Brian Kelly Army
Wednesday 19 May @ 14:36:29 |
 by Troy Pieper
A local illustrator and licensed tattoo artist wants to see what happens when he markets a stylized image of himself in the form of stickers, buttons and, yes, tattoos. You may have seen his comics in the City Pages or in the Penguin Books novel by Joel Turnipseed, “Baghdad Express,” or maybe on a car bumper. He also draws a space-age rock and roll comic called “Francis and the Vegas Tramps,” and he paints.
 The art is pop; he likes the throw-away things that aren’t really meant to be seen by people, such as the sex ads with which London telephone booths were known to be littered.
For a very reasonable $20, he will tattoo a logo of his face on your body, which includes a lifetime membership in the Brian Kelly Army and a spot on his website, with your photograph, a fake bio and a nickname of your choice.
When Brian Kelly spent a semester at Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughn, Ireland, he decided to start painting self-portraits, and stenciling his image on walls around the town. Now he proclaims a massive, narcissistic egotism, but he isn’t sure which was the predecessor.
“A lot of people don’t like to see pictures of themselves,” he says,” because they think, ‘Oh my God, I look like that,’ but when I got over that, I began to think that you should love yourself however you look. And maybe people would, but pictures of ourselves are something that we almost never see. Nothing interests me as much as pictures of myself.”
But the Brian Kelly Army has other goals, as well. “Originally, I was out to take over the world, but now I just want to save it. See, it’s much more positive. Part of that goal is to eliminate nationalism, because it does nothing but divide people.
There are now 14 members of the Brian Kelly Army in 12 months, including the leader and single members of the Chicago cell and the Louisiana cell. Maybe the Brian Kelly Army tattoo is part of the natural desire for fellowship, or perhaps the logo is simply a beautiful image. He doesn’t know why anyone would get one. But why not? And why not make a logo of your own image.
The satisfaction may come from stories that come from friends of Kelly’s, one of whom was once asked by an Irishman who had seen the logo in different places in Ireland “Who is Brian Kelly?” Indeed.
To learn more about becoming a member of the Brian Kelly Army, visit briankellyarmy.com, and watch for his work at the Spyhouse in August. It will not be self-portraits.
|
|
 |
|
