FD: First off, I would like to thank you for doing this interview with Aesthetic Taste. We are glad you made us aware of your work. JJG: I would say the pleasure is all mine but actually the pleasure is yours. I don’t usually do interviews but what you guys are doing at Aesthetic Taste is pretty unique. It definitely could use a little of my flavor. I like to think of myself as an extra two shots of whiskey in your glass full of whiskey. Combined it will be enough to take us right over the edge. FD: Oh, so you are one of those artists? JJG: And what kind of artist would that be? FD: You know, the kind of artist that thinks the sun, moon, and all the planets revolve around your studio. JJG: I don’t know if I have enough magnetic power to make planets spin around but I have been called the booty magnet .I’m great and all, but do you really think I possess enough power to be my own planet? Should I change my name to one word like Saturn? FD: I probably shouldn’t ask this but if you could go by one name what would that name be? JJG: A one word name to describe myself, it would have to be something fierce and strong. I like the sound of Planet Assassin, being that I can murk all the competition anytime I get ready. I’m stealthy, focused, and I go about this thing with a workman attitude. FD: (Laughs) Here at Aesthetic Taste we don’t mind braggadocios behavior as long as you can back up the attitude with your work, with which we are very fond of by the way. FD: So, J.J. Gerad is an interesting name. It is not as interesting as Assassin. You have jokes so I’ll crack one, Did your mother name you after JJ Evans from “Good Times”? JJG: (Laughs) Here we go with this old bullshit. Every time you critics/ interviewers see a black male artist your mind goes straight to “Good Times”. So, to answer your question, fuck no, I’m not named after fucking JJ. I don’t make Oppression Art or paintings for church choirs to stand in front
of and sing Old Negro Spirituals. For Fucks sake it’s 2012. If you are a black artist making slave painting then do me a favor and go kill yourself. The only thing cotton about your work should be the canvas or the paper you draw on.(Chuckles to self) It’s funny, actual stereotypes making work that is stereotypical. FD: That’s an interesting way of looking at it. Do you feel like minorities support your work? JJG: To support someone’s work there needs to be a fundamental understanding of what that work is trying to accomplish, or at least an understanding of formal ideas in art. I cringe at the old slave relic images hanging on some of my friends walls. Can’t we get past emotional one liners and folk art? Certain cliché images come to mind like a black hand reaching for another black hand-Unity, and then the image of old black people counting coinsHard Times. The shit people put on their walls requires no thought because people do not like to think too hard about anything. I refuse to make home décor. The idea that art can have any other significance other than furniture is over some people’s heads. The largest markets of consumers in general are ignorant and my art is for people that have the ability to go past surface level appearances. That’s why you picked me for the interview right? You included a few pages of my new graphic novel and you like the story. Be sure to check out my other novels “Sloppy Mop” and-FD: I see I touched a nerve. Why do you think Black Artists fall into those modes of thinking? JJG: For fuck’s sake. I just told you that I don’t want to talk about art in a segregated context. It’s not that you touched a nerve; art just doesn’t have anything to do with race for me. When I look at art it is good or bad, important or irrelevant. Art can speak to a variety of different subjects, race and politics in-