Who is Dai Jobu?

I was walking down Redchurch Street in Shoreditch last Thursday and stumbled upon a large, fashionable crowd, drinking hot cider outside a tiny gallery. This often happens on Redchurch Street on a Thursday night and the gallery in question was The Maurice Einhardt Neu Gallery.

Having a few minutes to spare, I gatecrashed the launch and my chutzpah was rewarded with some lovely photos of jumping naked Japanese girls; It was the Pirelli inspired 2010 garage calender by Dai Jobu. Don’t worry, I’d never heard of him before either.

The mysterious and multifaceted artist Dai Jobu, is a Welshman inspired by life or in his words ‘girls, motorbikes, art, fashion and music in any and all combinations’  A prolific creative, he travels the world seeking out inspiration working on projects such as: the Dai Jobu membership group, the management of a band called PLAYBAND  (who played later that evening) and the customization of street tracker bikes. If that wasn’t enough and not wanting to be pigeon holed, he also creates accessories to accompany his projects and a forthcoming menswear range is also expected.

With my curiosity sufficiently aroused, I undertook some investigation work and have since learned that Dai Jobu is actually the alter-ego of Mark Eley from Eley Kishimoto! Not content with the mainline, Mark uses the pseudonym as a creative-indulgence-outlet for all his passions. It seems the world of Dai Jobu is all a bit cloak and dagger and I’m told his real identity is meant to be a secret, ooops! So if anyone asks… you didn’t hear it here first.