Cover artwork for the dancehall album 'Original Stalag 17–18 and 19' (Techniques, 1985).
Wilfred Limonious was a Jamaican comic artist and illustrator, who drew the newspaper gag comics 'Chicken' and 'Amos' for the Jamaica Star. He is best-known as an album cover designer, whose joyful cartoons decorated the sleeves of many dancehall records. Mostly a local cult figure during his lifetime, he gained more international fame posthumously.
Early life
In 1949, Wilfred Limonious was born as Wilfred Lemonious near Albert Towm, Trelawny, a rural area of Jamaica at the edge of Cockpit Country. The eldest of seven children, he spent most of his youth drawing, and particularly enjoyed making quick portrait sketches of people. After studying graphic design at the Jamaica School of Art (nowadays Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts), he began his cartooning career in the Jamaica Star.
'Amos' strip of 10 November 1971.
Cartoonist
Starting in 1970, his single-panel cartoons appeared on the Jamaica Star's 'Laugh With Us' page, a section for local cartoonists. By May 1970, the paper also ran his first humor strip 'Amos'. By the mid-1970s, Wilfred Limonious was house illustrator for the government-run programme Jamaican Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL). After JAMAL, he travelled to the UK, where he studied for a short time at the Barking College of Technology. He returned to Jamaica in the early 1980s, where he continued his stint in newspaper cartooning. Among his popular creations were the three-panel humor strip 'Chicken' and the feature 'Shane and Shawn', which was named after the artist's two sons. His comic strips 'Grass Root' and 'Earth Runnings' were both written completely in the Patois language and told the stories of dancehall and the downtown life of Kingston, Jamaica. .
'Chicken'.
Album covers
After his 1970s stint in newspaper cartooning, Limonious became most notable for his artwork for music record covers. His first involvement in the Jamaican music industry stemmed from the 1970s, when as a musician and songwriter, he recorded the seven-inch single 'Young Love' at Channel One studio, which he self-released on his Wax label.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Limonious made over 132 album covers for dancehall records. They were all drawn fast and without much concern about graphic excellence. His drawings look like comic strips, with speech balloons using the local Patois language. Equally notable were the artist's distinctive hand-drawn typefaces. The loose style perfectly fits the fun, happy and carefree atmosphere of the music.
Cover artwork for the compilation album 'Computer Corn' (Ujama/Black Solidarity, 1987).
Limonious' first job was the LP jacket for the self-released Jah Thomas LP 'Shoulder Move' (Midnight Rock, 1983), which quickly prompted more assignments. Among his works are the record covers of 'Si Boops Deh' (1985) by Super Cat, 'Xmas Disco' (1985) by Barrington Levy, 'The Marshall' (1986) by Cocoa Tea, 'Girls Them Pet' (1986) by Yellowman, 'Black Solidarity' (1986) by Crime Act and various compilation albums. He worked with many of Jamaica's major labels, including Neville Lee's Sonic Sounds, George Phang's Powerhouse, Winston Riley's Techniques, Coxsone Dodd's Studio One, Prince Jazzbo's Ujama and Dennis Hayles's Dennis Star International. Soon becoming a cult figure in Jamaica, the style of Wilfred Limonious was widely copied by many other album cover illustrators. He was in such high demand that he designed the VHS covers of the local plays 'Hataclaps' and 'Fire Ina Yuh Wire' by Ian Reid.
Legacy and influence
In 1999, Wilfred Limonious passed away in Kingston Public Hospital at the age of 50. For a long while he remained mostly a local celebrity, since many of these dancehall albums weren't released outside of Jamaica. In 2010, the authors Christopher Bateman and Al Newman researched his life and career, which culminated in a 2015 exhibition of Limonious' work at the South London Gallery in the UK and the book 'In Fine Style, the Dancehall Art of Wilfred Limonious' (One Love, 2015). Their efforts led to global interest in Wilfred Limonious' artwork.
Self-portrait.