Purple Rain "Mashup"

Purple Rain "Mashup"
2022, Acrylic on wood panel, 24"x24"

This piece really displays my music/record nerd sensibilities. It is a stylistic "mashup" combination of two very important film soundtrack albums, Prince and The Revolution's (or just Prince's ) 1984, "Purple Rain" and Jimmy Cliff's 1972, "The Harder They Come". Though they were released more than 10 years apart, the two films at the core are very similar. Both are fictionalized accounts of brilliant young emerging artists in their home localities (Minneapolis and Kingston) taking on the powers that be to prove their worth, granted in very different ways.
Before I knew what illustration or graphic design was, John Bryant's artwork for the cover of "the Harder They Come" left a lasting impression. It's colorful almost cartoonish style is iconic. It aptly captures the look and feel of the Kingston Jamaica based film.
When thinking of possible albums to "re-mix", I was struck by the fact that both "Purple Rain" and "The Harder They Come" album covers featured men on motorcycles with a background that showed something of the city where the film was based. This lead me to the concept of re-imagining, "Purple Rain" in the style of "The Harder They Come". Though not a direct quote, I think it succeeds in capturing the feel and vibe of both John Bryant's original art and the content of the, "Purple Rain" film. Note: The yellow sedan at the bottom left corner of my painting is featured prominently in the film as the car of Morris Day.