Jim Mahfood Brings The Party With His Debut RUN

1xRUN Thru Interview
The Party by Jim Mahfood

1xRUN: Tell us a little bit about this original piece, what materials was The Party created with? Is it still for sale?
Jim Mahfood:    I basically pencil everything out first, very lightly and very simple shapes. Go in with the watercolors, add some tones and splatters. Draw all the line-work and textures with ink. Spray paint, oil sticks, and colored pencils to round it all out. The original is not for sale, I do have some other original art for sale though.. This piece was very recently created in early January of 2013.
 
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about? How long did the piece take?    
Jim Mahfood:  This is a funk piece, about calmness and destruction, beauty and chaos. I like to often juxtapose images of attractive badass females with ugly and sinister creatures.  I generally just sit down and draw things. I don’t pre-plan that much. My best work comes when i am spontaneous and work from my instincts and just go for it. I would say this piece took 3-4 days to finish.1xRun: What is unique about this piece?    
Jim Mahfood:  The girl is wearing awesome skull panties! Plus, penguins and weird creatures having fun.

1xRun: Why should people buy this print?   
Jim Mahfood: I think this is a fun and weird psychedelic piece. It would look great hanging in anyone’s home or gallery.
 
1xRun: Describe this print in one gut reaction word.    
Jim Mahfood: Fun.1xRun: When did you first start making art? What was your first piece?      
Jim Mahfood:  When I was a little kid.  I used to make my own Spider-Man comic books when i was a little kid and sell them to people in the neighborhood.

1xRun: What artists inspired you early on?  What artists inspire you now? 
Jim Mahfood:  Early on it was Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Shel Silverstein, Richard Scarry, Berke Breathed, Charles Shulz, Eastman & Laird. As of late it has been Basquiat, Keith Haring, Ralph Steadman, Dondi White, Vaughn Bode, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sergio Toppi, and many more.1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work?
Jim Mahfood:  Yea, strictly music when i work really loud. All genres. Loud punk, funk, rap type stuff during the day. Jazz, reggae, dub, downtempo stuff at night.

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why? Any deceased artists?  
Jim Mahfood:  Dave Choe. We both work fast.  For the latter, Basquiat. I’m sure we would have gotten along really well.

1xRun: Is this your first year at Pow Wow? If so, how did you get involved?  
Jim Mahfood:  Yep, first year. My homie Angry Woebots got me involved. He introduced me to the Pow Wow crew.1xRun: Any particular artists at Pow Wow who’s work you are excited to see in person?
Jim Mahfood:  Oh, everyone. Without a doubt. Some serious talent happening here. It’s going to be amazing!

1xRun: You’ve already worked with quite a few other Pow Wow artists, any in particular you’d liked to work with for the first time or again?
Jim Mahfood:The first wall I paint is with my old homie Scribe and I’m really excited about that. We’ve known each other since 1993. We were in the same freshman class in college, at the Kansas City Art Institute. We’ve never officially painted together, so I’m really looking forward to it. We’re going to do some bugged out shit.
1xRun: Any other excursions or plans while you’re in Hawaii that you’re excited about? 
Jim Mahfood: I’m just going to go with the flow and see what happens. It’s Hawaii. It’s going to be amazing.
1xRun: What else have you been up to lately? What do you have coming up?
Jim Mahfood: My book that I wrote and drew all about the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique album, ‘ASK FOR JANICE’ just got picked up by a class at NYU. The class is taught by producer Harry Weinger and ?uestlove from the Roots. It’s called Topics In Recorded Music: Classic Albums. I’m a huge music head and this is an amazing honor for me.
I’m also finishing up the first two episodes of my animated show, D.I.S.C.O. DESTROYER, For MTV. It premiers sometime this year on the relaunch of Liquid Television. And the Hardcover Collection of my Tank Girl comic book series, ‘EVERYBODY LOVES TANK GIRL’ drops on Feb. 27 in comic shops and book stores all over the world. It collects all 3 issues of the comic book series and has an exclusive sketchbook section of my art in the back! Very cool. People can get daily updated on my projects at www.jimmahfood.com
1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Jim Mahfood:  WebsiteFacebookTwitter & Instagram @jimmahfood

-1xRUN