Interview with Graham Rhodes

Not a day goes by when the talented artist Graham Rhodes, isn’t actively pursuing his passion to create. Over 40 years ago, Graham started his professional career studying at Jacob Kramer Leeds. Galleries and exhibitions, soon took note of the trend setting artist, who’s design work has also featured on record sleeves for 1970s bands such as Squeeze, The Cramps and The Police.

Demand from around the North and working in London for over 12 years, has given Graham the opportunities to combine his imaginative concepts with broadcast television, animations, computer games, web sites and photography. Graham explains in his own words, what his creative career has been like…

Q. What does being a creative mean to you?

A. To me, being a creative means taking risks, finding work opportunities that actually pay you for the talent, energy and creativity that you provide. Being willing to adapt in different situations, each time picking up new technology skills. It means committing yourself to working outside the normal world of employment. There are no company pensions, or the security of other employment benefits.

On the other hand, it also means a full and varied career across all art platforms.

Q. How did Leeds facilitate the growth of your pursued career?

A. I started out attending Temple Moor School when it was a Grammar school. It was an experience that taught me the art of survival and the hypocrisy of it.

Graham gives the example of when the headmaster caned him for smoking, still taking drags from a cigarette in between strokes.

The only subject that really interested me, was art. Back in 1965, career masters didn’t know of any opportunities in art, and Art College was not a consideration – after all, in 1964/65 they were seen as the hot beds of revolution and sedation. Thinking about it, didn’t the Rolling Stones come out of art colleges? Everyone knew that the Rolling Stones caused the fall of the British Empire! The schools remit seemed to be if you were good enough, go to University or get a good job in management. If not, they pointed you towards the industrial sector of Leeds where jobs were plentiful. The length of my hair and argumentative teachers, saw me end up in a warehouse in Hunslet for the next two years. I now had the motivation to attend night school, and to develop my art skills that produced interest from buyers.

The history of Leeds in the old buildings, gave me inspiration and a love for the city. As a young teen, I had enjoyed wandering around it’s back alleys, discovering the places like the market and pubs like the Whitelocks, the Ship and the old Ostler. My father worked in a shabby run down back street called Upper Mill Hill, now under the Bond Street centre. I loved the shabbiness of the street. There was a night club at the top of it called the Three Coins, only ever getting in to see a band called The Four Pennies. Even now I love the sense of irony!

Leeds Art Gallery was a constant source of inspiration – especially the Atkinson Grimshaw works. Leeds Museum held old Victorian photographs which came as printed replicas that I eventually purchased, in exchange for some of my own drawings. Art often gives you the opportunity to barter, which for me, is as good as a sale.

The inner city Leeds had influenced me, but being able to access the surrounding countryside brought me to Stanks. I read a book by a local historian and naturalist called Edmund Bogg, entitled “A History Elmet”. Even today, the book has influenced my writing, and for years I copied the pen and ink illustrations, learning the style of cross hatching until I developed my own. The local gallery took the opportunity to sell my drawings at a time (1968-1972) when Leeds was undergoing an enormous change – great chunks of the city were being ripped down and redeveloped. When I came back to Leeds it was like coming into a different city.

Q. Over the years, what have you most enjoyed doing?

A. Looking back on a long career, I loved designing Audio Visual productions. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, presentations using projections on huge screens was a developing skill, it was animation using 35mm photographic stills. I was working at the hard edge of the corporate sector, when new technologies worked alongside creativity. Even the client was willing to take risks! I designed huge car and product launches, being lucky to work with some amazing clients that included British Airways, Austin Rover, and IBM.

We also created huge museums and public attraction shows – at one point my work could be seen in The Science Museum, Jorvik Viking Museum, The Museum of Church History, The York Story and the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, this method of communication was superceded in the late 80’s and early 90’s by video projection methods, and more computer created images which eventually led to the dreaded power-point presentation. Having said that, I enjoyed album sleeve design as much as scriptwriting.

Really I think I’ve enjoyed it all, otherwise I don’t think I would have done it. Whether it’s been fine art, graphic design, video production, conference staging, or scriptwriting; my work has taken me all over the UK and Europe. I have seen and done things I could never have dreamt of, and got paid for most of it.

Q. How is digital technology of benefit to you?

A. Someone once said to me that a photograph captures a moment in time. But I discovered that by using digital manipulation, images can be distorted to appear out of time, and offers the viewer a sense of timelessness. This aging process challenges our notion of what we see. It underlines the concept that realism is, more often than not, what we think we are seeing, rather than what is really in front of our eyes. My images present an exploration of perceptual realism in that they observe the way light reveals objects or locations. Then, suspending them in an image that at first glance, appears timeless.

Without digital technology, I could not produce or manipulate the images the way I do. I think its very important as a creative person never to be afraid of new technology and to get ones hands on it as soon as possible. I started my working career with pen, ink and paper. In London, it was thought cool to use punch tape to control the fade and dissolve of three projectors. Since then I have used new technology as it has developed.

I was also an early internet user – as a scriptwriter that was important for research, and dispatched the finished work quickly. The internet opened doors to work for clients on a global scale, receiving commissions by production companies in Europe and the Middle East. I even ended up writing scripts for an American computer game company based in Germany, the cutting edge of technology.

Q. Tell us more about the work you are doing in Scarborough, and the photography exhibition?

A. Sixty is a dangerous age. When you suddenly wake up to the fact that life has a sell by date, and with the current credit crunch I needed new challenges and new adventures. I began to develop my photography work and commissioned a web site at www.aakschipperimages.com. It features a wide range of shots, including a number of Leeds townscapes. I’m particularly pleased with my images of Leeds Corn Exchange. Back in 1964, I won a competition in a local Leeds paper with a drawing of Leeds Corn Exchange.

Selling art via the internet isn’t easy, it can be lonely. I’d always wanted a gallery of my own, so when I discovered a small property for rent on Scarborough’s West Pier, I jumped at the chance. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but after fixing a budget I discovered it was affordable. And, after the first three months I have sold enough to make a small profit. The gallery features my images of Scarborough and the harbour, but also includes the North Yorkshire Moors and forests, and Whitby.

Q. Where would you like to be in the future?

A. The quick answer is alive! I will continue my ambition of growing old as disgracefully as possible, hopefully sitting pontificating in the gallery. I’m a great believer in site specific work, it would be fun to have a number of galleries in different towns such as Leeds, York, Harrogate, and London, all featuring my photography of those places.

Q. What advise would you give to readers?

A. No matter what education or background, if you have an ounce of talent take every opportunity that comes your way. You can achieve all things! Be willing to learn, to practice and take a risk. When I was trying to establish myself in London, I would do anything as long as it put a piece of finished work in my portfolio. Budding artists should realise that this is what matters to employers, agents, gallery owners and studio managers. They want to know whether you can do the job. Do it, file it and get it on your website – and never forget in the world of freelance art, you’re only as good as your last job.

Finally, if this article encourages just one person to put pen to paper, to learn that computer programme, to lift up a camera, then it has been worthwhile.

• http://www.grahamrhodes.com/
• http://www.aakschipperimages.com/
• twitter: @aakschipper