Alex Giles
By Ellen at The Spires College
Alex Giles is a Manchester based artist whose work focuses on big, bold shapes and powerful colours. Visually arresting in its use of vibrant abstract forms and patterns, Giles takes inspiration from a broad array of sources including 1980’s graphic design, IKEA catalogues, techno, Bridget Riley and much much more.
With a career that has moved from art, media production and ‘intentionally bad screen prints’ it’s my pleasure to interview and introduce the immensely talented Alex Giles.
Has Graphic Design and the visual arts always been a passion of yours? Where did it all begin?
For as long as I can remember I have been interested in visual arts of some kind. As a child I spent hours with my head not only in books and comics, but I liked to study packaging, knitting patterns, IKEA manuals, anything with drawings or diagrams would fascinate me.
“packaging, knitting patterns, IKEA manuals, anything with drawings or diagrams would fascinate me”
I was always drawn to the brightest coloured sweets! In my teenage years my cultural awareness grew and I became interested in the pop art movement, artists like Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely seemed to speak to me on a visual level.
I've read that you used to work in the film industry, did you take anything from that sector into your own creative practice?
Yes, that’s right, although I still do work in the film industry, it’s a fun business (hard work sometimes) and I would miss the teamwork side of it if I was just locked in my studio painting all the time. My way of working has most definitely been shaped by my time in the film industry. I’m a naturally untidy/messy person but this is not something that is tolerated on a film set, and so I have much more discipline in that department. I also have a lot of experience running budgets and schedules, which may sound boring, but is very important as an artist to have some idea about these things, it is a job after all. Fun fact: When I left high school I did an art foundation, with the intention of doing a film degree, but after the foundation decided to take a fine art degree instead, then after graduating, I found work in the film industry then came back to being an artist 15 years later! Sorry if that made your head spin!
I've read that you take inspiration from adverts and graphic styles of the 90’s and 80's. Who, what, how and where was your earliest memory of being interested in the visual arts?
I think people definitely see something nostalgic about the work I make, I never set out with the intention of making paintings that reminded people of the 80’s/90’s, but I guess you paint what you know! I can remember being taken around galleries as quite a young child, my parents were very good at exposing me to culture, plus my siblings are 9 and 11 years older than me, and so if they were taken to something as teenagers, I was taken along too! I remember being taken around the National Gallery in Edinburgh by my dad when I was very small, and apparently I was more interested in the ornate gold frames than the paintings themselves!
How do you go about interpreting your sources of inspiration and forming your own creative outcomes?
With my style of abstraction, it isn’t as simple as say looking at a beautiful tree, or a bowl of fruit and then interpreting them in my own style. I produce my best work when the pressure is off, and my ideas can flow out easily. And so I think the inspiration exists in me like a library of feelings, with visual references that I must have stored throughout the years, and when the setting is right, the two elements combine to produce something with both the look and feel that represents me.
“I listen to NTS radio in the mornings, and then put my own music on in the afternoons, which can be anything from techno to disco, Post punk to pop”
If you could own any art object in the world, what would it be and why?
Ok, so I’m being silly here, but why not. I think it would be a fun challenge to own ‘Spoon Bridge and Cherry’ By Claes Oldenburg, It’s an enormous sculpture that I saw in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’d have to live on a farm and just have it in front of my house. Yum!
“You have to be completely genuine as a creator, especially if there is no brief or instruction”
What's it like in your studio? Set the scene for us, do you listen to Podcasts and music?
I’m very lucky and have a large studio with big windows, I’m high up and the views over towards Manchester city centre are really cool, Sometimes it is messy, other times it is tidy! I have a pretty decent stereo in there, and like to have the music up loud.. I listen to NTS radio in the mornings, and then put my own music on in the afternoons, which can be anything from techno to disco, Post punk to pop. Here is a link to a perpetual playlist I keep adding to.
What's next in the creative pipeline for you?
So I was just at the London art fair with a gallery I work with quite a lot, and I had a show open in Mallorca last week that I’ll be travelling out to see soon, that’ll keep me busy for a while.
“the most important person to satisfy with what you make, is yourself. Get that right, and an audience will follow”
Creatively, I have a stack of new drawings that I’m very excited about painting. I think they convey me and my mood really well, and have a feel of my earlier, more innocent work. So watch this space, and thank you so much for your fantastic questions!
Good luck with whatever path you decide to take!
Alex
Click here to see more of Alex Giles work.
What inspired you to leave the film industry and set out on your own artistic journey?
So, I finished my degree in Fine Art in 2006, and left university with little hope of being able to feed myself by making the kind of art I was creating at the time (cardboard installation work, weird animations, intentionally bad screen prints). After a year or so of temporary jobs, an opportunity arose to work on a low budget feature film, and my versatile skill set, and positive attitude seemed to be a good fit to the Art department (responsible for sets and props etc).
“I produce my best work when the pressure is off, and my ideas can flow out easily”
I had always dabbled with making art, but never had the time to focus properly on it, until we went into lockdown in 2020. I took the chance, and worked very hard at getting somewhere before the phone started ringing with more film work. Fortunately, things happened quickly for me and I was able to get a foothold in the art world, and now I am lucky enough to work in both fields.
Your most recent work seems to take a departure into a more symbolic and conceptual visual language. Can you give us an insight into this stylistic shift?
This is an interesting question to ask at this point, as I have just decided to step away from this new avenue. I mentioned in an earlier question about how the best work comes out of me when I feel under no pressure. Well the recent symbolic works, I feel came at a point when I was trying to add too much meaning to my work, sure, they look good, and there is a sense of mystique about them.
“I’m a naturally untidy & messy person, but this is not something that is tolerated on a film set”
But are they really me? I am not so sure. You have to be completely genuine as a creator, especially if there is no brief or instruction. Because the most important person to satisfy with what you make, is yourself. Get that right, and an audience will follow.
