Jim Kobak's 'Gods and Monsters' opens Friday at the Strand
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May 6—PLATTSBURGH — "Gods and Monsters" reveals artist Jim Kobak's penchant for illustrative things a little off, left of center, bloody.
The show, featuring 42 works painted between 2015 and December 2020, opens Friday evening at the Strand Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh.
BENELOVENT GODS/NEFARIOUS DEMONS
"I try to be thematic with gods and monsters and kind of the juxtaposition between the two and where they overlap quite a bit," the Peru resident said.
"That's really the theme that some things that we think are divine are monstrous, and some things we think are monstrous are probably still monstrous.
"Humanity has always had this fascination with supernatural, and it's usually divided into godlike things and demon things, monster things.
"But when you look at the stories, there usually is an overlap where there is no real distinction because very much our deified gods do very horrific, monstrous things in those stories."
The idea of the show is to get people to think about their gods and monsters and are their gods monsters?
"When do they realize there are no gods or monsters?" he said.
"It's just them. There are just the stories, the fabrications of our existence."
REAGAN-ERA JERSEY BOY
Kobak's aesthetic was forged as a metal-head in the suburban dystopia of northern New Jersey.
"My biggest influences are probably Derek Riggs," he said.
"He's most notable as the guy who did the Iron Maiden album covers. That was probably my biggest influence.
"There are some other classic artists that I love like Frank Frazetta. He does kind of like fantasy like Conan the Barbarian, Sword & Sorcery kind of stuff."
Kobak is a surrealist influenced by the likes of Zdzisław Beksiński, his all-time favorite.
"He's a 20th century Polish artist, who did a lot of surreal things," Kobak said.
"He lived in Poland during World War II as young man and then through the Soviet Bloc era. A lot of his pieces are very political in nature, too. I think I take after that as well. I kind of have a lot social meaning in that regard."
In high school, Kobak came of age in the dawn of the metal movement.
"So, thrash metal is kind of like a combination between your traditional heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, with the hardcore punk bands of New York and the even the West Coast bands like Dead Kennedys or Black Flag," he said.
"Those are kind of a mashup. It became its own aesthetic. There is very much a thrash metal aesthetic of art with a lot of demons and also political statements and also just weird things mixed in there."
In high school, he painted Iron Maiden album covers on the backs of his friends' denim jackets.
"That was cool then right?" he said.
"It was what it was."
UNREST ART QUEST
Six years ago, the lifelong hobby artist left the shadows and started sharing his art with shows at the Peru Free Library, Ausable Forks Library, the SPACE Gallery in Burlington, and ROTA Gallery in Plattsburgh.
"I usually have an idea of something that I want to represent using image or in the case of this exhibit, a demon or mythological creature that I have in my brain or that I read about or whatever," Kobak said of his process.
"I start with a blank canvas, and I use spray paint. I found spray paint is really great for me because I can work quickly, but it's really hard to predict what you're going to get."
For him, it's a great way to start and layer the base.
"I get some texture and different colors, and I do a lot of experimentation," he said.
"Then on top of that I will usually use the spray paint, but I will also use brushes to like shape whatever it is I'm trying to paint.
"I often also use some acrylic paint and I will use some acrylic inks as well, too, to add different texture to the piece for what I'm going for."
Red acrylic ink is his go-to for blood.
"If you look at my work that's at the the exhibit, you will see there's a number different pieces that I will have different textures built into them using various tools such as brushes and sponges with the spray paint," he said.
The artist as a young man used acrylics, but he was slow and rarely finished things.
"When I evolved to using spray paint, it allowed me work more quickly and get the results I wanted for myself better in a pretty quick fashion," he said.
Though he does works on wood panel, canvas is his usual surface.
For him, painting is kind of manic.
Kobak doesn't paint every day, but he draws every day.
"I'm an illustrator pretty much by practice," he said.
"That's always been my thing. Going though school that's what was in my notebooks. It wasn't notes, but Iron Maiden album covers and stuff like that."
'NO NEED TO HIDE'
His comic-book character, "Major Conflict," a Constitution-protecting Zombie, appears regularly in TRASHburgh Comix, a quarterly anthology.
Kobak also does album covers and logos for musician friends as well as promotional materials for his own thrash metal-punk outfit, Executive Disorder — Kobak (vocalist and guitar), Chris Rose (bass) and Mike Beshures (drummer) — which recently dropped its fourth release, "Social Insecurity."
His brand is Harvester Evil Artworks.
Away from his day job as a Peru Middle School science teacher, another creative expression is his art and music.
"I do feel there was a long time in my career that people couldn't know what kind of art I liked to do because I was a teacher," Kobak said.
"But then, probably again about six years ago, I realized this is who I am. So there's no need to hide who I am."
Viewers can take a walk on the preternatural side of Kobak in "Gods and Monsters."
"There is like this primal need for superstition and have some kind of magic everywhere even when you rationally know it's not there," he said.
"I think there's some human need, and those are the gods and monsters to explain both the good and the bad."
Email Robin Caudell:
Twitter:@RobinCaudell
IF YOU GO
WHAT: The Strand Center for the Arts presents "Gods and Monsters," artwork created by painter, Jim Kobak, in the Main Gallery.
WHEN: Opening reception is 5-9 p.m. , Friday, May 7. The show runs through May 28.
WHERE: Strand Center for the Arts, 23 Brinkerhoff Street, Plattsburgh.
HOURS: Regular gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
PHONE: For more information on these exhibits, upcoming events, concerts, or classes happening at The Strand Center for the Arts, please call 518-563-1604.
WEBSITE: www.strandcenter.org.
