GROTESK

By SCOTT MURRY

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A DECADE OF SWISS DESIGN LOST IN BROOKLYN
AUTHOR | KIMOU MEYER
EDITOR | UPPER PLAYGROUND
PUBLISHER | GINKGO PRESS
RELEASE | 3.15.10

Artists have a tendency to over-clutter an aesthetic and exasperate themselves in the process. Swiss-born and Belgian-trained Brooklyn-transplant Kimou Meyer (aka Grotesk) funnels his elements into a beautiful, simple style that harkens back to the roots of '50s design.

It's a classic, clean approach with a spritz of modern Brooklyn. He soups up pigeons in Nike dunks, and they're the freshest "rats with wings" you'll ever lay eyes on. City vendors and bodega ringers surrounded by hand-lettered placards reveal a love of early American signage. His work is well thought out, but maintains the fluidity of a quick tag or a lighthearted sketchbook scrawling. The colors always pop.

There's no mistaking the purpose in any of his marks or lines; the creative cascades are iconic. He shows his characters and ideas very clearly, so you get it at first glance. There's a keen sense of humor in the fluid line. Subtle comic bits, like a scar on the stomach of a bloated, smoking dog, tell a whole story. You know these characters, where they've been and what they're up to later on tonight. They're all fun folks, no matter what their situation. Scars be damned, the chain smokers will not give in ... and the smoking hound never loses at three-card monte.

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