Nick Blinko
Encyclopedia
Nick Blinko is a British musician, lyricist, and artist best known as the lead singer, lyricist and guitar player for the British band Rudimentary Peni
. He is also known for being an "outsider" artist
who creates all the drawings used by the band for its artwork.
Blinko has written a fictionalised semi-autobiographical novel with horror
elements, entitled The Primal Screamer. It was published in 1995 by Spare Change Books. The book is written as a series of journal entries made by the therapist of one Nathaniel Snoxell (who starts a band which is never named but is similar to Rudimentary Peni in many ways).
Blinko also contributed to a collection of punk fiction short stories, entitled Gobbing Pogoing And Gratuitous Bad Language. It was published in 1996 by Spare Change Books. The story is titled "Punk Alice", a reference to Rudimentary Peni
's song Alice Crucifies the Paedophiles. The story is written in a sketchbook style of doodles and scribbled phrases referencing the death of punk
, chess
, Catholicism, depression, goth, Rudimentary Peni
lyrics, and drug chemicals.
Blinko contributed artwork for Coil
's 1997 release, Unnatural History III
released on Threshold House
. The use of many bright colours in the drawings is a departure from his usual black & white style. Some of Blinko's artwork was featured at the Portland, Oregon
art exhibit 'Entartete Kunts' in June 2009.
Blinko draws intensely dense and detailed compositions of faces, figures and obsessive patterns, which at times also incorporate fragmented phrases. Diagnosed as suffering from Schizoaffective disorder
, and in the past hospitalised, Blinko creates his pictures when not taking therapeutic medication that adversely affects his ability to work. His art conjures a nightmarish, anxiety-ridden world where inner demons might be exorcised through repetitive graphic marks. Out of thousands of tiny flecks and dashes emerge elaborate visions of skeletons, mysterious symbols and religious figures. Reminiscent of the macabre images of Goya or James Ensor
, Blinko creates a personal iconography
that evokes the magic and menace of a rich imagination.
Another example of this is the Rudimentary Peni concept album Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric
. This entire album was created by Blinko himself while in psychiatric hospital. He believed that he was Pope Adrian the 37th, for this Pope lived in the same town as Blinko many years before.
Blinko's novel Haunted Head was published in 2009 by Coptic Cat, including an exclusive micro edition featuring an original piece of art with the micro edition and a postcard with an excerpt from the book. Blinko wrote the book out twice, once on postcards.
Nick Blinko currently resides on the "outskirts of London" in Abbots Langley
.
Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
. He is also known for being an "outsider" artist
Outsider Art
The term outsider art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for art brut , a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane-asylum inmates.While...
who creates all the drawings used by the band for its artwork.
Life and work
Blinko began his career in the band The Magits, which formed before Rudimentary Peni in 1977 and was primarily electronic with occasional airplay by John Peel on Radio 1.Blinko has written a fictionalised semi-autobiographical novel with horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
elements, entitled The Primal Screamer. It was published in 1995 by Spare Change Books. The book is written as a series of journal entries made by the therapist of one Nathaniel Snoxell (who starts a band which is never named but is similar to Rudimentary Peni in many ways).
Blinko also contributed to a collection of punk fiction short stories, entitled Gobbing Pogoing And Gratuitous Bad Language. It was published in 1996 by Spare Change Books. The story is titled "Punk Alice", a reference to Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
's song Alice Crucifies the Paedophiles. The story is written in a sketchbook style of doodles and scribbled phrases referencing the death of punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, Catholicism, depression, goth, Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
lyrics, and drug chemicals.
Blinko contributed artwork for Coil
Coil
A coil is a series of loops. A coiled coil is a structure in which the coil itself is in turn also looping.-Electromagnetic coils:An electromagnetic coil is formed when a conductor is wound around a core or form to create an inductor or electromagnet...
's 1997 release, Unnatural History III
Unnatural History III
Unnatural History III was the third in a series of three compilation albums by Coil. Unlike Stolen & Contaminated Songs and Gold Is the Metal with the Broadest Shoulders, Unnatural History III collects songs from more than a single era of Coil's work...
released on Threshold House
Threshold House
Threshold House is one of several record labels created by Coil to release their own work and that of affiliated projects. Associated labels include Eskaton and Chalice. It is also the name for the ....
. The use of many bright colours in the drawings is a departure from his usual black & white style. Some of Blinko's artwork was featured at the Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
art exhibit 'Entartete Kunts' in June 2009.
Blinko draws intensely dense and detailed compositions of faces, figures and obsessive patterns, which at times also incorporate fragmented phrases. Diagnosed as suffering from Schizoaffective disorder
Schizoaffective disorder
Schizoaffective disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by recurring episodes of elevated or depressed mood, or of simultaneously elevated and depressed mood, that alternate with, or occur together with, distortions in perception.Schizoaffective disorder...
, and in the past hospitalised, Blinko creates his pictures when not taking therapeutic medication that adversely affects his ability to work. His art conjures a nightmarish, anxiety-ridden world where inner demons might be exorcised through repetitive graphic marks. Out of thousands of tiny flecks and dashes emerge elaborate visions of skeletons, mysterious symbols and religious figures. Reminiscent of the macabre images of Goya or James Ensor
James Ensor
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor was a Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life...
, Blinko creates a personal iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
that evokes the magic and menace of a rich imagination.
Another example of this is the Rudimentary Peni concept album Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric
Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric
Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric is a concept album by the band Rudimentary Peni released in 1995. The majority of the album was written while lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko was being detained in a psychiatric hospital under Section 3 of the 1983 Mental Health Act...
. This entire album was created by Blinko himself while in psychiatric hospital. He believed that he was Pope Adrian the 37th, for this Pope lived in the same town as Blinko many years before.
Blinko's novel Haunted Head was published in 2009 by Coptic Cat, including an exclusive micro edition featuring an original piece of art with the micro edition and a postcard with an excerpt from the book. Blinko wrote the book out twice, once on postcards.
Nick Blinko currently resides on the "outskirts of London" in Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was formerly part of the Watford Rural District...
.