1xRUN Thru Interview
Assassins, Apes & Angels by Ron Zakrin
1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this latest series that you created for 1xRUN, how many pieces are there?
Ron Zakrin: For this RUN there are 15 brand new works that were selected from a larger body of work of nearly 30.
1xRUN: What materials were used to create these pieces?
Ron Zakrin: These are all painted with acrylic paint on tar paper, but a few are on canvas paper.
1xRun: When were these pieces created?
Ron Zakrin: These were painted between August and October.
1xRun: Anything immediate you would like us to highlight?
Ron Zakrin: Rugged, naughty, beautiful, and paintable, tar paper has finally arrived as the “it” material for the art world and roofers alike.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Ron Zakrin: I had a roll of tar paper from a previous project, where I used it for rough sketches. I thought it would be a good exercise to work on tar paper to force me to stay loose, thinking that since its painted on tar paper, they wouldn’t merit the full treatment that a canvas or wood panel would call for. But that theory didn’t last very long.
1xRun: How long did these pieces take to create ?
Ron Zakrin: They didn’t get finished fast enough.
1xRun: What is unique about these pieces compared with your other work?
Ron Zakrin: I rarely work on paper. So these are kind of special.
1xRun: Describe this series in one gut reaction word.
Ron Zakrin: Flood.
1xRun: As the title says, this series deals with assassins, apes and angels, tell us a little bit about some of these themes and maybe why they tend to be subjects of your pieces?
Ron Zakrin: These I think of as a continuing series with an evolving narrative. I used to be into theosophy and mythology, so that’s where the Greek Gods come from. Whether it’s Gods or divine beings, I like to remove them from their realm of influence and seat them at the corner bar or something. The apes are a mirror for us, after all, we are just naked apes.
1xRun: Aside from painting up a storm, what else have you been up to since your last exhibition Beauty & The Beats?
Ron Zakrin: Working on music, getting engaged, traveling, yada yada.
1xRun: Anything on the horizon that you want to share?
Ron Zakrin: looking forward to comet ISON this fall.
-1xRUN