We are very excited to share with you, Head of Art, Joe Avery’s amazing new graphics for the 2022 Giffords Circus show Carpa! We asked him to share his creative process when designing this artwork that you will soon see on flyers, posters, banners and across social media, as well as circus merchandise…
“The idea behind the poster and artwork this year was to take it in a traditional and folk inspired direction. The artwork uses some traditional religious motifs, like the sacred heart, drawing on a Latin influence that is still seen throughout Mexico today, having come to symbolise passion and energy as much as any religious connotation.
The word ‘Carpa’ means ‘tent’ in Spanish and throughout the Spanish speaking circus world is used to describe the big top so it seems fitting to place the sacred heart at the centre of this as the fiery and passionate symbol of the show with the great body that is the tent.
There are many different variations of this symbol made in all manner of media but I was looking specifically at the very early versions painted on panels and shrines in the period when the image would still have had a very religious Catholic meaning before it slipped into mass produced or popular culture; mainly trying to find an aesthetic that looks like it could be from an authentic Mexican circus from the turn of the century.
There is a lot of very interesting iconography throughout Mexico that derives from history which I will be drawing on for the visual art and it will, of course, feature throughout the show itself in Production Designer takis’s set and costume designs.”
