Grungy pop art

Sellout shows mean a 22-year-old Auckland artist is living his dream, writes Jodi Yeats.
At 22, Rob Tucker has the career many older artists dream of, living and working full-time off the proceeds of selling paintings.
Tucker has been selling works steadily since his first show at the age of 18 when he was still at school. Last year, Tucker's shows at Smyth Galleries in Auckland and Wellington sold out and he is currently exhibiting in Auckland and in Sydney.
But early success has not gone to his head. He wants to keep on painting. He knows he can improve and learn from what older, more experienced artists have done, says
gallery owner Kieran Smyth.
Tucker concedes that, at times, he feels overwhelmed by how his work is received, but he tries to be as level-headed as he can. It can be challenging, but to think "I'm the man'' would be stupid, he says.
"To do art is disciplining and beautiful. To do art is natural. But to get cheeky over any success is not part of the philosophy of doing it.''
He plays with a pop-up toy donkey as we talk in his studio, and is quietly spoken, thinking before answering my questions. For instance, asked what it is like to be a successful young artist, he replies, "I don't know. I have never been a successful old
artist.''
Tucker's sense of humour is an important quality in his work. He likes his paintings to be
fluid and fun, believing much art is too dark.
Tucker works in an historic Devonport building and, when I meet him, it is the first time he has been back there since the round-the-clock build-up to his two current exhibitions. The space is littered with empty mineral water bottles and sports drinks where, perhaps, a couple of generations ago there would have been empty wine bottles. Tucker is of a new generation. His art says, "Here I am'' rather than asking "Who am I?''
That isn't to say he is not of the same rebellious spirit as his forebear artists, but it is tempered with respect.
A witty take on Ponsonby
In the show now on, Ponsonby and All That Girlfriend, each painting features a business or shop and takes a witty angle on it, particularly looking at how it is advertised and branded. He enjoys exploiting their advertising techniques, but "without taking the piss''.
Tucker is inspired by poster advertising of the 1950s.
"Today, advertising is more subliminal. Back then it was more like 'Buy this'.''
He likes to tell a story, a very short, minimal one. A row of boots and signs in Tatty's, combines with the idea of FM (sleep with me) boots, and leads to slogans in the painting
saying, "Have a boot, have a try''.
In preparing for a show, Tucker researches on the internet and through interviews to
form a "palette'' of slogans, words and images.
In a piece about his accountant's business, Tucker was inspired by an email from the said accountant offering ideas, such as, "We like to drink beer, too''. He thought about accountants earning money and spending it in Ponsonby's numerous bars, so the words "Income Outcome'' are keys to the painting.
Once he has an idea, he starts painting on primed hardboard, layering and scraping
back to create depth and texture, using a variety of materials: acrylics, oil paint, oil sticks, polyurethane, fence stain and pastels.
Tucker uses words, such as "grungy'' and "slimy'' to explain the effect he is seeking. He
simply keeps painting until the piece is solved, rather like finishing a jigsaw puzzle.
While this show has not sold out, Smyth says all retail has taken a hit from the recession. The remarkable thing is, many of the Ponsonby paintings have sold.
Flunking until he found art
When he was at school, Tucker had no idea he would shortly have a career as an artist.
He was "pretty much flunking'' until he took art, design and photography in seventh form. At the start of the year, feedback on Tucker's work was that it was "pretty bad''. Reading art books and discovering the likes of expressionist artists Twombly and Basquiat, and pop art heroes Andy Warhol and David Hockney, along with heaps of experimenting, soon turned the teacher's feedback into "excellent''. By the end of the year, he had his first solo show in The Depot in Devonport.
He continued to sell works in group shows at the Depot and, recognising his talent, the
gallery offered him part-time curatorial work and a studio in its first arts apprenticeship in 2007. At the end of that year, a solo show at the Depot's city space, Satellite Gallery, looking at Belmont shops, sold out.
Most of the time, painting flows and when it doesn't, he knows when to take a break. Tucker relaxes by exercising, going out fishing and camping in the gulf or hanging out with his five flatmates in Takapuna.
"I fully want to keep being as natural and as positive as I can while I am doing it,'' Tucker says.
That lightness of spirit shows in his work and goes a long way to explaining the way people respond to it and why it walks out the door.
Ponsonby and All That Girlfriend at Smyth Galleries in Herne Bay at least until October 17 (likely to be extended).
Duty Free at Monster Children Gallery in Sydney's Oxford St until October 15.