The first time I met John Sebastian Vitale was about a year ago. There was a gallery doing a big exhibit that I was supposed to be in, called Love Looks Better In The Morning. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to show. Luckily, the inspiration for the exhibit entered my apartment along with Vitale, who was its curator. He intrigued me, and slightly frightened me. This man looked like Jerry Hsu mixed with Al Pacino circa 1974; he was really quiet and just looked all around at my art and my photos. After that, I got his number, hit him up, and nothing’s been the same since. That Love Looks Better In The Morning show was one of the best presentations I have ever done--and it was because of him. He worked with me, trained me, and sort of fathered me in a way with his stories, myths and wit. Once you find out who this man is, he will change the way you look at art forever, and will get you inspired to go out and make some.
Ladies and Gentlemen… John Sebastian Vitale.
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Where are you from originally?
I was born in Union City, New Jersey.
When did you come to VA?
My dad was a navy guy so we moved from there to Charleston, SC, then to Virginia Beach. That was in fourth grade, so I consider myself from VB.
Was VA a stepping stone at all for NY?
I'd say yes, since it's where I grew up, and I ended up in NY eventually. The area had a big effect on me during my teens--being responsible for carving what you want out of a low density area, being around an overly competitive beach scene, a DIY music scene, being able to skate with certain people... The sort of stock answers for an artist my age, but I think those things gave me a sense of independence and self reliance. So to answer your question, yes.
Pages from Psychic Sacrifyx, a collaborative zine with Richard Perkins
Is there any torturous process that goes into making your collages?
Not really. I can't really draw as well as I'd like, so they start as sketches for potential projects. They develop in a pretty intuitive way after that. If you set out to find twenty-eight different images of airplanes, you're gonna come across a lot of images on the way, you know. So as long as I don't get too obsessive about it, it's pretty pleasurable.
Do you do the old style of cut out collage? Do you use photoshop?
I get this question a lot. Collage is recontextualizing existing images [through] their relation to other images and composition, right? So in that sense, it's traditional. But yeah, I use modern tools to do it. You can tell some dinosaurs have given me flak for it, right? I love magazines, and it pains me to cut them up sometimes. I guess I could one-up the naysayers and reconfigure some cave paintings with a hammer and chisel.
Pages from Psychic Sacrifyx, a collaborative zine with Richard Perkins
When it comes to art in VA, focusing on cities like VA Beach, Norfolk and of course Richmond, do you think there are enough starving artists and heavy hitters here to really push, and make something last? If so, who are some of your favorite local artists and who do you think is on the come up?
I definitely think there are enough people making great shit in the area to have a lasting art community. I personally think lower density cities are pockets where great things will definitely come from in the near future. It has its advantages--lower overhead, space to get weird without having to look over your shoulder at a gigantic cultural infrastructure--and there's a bunch of locals taking advantage of that. Obviously I dig what you've been up to, Hampton Boyer is pretty great, too many musicians to name... There are a ton of good musicians, almost all of the local artists that have been showing at V MOCA [Virginia Museum of Contemporary Arts] recently... Let's put it this way--if I had a gallery, I would have no problem programming it with great shows and performances from area artists for a year, easy.
Still from I Is Something (Free Band T-shirts) video
You have worked with Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, and Belvedere Vodka--what did working with these powerhouses do to your ego when you were away, and what made you slow down your reign?
I worked with those brands as an art director for a design company. While I employed large amounts of creativity in projects for these clients, I was just doing my job well, like any other person who takes pride in what they do. It affected my ego in that I learned that I'm comfortable with large amounts of responsibility, and feel like I can come up with creative solutions pretty regularly. But there's a ton of creative professionals in the world, and I don't feel extra special that that happens to be my particular skill set.
As far as "slowing down my reign", after I left that company and was freelance for a while, I decided to head back home for a bit and take a break. I'd been in NY for ten years at that point. I came back and just ended up staying.
You just had a show at the V MOCA. What did you think of the turnout? Do you wanna talk about the Psychic Sacrifyx zine we premiered there?
Yeah, I got a lot of really great feedback from that show. It was a pretty good turnout. Psychic Sacrifyx [is] an illumination of the suburban psyche. What can I say? It's around us down there. It's not a bad thing necessarily, but it's without a doubt something. It's visual representation of that weird psychic space.
Since you've been back in VA Beach, everything has been better down there; the scene, the art, the culture. Do you think in a matter of time you will permanently change things for the good?
BROMANTIC! Thanks man. I'm certainly dedicated to helping make shit happen. I feel like things will continue to get more exciting, definitely.
Any big plans for the future? Any collaborations or big work?
You and I have a few exciting things on the horizon. I'm just finishing up another collaboration with an architect in Norfolk. There are a lot of things in the oven, and I feel like I'll jinx them if I talk about them. Let's just say I'm excited to move forward.