The first piece of artwork I chose is an untitled piece by Jon M Mackay, that was created for the band Daughter for a specific gig at my local music venue- in which I attended and bought one of the limited edition prints back in 2013.
Mackay’s work is screen printed his design onto A2 paper- only 45 were created. Mackay’s artwork was the first screen print I had ever come across and really drawn me in due to it’s simplistic colour scheme, as well as quite raw look. I found it interesting how only 45 were created, due to the fact that each poster, although similar overall, each has minor imperfections which make them equally all unique and made the show even more special to me. I feel the contrast between the red and black creates so much more depth to the piece.
I also like how Mackay bases his posters off of lyrics from the bands he crafts his prints for.
My second artist that I decided to look at was the photographer Thomas Mailaender. In his series Sunburn, he took negatives from the “archives of modern conflict’s collection” and projected the negatives onto the skin of his models using a UV lamp.
What peaked my interest in Mailaender’s work was how abrasive the photographs- to allow an artist to physically burn you in order to create art sounds ridiculous; yet the results are beautiful and very striking. I think this is where I see similarities in Mackay’s work compared to Mailaender’s, both artists are forced to use a simple selected amount of colour and tone in their work due to the mediums: In Mackay’s work, he must work simple due to the fact he is screenprinting, and the use of limited colour creates striking prints- whereas Mainlander’s work, he has no option but allow the skin to burn into a selection of reds to create his artwork. I really like the idea of simplified colour schemes in work, and I would love to explore this rather than my typical work in which I usually overcomplicate using colour on mass.

Jon M Mackay Untitled-6 Art: https://jonmmackay.wordpress.com

Thomas M Mailaender Sunburn series: http://www.thomasmailaender.com