Dublin’s Jam-Dubbed Gem
Nestled in the cobblestone of Crown Alley, Temple Bar, is Jam Art Factory. Interesting name, don’t you think? And a suitably creative one at that, given what hangs on its walls. It is in fact one of Ireland’s premier art and design studios, featuring the work of independent Irish printmakers such as Maxi, Jacob Stack, Jando Design and Barry Quinn.
Image Credit: Maxi and Jam Art Factory
Image Credit: Jando Design and Jam Art Factory
The two creators of Jam Art Factory, brothers Mark and John, opened their first location on Patrick Street, Dublin City.
Myself and my brother John were looking for something new during the recession of 2011. He’d just finished up in a job and I had been painting and putting on a few exhibitions of my art work. A space came up on Patrick Street, so we ended up just going for it and were open within 3 weeks.
Their concept is to give lesser-known artists a platform to publicise and sell their artwork. That said, only the best earn a place in JAF.
A lot of our artists we found in end of year shows in college, at markets, across social media and from them emailing us. We decide on what artists we stock if they fit with our style and in regards to space that we have.
Rob Stears has well and truly made a home for his artwork in Jam Art Factory. Featuring witty and sometimes controversial puns, his cartoons stand out for their simplicity, relatability and humour. Speaking to Rob, I asked him if he could relate to Picasso’s eminent quote ‘The chief enemy of creativity is good sense’.
I suppose I can relate to that. Often the work I’m most happy with is the stuff I do for fun or for no reason. Sometimes when working for a client they may find some early sketches too weird before we settle on what they want and I will go back after the project and work on those weird sketches for myself.
Image Credit: Rob Stears and Jam Art Factory
COVID-19 has transformed the way that we live, work, shop and operate businesses. Jam Art Factory has been affected by the sporadic lifting and enforcing of lockdown just like most other stores, but owner Mark has a positive outlook on the situation.
It {COVID-19} affected us massively. It’s a very uncertain time for us and our staff. We’ve had to close our shops and work a completely different way. Hopefully when this goes away, we’ll have learned a few things on how to work better.
Though it faces a pandemic, Jam Art Factory and its cohort of artists isn’t going anywhere. This jam-dubbed gem is only getting better.
Visit their website at https://jamartprints.com.