JAFFAR ALY

Bold, Bright and Broken; Read about Jaffar Aly and the range of his creative vision.

I have been a fan of Jaffars creations for a while now through Instagram. There is always something special about seeing someone make art that you instantly click with.

We have had mutual support for each others art online and I have always wanted to get to know him and his visions more in depth. Jaffar recently has started to combine primary, bold colours with a modern, contemporary imagery to create fun and interesting yet loud doodle styled art. However it didn't start so bright and commercial, read on how Jaffar has grown as an artist starting with broken, dystopian imagery reflecting his emotions and life experiences, how the world inspires his pieces and his solo exhibition BLACK ANGST coming 28th June 2021 - 1st July 2021.

Where did the name thatspaghettibrand come from?

"I owe this whole Spaghetti shit to my bro Chris Mugwagwa. One day he had a deadline to meet and him and his team created this nice and simple VR game a couple days before the deadline, and he told me that it was “Spaghetti”. I was confused and told him what he means by spaghetti and my bro said that it just ‘Bleh’. They said fuck it, it is what it is! They saw their project as shitty, but I saw it as something fucking lit! So, I adopted that philosophy of ‘Bleh’, ‘Fuck it, it is what it is’ and boom. Now I am here. I’m that spaghetti brand, it is what it is."

When did you start drawing and painting and how did it come about?

“I’ve been drawing from time. Funny enough I didn’t study art due to my parents not supporting it as a course to take back in the days, so I opted for product design and damn was it a good creative space to fill my creative needs. Come university now, I took a BA in Anthropology, but being at an art school, it gave me the confidence to do art parallel to my own degree, and now I’m here balancing academia and the arts, hopefully I merge the two in the coming future.”

Has illustration allowed you to express yourself at all as a person that you couldn’t in other ways?

Yeah, I’d say so, it’s an alternative medium of expression right. I’d say I’ve managed to depict emotions that I would find difficult to express verbally and there are moment that writing tends to be the better alternative.

Growing up, what have been inspirations for you and your style?

“The people around me, cliché I know but trust me when I say that when you surround yourself with good people that support you and are on their own grind, are hungry for something, that is an infinite stream of inspiration. For me right now, my inspiration comes from the collective I’m in called anti.net, from my muse Katherine Duke, my family, dear friends and of recent, capitalism, coz being broke is not nice, haha, I joke…”

As an artist, you tend to adapt and grow your style, how have you developed yours into what it is today, any key things that have took a tole on your style?

“I feel like my art style has progressed as natural as it could. It’s definitely been influenced by my surroundings. When I first created my first gallery piece titled ‘Timothy Goes to School’ I was just fresh out of my undergrad in Anthropology and the world was crumbling, not like it was a surprise, but these early artworks of mine were very pessimistic figurative pieces. Dystopic I guess, filled with angst. The resurgence of Black Lives Matter, Covid-19, an economic decline, hostile environments, all influenced the artworks I produced then. Now on the other hand, I’ve taken on a more commercial approach. Being surrounded by creatives and being in the underground music scene and seeing what anti.net do, my style has moulded with their style you get me. Viceroy Lindsay, Tm JoJo, Wave Noir, Skrrgeon, Tommi Offlicence, all have been crucial in getting my work seen in the scene. And with their support that angst and pessimism in my artwork faded, and that fun, experimental, and “it is what it is” vibe has been the aesthetics of my developed style. But as you said, as an artist, we tend to adapt to new styles constantly so soon I might change it up.”

THE HOLY ART EXHIBITION

What was The Holy Art Exhibition?

“The exhibition I just had was curated and created by The Holy Art. They are a team that have managed to understand that the creative industry doesn’t support aspiring and emerging artist and have created a platform where us regular folks have a pedestal to stand on and feel seen, heard and appreciated, something every artist wants, and they gave me that chance.”

“They are truly an email away, not hard to reach. They allowed me to show my piece ‘Timothy Goes to School' which got amazing feedback. The turnout was great, I do recommend keeping an eye out for them, a growing talented team.”

What do you wish you saw more within the creative community?

“People looking out for one another. For there to be no gatekeepers, for there to be opportunity for all. For there to be no racial bias on what a creative should be and look like. For there to be depth, no shallow judgement. For there to be actual community as the word community has been commodified, no longer meaning a space and place for other to look out for each other with care and patience, love and support and financial backing.

“Most importantly, for the creative community to not be middle class and up. Coz growing up working class, yeah being a creative is near impossible, and when you are, it’s tough, and when you make it, your class has become a token for bourgeoise vultures to use. But I’m just repeating what has been said before. Whether any of these things I desire will happen? Maybe…”

BLACK ANGST

What is ‘BLACK ANGST’?

“Black Angst is a solo exhibition that takes place on June 28 th till the 1 st of July 2021. I’d say Black Angst is an amalgamation of the ambiguity and stresses of 2020. The four pieces, ‘Self Portrayal’, ‘Aftermath’, Timothy

Goes to School’, and ‘Naruto Senpai’ will be the main focuses I want others to experience. The exhibition will really be a space where other can see the angst that I went through and what other have gone through. I would love to add more depth to these pieces, but they really just be expressionist brushstrokes of creepy caricatures.

How much do you feel art has allowed minorities to express themselves and be heard and do you wish more would do it?

I can only speak of my positionality, and maybe those who have a similar positionality to mine. From my positionality, it’s definitely made me to express myself because fam I would have been a shit doctor. It’s allowed me to also look at my world differently. It’s no longer linear. I hope the arts does this for others.

"Right now, I’ve began my new and favourite series ‘Spaghetti Doodles’, a graffiti series that I want to get exhibited soon. I think this series will allow me to venture into mural making soon, I would love to doodle someone’s room, walls of a café or corporate building, or even just on a large sheet of fabric that you can drape over your walls. This new series I personally believe will open some doors that could not be open with Black Angst as it was too heavy for some people, this one
is light-hearted and capitalistic at its core…haha, on some Keith Haring wave right now."

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the exhibitions coming up:

'I Matter', Cambridgeshire, Ely. 31st May 2021 - 13th June 2021 (Curated by Olu Taiwo)

'BLACK ANGST', No Format Gallery, Deptford. 28th June 2021 - 1st July 2021

(NAME NOT DECIDED YET), Bermondsey Project Space Gallery, Bermondsey with Bradley Banton.19th July 2021 - 25th July 2021.

FOLLOW JAFFAR ON INSTAGRAM OR VISIT HIS STUDIO RESIDENCT AT LIVESEY EXCHANGE, OLD KENT ROAD.