Tony Clough Joins The 1xRUN Print Team & Debuts With Rotations Screen Prints From Seriopress

1xRun Thru Interview
Rotations by Tony Clough

1xRun: Tell us a little bit about these two pieces, were there originals or were they created specifically for these editions?
Tony Clough:  These two print editions really only exist as original prints but were inspired by my recent obsession with squares and other simple geometric shapes.  I have several original paintings that are available that slightly resemble this style but they are much more stylistic in terms of texture and color.

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1xRun: Was this piece part of a recent  theme, series or show that you had? If so how did it fit into that given grouping?
Tony Clough:  These pieces do stem from my recent pieces showcasing simple shapes arranged with texture and color representing a sort of order as well as disorder. Most of my work is purely aesthetic and non-representational, I try to make art out of texture and color until I feel that it would be something I would like to hang on my own wall in the hope that others would share my taste.

1xRUN: When were these pieces created and with what materials?
Tony Clough: Both of these editions were created in October 2013 using water based ink on paper.

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1xRun: Anything immediate you would like us to highlight?
Tony Clough: These two the first prints of my own that I printed in my new studio after starting my own print shop.

1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?    
Tony Clough:  I’m always looking for ways to experiment with methods that really showcase creative ways to use the silkscreen process. This was a way for me to only use three stencils but for each color rotate the paper and run the exact same stencil resulting in each square being filled after 4 colors.  For the print with 9 colors, the same was done but another four times for the triangles as well before the blue grid was printed.

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1xRun: How long did these pieces take?    
Tony Clough:  Preparation was one day, and printing was another. After that there’s only cutting, chopping (studio embossment) and signing. The original pieces that inspired this edition can take about a few days each.

1xRun: What is unique about this piece?     
Tony Clough: The unique thing about this print is that it was printed using most of the colors which were left over from recent jobs so in a way it represents quite a few prints by other artists that had recently contracted me to produce prints for them.

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1xRun: Why should people buy one of these prints ?    
Tony Clough: These prints represent a specific time in my life and career which is the very beginning of what will hopefully be a fruitful experience in the Los Angeles art scene. It’s made to be only a piece of art that looks cool and represents nothing except color combinations, composition, order in what looks like chaos and the beginning of what will be a large amount of experimental print making.

1xRun: Describe these two prints in one gut reaction word.     
Tony Clough: Fun.rotations1xRun: When did you first start making art? What was your first piece?      
Tony Clough: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a child but I only seriously started making and keeping art around 1998.  The earliest piece I remember making that I wanted to keep for myself was when I would buy the blank Vision skateboard decks because they were the cheap ones with no graphics and just paint on them.

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1xRun: What artists inspired you early on? What artists inspire you now?  
Tony Clough: Early on I was always amazed by Salvador Dali but I didn’t really have the technical skills to paint like him.  It was more like something I enjoyed but didn’t want to mimic.  As for now, one artist I have been blown away by lately is Sol Lewitt. I absolutely love his work. clough5

1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what?
Tony Clough: I absolutely listen to music while working. I used to listen to a lot of Tool while making art but recently have gotten into both a ton of newer bluegrass kind of music like Old Crow Medicine Show and The Devil Makes Three, as well as  instrumental stuff like Explosions In The Sky and Godspeed You Black Emporor. Also, Refused is a huge part of my playlist.

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why? Any deceased artists?
Tony Clough: There are way too many to name. One that I think would be fun though is Hacer, I like the way his sculptures translate onto a 2 dimensional plane, it would be interesting to mess around with geometry and lighting like that on a flat surface. For the latter it would be Sol Lewitt. I would love to learn and grow from the experience working with someone like him.

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1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it?  The last? 
Tony Clough: The first was a piece from Albert Reyes.  Yes I still have it.  The last was the same Albert Reyes piece, it’s the only piece of art I’ve ever bought. I recently published a print edition of it actually.

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1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Tony Clough:  WebsiteFacebook + Twitter + Instagram @Seriopress

-1xRUN