‘I’m a Big Believer in Odd Characters’: Watch Artist Jaimie Warren Talk About Her Love for Freddie Mercury and Yoda

by admin

Feb 20, 2020

artnet

Jaimie Warren is the first to admit that she’s
weird; it stems from a desire to do just about anything to keep
herself entertained. For the Wisconsin-born artist, this means
dressing up as bizarro versions of her favorite pop-culture
characters and celebrities—from Freddie Mercury
to Freddy Krueger, she’s done
it all.

Warren’s first solo institutional show opens this week at
Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, and it promises to
be a multimedia spectacular. Titled “THE MIRACLE,” the exhibition
is a delirious mash-up of influences, from campy horror films to
high-school theater productions and puppetry. Things will culminate
in April with a series of live performances.

Jaimie Warren, courtesy of Pioneer
Works.

In an exclusive interview with Art21, part of the “New York
Close Up” series, Warren describes an early interest in costumes
that ultimately blossomed into more elaborate productions. But
she’s not simply playing dress-up. The artist uses these well-known
figures to stage moving, oddly emotional moments. As she told
Art21 back in 2015, “I’m a big believer in odd
characters…I especially like the grosser or weirder the character,”
she has said, citing Yoda, Boy George, and Phil Spector
as some of her influences.

In the video, Jaimie recalls how important it was when she first
saw Michael Jackson’s We Are the World music video,
which featured a diverse array of musicians who were all brought
together for a feel-good common purpose. (The ’80s aesthetic was an
added bonus.)

Warren considers the wild cast of personas she adopts to be her
friends, in a way, as well as a kind of raw material for her art.
“Remaking something that is
pre-existing—you already have so much to work with, and then it’s
all about every little decision you’re making from that…they’ve all
helped along my artistic spirit,” she says.

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of
Art21’s “New York Close Up” series, below. “Jaimie Warren: THE
MIRACLE” is on view at Pioneer Works from February 21–April 12,
2020.

This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration
between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking
artists. A new series of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art
in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all
episodes of other series like New York Close Up and Extended Play
and learn about the organization’s educational programs
at Art21.org.

The post ‘I’m a Big Believer in Odd Characters’: Watch
Artist Jaimie Warren Talk About Her Love for Freddie Mercury and
Yoda appeared first on artnet News.