J. Bo Monkey

Jeremy Baudouin, A.K.A. Jaybo Monk, was born in Paris in 1963. After spending most of his school time drawing, he ran away from home at the age of 14. During the following 3 years he lived on the streets of Toulouse and later Paris. To support himself, he found work with a street theater ensemble. It was also in Toulouse that Jaybo first became aware of graffiti culture. He became active in the local scene known as 'TALKIN'ART' initially by employing stencils and later through freehand spraying. After his street life, Jaybo hooked up with a company that specialized on returning boats to their home harbors. 2 years later, he was detained in a Senegalese hospital by an accident. After having recovered, Jaybo traveled through West Africa for a while and one thing leading to another he ended up in Berlin, after losing his passport of course. He has maintained permanent residence there ever since. In the beginning Jaybo created the celebrated cabaret show 'Bär' 'Bär' with an old french friend. One of the key scenes featured Jaybo mimicking a monkey. It was around that time that Jaybo adopted the surname 'Monkey'. Jaybo's dread of routine and monotony prevented him from continuing with the show. Instead he ventured into gastronomy, and with a Senegalese partner he opened the Zouloubar in Berlin Schöneberg in 1991. After the fall of the Berlin Wall Jaybo was actively involved in structuring club nights doing freestyle rap sessions, flyer design, bartending, and interior design. Eventually, after the birth of his daughter, Manou, Jaybo quit the band and continued drawing. One day, when he was asked to contribute one of his comic characters for a party flyer, Jaybo's friend Jahfish, a gifted DJ and graphic designer, introduced him to the computer. Therefore, Jaybo co-founded the fashion-music-culture magazine 'Style and the Family Tunes' in 1994 with his partner Cathy Boom and their friend Christian Tjaben, A.K.A. Lunt. Since its first publication, the magazine has won several awards under Jaybo's art direction including 4 Art Directors Club awards and one Lead award. Today, With the advent of Style's first issue, Bo began working with the fashion design collective 'Irie Daily'. Today he is the street wear label's chief designer. Lately Jaybo has been less and less involved in the actual graphic production of Style magazine. He has pared down his responsibilities to supervision and creative direction. Recently he founded a new graphic design company, Spread Visuals, with a few other designers. Their purpose is to explore new fields of guerilla marketing and urban design.