A whimsical cartoon variety show from beloved illustrator and artist Jess Rotter
Jess Rotter: I’m Bored is a Gary-Larson-meets-The Muppets variety show, a terrific trip composed of drawings filled with recurring characters--ranging from walruses to wizards to life warriors, who are all, like the rest of us, seeking their daily salvation. A wizard paddles on a lonely sea, his flag proclaiming “I’m trying.” An ostrich hitchhikes in the desert, holding up a sign with her destination--”Bliss.” A walrus wearing an AC/DC shirt looks mellowly at the viewer underneath the refrain “I’m bored.”
Part art book, part comic book compilation, and partly a skeptical but loving take on those Successories motivational posters for the office, this book (designed by the artist and with a foreword by Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte) features the whimsical, wonderfully whacked-out work of artist and illustrator Jess Rotter.
Informed by a deep knowledge and love for the world of 1970s rock ’n’ roll, the work of Jess Rotter was inspired by her father’s vinyl covers and comic books growing up. “Part Peter Max, part Fritz the cat” (as Rotter described an early aesthetic influence), Rotter’s illustrations have appeared on everything from public murals to album covers (to name a few: Best Coast, Linda Perhacs, Wooden Shjips, Country Funk Volumes I & II and This Record Belongs To), and on projects for clients including MTV, Converse, Target, Red Bull, Indiewire and Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter. Her T-shirt label, Rotter and Friends (launched in 2006) resulted in collaborative capsule collections for The Gap and Urban Outfitters, and official band merchandising for acts such as the Grateful Dead, Sly Stone, Rodriguez, Big Star, Kurt Vile and more.
