Contrary to popular belief, Warren-native John Rego is NOT a 17-time Olympic gold medalist for synchronized swimming. However, he is an egregiously talented illustrator whose work is currently on display at Out of the Box gallery in Jamestown alongside work by his wife, illustrator Sanika Phawde. Rego’s cover art was inspired by walking around PVD, and the colors of the summer sky.
“I live near the train station and it’s a pain to find parking in that area. So, usually I park up on Meeting St. It’s based on that walk down the staircase that I do every night from my car to my apartment… I like to go for walks around dusk and I think the city is really pretty that time of day. Rhode Island has this warmish violet-pink light around six or seven in the summer. I’m also interested in the architecture around here, a lot of the buildings are based off of architecture that I’ve observed.”
Rego’s meticulously crafted crowd scenes are packed with recurring characters and themes ranging from amphibians to Satan to aspic.
“The first piece I made dealing with aspic was a hunt scene based on medieval hunting tapestries that I brought into the modern day, where a food CEO was hosting a hunt. It was based off of fishing and the fish were suspended in Jello. It was just poking fun at medieval tapestries and that sort of Renaissance art/culture of the wealthy.”
Dear reader, can you find the aspic on this month’s cover? How about Satan?
“I’ve always liked the depiction of Satan in a cartoony way. I had to go to church and all that kind of stuff as a child, so I’ve always been a little fascinated by Satan. He’s definitely the most interesting character in Christianity. I like depicting him in ridiculous ways.”
And if you’ve spotted that weather-worn Bruins sticker…
“The day they lost Game 7 was on my birthday, we were all watching it. It was fine, it’s just a game. My dad was more upset than I was.”
To view more artwork by John Rego visit johnrego.com.