Jack White has become the latest rock star to exhibit his own art and has been talking about it in an interview with The Sunday Times.
As many fans know, before the White Stripes took off, White was an upholsterer and it’s with these same skills that the guitarist has created his works of art – he apparently calls it “hardware store art”.
Among the exhibits at the show, which runs at London’s Newport Street Gallery until September, is a ‘sonic bench’ which includes an aperture where you can plug an instrument into the base of the seat. There’s also a collage of his dad’s old tools and a wall unit with gold trimmings, which the interviewer suggests would match the current interior of the White House.
“I would be overjoyed if it ended up there,” White said. “I used the exact same gold paint that Trump did, bought from the Home Depot website. He says it’s real gold, but it’s not.”
The exhibition came about after White showed Damien Hurst some of his pieces. “I showed Damien some of my work and he said, ‘When’s your next exhibition?’ I said, ‘I’ve never had one. I’ve never been asked.’”
Despite all his success, there’s clearly a part of White that hankers after the simple craftsman’s life: “It’s therapeutic because when you’re working with power tools, you’re feeling all kinds of different emotions,” he explained. “It’s nice to have this opportunity to get involved in this art form because it’s literally hands-on: it’s sawblades and sanders and epoxy-pouring.”
“It makes me feel, like, ‘Oh, I wish people didn’t know me at all from anything else right now. I wish I could wipe the slate clean just for this show.’ It’d be nice.”
Asked whether he’d choose music or art, White came over all modest: “I’ve never felt that I can do one thing very, very well. I’m not the greatest carpenter, but I do it a bit; I’m not the greatest musician, but I can do it a bit. I think I exist in the punk realm, where it’s better to not be perfect at something. It’s more visceral and more emotional when it’s raw. The rawness is where I get a great feeling.”
Anyway, the exhibition is called Jack White: These Thoughts May Disappear and it’s on at the Newport Street Gallery, London SE11 until September 13. And, what’s more, admission is absolutely free.
