Selected MEDIA Articles, Interviews, CATALOGUES & Publications
Artwork brings Hobart to life
Sarah Perillo - The Mercury, Wednesday 12 October 2022
A RENOWNED Tasmanian artist is bringing the streets of Hobart to life with a new, vibrant creation.
Dr Benjamin Kluss, known as Jamin, is in the final stages of completing a two-part mural at the University of Tasmania's accommodation and learning precinct on Melville St.
Jansz Tasmania x Jamin Collaboration
“Jamin is one of Tasmania's most celebrated artists, best known for his vibrant murals and street art. Emerging Anew is informed by his deep love and interest in the complex and interwoven assemblage of nature, and celebrates the interconnected relationship between the flora and fauna found in and around our Jansz Tasmania vineyards.”
Touch of Mystery in Jamin’s CBD art space, The Sunday Tasmanian, 26 June 2022
touch of mystery in Jamin’s CBD Art Space
The Sunday Tasmanian, 26 June 2022
A RENOWNED street artist has been commissioned to bring the University of Tasmania's Hobart city campus to life.
The university's Melville St accommodation and learning precinct will receive a makeover from recent PhD Dr Benjamin Kluss, known in the art world as Jamin.
A MURAL OF SWANS SLOWLY REVEALED
Huon Valley News, 4 October 2021
A mural of a flock of swans flying over the Huon River is slowly being revealed on the wall of the Huon Valley Hub in Huonville.
Jamin, a Tasmanian based artist known internationally for his vibrant murals and street art, has been spending days in a scissor lift bringing the design to life. The concept was developed by Jamin inspired by stories from Aboriginal Elder Rodney Dillon.
In Rodney Dillon’s words: “The swans tell their own stories… Aboriginal people would watch the swans and they could tell if it was going to be a dry or a wet year by where the swans built their nests… close to or away from the water line. There are lots of different things happening around us, nature has a way of expressing itself… if we take the time to watch, listen and learn we can all help care for country.”
Why Tassie seniors are becoming graffiti artists
The Mercury, 14 June, 2021
It’s often thought of as a young person’s hobby, but very soon Tasmanians over the age of 60 will try their hand at street art for one particular reason.
Piecing it Together – Glenorchy 2021
Jamin & Council of the Aged (COTA) Tasmania’s third Piecing it Together street art project was organised as a collaboration with Glenorchy City Council, Cosgrove High School, RACV, National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council and COTA Tasmania.
Interview with Joel Rheinberger - ABC Radio
Broadcast Tue 4 May 2021 at 1:30pm
Last Friday TMAG opened a new gallery for little children.
It's called "mapiya lumi", which is palawa kani for "around here".
And it's beautiful! There's a pretend waterfall you can slide down, a gigantic doll's house, birds flying around the ceiling, and the walls are painted with Tasmanian wilderness scenes and animals.
ABC Presenter Joel Rheinberger sat down in the space with Jamin, the street artist who'd painted it.
TASMANIAN TUXEDO: #48 WONDERWALL
One of Tasmania’s most distinctive street artists, Jamin is an edgy bundle of intriguing perceptions. This expressive soul fuelled by Zen and Deleuze, and shaped by science and music, crafts vibrant works that emerge gloriously from the dullest of spaces.
Jamin himself is the ultimate transformer.
Tassie artist is streets ahead
The Mercury, 8 February 2020
Street art is finally gaining the respectability its creators have long demanded – and for one Tasmanian artist, it’s led to a commission from one of the state’s most auspicious art galleries…
University of Tasmania Campaign
The Saturday Mercury, 7 September 2019
Art can take you anywhere.
Jamin's painted murals from Melbourne to Moscow, and plenty of places in between. But his skills are grounded in the degrees he holds from the University of Tasmania. Pretty soon, he'll have his PhD. Who knows where and what he'll paint next?
Countrywide Collaboration
The Advocate, 9 November 2018
“The idea is that each organism experiences life uniquely particular to its sensory capacity” Jamin said. “My work (here) uses a lot of reflection, mirrors and LED lights to create a sense of small internal worlds that can be seen and looked into.”
Hobart to Moscow on a Spray Can
The Mercury, 6 June 2018
A colourful creation painted outside a Russian stadium by Hobart street artist Jamin will catch the eye of thousands of fans at the FIFA World Cup this month.
Jamin's mural at Luszniki Stadium in Moscow for FIFA World Cup 2018.
World Cup stadium grounds in Moscow get vibrant paint job from Hobart street artist
ABC Radio, 30 May 2018
When a Russian art company contacted Tasmanian street artist Jamin and invited him to Moscow, he thought he was being scammed. But, the works of the Hobart-based artist are now for all to see at the FIFA World Cup stadium in Moscow. The cup kicks off at the Luzhniki Stadium on June 14 and has a touch of Tasmania on display. Russian art company Novatek Art was tasked with finding artists to paint buildings at the stadium and scoured Instagram in their search. Through hashtags they found Jamin's work.
"They wanted six artists from different continents and they found me and selected me as the Australian representative," Jamin told Helen Shield on ABC Radio Hobart.
A Devil of a good idea
The Mercury, 13 January 2017
“A new 30m mural at Hobart's Market Place car park aims to help save the devil from extinction by inspiring motorists to slow down while driving through wildlife hot spots.
The mural - which has digital elements triggered via smartnhones - is the result of Tasmania's first ever “Art for the Dole" project, with leading local artists Jamin and Caroline Amos joining a team of more than 40 community participants to create the artwork over six months”
Save The Tassie Devil mural project aims to get drivers to slow down to reduce roadkill
ABC, 12 January 2018
The creators of a mural depicting a lush forest with a hole in the shape of a Tasmanian devil hope the work will inspire drivers to slow down to reduce the number of animals killed. Participants used stencils and aerosol paint to create the foliage. The 30-metre-long artwork, which has been painted on a wall at the entry to the Market Place car parking facility in the Hobart CBD, was officially launched today.
The Save The Tassie Devil project, which Kickstart Arts said was "Tasmania's first ever art-based Work for the Dole program", involved 15 participants who were guided by Hobart artist Jamin.
"We made this with individual stencils, leaf by leaf, plant by plant," he said of the method used to paint the wall. “So, in a way it is unique, and we cannot make it the same way again, much like the Tasmanian forest."
Loo-down on Mofo’s not so wee makeover
The Mercury, 18 January 2017
“And if you thought it was cool last year, wait until you see what Visual Curator Jamin and his team have got in store this time.” Kane Young
Faux Mo’s Visual and Musical Exploration
The Mercury, 24 November, 2016
Faux Mo's visual curator, local artist Jamin, said a series of newly commissioned installations would transform 12 Murray into "a network of visual and audible tricks, alien currencies and otherworldly dilemmas", with partygoers invited to get involved and become "part of that ecosystem". Lead artist Aedan Howlett will collaborate on the project with 30 visual artists from across the country, including 2004 Archibald Prize winner Craig Ruddy, while visiting street artists HA-HA, Makatron, Order 55, Christopher Jarratt and Jo Peel and Hobart's Tom O'Hern will work alongside local installation artists, "combining a multitude of fascinating processes and surprising materials to create an immersive environment.
Ten Days Festival: Tasmanian and New Caledonia artists explore themes of island life
ABC News, 28 November 2016
Island life will be the inspiration for a new multi-media installation to premiere at a Tasmanian Arts Festival next year.
New Caledonia artist Nicolas Molé, Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Grace Williams, and Hobart street artist Jamin are collaborating on an installation called 'Islands — a Speculation', to be unveiled at the Ten Days on the Island Festival in March 2017. The artists said colonisation, indigenous cultures, isolation and a strong sense of community were themes connecting Tasmania and the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia. Stencil and aerosol artist Jamin is best known for curating Faux Mo's visual arts program, which is part of the MOFO Festival at Tasmania's MONA Gallery.
"The work we're hoping to develop really is about us. And in a way, when we first met, we all had this feeling that we're the same, but the same but different," Jamin said. "We're both from very small places like Tasmania, New Caledonia, and we're all engaged in art you could say is both contemporary and has an urban or street aesthetic to it, certainly associated with contemporary counter culture as well."
Tasmanian artists will explore the connections between our island and New Caledonia
The Examiner, 20 November, 2016
Emerging local Aboriginal artist Grace Williams will work with her mentor Jamin Kluss and New Caledonian artist Nicolas Molé to explore the connections between their cultures.
The artists will then convert their space into a street art experience called Islands – A Speculation.
“Really we’re exploring the territories that cross over between the ideas of both islands and also heritage. We all have mixed heritage, Grace is a Tasmanian Aboriginal, Nicco is from the Kanak people and for me, my mother was from India,” Mr Kluss said.
Stylish Finale for 12 Murray St
The Mercury, 19 November 2015
“Faux Mo is being designed to be a kind of Department of Non-Human Services, but we’ve kindly decided to invite you anyway” Jamin Said.
STREETS AHEAD
The Saturday Mercury, Tasweekend, 13-14 June, 2015
"It's come down to me looking at camouflage and masks - how politics is deceptive and leads people into thinking they're dealing with the real thing, when they're actually just dealing with the deception. It's the driving force behind his works in this exhibition - but approached laterally through paint and stencils. Stencilling is a literal paper mask, which inserts itself between the paint and the canvas. It masks out an area and when you remove the stencil, what you see is the bit that wasn't masked. This idea of masks is embedded in the actual work."
Stimulate the senses
The Saturday Mercury Magazine, 10 May 2014
“From pixelated portraiture Jamin has continued with his oscillating exploration of structures that are both transparent and impenetrable. Process Painting could be about an encounter or even an injury with its splashed, scraped and sanded paint with vestigial cellular patterns.
Those who still think abstraction is self-indulgence with a loss of reality should attempt a facsimile of his Parallax (Blacker Mask) which transmits mirrored and angled layers into interlocking black inflorescence. Such complexity that sees art overlapping into physical science could dispel many doubts.” Clyde Selby
AN INFLUX OF TALENT FOR ST.ART
Warp Magazine, August 2012
Jamin is a Hobart based artist who mixes up street painting and gallery art. He is most well known for his politically-charged-stencil-pop-pastiche, which often features the luminary figures of politics, pop, state and terror. Jamin's street paintings depict masked faces in a festive blend of bold lines and bright colours, with the odd photo- realist element thrown in, resulting in cheerfully sinister celebrations of the other side. Recently, Jamin was the recipient of the Rosamond McCulloch Studio Residency in Paris, 2011, and a finalist in the 2012 Glover Prize with his work Monalalia.
Off-the-wall street art
The Saturday Mercury, 25 August, 2012
SOLIDARITY: Artist Jamin creates a piece in the Rosy Barn about jailed Russian punk band Pussy Riot.
Cans of colour in Parisian streets
The Mercury, 6 February 2012
"Paris has a vibrant culture of street art, it's very welcoming," Jamin said. "There are many legal-type walls, on buildings that are due for demolition and areas associated with urban culture." Jamin said he explored the theme of masks during his time in Paris and was inspired by artefacts he discovered in various museums and art galleries.
Emma Hope
Contemporary Australia: Optimism - QUEENSLAND ART Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (QAGoMA) 2008
Gillard Mural a late addition to painting exhibition
FORCEFUL CONTENT MAKES FORCEFUL COMMENT
Sauce, Edition #78, 15 October 2008
"I was mainly driven to find a way of working that was fast, immediate and readable'," says noted Tasmanian artist, Jamin, on his stencil-style art; importantly, "As a means of producing art works where the content was the main force."
GROUP ACTION 6 - INSIDEarts
The Saturday Mercury, 29 May 2010
First we take Paris, then we take the World
Sauce Magazine #52
New exhibitions unique perspective
Intimidating exhibition sure to draw a reaction
Artful new ways of communicating
The Advocate, 2007
Have brush, will travel
The Weekend Australian, 3-4 June, 2006
“Benjamin Kluss (Jamin) is one of the most powerful image-makers in the show. Borrowing from the history of art - in particular, Russian poster art and Caravaggio's The Beheading of St John the Baptist - he has generated a series of images in black and white and red that dominate the downstairs gallery. With John Howard's head replacing John the Baptist's, he is less than subtle, but that’s his point.”
Ted Snell
Zebra Magazine - Front Cover
Zebra Magazine, Issue 249 May 2006
PERFECT HATCH
Zebra Magazine #13, 2006
“Having to identify stand-out pieces amongst the 2006 Hatched collection is near-on impossible. But PICA curator, Hannah Mathews has been impressed by the overall standard of work and the number of artists who really have something to say. She mentions Benjamin Kluss’ (Jamin’s) piece ‘Sedition’ featured on this month's Zebra cover.
"There is a kind of Man Of renaissance tradition, I guess, to how he's presenting the work. But it's featuring John Howard's head on a plate, Mathews says, making her point.”
Natalie Schmeiss
Of the Wall
The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 March 2006
Tracey Clement
Street Cool
The Mercury, 10 February 2006
Rebecca Fitzgibbon
Simple art form brings a powerful message home
The Sunday Tasmanian, 26 September 2004
“Fill your eyes with these artists' heartfelt anger about our fair country's submissive foreign policies and misanthropic treatment of indigenous minorities, outsiders and refugees and help make Australia the safest place on the planet for the free expression of the insurgent views (Disrupt) Dissent Desert espouses.”
Jane Rankin-Reid
Living in indignant times
The Mercury, 30 August 2005
Hairy heir to post-9/11 paranoias
The Saturday Mercury, 28 August 2004
