Jimmy Krozel, a local Portland artist makes fine art and
social statements through his masterful use of mass marketed plastic credit
cards and gift cards. The cards Jimmy uses are given to him by people who have
walked into his gallery. People donate their credit cards to him after they
hear his story. (For security purposes he never puts the cardholder’s name and
card number in the same piece.)
In Mr. Krozel’s piece, “More than a Number” he juxtaposes
the font size used to represent consumer’s names on a credit card to the much
larger font used to represent the credit card number. “We’re insignificant
compared to our number….we’re really only a number, not a name.”
Jimmy explains his use of the cards magnetic strips in the
piece. Jimmy says, they “are like a mystery, like government documents where
they black out everything…we don’t know what’s being transferred on that strip.
They don’t let us know. You don’t know if it’s your credit rating, your account
number, your balance, your habits, whatever it is.”
In “Danke Danke Danke,” Krozel invites viewers to imagine
life as though behind bars. “Because if you’re paying 21-25% interest rates,
your behind bars financially.” Jimmy is disgusted with society’s complacency
with only being able to afford to pay the interest and inability to payoff the
principle. He notes the inequalities when spending on credit cards versus cash.
While it’s clearly more economical for businesses to accept cash for payment,
companies instead give customer’s discounted rates for using their own credit
cards.
In Mr. Krozel’s piece, “Get What You Want,” he describes his
inspiration. He says, that “everyone is being conditioned through repetition to
consume more than they can afford”. He uses animals to symbolize how we are
being trained to accept gouging interest rates. The more often the ads appear,
the more it seems like the normal going rate because that’s what you see.
Through repetition of logos and pricing, advertising enslaves society”. His
artwork is a statement about society and is why he creates artwork from cards
that he shreds after hearing the story of the persons who visit the gallery.
Mr. Krozel is also inspired by the artwork of Mondrian. He
notes how Mondrian evolved his artistic style from representation to
decorative, and onto the abstract. He looked for the simplest elements of the
human visual experience from which to create while also pursing an abstract
visualization of sound and space.
Mr. Krozel uses the language of credit cards as a landscape
from which to derive both inspiration and form. Both literally though what you
see on the card and figuratively in what is written on the policies.
Jimmy’s work is located at Augen Gallery, 817 SW 2nd Ave,
Portland, OR 97204 All are welcome to come visit the Gallery. Portland Art
Thursday’s run at all galleries until 7pm.
