Jophen Stein is the artist and inventor of the Snootson Family Showcase. His work is a collection of narrative, historical, and character based art that points to the correlation between antiquity and modernity. Ironic imagery, masterful painting, and innovative mixed media techniques comment on our modern social life and the eras that created it.
Nathan Cartwright: The recurring characters in the Snootson Family showcase seem to be a cross between the characters of Elfman’s “Forbidden Zone” and Gilliam’s “Time Bandtis”. Tell me a bit about this freakish family you have created.
Jophen Stein: Are you asking why do I paint dwarves? I guess I just have an appreciation for the Hervé Villechaize proportional scale. That…and Buddha. Not the ascetic Hindu one but the more run-of-the-mill-chubby-happy-one you tend to see in your neighborhood chinese food store. I’ve always been fascinated that out of all the carved deities he was the only one that was smiling. The Snootson Family Showcase is a name meant to encompass the different themes that I’ve produced over the years. Each year I start by researching a random time period and try to relate it to the present. The work is a hodge podge of specific events, exaggerated truths, metaphors, word play and analogies.
Nathan Cartwright: Style means everything in an over saturated art market. Tell me were you a Star Wars Freak as I was? What are your pop/artistic influences?
Jophen Stein: It’s interesting that you use over saturation and Star Wars in the same phrase. I think that George Lucas has always had the ability to take an idea and saturate it into every aspect of life, creating a certain precedence that a large percentage of movie franchises have followed systemically. The same has transcended into the art world, where artists are brands that can be saturated into the cultural milieu. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing an idea, story, or movie being stretched in every possible manufactured direction; that it’s only seemingly natural that the art world would mimic it. The, albeit, truly American ideal.
With that in mind I don’t tend to use pop culture as an influence, I think the repetitiveness of icons doesn’t have an overall affect on people. Most of my influences are based around historical events and general time periods and how they influence contemporary culture. For example I would be more influenced by the Star Wars phenomenon of the 70’s / 80’s rather than specific Star Wars Icons.
Nathan Cartwright: You seem to have successfully integrated old painting techniques with a fresh new imagery and style. What kind of windy road have you taken to get where you are today?
Jophen Stein: When I started out about four years ago, my intentions were pretty straight forward as far as content was concerned. Formally my work ranges from flat and graphic to extremely rendered. In a lot of cases I mix the two. I’m still in the process of experimenting.
Nathan Cartwright: Tell me about the Vans project you were involved with recently?
Jophen Stein: The Vans Sky Gallery [www.vansskygallery.com] was a year long ad campaign for charity that involved six artists including myself. We each did a piece for a couple of billboard ads and various magazines. In edition to the artwork we customized some shoes which later were put up for auction to raise money for the charity of our choice. Overall it was a great experience, my billboard got graffitied over as soon as it went up, by the same guys who graffitied over Takashi Murakami’s MOCA billboard. He bought his; I just got to take a picture of mine.
Jophen is Featured Artist at The Hive Gallery- opening August 2nd-30th