My Work
“(Interview) Joe Simko: Splattered, Oozed and Abused”. Skinnie Entertainment Magazine.
Somewhere between a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure box, Nintendo’s Maniac Mansion and Garbage Pail Kids one will find the style of artist Joe Simko. Splashed or oozed, as it were, onto everything related to the Vans Warped Tour 2006, Simko’s art is a blender-splattered mix of slime, tentacles, and disembodied eyes, heads, hands and nearly any other body part you can imagine. Over the past three years, his art has become iconic in neo-punk, rock, and Indy scenes on both coasts – symbolic of the furthering infusion of pop art, music, and culture.
Simko defies traditional conventions as his artistic style draws upon influences solely found within the past three decades of pop culture, mashing these facets into a chunky jelly of cereal box art, kitsch, slasher comics and a graphic wonderland of acid-induced musings. Where else could you see a punked out cheerleader command a swarm of killer, flying eyeballs while holding a pompom and a fiddle? Simko’s art is on the edge of the meshing of worldwide pop culture that will dominate the direction of media for decades forward.
Success has come at a price, however, as he has not had a office job in years – by choice. He considers the alternatives to arranging work by word of mouth and email, but understand that working for a large studio means loss of freedom and time. He is not suffering, taking on a job in May’s Magama Festival:
“Coming up is the punk rock hardcore festival in Japan with New York and Japanese bands. I am a in a better position than warped tour… now I am the art director. I came up with the theme of giant monsters. In Japan, they will have cell phone covers with the art on it… t-shirts, posters, everything.”
With complete freedom, Simko will enjoy running the festival in regards to art direction. While his gig with Vans Warped Tour 2006 offered him the ability to have his name and art presented nationwide, Magma will offer him to build a name for himself as a true professional, at a level that will lead t o further jobs down the line. For those of us watching our TVs, reading our Skinnie’s, and listening to our music, these new opportunities for artists such as Simko, being involved on a very visible, tangible level at concerts, conferences, and festivals will translate to events of a strikingly higher quality – a quality of events that has been on the rise in recent years.
Considering the growing venues by which artists such as Simko can transmit their talent, there is little doubt that this growing trend of pop culture infusion in media will be the wave of the future – frankly, it is the status quo today. Get involved. Post your talent online. You might be the next big discovery.
Published in April, 2007, Skinnie Entertainment Magazine