By Jonathan Williams

For the AJC


Atlanta pin-up artist Tyson McAdoo is a favorite among fans of lowbrow art thanks to his striking images of tattooed vixens in provocative poses. Though Britney Spears often fits that description herself, she may not seem the most likely collaborator for McAdoo, considering that his fan base is mostly the hot rod and rock ’n’ roll set.

Spears’ image is not that innocent anymore, however, so it makes perfect sense that McAdoo’s imagery is being used in her current circus-themed tour, which returns to Atlanta this weekend. Also a featured artist at this weekend’s DragonCon, McAdoo took a moment to discuss Spears, his art and more.

Q: Britney Spears returns to town this Friday and is still using your artwork in her show. How did that come about?

A: It’s a great story. I got an e-mail in super broken English saying, “Hello. We like art. Maybe use for Britney Spears.” I read it, laughed and deleted it, thinking it was a joke. They e-mailed again a couple of days later, so I wrote back saying, “I would love to work for Britney, but I think this is a joke.” They immediately responded saying, “No joke.”

I did some research and realized these guys (Dragon Films) work with Cirque du Soleil. So they contacted my lawyer and he called me and said, “They’re for real. You should think about doing this.” It still didn’t seem real because I never thought my art was right for this. It turns out the director of the show, James King, was a fan of my work and requested certain pieces.

So they use five of my pieces in this big video that plays behind her that’s 35 to 40 feet tall.

Q: What was it like when you finally got to see your work in the show?

A: When I saw it at the show it was mind-blowing. The second show of the tour was here in Atlanta and they got us wonderful tickets. We ended up having an absolute blast because it’s really an incredible show. If you’ve ever been to a Cirque du Soleil show, that’s exactly what it was. There were people flying around, coming out of the crowd, fire, water and every type of circus thing imaginable, but done in an extremely provocative and sexy way.

I thought the audience would be really young, but not at all. It was mostly a mid-20s to early-30s crowd. If you’re a single guy, I’d definitely recommend going because it’s just thousands of women. So I felt really comfortable about my art being shown in this environment.

It was two songs away from the big finale during “Do Something,” and it’s a hell of a climax.

It was such an exciting moment. It was supersurreal and it felt like it went by in a second. It was a long song, but it was such a blur. I had my camera and just pulled the trigger all the way through.

The rest of the show is live action, so my art definitely stands out and doesn’t get lost in a bunch of other people’s art. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a big part of the show. For the first 10 seconds of the song, all you see is a dark auditorium with my art on these huge screens.

Q: It seems like a somewhat unlikely pairing. Did you have any hesitations about doing it?

A: I can’t stress enough what an amazing thing it was. I was very nervous at the beginning because, if I do it, do I lose street cred amongst certain fans? I thought long and hard about it and realized it has nothing to do with selling out.

I don’t even consider it selling out. I see it as a chance to show my art around the world for a year to audiences of 10,000-50,000 a night. Who wouldn’t jump at that?

Q: And you still hold down a job at Cartoon Network in the midst of all this?

A: Yeah. I’ve been there for about four years as an on-air designer. I feel like I’m constantly finding balance because I do kids’ drawings by day, come home and have dinner, walk the dogs, then do the adult drawings at night.

Then you throw in something like the Britney Spears thing, which is a whole different thing, and it’s really exciting.