DOS & DON'TS

“Mom, where’s Dad?” “I don’t know, Julian. He said he was just going to get us a bottle of water.” Comments/Enlarge | See all

Used to be a dad like this would have the kid in therapy at age 10. These days divorce and addiction in the family are so common that kids are just like: "Meh, fuck this loser. Who wants to go spend what I just stole from his wallet?" Comments/Enlarge | See all

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IN THE MAGAZINE

MERIJN HOS IS A PRETTY STURDY GUY

INTERVIEW BY JAN VAN TIENEN

MORE DRAWINGS BY MERIJN HOS 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | >

Vice: What did you draw as a little Dutch boy? A bunch of bongs and doobies?

Merijn Hos: Lots of boats, actually. I wanted to be a captain, but then I went to art school.

Do you regret it?

A little bit. I might still do that, though. Sail around and stuff.

You’ve said that your work is about society, escapism, organized confusion, friendship, and loyalty. What’s that mean?

Look at the Special Olympics drawing. The idea for that came to me one night when I was watching the opening ceremony of the games and thought, “What a load of self-important bullshit.”

It’s about time the Special Olympics got called out on their weak shit.

And I’m a pretty sturdy guy, you know what I mean? So I wondered what it would be like if I walked in there with my big body. And my friends would cheer for me, but then they would cheer for nothing.

Wow, man. Tell me about this other drawing, is it a bicycle-vase-balloon-machine that spreads love?

Sort of. It’s called Join the Bandwagon. It’s a bandwagon. The cones catch sound waves and those waves cause the balloons and plants to grow. And good music puts the machine into motion. It’s a hippie bandwagon.

Are you shy?

Not really, but I live in Utrecht instead of Amsterdam because I have ADHD and am very easily distracted. I’m also not a fantasy freak, by the way. I hate movies like Lord of the Rings. I also don’t use drugs. Well, an occasional joint or something.

Sometimes droplets come from the bottoms of the little creatures you draw. What are those droplets and why do they come from there?

Those are small leafs, not droplets. It’s one of the recurring objects in my work.

I thought they were bleeding out of their asses.

No… They’re leafs.

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Comments

Anonymous, on Feb 5, 2009 wrote: That’s some phat shit again, Hos. Peace, T. That Royale one.

Anonymous, on Dec 12, 2008 wrote: I think merijn gots to be the flag-man for the illustrator-olympics and he must be on the fatguymarker-cut-out-team. Then we get at least one medal.

Anonymous, on Dec 10, 2008 wrote: sometimes this modern crap pisses me off, but i am happy that magic markers are finally making it into galleries.

Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2008 wrote: wow, the color one is quite nice. saved the best for last, huh?

Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2008 wrote: well the one with the ladies legs coming out of what looks like a top isn’t leaves. definitely looks like a wet fart or something, but not leaves.

Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2008 wrote: oh they’re leaves. i thought it was a bandana knot.

Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2008 wrote: you can tell this is a european strictly by the drawings. i think it’s the circle guys that make it like that.

Anonymous, on Dec 2, 2008 wrote: i want to dooo hiiimmmm.....

Anonymous, on Nov 29, 2008 wrote: The Special Olympics are a bunch of shit. How about teaching them to do something worthwhile? Plus, I knew someone who worked for them and they took about 10% of the charity money to put on their little horse and pony shows, the rest of it went to golf trips in Hawaii with Arnold.

Anonymous, on Nov 28, 2008 wrote: asshole-bleeding is a little rich

Anonymous, on Nov 28, 2008 wrote: i liiiiiiiike....i buuuuuy

Anonymous, on Nov 27, 2008 wrote: freakin northern euros

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