Across Sands China’s integrated resorts in Cotai, visitors are greeted with works on display at the “Meet the Magic: In celebration of Disney 100 by Philip Colbert and Jason Naylor” exhibition, with the internationally renowned pop artists showcasing their works in Macau for the first time.
Held in support of Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2023 and in celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary, the artworks can be viewed until October 15, with The Macau Post Daily interviewing both artists at The Venetian Macao last week to learn more about them and their work.
Jason Naylor: spreading love and positivity through art
Naylor, an American graffiti artist, designer and creative director based in New York, described his art style as being extremely colourful, bold and vibrant, adding that he uses a lot of fluorescent colours in his work, hoping that their message can be seen with confidence and boldness.
His work, which features bright colours and rich blacks, contains messages of positivity and kindness. He pointed out that “a lot of my work is based on messaging, and I’m trying to communicate values, emotions and feelings” that are generally very positive or optimistic, and based on love and kindness.
Naylor elaborated that positivity is just him generally putting himself, an upbeat and positive person, into the work. “I think it’s important that you put yourself in the work and that way the work can be authentic”.
Moreover, an important motif that appears a lot in Naylor’s work is the OPN HEART, a design that he has done throughout the years. Its significance, according to Naylor, lies, quite literally, in the words itself: “Open your heart”, adding that the OPN HEART has a hole not due to emptiness, but instead represents that there is room for more love. “If you open your heart, you’ll have more love and the more love you have, the more love you can give. And that’s how we can change the world”.
Naylor pointed out that the theme of love is valuable to him as it can save everything and conquer all, with the heart being a symbol for him wanting to make the world a better place, he said.
The works that Naylor is showcasing in Macau include the large-scale five metre “TECHNICOLOR MICKEY” for Disney’s 100th anniversary at Le Jardin (French for “The Garden”), which is based on his version of Mickey Mouse as seen in his dreams, now turned into a larger scale that enables him to share feelings of love.
His other works include the OPN HEART at The Venetian Macao’s main lobby; and original new paintings in the ASCE Diverse and Explorative Art Hub at the Londoner Macao. The colour in the works, Naylor said, represents the positive values of love, diversity, individuality and inclusivity.
Philip Colbert: The Lobsterman
Referred to as the Godson of Andy Warhol, British contemporary neo-pop artist Philip Colbert, who was born in Scotland, is known for his iconic cartoon Lobster persona, the central character of his works.
When asked about its significance and meaning, Colbert noted that the lobster, which he said he thinks of as his artistic persona, is a prime symbol for him due to the notion of visual identity.
“There’s often a trademark identity behind the way you present things, and for me I think my creative language is somehow united by the lobster as a sort of vehicle for storytelling within my work”.
Colbert noted that it wasn’t a conscious decision to become the lobster character, but that it happened over time.
Growing up in the deep countryside in Scotland, Colbert first became interested in lobsters when he was a child when he would go the seaside. Living in the countryside in a more conservative part of rural Scotland, “my imagination had to connect with things”, he said, and he developed a fascination for deep-sea creatures such as lobsters.
When he grew older, he became obsessed with art history and constantly read books on art, during which he started to see a pattern of lobsters in art throughout different periods. He would then start to doodle lobsters as a caricature of himself, which would later be drawn onto clothes, suits with the lobster design and prints, as well as creating furniture shaped like them. Eventually, the lobster went from being a symbol into a personified character.
Colbert’s five-metre Mickey Lobster, a hybrid of characters, for Disney’s 100th anniversary can be found beside The Lagoon at The Venetian, which started off as drawings in 2020. “It’s very exciting that in the end, we decided to launch it for the 100th anniversary to make it more special”, as well as for Art Macao.
Sculptures of his iconic persona can be found at The Venetian’s main lobby, while new original paintings can be found at the ASCE gallery at The Londoner. The artist hopes that his works can “give off energy and empower the audience in the spirit of creativity and vibrancy” and looks forward to presenting more of his works in Macau in the future.
More details on the works and artists are available on https://www.venetianmacao.com/
Photos taken last week by Rui Pastorin.
Jason Naylor poses with his OPN HEART work at The Venetian Macao’s main lobby last week.
Philip Colbert poses with a smaller Mickey Lobster at The Venetian Macao’s main lobby last week.
