Supermundane comes over all nostalgic for latest series I Know It’s Over

For his latest series and exhibition I Know It’s Over, illustrator Supermundane has considered the feelings we have, and the songs we think of when something concludes. “All things come to an end, some abruptly, without warning, others, seemingly infinite, their ending so far ahead it is hard to even imagine,” he says. “With ending comes nostalgia for the times before. When Alley Gallery asked me to be one of the last exhibitions in their current space, the Smiths’ song I Know It’s Over immediately came to mind. Music has always been important to me and the lyrics of my favourite songs have memories (good and bad) attached to them.”

Supermundane created no fewer than 71 prints for the show, both a practical and emotional number, he explains. “It’s the amount of 50cm x 70cm prints I could fit in the gallery, but also the year of my birth.” Visually, the series explores a plethora of repeating and tessellating shapes, overlapping with sections cut out, shifted, rotated and reassembled. Each is delineated by the illustrator’s signature black outlines, and filled with white and halftone textures, backdropped by a pleasing range of block colours. And each is titled with a lyric that means something to him.

“I’ve arbitrarily attached lyrics to abstract forms,” he says. “These images were all made before giving them the lyrics and have no real link but whenever words and images are brought together something new is created. The words change how the images are viewed and connections (that are purely coincidental) appear.”

A letter comes with every print (of which there are only two copies), explaining the history behind the lyrics and why he chose them, to add a personal touch. Also bringing a very Supermundane humour, the catalogue’s back cover is taken over by a brilliant photo of the illustrator in a wig, holding a Shruti box and a toy guitar covered in stickers. “That was taken by Emily Forgot in my living room. I have no recollection of it being taken. It’s not a flattering photo but I thought it fitted in with the show quite well.”

I Know It’s Over by Supermundane is open from today until 10 February at Alley Gallery, Dorpsstraat 38/1- 3500 Hasselt, Belgium.