The Piece With Jakey Pedro

We’re introducing a new department called The Piece.

This is an intimate project because it requires someone to invite us into their home and share what piece of art is most special to them and why. For the first instalment, we reached out to Bondi artist, Jakey Pedro partly because he lives down the road, partly because we just did some work with him so it wasn’t like walking into a complete stranger’s house but mostly because his work is fantastic so we’d know he’d have something good. This isn’t about his art though, it’s about The Piece of art sitting on his wall that is most meaningful to him - The Piece with a story to tell.

In the world of the internet, as streamlined as it makes our lives being able to jump on a zoom and do an interview in fifteen minutes, nothing compares to catching someone in person let alone seeing someone in an environment where they will be most comfortable – at home. The other great thing about in-person interviews is being able to get a gauge on someone’s vibe. Jakey is a straight-A chiller. He’s calculated but humble. When I walk into his apartment which doubles as his studio, there is art, surfboards and knick-knacks everywhere. He’s welcoming, warm and the conversation was as easy as a arvo beer with a friend. So easy that I actually forgot to hit record for the first ten minutes, but we were just talking about the surf anyway. Here’s the good stuff.

Does having all your studio double as your home get crazy?

Well, I used to have a studio near you guys actually in Waterloo but I just found it felt like going to an office job and I wasn’t really going in. Having it here I am just fully immersive in it, and I get it done. Waking up and seeing what I have to do as the first thing really inspires me to do it but yeah I mean I can see how one day it might get old.

Yeah I used to have my desk in my room in lockdown and it felt like all I did was work, I couldn’t really separate the two.

Yeah I’m lucky that hasn’t happened yet I’m just excited to be doing art everyday.

I was actually talking to Hollywood on the way here about how/why some artists ‘make it’ and some don’t. Like you’re able to do this full time now. Sorry if this is a jarring question but why do you think your work has taken off?

Yeah it is strange to think about. I have plenty of artist friends who haven’t been able to pursue art full time and their work is spectacular. I think it just comes down to timing. I got lucky with the timing. Interiors had a pastel moment and I was starting to put my stuff out there at just the right time.

I have been a gyprocker my whole life but I sold all of my tools and fully committed to doing art. I stopped partying. That and surrounding myself with the right people. If you’re constantly in the same circles it’s hard to get noticed by people on the outside. So yeah just being around people who look up to and aspire to be like. I’ve wanted to do this my whole life. To be an artist. I really put everything that I had into it. I committed to it 100%. That’s not to say other artists don’t but I really didn’t give myself a fallback plan and it paid off.

You’re well known for the whole beach cowboy now too.

Yeah I mean I think a lot of people can relate to it. That whole riding the rodeo of life. Getting back up after falling down. The rider being pursued by the horse or bull is in comparison to life. Sometimes being in control or totally out of control of a situation or feeling. I have one where the cowboy is holding a bunch of flowers, being flung back and they’re falling out of its hand which represents falling in and out of love. A symbol of romance. And then the pastels that are synonymous with coastal life – being in the ocean.

Tell us about The Piece of work that is most meaningful to you.

So this is a piece of work done by my friend Gummy Johnston. I grew up with Gummy. We used to surf together when we were kids from when we were like ten until I was about fifteen, and then I didn’t hear from him for years. I saw him in Sydney at a party when I was about twenty-five and at the time I was making these surfboards with a guy from Noosa. Kind of like these finless surfboards made out of bodyboard materials. We got talking about how much we used to surf together so I ended up gifting one of the boards I made to him. He took his son out on it and was so stoked about it, just having the best fun. I didn’t really think anything of I but then he reached out and said ‘I’ve got a painting for you of you riding that board at Bingin.’ So it’s this really beautiful oil painting of me when I was testing the board in Indo like thirteen years ago.

He’s done such an amazing job of it. Like the spray coming off the rail and the detail of my face. And the cliffs in the background you can even see a bit of a villa in the background. I really love that painting. And it’s really good to see an artist doing something different. He’s always been a tattoo artist. So I’m really happy to see him branch out to other stuff. I just thought that was so cool that he did that. So thoughtful and that’s why it’s so special to me.

That is really special. Thanks for sharing that. First one done! I also wanted to talk to you about the other projects you’ve got going on while I’m here. You created the identity for this year's Splendour In The Grass. How did that come about and how did you develop concept for this year's look and feel?

Splendour reached out to me a few days before I was travelling to Mexico on holidays and I thought yeah I would love to be a part of that. It seemed like it would be a cool alignment. I whipped up something in the studio with a few silk screens that I had made up and subjects that I’ve used in the past – some of the rodeo subjects. I put a flower in his hand and then a couple of different colours, mocked up this poster and they really loved it. That was the one that kind of won them over. That’s where it started. It’s been a long process since but it's been a great experience.

And the Wrangler x Jakey Pedro collection dropping in July.

Yeah so I used the same similar subjects with the whole beach cowboy rodeo thing. There is some pretty cool yardage. There’s one yardage that’s lots of flowers and colours and pops. That was really fun. The staple jeans are my favourite. It’s more just little subtle kind of things – like a little pink cowboy hat on the pocket and then a few silkscreen rodeo subjects. I thought it was a really good little marry that one. It made sense because Wrangler has that Western feel. And my art at the time, and I guess it still sort of does, has that feel to it too. When they reached out I was like ‘hell yeah let’s do it.’

How many pieces are a part of the range?

Nine pieces for mens, and eight pieces for the ladies.

Is this your first capsule collection?

Yeah, the first one. I’ve done smaller collabs with other brands but this one is a full collection.

You were saying earlier (before I hit record) that you’re excited to move away from the commercial art world and more into the fine art world. Would you mind resharing that?

Yeah just the balance between commercial and fine art is something that I suppose I’m trying to navigate. I think the commercial thing has been cool lately in terms of exposure and opportunities. I was never, you know, explicitly looking for it, most of them just fell in my lap and it felt right to do them. I’m a big yes man so it’s hard to say no to stuff. I mean if I think it’s going to help me in the future or aligns with what I’m doing at the time then I will say yes so it’s not completely off the cards at all but just for right now I just want to not take on everything. There is a gallery in New York interested in my work and that’s what feels right to pursue at the moment so I that’s what I’m going to do.