Tait Hawes is the Managing Art Director at Vans.  While the culture of Vans embraces Hawes’ sensibility, he still looks to his own practice as a creative outlet, thus giving life to January.  Hawes has a motto, “Shut up and make shit.  Forget about the results.”  It seems to be working out well for him.

It all happened on a January night.  Born from a series of circumstances that Tait Hawes describes as “weird and awesome,” the artist inherited his father-in-law’s Playboy collection from the 1970s.  He has his mother-in-law to thank for the magazines.  Night after night he looked through the weathered pages and created a series of 32 watercolors.

Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January

The paintings ebb and flow and mimic a stream of consciousness that carried Hawes through the evening hours. January celebrates the female nude through a series of delicate, gestural strokes and bleeding paint.  The bodies are translucent, delicate and playful, and while their poses are inspired by pin-ups, they seem honest, personal and intuitive.

Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January
Tait Hawes, January

 

The Vans Vault Spring 2012 Look Book has a quality reminiscent of January in the loose styling and use of watercolors juxtaposed with detailed photography of Vans skate shoes.  A company like Vans embraces the artistry of culture and independent thinking, self-expression, creativity, left off-center and off the wall.

Vans Vault Spring 2012
Vans Vault Spring 2012

 

Vans Vault Spring 2012
Vans Vault Spring 2012

2 thoughts on “Tait Hawes: A Little Book of Nudies

  1. i hope “january” also references the playboy calendar. i would hang these in my house anyday.

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