JazzFestival

This year’s poster artist, Tal R, is one of Denmark’s most outstanding contemporary artists. With his energetic, extroverted style he has gained a very high profile on both the domestic and international art scenes in a very few years.Tal R is an expert at creating stories, which he compounds from different universes. This, together with a relatively unceremonious approach to art, often makes Tal’s works chaotic, humorous and full of movement. Graffiti, children’s drawings and comic strip illustrations
are components in a realm that is always expressionistic and meaningful. “Artists don’t hold a patent on creativity – the creative
mind is the same whether the outcome is a loaf of bread or a painting. What makes us happy is when what we create is vivid to us. Whether it is bread or pictures. And pictures are my language.” Tal R is a cosmopolitan. He was born in Israel to a Jewish
family, with a Danish mother and a Czech father. He grew up in Copenhagen and attended a Jewish school, but lived a Danish everyday life. Today he is married to a Caucasian. Thus, his identity is composed of various elements and cultures. You could say the same about his works. He describes himself as a bag lady that collects inspiration from the city’s garbage cans as well as from literature, music, comic strips, Nintendo games and his own personal history. The various elements enter into his paintings, graphics, collages and books from all angles.

This year’s jazz poster, “Jazz Is Not Born Yet”, tells a flood of stories at the same time and is open to a wide range of free associations. It is a well-known fact that jazz is something changeable, undergoing rebirth after rebirth. The same can be said of Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which – with this beautiful poster – is ready to be born again for the 31st time.