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He’s a graffiti artist at heart, influenced by hip-hop culture, but when it comes time to sit down at a canvas, he lets his creativity reach into all realms of his experience and inspiration.
Stricker’s style isn’t the only thing that’s all over the place. “Old Man River,” his painting on the cover of CityBeat this week, is a good representation of the 23-year-old artist’s penchant for using a broad range of media in his work, too.
“If you look to the right side of that painting, you see there’s a slab of sheet metal,” he says. “If you knock on it, you’d be able to tell. The rest is acrylic, spray paint, paint pen, and the old man and the pigeons are painted in oils.”
In one of his pieces—an image of Yoda—Stricker decided to outline the painting in puffy paint, then cover the whole thing with gold spray paint. He’s started experimenting with wood panels and staining, too. Stricker is nothing if not creative when it comes to experimenting with his art-making methods and mediums.
A recent graduate of the arts program at San Diego State University, Stricker hesitates to give too much credit to his official schooling. His main teachings, he says, comes from the streets.
“I try to get out and see as much graffiti as I can,” he says.
As for Stricker’s subject matter, animals seem to be a reoccurring theme.
“I used to work at the zoo, doing caricatures for the zoo guests,” he laughs. They’d request to be drawn riding giraffes, petting monkeys, riding hippos—all kinds of things. Panda bears were the most-requested animal.”
Stricker doesn’t think it’s an artist’s job to convey messages or ideas in his work. He says painting is just something he has to do to get his creative energy out. But if you ask, he’ll admit to a piece’s meaning.
“With ‘Old Man River,’ I just wanted to get a good clear picture of somebody on a bench—particularly an older guy,” Stricker explains. “The theme of the painting was age. What happens when you get old? Who becomes your friend when you get old? This guy’s pigeons are his only friends. I wanted the background to be layered and rough; tagged on, pissed on—just dirty. I wanted the background to be as textured and layered as the old man’s life.”
Jack Stricker will be part of Flesh and Fetish, a group show at Bar Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown, opening on Aug. 17. To see Stricker’s art, visit facebook.com/jack.strick.art.
