Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister, bassist and front man of Motörhead, passed away at his home in Los Angeles on December 28, 2015 just several days after his 70th birthday.
A memorial was held in his honor on January 9, 2016 at his famous hangout in West Hollywood, The Rainbow Bar & Grill, and extended across the entire Sunset Strip. Talk of erecting a statue in Lemmy’s honor was already underway and a funding campaign was created to make the project a reality.
LA-based artist and friend of the Rainbow and the Sunset Strip Travis Moore has been selected to create a realistic depiction of Lemmy. The result will be a life-size cast bronze statue that will stand at just over 6 foot tall to be permanently housed at The Rainbow Bar & Grill in a special shrine that is currently being constructed in the patio bar area.
You may not know Travis Moore by name, but you have probably seen him on the far right in the Mad Men series finale billboard/poster and promo shot from last year:
Travis Moore’s artwork has been a part of the Sunset Strip for over a decade In addition to being commissioned to make art of and for some of Hollywood’s top rock stars, he has taken part in many celebrity appearances, hosted Art Jam: a live art and music event held at The Whisky a Go Go, several Sharpie sponsored shows and was the featured artist at the 2014 Sunset Strip Music Festival kickoff.
Travis states: “I have known the Maglieris for over ten years. Mikeal is like an uncle to me and has been one of my biggest supporters, a great patron and friend and we have a mutual love and respect for each other. I have had the pleasure of meeting all of his family including his parents and kids…and now their kids… I also have tremendous respect for Mario and Scarlet — they are amazing people… Mikeal and I have attempted to work together on some big projects and have been trying to get a collaboration off the ground surrounding my art and his businesses…the Rainbow and The Whisky……”
After putting his name in the hat for the project and meeting with Mike and Mikeal at the Rainbow, Travis showed them his proposal and the sketches for the proposed bronze statue. His ideas were well received, so he started contacting foundries. After coming back with some stats and talking about it again, he received the call that he had been selected… He got the final numbers together for them, and started to work on an 18 inch maquette…and has promised to do his best to make Lemmy and the Maglieris proud.
Travis is initially sculpting the likeness as an 18 inch maquette that will then be transferred to a life-size sculpture, which will be molded in wax and ultimately poured and cast in bronze.
Travis is a native of Texas, holds a BA in Fine Art as well as a Masters degree in Kinesiology from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He has been creating art from the age of two, even having a short 3 panel comic strip in his local paper at age five. His talent was fostered by his mother, who also conferred an Art degree from SFASU; her friends and fellow artists Grace and Loyd Carey; and his art teacher, J.D. Beltran and was mentored by Gary Frields while at SFASU, a tremendously dedicated instructor and amazing artist. It was there at SFASU that Travis first began to experiment with his own individual drawing process, which he refers to as “Sharpism”.
Travis is doing his part for free, but there are considerable costs associated with the actual process that will ultimately make the statute a reality. Travis will provide updates on the creation and sculpting process for the Lemmy Memorial Statue through Social Media:
The Art of Travis Facebook PAINTINGS BY TRAVIS FACEBOOK Instagram TWITTER
Statue Funding Campaign: https://www.youcaring.com/ian-fraser-lemmy-kilmister-m-torhead-497524
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