Simon Rumley speaks to London art mavens Jasper Joffe and Harry Pye in an exclusive 30 minute podcast interview about their work and their latest exhibition, Joffe et Pye, featuring new paintings inspired by French artists, friendship, and family. The show takes place in Jasper’s Shoreditch home in the spirit of a salon gathering, open every Sunday until 28th August. Jasper Joffe and Harry Pye have worked together on The Free Art Fair, The Rebel Magazine, and Jasper & Harry’s Tate Modern.
Joffe on Pye: “I met Harry in 2000. I saw a show he’d curated called It May Be Rubbish But It’s British Rubbish. We had a lot in common, organising our own shows and being independent to a fault. I’d known his more sensible sister at The Ruskin. Harry and I are both irritating younger brothers but he is less abrasive than I am, with a softer sense of humour. He writes fanzine articles about bands that I have never heard of, but who are apparently famous or important.
I like the way Harry paints: good colours and shapes and stories which touch me. And he also writes in an open and funny way. He can really make me laugh. Harry’s got his quirks of course, he doesn’t eat fish or rice pudding and only drinks Australian beer at openings, but he’s not fussy about who he hangs out with. If our show goes well I will get him a swimming pool membership or a trip to Paris.”
Pye on Joffe: “I met Jasper in 2000. I saw a show he’d curated called The Bold and The Beautiful. He struck me as being a mischievous young man with a lot of drive and energy but it was clear he had a sensitive side too. Jasper made a painting entitled Shit Funeral which I included in Viva Pablo a show of Picasso based works that I put together at The Bart Wells Institute. I also enlisted his help in selecting 100 artists to do a painting of their mum for the show 100 Mothers. Jasper is a loyal friend to many people and he encourages people to follow their dreams. Jasper doesn’t care much for music. I’ve known people who like classical music but have no interest in reggae or rock but Jasper is the only person I’ve met who seems to have no real genuine love of any music genre. But last night his daughter was giggling at some cartoons on TV and he said the sound of her laughter was one of the beautiful sounds in the world.
Like everyone else I thought Jasper’s celebrated painting of Himmler was very good but I feel the best is yet to come. If this show is a hit and I make a little cash out of it I think I’ll just take Jasper out for a nice meal. Maybe we could go Italian?”
The exhibition runs from Sunday 31 July to 28 August. Open only on Sundays, 12 noon till 5pm. Address: Chateau Joffe, Unit 3, 7C Plough Yard, London EC2A 3LP.
Listen to the interview with Jasper Joffe and Harry Pye, hosted by Simon Rumley.
To download this podcast (15MB), right-click the above link and select ‘Save Link As’.
