The Conversation: artist-illustrators Gary Taxali and Graham Roumieu on art, wine and wolverines
The place: The Gem on Davenport.
The people: artist-illustrators Gary Taxali and Graham Roumieu.
The subjects: art, wine and wolverines
Gary Taxali’s quirky, handcrafted illustrations, reminiscent of early 20th-century advertising and comics, have graced the pages of Esquire, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone, as well as several book and rock album covers (his collaboration with singer Aimee Mann earned him a Grammy nomination). The high art crowd loves him, too: his work has appeared at the Whitney and the ROM, and he was a featured artist at the Made in Polaroid 50/50/50 exhibition in New York earlier this fall. Graham Roumieu (above, right) creates droll weekly editorial cartoons for the Globe and Mail and often illustrates for the New York Times and The Walrus. He’s best known, however, for his Bigfoot books—wry, raunchy tomes about a sasquatch who just wants to be understood. Both have new books out: two European publishers have assembled collections of Taxali’s work, while Roumieu recently collaborated with Douglas Coupland on Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People, which features, among other nefarious creatures, a homicidal juice box. We met the pair for drinks at The Gem and listened in as they chatted about the state of their art. Click here for Taxali and Roumieu’s conversation »
BOOKS
Mono Taxali and I Love You, OK?
Gary Taxali
Available now
BOOKS
Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People
Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu
Available now
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- The only thing I’ve done that’s made me money other than drawing pictures is deejaying. I made $30 spinning Jamaican music at Kool Haus. I even have a DJ name: “King Puddy.”
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
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- I used to be a tree planter. The best advice I ever got was, “It’s not the bears you have to worry about, it’s the wolverines.” Wolverines are the assholes of the Canadian bush.
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
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- I once drew Orson Welles for <em>Entertainment Weekly</em>, which was easy, because his look fits my style. I love Orson Welles. If he were alive in 2011 with an unlimited budget and CGI people at his disposal, imagine what he could do.
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
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- When I was starting out, I hated being called a cartoonist. Now all I’m concerned about is that people react in some way to my work, and I don’t care what label or definition they give it.
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
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- I’ll still take on illustration work if I feel good about the project, if someone will let me treat it like fine art. I did labels for a vineyard that was one of the first to abandon corks in favour of the screw-top. They would have cork-burning parties.
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
- Graphic Jam: Gary Taxali
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- The classic artists of the Renaissance weren’t much more than illustrators. The perception of what art should be has changed, and it’s still changing, but we’ve come back to that a little bit, the idea that illustration can be art.
- (Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
- Graphic Jam: Graham Roumieu
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The place: The Gem on Davenport.
The people: artist-illustrators Gary Taxali and Graham Roumieu.
The subjects: art, wine and wolverines
Gary Taxali’s quirky, handcrafted illustrations, reminiscent of early 20th-century advertising and comics, have graced the pages of Esquire, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone, as well as several book and rock album covers (his collaboration with singer Aimee Mann earned him a Grammy nomination). The high art crowd loves him, too: his work has appeared at the Whitney and the ROM, and he was a featured artist at the Made in Polaroid 50/50/50 exhibition in New York earlier this fall. Graham Roumieu (above, right) creates droll weekly editorial cartoons for the Globe and Mail and often illustrates for the New York Times and The Walrus. He’s best known, however, for his Bigfoot books—wry, raunchy tomes about a sasquatch who just wants to be understood. Both have new books out: two European publishers have assembled collections of Taxali’s work, while Roumieu recently collaborated with Douglas Coupland on Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People, which features, among other nefarious creatures, a homicidal juice box. We met the pair for drinks at The Gem and listened in as they chatted about the state of their art. Click here for Taxali and Roumieu’s conversation »
BOOKS
Mono Taxali and I Love You, OK?
Gary Taxali
Available now
BOOKS
Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People
Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu
Available now
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