Video: Artist Kyle Platts on making a living from smutty and surreal illustrations
- Text by Alex King
“I can remember being told to stop drawing naked girls and to stop drawing violent stuff and to be careful,” explains artist Kyle Platts. Luckily, he never listened to what adults told him growing up.
Platts’ surreal and often filthy comic illustrations have graced the pages of everything from Vice to Pitchfork Review and The New York Times. His busy and colourful illustrations always catch the eye – like a foul-mouthed Where’s Wally?
Now Platts has teamed up with the LB Project, a transatlantic art initiative that aims to bind the skate community together and raise funds for the Harold Hunter Foundation and Skateistan. In this short edit, Platts invites the LB project into his London flat to talk about his work – and how he hides buttholes in flower buds.
Platts joins a talented roster of artists involved. Together with ten skate photographers, including Brian Gaberman and Ben Colen, each photographer and artist will create original images over five blank decks, which will then be auctioned, with the proceeds going to the supported charities. Stay locked for more videos in which we meet more of the people involved.
Find out more about the LB Project.
You might like
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
Capturing the spirit of the ’90s surf scene with Volcom
Nineteen 90 Nowhere — The brand’s latest Featured Artist Series collection sees them tap three surfers and artists in Gony Zubizarretta, Seth Conboy and Issam Auptel, whose neo-grunge work blends the rawness of the decade with the present.
Written by: Isaac Muk
On The Mountain, Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz explore life after death
Going East — As everyone’s favourite animated band release their latest album, the visual artist behind it all catches up with Josh Jones to chat about the grief and spirituality underlining the record, as well as his learnings from how other cultures approach death and the afterlife.
Written by: Josh Jones
Greer Lankton’s dolls are more human than you think
Could It Be Love — A staple figure in New York’s ’80s East Village scene, her art shocked and confronted. Now, three decades after her death, a new monograph anthologises her work, which explores the darker sides of human life, but also finds beauty within the strange.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In photos: The colourful, foreboding techno-optimism of the ’90s
A Visual History — Henry Carroll’s new book traces the roots of unfettered, present-day neoliberalism through images from the 20th century’s final decade, raising questions about how we arrived at where we are today.
Written by: Miss Rosen
