Wrestling with Pop Culture always loves a good pop culture parody. So when I was introduced to the work of the Belligerent Monkey (aka Jay Hornsby) by Needless Things‘ Phantom Troublemaker, I became an instant fan. From unlikely mashups of Guns N’ Roses and Super Mario Bros. and Pabst Blue Ribbon and various sci-fi franchises to the zombification of Gone with the Wind, this Monkey not only has my nerdy interests in mind, but also an oddly entertaining sense of humor. The Belligerent Monkey’s work was recently on display at the Drive-Invasion and has a permanent home at the Village Theatre. For those attending the Monstrosity Championship Wrestling event on Sept. 12, the Belligerent Monkey will not only be one of the vendors, but will also have items in the MCW raffle. And over the next few weeks he will be involved with some of Atlanta’s best fall festivals and will even take the the Village Theatre stage himself on Sept. 19. Here, Wrestling with Pop Culture sits down with the Monkey for a quick discussion about his work and upcoming events.
First of all, explain the name the Belligerent Monkey.
We bought a house about ten years ago and in the basement was a floor-to-ceiling wraparound tiki bar that was in pretty rough shape. After we moved in, we spent the first year or so fixing it up. We decided we had to to give the bar a name and we came up with the Belligerent Monkey. So originally it was the name of our basement bar. Then I had a chance to share a booth with some friends at the East Atlanta Strut festival, probably around 2004 or 2005. I had already been doing paintings on the side and some friends asked if I wanted to split a booth and join them at the festival. I said, “Sure.” I was going to Vegas the next weekend, so I figured if I sold one painting I’d have a little extra cash for the trip. I brought some paintings, but I needed a name. I couldn’t think of a new one right off the top, so I just used the bar’s name and it’s stuck ever since.
So you’ve been doing this for a little while then?
Yeah. I’ve been doing it for a while. The more you do it, the more you learn. I look back on the first few tries and I was woefully unprepared. Luckily I had some friends that helped out. Like I said, the first one was right before I went to Vegas and I ended up selling almost everything I brought. That was the point that the light bulb went off and I realized I could paint something and someone would pay for it. So I’ve been doing it ever since.
Was it always the same sort of pop culture parody stuff or has it changed over the years?
Oh, it’s definitely changed. I do different series of paintings. I’ll get into something and do three, four, ten paintings in a similar style or similar subject. Then I’ll get a little bored with that and move on to something else. So I can kind of look at my prints and see, “Oh, yeah. That was the zombie series” or “That was the PBR takeoffs of classic ads series,” or whatever it may be. I kind of bounce around a little bit.
What have you been working on most recently?
Most recently I’ve been doing really high contrast with pictures with logos or words behind it. It’s hard do describe, but it’s basically taking photos and doing a really high contrast version of it to where it’s black and white. Then, in all the negative white space, I’m filling in with logos, symbols or words.
Is that mostly what you will have at the MCW show?
I’ll have a little bit of everything. A long time ago I started doing prints, so I always have prints of my older work. I have a magnet press, so I hand press all my magnets. Once I do a painting, typically I will make a print and magnet of it. So if I no longer have the actual painting itself, I still have the image either as a print or a magnet. At MCW I’ll have a mix of stuff. Probably a lot of monster and zombie type stuff, a lot of sci-fi and pop culture type stuff, a lot of Star Wars and that sort of thing.
When I ran into you at Drive-Invasion you mentioned that your work has a permanent home at the Village Theatre, right?
Yeah. Those guys have been super supportive of me. I’ve known a lot of them from before they started the Village Theatre. Right before they opened they basically gave me a wall in the theatre and said it was mine to hang whatever I wanted. So I’ve been in both locations; the old location underneath Lenny’s and now the new location in the Pencil Factory Flats. Those guys are super great, super funny and super supportive of me.
I understand you will also be performing in one of their improv shows next weekend.
A week after the MCW show they’ve got me on their weekly Friday Armando show. Every Friday they have someone come in to tell stories and they take those stories and act them out. Hopefully they’ll make them a lot funnier than I tell them. It’s improv comedy, but they have standup there as well. The have different themes on different nights. But Friday is their Armando show where they have new guests come in every week and they take suggestions from the crowd and the guests will have to tell a story from their life based on one of the suggestions. Based on that story, the actors will do improv.
Is your work on display anywhere else?
Right now I still have a few things at Criminal Records. I’ve been a Dakota Blue for the last couple of years, but they just switched things out. So right now I’m at Village Theatre and Criminal Records. Also, HomeGrown in Decatur has some of my stuff. So I’ll be at MCW Sept. 12, the Village Theatre Sept. 19 and on Sept. 27 I’ll be at the East Atlanta Strut. On Oct. 18 is the Little 5 Points Halloween Festival & Parade. I’ve been doing that for the last five or six years. For those who don’t know, there really is an artist market. It’s kind of hidden back behind everything on Euclid.