“Eyeball Jog” by Charlie Immer has recently been added the site. A very exciting limited edition print, by an amazing artist. We were able to steal a few minutes and get a small interview from Charlie about the print and art in general.

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in art?

Charlie: My name is Charlie Immer and I am a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. I have been making art since i was very young and I was taught to draw skeletons in pre-school. Which I ran with, picking up sinew, candy and toys all along the way.

What are some of the things (music, movies, etc) that inspired your work?

Charlie: A mix of Charles Callet’s Gobliins soundtrack, a lot of candy, a dash of Slapstick comedy, 80′s gore horror films (Return of the living Dead, Puppet Master), and the art that was produced due to early anatomical study.

Can you please Name and tell us a bit about the people that greatly influenced you as an artist.

Charlie: If you are referring to contemporary artists that I look up most then I would say Femka Hiemstra, Travis Lampe, and Chris Buzelli. Femke Hiemstra – I am in awe of her character design skills. Her use of color and composition is also very unique. Travis Lampe – Awesome sense of humor in his pieces and I can’t get enough of the way he paints his characters faces. Chris Buzelli – Amazing Illustrator and the teacher that pushed me the most while I was a student at RISD.

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your paintings, “Eyeball Jog” and “Tearing Up”?

Charlie: Eyeball Jog – My mischief piece. The great Eyeball robbery. The thrill of the chase. Inspired by my friends and I when we were younger pulling pranks. Though I guess we never ripped any ones eyeball out. Tearing Up – In this piece I imagine a world where violence has no consequences and blood and guts can be appreciated for the beauty and color they spray on the environments around them. The characters a essentially invincible.

Besides the world that you have created, the colors in your work are what really stand out when first looking at your art. Can you tell us a bit about how your style developed, and where those colors came from?

Charlie: I try to render my subjects to look like living candy. My pallet comes from the pastel and jewel colors you find when you study candy. If you couldn’t tell already I eat a lot of it and I imagine that my bone marrow is crystallized sugar at this point. When I am finished with a painting I want it to have a Willy Wonka wallpaper quality, in that the viewer would almost want to lick the piece.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these Charlie. Take a look at the edition page and see the releases being offered from Charlie Immer here at the Virtu Gallery.
Charlie Immer @ Virtu Gallery