The dancehall art of Wilfred Limonious
In the 1980s, graphic artist Wilfred Limonious defined Jamaican dancehall music’s aesthetic with his art
Born in sleepy Albert Town in the hills of Jamaica in 1949, Wilfred Limonious started drawing everything he saw around him as a child. After graduating from the Jamaica School Of Art, he began working as an illustrator for the country’s national literacy programme and cartoonist for The Star newspaper. In 1983, he was commissioned to illustrate his first album jacket for Jah Thomas, a DJ and producer on the emerging dancehall scene. Soon Wilfred was in high demand, and over the next decade or so his style – packed with humour, colour, patois and energy – came to visually define the culture.
Wilfred Limonious’ amazing artworks are collected in the book In Fine Style: The Dancehall Art Of Wilfred Limonious, available from One Love Books, and an accompanying exhibition hits the HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles, from October 20 to November 31.