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Knitted Pixel Sweaters by Artist Jim Drain Appear at Top NYC Boutique

by Matthew Zuras on January 22, 2010 at 05:05 PM

Jim Drain is not a fashion designer. He is an artist, who, over the past umpteen years, has created highly patterned, Huichol-inspired, frequently knitted abstract sculpture that sort of looks like the lovechild of Claes Oldenburg, Mike Kelley, and Nick Cave (the artist) with a hint of Makin Jan Ma. But for New York's gallery-cum-boutique Opening Ceremony, Drain has taken his obsession with knits to a retail space, recently decorating the New York store's windows with his new pixelated sweaters. And, for the record, they make us geek the frak out.

A fan of both 'Double Dragon' and 'Legend of Zelda,' Drain seems like a nerd at heart. We think that his droopy, '80s-inspired sweaters would be right at home on M.I.A., seeing as Drain's already created stage outfits for both Le Tigre and The Gossip -- bands who are no strangers to the allure of retro-dorkdom. From emoticons to ska-like checkered designs, the sweaters take us back through the niche imagery of the past two decades.

His pixelated pieces are an homage to an earlier time in his life, as he explained in an interview on Opening Ceremony's Web site:
Pixelation is an important issue for me right now. First seeing it when I was young, I see a connection between pixelation and knitting in that knitting and weaving came first in the same way that this kind of computer pixelation did. They're also both ways to concentrate and separate color. It's easy for me to look at Atari imagery and find the crossover with the other images I grew up with and textile techniques like knitting.
Drain was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial as part of the noise band/art collective Forcefield, a troupe composed of other color-centric artists, such as Ara Petersen. The group has since disbanded, but Drain has continued to show work at Art Basel, Greene Naftali Gallery, and Deitch Projects. While we love Drain's more abstract sculpture, we do hope that he continues to make pixelated wearables like the ones at Opening Ceremony. Crossover isn't necessarily a bad thing. Thanks Andrea C., for the tip! [From: Opening Ceremony]

Tags: abstract, art, clothing, fashion, jim drain, JimDrain, opening ceremony, OpeningCeremony, pixel, pixelated, sculpture, sweater, textiles, top

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