New releases from the well known JJ Adams including additions to his iconic Rule Britannia Series.
Read JJ’s Story Behind The Pictures
Piccadilly
The artwork is a play on the painting “The son of man” by Rene Magritte and a mash-up on the biblical Adam and the apple and set in the hustle & bustle of one of West London’s most famous locations. It’s setting is focused within Piccadilly Circus, where I stayed in a hotel on first returning to the UK from Cape Town in 1998. The graffiti on the building covered by scaffolding states “This used to be a hotel” which used to be The Regent Palace Hotel. I have also put up boards over the location of Tower Records, a store I loved visiting in my youth. This piece features the open window featured in many of my other Rule Britannia pieces as well as the same phone box and the briefcase from “Plebgate” and the Polling station sign as a nod of continuity to the series that I have taken so much enjoyment from developing over the past 3-4 years.
The lions have made their way from Trafalgar Square, taking on board the concept from my piece “Nelsons Column” and one of them is standing on a soap box voicing his own timeless opinions. The overall theme plays on the ideas and relationships between old and new and the recurring battles between the two.
Wunch of Bankers
The title is a satirical / ironic play on words. The idea behind the piece is highlighting the generalisation of the public perception of corruption within the banking system, the greed and commentary on the bonus system banks have, austerity & money in general as well as fear factor predictions on the financial markets due to the impending fall out of Brexit. In this scene, the police are arresting and chasing down bankers while the bankers are running riot and destroying evidence. It takes place at the Bank of England in Bank, London. The Police van source image is taken from a genuine photograph from the Croydon Riots in 2011. The graffiti inclusions are derived from my own reflections on general consensus, expressing the tone of the current political & financial climate. Tags such as, “Without money we’d all be rich” and “The government lies, the banks steal, the rich laugh” are on view for all to see. The statue with the traffic-cone on its head is a play on “The Duke of Wellington” statue that is found in Glasgow.
No Landing
This is a play on the 1980’s famous Lamborghini Countach poster I had as a child on my bedroom wall in pride of place for as long as I can remember. The piece is a mash up of Back to the Future II (which I saw in the cinema the day it was released in the UK) and my love of the car itself, as well as a retake on the classic 80’s Athena poster and car advertising. In the Back to the Future II Film, in the year 2015, Hover Conversions are advertised on a billboard for $39,999,95 (See bottom left of image for the reference).
The setting is reminiscent of the alleyway scene from the film and features screen accurate graffiti and signage, like “Café 80s”, “Pepsi Perfect”, “Surf Vietnam poster” and “Class of 16” as well as characters like Biff, Jennifer and the Police car. The Lamborghinis Wheels have been replaced with a hover conversion and one of the original Lamborghini “Teledial” style wheels sits in the alley to the left, along with a hover-board and the litterbug robot from the film that they almost throw the sports almanac into before seeing the police car in the alley. “No Landing” is painted on the wall in large letters, this was seen painted in large letters on the street in the film. When released, the Lamborghini was fitted, famously with a bespoke Alpine Stereo system made especially for the Countach. (See bottom right of image). Boba Fett from Star Wars features in one of my earlier pieces “Time Traveller” seated in a DeLorean, he is featured in this piece too, although you can only see his lower legs, behind and to the left of the vehicle in the alleyway. He is intending to steal the car in order to continue his “Time Travelling”, much like older Biff does in the film. The slogan “When 88mph is not an issue” is a play on “Roads, where we’re going we don’t need roads” in that segment, the DeLorean struggled to get to 88mph quickly but the Lamborghini wouldn’t have that issue!. The quote “Nuclear Sucker” comes from the first film where Marty McFly first sees the DeLorean and says, “You mean to tell me this sucker is Nuclear?” I first dabbled with the source imagery for this poster entirely for my own wall at home, without any intention of releasing it but after the feedback from fans and a good chat with my publisher, we decided to release it. It is being released to coincide with the release of the film “Ready Player One”, I read the book in 2012 and it is one of my favourite books of all time.
JJ Adams