We all love denim, don’t we? It’s the great democratic fabric, worn by everyone from the farmer to the aristocrat, the manual worker to the oligarch.
But for the British artist Ian Berry, it is so much more. It’s probably fair to say, Ian is obsessed. This is the guy who changed his stage name to Denimu and made a career out of turning jeans into works of art.
Ian conjures remarkably detailed portraits and urban landscapes using nothing more than discarded jeans. Over many weeks he cuts, stitches and glues using only the varying shades of the fabric to provide contrast and shadow. The effect is amazingly detailed images, with a depth and texture that is hard to reproduce in print and online.
Ian’s denim epiphany came during a trip back to his childhood home in Huddersfield. During a big clear-out session, Ian found himself staring at a big pile of unwanted jeans destined for the charity shop. Affectionate memories came flooding back, along with a wave of tactile enthusiasm for the fabric. At that point, he knew he’d found the key to his artistic career.
Ian began his artistic experiments with denim while working as an art director in London and Sydney. Despite building a successful career and creating campaigns for brands such as Nissan, Guinness and Talisker Whiskey, the call of the rivets and seams was too deafening to ignore.
The public caught on and Ian enjoyed enough commercial success to devote himself full time to his art. He had two near sell-out shows in Sweden, his new adopted home, another in London and also showed across the US, in Portugal as well as Copenhagen. His work has since sold across Europe, America, the Middle East and Australasia to private, public and corporate collections, and has been featured in innumerable art and fashion magazines from Elle to Playboy, newspapers from The Times to the Daily Mail and interviewed on many TV shows included the UK’s BBC and ITV, Sweden’s TV4’s Nyhetsmorgan morning show and on 24Corren and Portugal’s RTP.
200x130cm (this part of installation), denim on denim
Cover Girls, denim on denim, 122x61cm
All set, denim on denim, 80×40
Smart Work Eddie, commission for Style Magazine with Jenifer Saunders’ jeans, working with charity, SmartWorks.
Ms Jean, Denim on Denim, 900×900, 2010
The Wild One, 900×900, Denim on Denim
The Rebel, 900×900, Denim on Denim
