| Nick Blinko | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nicholas John Blinko |
| Born | 4 September 1961 |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Punk Rock, Anarcho-punk, Deathrock |
| Instruments | Vocal, guitar |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Associated acts | The Magits, Rudimentary Peni, S-Haters |
Nick Blinko (born 4 September 1961) 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 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 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 Kunst' in June 2009.[1]
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.
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