Artist Alex Haldi
Alex Haldi
From Def Jam album covers and a stolen-art opening night to an Emmy and Clio winning studio of his own. The big thinker, thinking bigger.
When we first spoke, Alex Haldi was an art director at Island Def Jam, painting on the side, and quietly betting on an unsigned rapper named J. Cole.
Every bet he mentioned in that conversation paid out. This is one of the joys of keeping an archive this long: you get to publish someone's predictions and then watch the world prove them right. Haldi was making album art for legends, building a production house in his spare hours, and talking about artists who are "movements and businesses in and of themselves" years before that became the standard ambition.
Today he runs Good Fake, an Emmy and Clio award winning agency and studio, from his hometown of Bexley, Ohio, where his first mural still lives in the high school gymnasium. The hustle he described to us back then never stopped. It just got a name, a trophy shelf, and a sense of humor about itself. Here is that early conversation, with the story brought up to now.
Leila
The road was neither swift nor tranquil. Out of Syracuse with an illustration degree he had already half outgrown, Haldi landed first at a greeting card company, a job he still counts among his best working experiences, the place where he learned to invent assignments for himself and to sweat details on photo sets. Those habits paid off in the most New York way possible: an illustration of music's reigning superstars, drawn in his spare time, found its way into the hands of Island Def Jam's art department. Then in-house art director Tavon Sampson saw the talent, brought him in as an intern, and Haldi worked his way up: intern, junior designer, art director.
All the while he painted. Enough work came together for a solo show at Vices in 2007, which he summarizes with characteristic honesty: some stolen art, a good party, and a few sales in his defense.
His canvases pull from organized crime's whole atlas, Al Capone to Chopper Read, the Yakuza to the Bloods and Crips, arguing in mixed media, acrylics, and digital collage that crime does not discriminate, right down to the Saturday-morning cartoons that borrowed their characters from real criminals. Imagine a Chris Bachalo and Goya collaboration and you are close. Each piece even embeds objects tied to the crime world of its subject. Comic book linework, Black Paintings darkness.
In his own words, from our original conversation: "I'm Alex Haldi, I'm 25 years old and I've been making art since around the age of five, maybe earlier." After Syracuse and the greeting card company came the dream job at Island Def Jam, the Vices show, album art for LL Cool J, Freeway, Juelz Santana, Ace Hood, and two ventures of his own: Say Uncle Group, a full production house spanning graphic design, branding, and film, and a studio he called Bestest Asbestos for the fine art that kept pulling at him.
What are your inspirations?
I think the only people to be inspired by are those that have managed to market themselves in as many fields as they possibly can, without spreading yourself too thin of course. Which results in many late nights and busy weekends. I'm inspired by the Jay-Zs and the Shepard Faireys that are becoming so much more prevalent now. They are more than just artists, they are movements and businesses in and of themselves. They are big thinkers, which is what I try to be, though I can't say I'm anywhere near what they have accomplished.
Most interesting projects you have worked on?
Things I have worked on in the past that have been really great have mainly been albums. It was incredible working with LL Cool J. Say what you will, but the man is a living legend and he truly sculpted the hip hop industry from the beginning. He's also just a great guy. It was an amazing experience sitting down with him from day one, hearing his VAST idea for his album packaging and helping him make that a reality. I got to work with an amazing photographer, Joseph Cultice, as well as digital matte painters and even an illustrator, and the results, packaging-wise, feel classic. A great bookend to his days at Def Jam.
On the other end of the spectrum: my work with the up-and-coming rapper, producer, and visionary J. Cole. He just signed a big deal (don't worry J, I won't blow your cover). Watching him go from us out in the cold, running and gunning his photoshoot for The Come Up, to shooting videos for him with my pals at BBGUN, to now getting to chill with him in the studio and watch him make some of the most important music of our era (in my humble opinion) has truly been a blessing.
Favorite artists?
So many, damn. I'm pretty into the art scene these days, though I've done a great job of staying out of it myself. A few favorites:
So much amazing art right now, I really could go on forever. As far as old school: I love Seurat and Goya, mainly his dark period. All the greats really, but those are two that don't get enough love in my eyes.
What does New York have that no other city has?
Great bars every night of the week, great food at any hour, and a million people trying to do something more with themselves. If you aren't motivated by the passion and hard work of everyone around you in this city, you should move now.
Best events you have attended recently?
Ra Ra Riot was awesome. Innerpartysystem, The Hold Steady. Kings of Leon in the Garden was pretty wild, since I've seen them in such smaller venues and now they are huge and teenage girls from Jersey sing along while sitting next to their parents. And I know it was a while ago, but I still get the chills thinking about the Radiohead show at All Points West.
Plans for the year ahead?
Big, big plans. A bunch of videos in production and some really great projects coming up at Island Def Jam. And I just kicked off a huge endeavor in its very baby stages: a cross-medium project based on true stories from war veterans and their loved ones, in collaboration with non-profit veterans associations. The goal is to convey these experiences to the masses both visually and musically, working with professional artists, photographers, and musicians toward something shared with the world, with proceeds going back to the veterans who made the journey possible.
"They are more than just artists, they are movements and businesses in and of themselves. They are big thinkers, which is what I try to be."Alex Haldi · from the archive
"Good Fake is an Emmy and Clio award winning agency & studio that builds, destroys, draws, traces, cuts, copies, begs, borrows, steals, designs, paints, scribbles, directs, shoots, produces, jokes, laughs, cries, writes, edits, brings the ruckus, smells the roses, collabs, grinds, works hard, plays harder, makes it rain, keeps it close to the vest, brands, develops, innovates, pays homage, gets weird, plays it straight, teaches, learns, grows, stays humble... and flexes a little."
In their own words · goodfake.comAbout Antakly Projects
Antakly Projects has been in conversation with artists and creatives from around the world since 2003.
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