Sometimes you come across an artist that makes art that's so mind-blowing, you get a little jealous that the powers above didn't dish you out the same amount of talent at birth. We definitely got this vibe from internet meme artist Yung Jake, who creates portraits of musicians from emojis, and now you'll get that similar stinge of jealousy from French artist David Redon.
The 34-year-old artist works as an art director at an ad agency in Paris, but in his spare time... he turns artists like Kendrick, Kanye, Outkast and Beyonce into vintage posters, vintage ads and old comic books like THIS.
All art by David Redon.
We're so in love with David's work and the seamless way he creates it that we wanted to dive deeper into his work, inspirations and processes. Check out our interview with David.
Tell us about the process behind creating your vintage posters. Do you draw/illustrate it all from scratch or do you source real vintage posters to then recreate?
I like to rework real vintage pictures to give them a second life, like when a rapper uses a sample of an old music to create a new song.
Where did your inspiration behind using vintage art come from? Do you collect vintage items or watch a lot of Golden Age films?
I am a big fan of vintage stuff, probably because I am very nostalgic, and fascinated by the notion of time passing. I have a lot of books about vintage stuff (ads, movies, posters...). I love especially the '50s, the '60s and the '70s. I find it interesting to mix old stuff and modern stuff to emphasise this idea of time passing and to make a tribute to artists.
You also look to comic books for inspiration, where did your idea to combine comics and music come from?
I had the idea to mix comic superheroes with rappers, because many rappers seem to have superpowers, even in their name: Methodman, Red Man, Notorious BIG, Snoop Dogg... Some have developed a personality similar to a superhero, for example, Eminem and his evil double, "Slim Shady" and Kanye West who is "a god".
Who are your favourite musicians?
I am addicted to music! I love "experimentals" artists like Childish Gambino, Andre 3000, Frank Ocean, Blood Orange, James Blake, King Krule, Tame Impala - shout out Australia ;)
How do you decide which musicians/artists/celebrities to use for each piece? Are there connections between the style of the art and the artist featured?
I always try to create connections between the artist and the context of the piece, with the artist's name or personality or the song's title, to create a fun shift.
Have any of the artists you have featured recognised your work?
Some artists have shared my creations, like Outkast, Kavinsky or Major Lazer. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis contacted me to create an artwork for a song, and I don't know if there is a link, but Snoop Dogg made a clip for his song So Many Pros that was very similar to a project I did with him in vintage Blaxploitation Posters. Daft Punk did vintage ad posters very similar to a project I did with them too.
What tools do you use to create your works?
My main tool to create artworks is Photoshop - I use it to cut, paste, mix, redraw, like a plastic surgeon!
Find more of David Redon (Ads Libitum)'s work on:
