Detroit’s Kill Taupe Doesn’t Fear Rabbit Reapers…or Keith Harring Slapfights.

Kill Taupe is a geeky Detroit area illustrator of strange rabbits, cannibal cupcakes, forlorn Slurpee chugging bears, robots that bake, angry vegetables and other critters and riff-raff.

Here for his first RUN, we are excited to present 3 original acryilc paintings from Detroit’s Kill Taupe.  Read on for much more from Kill Taupe including studio shots, the first piece of art he bought and upcoming shows.

1xRUN Thru Interview

Don’t Fear… by Kill Taupe

1xRun: When were these 3 original pieces drawn/created?

Kill Taupe:  Early in April.    Each one of the Reaper Rabbits from this series is an original illustration that was sketched, painted and inked just for you.

1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?

Kill Taupe:  What does Death look like to a rabbit? Something that is equal parts adorable and morbid.

1xRun: How long did the piece take?

Kill Taupe:   Each piece took a good solid day of painting, interlaced with breaks involving too many Doritos and bad daytime tv.

1xRun: What is unique about this piece?

Kill Taupe:  Look at that rabbit! Is he here simply to meander through the woods being adorable? Or, is he here to rip out your soul and send you straight to hell for an eternity of painful butt torture? This piece will aid you in your search for answers to questions like that.

1xRun: Why should people buy this piece/print?

Kill Taupe:  Surely, it will increase the awesomeness of the wall it is hung on by at least 78%

1xRun: Describe the piece/print in one gut reaction word.

Kill Taupe:  snikt.

Kill Taupe

1xRun: When did you first start making art?

Kill Taupe:  I may have left some cave drawings on the inside of my mothers uterus.

1xRun: What was your first piece?

Kill Taupe:  The first piece I ever sold was a small painting of Mel Gibson with the words “Sugar Tits” drawn in behind him. It was like a hand drawn meme.

 

1xRun: What artists inspired you early on?

Kill Taupe:    Andy Warhol, Keith Harring and Roy Lichtenstein. A lot of comic book artists, like Chris Bachalo and Humberto Ramos, also inspired me early on.

Chris Bachalo

1xRun: What artists inspire you now?

Kill Taupe:  The aforementioned artists along with heavy hitters in the pop genre like Joe Ledbetter, Banksy and Scott C. Their work never lacks energy, or fun, and always amazes me.

1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not then what is your environment like when you work?

Kill Taupe:  My studio is pretty cozy and the music’s always on. I listen to a wide variety of stuff. Today’s rotation included Röyksopp’s “Junior”, Graffiti 6, the Black Keys and a few hours of 93.9 the River.


1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why?

Kill Taupe:  Luke Chueh! His work rocks my socks.

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any deceased artists who would it be and why?

Kill Taupe:  I guess Keith Harring, but I saw a documentary about him once, and I’m not sure we’d get along. Before we finished whatever we were working on I’d probably end up getting in a slap fight with his corpse.

1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it?

Kill Taupe:  It was a print of Scott C’s “Igloo Head & Tree Head 2”, and I still have it!

Scott C - Igloo Head & Tree Head 2

1xRun: What was the last piece of art that you bought?

Kill Taupe:  It was a sculpture, from Emi Slade, of a tentacled alien emerging from a small sugar pot.

Emi Slade

1xRun:  What else do you have in the works?

Kill Taupe:   I’ve got “Purveyors of Firewater & Opiates” with Matthew Ryan Sharp  coming up on June 16th at LIFT  in Royal Oak. Towards the end of June I’ll be part of a group show with Deco23, Malt and other street artists at Rivers Edge Gallery Wyandotte. I’ll also be periodically setting up my mini pop-up shop at the Rust Belt Market in Ferndale.

1xRun: Where can people find you across the internette?

Kill Taupe:  Facebook – TwitterTumblr

-1xRUN