less gallery (<wish-less.com>). Rob Kidney the gallery owner found some girls for me to study.
Because I had only a few weeks and there was difficulty with language it wasn’t possible to build up a true study of Tokyo Muse as I did with my English Muse Coco Kolé. I had to apply some aesthetics developed with her to my number one Tokyo Muse – Yuka.
For London Muse I’ve made all new images of my number one English Muse Coco Kolé.
We’ve been working together for two and a half years so we’ve reached a level of sophistication not possible with a new Muse. I’ve been studying her and her life in order to make images that are suited to her temperament.
In London Muse at Cre8 gallery you can expect to see images of her body revealed and concealed, restricted and stuck then playful and free. I see the work as a reflection of her various situations over the years we have been working together.
I’ve made 12 spraypainted canvases and 10 pastel on black paper studies.
Q. Tell us a bit more about your muse: who is Coco Kolé? And how does she influence, inspire your sensibility and creativity?
A. My approach to art is quite traditional and basically romantic. I was brought up as a Catholic and taught to venerate the Virgin Mary. I’m no longer a Catholic but I do still venerate a female archetype as the symbol of goodness and the face of my own creativity.
Coco Kolé is the name I give to my current beloved Muse. It’s not her real name. She is a uniquely beautiful girl of 24 – also brought up as a Catholic as it happens.When I first started working with her I just drew her as a life model but she quickly rose to Muse status. This means that she became more than just a body to stand how she is told.
I’m not the kind of artist that has a concept in mind and then searches for a model to pose for it. My work starts with the Muse as primary principle. I go to her flat to study her as she is – I give her some cloth of a colour that she likes for instance and watch her and she watches which shapes I capture. She moves then stops. It is like a kind of dance or beautiful silent duet.
She has great poise and elegance due to her training as a ballet dancer from the age of 3 so any slight thing she does is a beautiful moment for me so I try to capture that with quick sketches or photography so that I can make larger deliberated work later.
She represents all women for me and also is seen by me as the most blissful part of myself. So when I draw her I am also making a self portrait. If she is wrapped up in one of my pictures it is to represent the restrictions we have both encountered in our lives.
I see ‘Muse work’ as the truest form of expression for me. It involves my whole being. There is a definite sexual element though but it must never be permitted to descend into the mundanity of the act. Instead the energy must be brought up to the heart where it becomes Love and from there it is safe to meter out to power the art. This is what I refer to as Muse Alchemy. Studying my relationship with Coco Kolé has taught me this. That is why she is near to Saint-like to me despite her being a real girl with real problems in her life.
Q. After the Tokyo Muse and London Muse shows, what are your plans for the future? Do you have a different city, country in your mind?
A. I can imagine visiting other cities or countries in order to make other Muse exhibitions. It would be best done in a country where the physique of the girl is generally different to typical Tokyo or London Muse types. Really I’m fine studying Coco Kolé for the foreseeable future though. A true and understanding Muse is very difficult to find. I have a plan for a series of spraypaint landscapes that I’m going to start in the late winter.
Req London Muse is on view until December 18th at the Cre8 Gallery (80 Eastway, Hackney Wick, London E9 5JH).