Lemmy Kilmister Statue for the Rainbow Bar & Grill will be unveiled to the public on August 24 at 7:00 PM
Travis Moore, the artist that created the Lemmy Kilmister Statue for the Rainbow Bar & Grill to be erected in the specially constructed shrine for the Rainbow to honor the MOTORHEAD and Sunset Strip legend.
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 was selected to create a realistic depiction of Lemmy. The result will be a life-size cast bronze statue that stands at just over 6 foot tall to be permanently housed at The Rainbow Bar & Grill in a special shrine constructed in the patio bar area.
Thanks @DJKatonHirax for your help to create the #Lemmy Statue! Dude got the $ &cool pic by @joedolanpr @Rainbowlive https://t.co/bmYOmguFNn—
Travis Moore (@TravDaMav) March 29, 2016
Moore states: “I want to acknowledge the hard work of Katon de Pena of Hirax, for making all this happen by raising the cash through his campaign. I really appreciate all the kind words, the support in person and over social media for this project, as well as the passion Katon has displayed throughout this process.”
Travis is pictured 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 completed work of sculpting the likeness on an 18 inch maquette, which was transferred to a life-size sculpture that was molded in wax and ultimately poured and cast in bronze.
BIG STATUES handled the final processes: the translation from the maquette, the sculpt of the life-size bronze, and its casting and finishing. Matt Glenn (Website LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Big Statues Facebook Twitter ), owner of Big Statues completed the final details of the piece to take it from clay to wax and cast in bronze through the “lost wax process” used by the masters like Rodin and Degas.
Glenn completed the first stages of the clay sculpt, including building a metal armature and covering it fully with clay, translated the maquette and the supplied reference material, including iconic photos from Robert John (Website Facebook), who photographed Motörhead and Lemmy, as well as many famous musicians. He has graciously made his photos available to Moore for this project and those pictures were invaluable in the completion of the project.
Moore worked closely with Glenn, including meeting with Kilmister’s friends and family and those that created his stage wear and clothing. Master craftsman Pascal Davayat– Hollywood Riff Raff (Lemmy’s Bootmaker and master leather craftsman, Instagram Etsy Flicker), has an extensive background working with enormous names and made his work available to Moore and spent time explaining each detail of his boots, so they are replicated with painful dedication. Moore also photographed and inspected them extensively. Even the patterns have been procured from his personal craftsman, in order to complete the visage of Lemmy.
TRAVIS MOORE, Artist and Designer of the LEMMY KILMISTER MEMORIAL for The Rainbow patio area, took some Instagram pics atop the 9000 Building that give a stunning view of the Sunset Strip and surrounding areas.
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 did his part for free, but there were considerable costs associated with the actual process that made the statute a reality.
Moore has completed his new website: www.paintingsbytravis.com that contains the large scale Sharpie pieces he normally creates and provides updates on the creation and sculpting process for the Lemmy Memorial Statue via social media:
The Art of Travis Facebook PAINTINGS BY TRAVIS FACEBOOK Instagram TWITTER
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