Ian Blamey
Briony Lee Downes
Ian Blamey, User Friendly, 2001
Graphic designer Ian Blamey divides his time between commercial and student work. Best known for his innovative graphic design in student magazines, government handbooks and corporate promotions, Blamey describes himself as “first and foremost, an artist.” Favoring the artist’s book as a creative medium, Blamey has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1995. Initially using collage, found images, vinyl adhesive and screen prints, Blamey’s books have grown with the rapid development of computer design programs. Now able to incorporate more of his own images into the books, the success of Blamey’s work was most evident in the 2001 solo exhibition, User Friendly, at Foyer Installation Gallery in Hobart. Heavily influenced by the modern technological environment, Blamey is a true lover of vector graphics. While paying homage to the industrial geometrics of typical vector design, his work is distinctively slick in its ability to transcend surface. Organic flourishes of Autumn leaves and jagged mountaintops intermingle with the stark outlines of building sites and suburban sprawl. Blamey’s skill at interpreting the essence of object and place gives his graphic work a deeper aesthetic not usually found in monochrome design. Currently completing an Honours year at the University of Tasmania, Ian Blamey is exploring the effect of celebrity and fan culture on personal identity. Using the techniques of self-portraiture, airbrush and colour illustration, his present work implies that our relationship to the cult of celebrity is a form of escape, playing a vital role in the way we see ourselves.
RealTime issue #57 Oct-Nov 2003 pg. 5
