New Book
This monograph will have equal appeal for audiences of young contemporary artists; tattoo arts; and DIY / graphic design. Strong and recognizable motifs relating to contemporary pop culture, tattoo art, and graffiti art make this a unique title in the art category with strong appeal to youth / urban audiences. The first monograph collecting the vast and colorful output of the eclectic artist and intergalactic visionary JK5. The first monograph to celebrate the diverse and eclectic work of one of the true visionaries of the contemporary art world. Joseph Ari Aloi-aka JK5-is a compulsive artist for whom every free moment is an opportunity to create. Bringing together his work as a fine artist with the instincts and references that color his passions of tattoo and graffiti art, JK5 has an expansive, textured, and highly individual visual vernacular. Whether as a painter, illustrator, calligrapher, or designer, JK5 is preoccupied with the collision of personal and revelatory themes with profound pop-cultural iconography, resulting in a powerful and readily identifiable style. This creatively designed monograph features work that extends from paintings on canvas to plastic vinyl toys, from storyboards for animation films to collages and scratch cards, and from outlines for tattoo work to a vast collection of sketchbooks-each completed with such regularity that they serve as a kind of artist diary, recording his changing preoccupations and varying visual interests. Edited by the artist-with contributions from fellow artists Mike Giant and Kenzo Minami-and designed to reflect the varying and tactile nature of the work, this is an artist’s book that will exist as a unique and collectible object in its own right as much as a record of the remarkable output of one of the most prolific voices in contemporary art.
About the Author: JK5, aka Joseph Ari Aloi, is an artist, designer, writer, and tattoo artist. Aloi opened a tattoo studio, expanding his signature styles and approaches to lettering and graphics into work in many mediums. He has collaborated with such companies as Nike, Kidrobot, and Wieden + Kennedy, and his work has been exhibited through Deitch Projects, Alife NYC, and other galleries worldwide. He has most recently collaborated with Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons on the 2015 Comme des Garçons Fall 2015 Menswear Collection; the capsule was debuted by CDG in a formal runway presentation, and was launched within beautiful retail experiences at Dover Street Market in London. In 2014 Rizzoli published his third book, Joseph Ari Aloi AKA JK5: Sketches, Tattoos, Drawings, Paintings and Objects, providing a trip down the rabbit hole of this crazy beautiful brain. Aloi ran his own tattoo shop for five years before moving to New York in 2003, and has since worked alongside some of the most revered names in tattooing— Duke Riley of East River Tattoo, Scott Campbell of Saved Tattoo, and Daredevil in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He’s now happy to call the mighty Three Kings Tattoo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, home.
