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.
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.
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.
It’s great to see an artist perspective execute the vision of a brand.
i hope “january” also references the playboy calendar. i would hang these in my house anyday.