Interview with Luke Mitchell
Today we’re talking to Luke Mitchell, a Bristol-based artist and photographer who has been selling his artwork in his ARTFLAKES-shop for some time now.
His collages are a wild mixture of newspaper cuttings, headlines and photos. We spoke to him about his inspiration and why he started making art.
Why and when did you start making art?
I don’t remember it ever being a concious decision. I do remember, as a kid, spending days scribbling and painting all over the walls and furniture in my bedroom until there was no blank space left, listening to my Dads records. Booker T. & The MG’s, Cat Stevens, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Fleetwood Mac. Going out in the early hours spraying silhouette stencils of men in long coats and trilbys at the bottom of lamp posts.
What kind of art do you make?
Mainly large-format photographs and paintings but these branch out into other things too. This series on Artflakes is The Screen Book Tabloid. Originally a 1950s book about movie stars, they are now 22 re-appropriated, nostagic, graphically designed paintings.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Joel Meyerowitz and Jeff Wall are my heros, but music has always had a big influence on me. It’s different for every new piece of work, for these it was Jack Kerouac’s book (On The Road), ornate picture frames, crude advertising and happenings in Pennsylvania.
What does your usual workday look like?
There never is really. Go for a run to shake of the previous night’s dirt and then either work on a project, or be out shooting pictures somewhere. Now and again I’ll be hanging work somewhere.
How do you spend a perfect sunday?
A combination of a fry-up, Jackson Browne, a roast, laying about, booze, sun, Warpaint and a swim in no particular order.
What is your favourite taste of chocolate?
The darker and more full of fruit and bits the better, but recently we’ve been buying tons of the cheap stuff so we’ve got it on tap.
Show me your favourite artwork (from your own collection or another artist)
That changes day to day but recently I’ve been really loving Ira Cohen’s Mylar Chamber psychedelic photographs of Jhil McEntyre and William Borroughs …and Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads in the courtyard of Somerset House in London.
Whom should we interview next?
Connan Mockasin
If you could have coffee with a famous artist – dead or alive – whom would you choose?
Robert Capa
What is your philosophy of life?
Eat good food, wear good shoes