art shows & news

Bubblegum colors like baby pink and baby blue?
Check.

Images of torture, death, and sadism?
Check.

Leave it to Los Angeles artist Kill Pixie, or Mark Whalen (formerly of Sydney, Australia) to put hooded madmen in settings rife with geometric shapes and patterns. Pieces like Group Sessions (left) and Ill Do Anything (right) might seem nearly like vector art created for posters, but in actuality, are the result of a technique that blends acrylic, ink, and gouache on paper that’s then pasted onto wood panels and coated with resin. The resulting pieces seem to have a sense of smoothness and vividness that make them nearly print-like. His 2009 pieces are a step towards simplicity from his dizzying 2008 pieces, but they remain just as interesting.

www.killpixie.net

On a recent trip to Peru, I was keeping my eyes peeled for contemporary Peruvian art, and was lucky enough to stumble across Mullu, a boutique and art gallery in the towns of Cusco and Pisac. One particular artist, Eugenia Werner Muñoz, had some work showing at two of the Pisac shops and, I later found out, also designs most of the clothing found at the shop. Her newest series of works, pictured above, blend contemporary pop art with traditional Peruvian elements, including the local currency and women wearing traditional native dress. In a place like Peru, where traditional art and elaborate textiles seem to hold precedence over contemporary art, coming across the work of Muñoz and of Mullu was an exciting treat.

If you’re ever in Peru, they have two locations in Pisac and one in Cusco, and the Plaza De Armas branch in Pisac offers some very tasty food.

www.mullu.com.pe

On rare occasions, a gallery does such amazing things with its space that you kind of want to poop yourself with excitement. Gallery 1988, which has one branch in Los Angeles and one branch in San Francisco, makes me want to just that with their latest exhibits. They are doing such exciting things with their space that I kind of wish I was in California to be able to attend their openings more often. While tomorrow’s show will be about the current show at their SF location, this post will be about their current exhibit on display at the LA location, entitled Idiot Box. Prepare to be absolutely astounded by what these artists have managed to turn memories of your favorite childhood television stars into. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Jem, Alf, Gumby, Ren & Stimpy, Urkel, and many, many more individuals are paid homage to, artistically, offensively, and ridiculously. Honestly, though, this group show is so amazing that this blog post CANNOT even come close to doing the show justice, so please rush over to the gallery’s blog about this show or to their website. Seriously.

Fan favorite Alex Pardee flexes his horror-art muscles yet again by turning Urkel from “Family Matters” into an infected (playful) beast in S.Urkel Jerk.

If all of the mishaps, misunderstandings, and formations of social circles from “Saved By The Bell” were present in this day and age, the playful high school television show might look a little something more like this bloody video game pixel mess. Raw as the idea for this piece is, Jude Buffum has managed to genius take on a classic television show.

Valued at $2,500, there’s a damn good reason this piece by Ewelina Ferruso has been sold. Waa, The Trash Heap Has Spoken is an oil on canvas exercise in patience. Brilliantly colored and masterfully textured, the piece is equally playful as it is technical, making it a solid tribute to “Fraggle Rock.”

“Schoolhouse Rock” has been parodied in many a television show, but it’s hasn’t been quite so present in the art world. Interplanet Janet Leaves The Boys Behind by Patrick Gannon features colored, cut paper marvelously arranged on wood.

Part of me thinks that Nickelodeon wouldn’t be too pleased at these plushies of Ren and Stimpy, but these 12″ tall plushies by Jen Rarey are just precious.

Believe it or not, there are 99 Seinfeld references in this piece by Kiersten Essenpreis. Ridiculous. The piece sold out quickly, as one might imagine, but prints will be available through Gallery 1988 soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

Although the real MacGuyver would have been equipped with some items more useless than duct tape and a Swiss army knife (such as a clothes hanger and some chewing gum), Wade Schin’s one-of-a-kind acrylic MacGuyver is a terrific creation. Kudos.

Lolcats meet Alf? Casey Weldon’s We Can Has A.L.F.? is horrific and awesome at the same time.

The sheer number of amazing pieces in Idiot Box is amazing and this post could honestly be three or four times longer, but I will close it out with Another Battle For My Affection by Roland Tamayo, which references Gumby, The Twilight Zone, Ninja Turtles, and many other lovable television shows.

Again, though, head over to Gallery 1988 now if you’re in the Los Angeles, or at the very least, scope out their blog and be prepared to be extremely amused by this remarkable group show, which is on view now until April 23rd and features one freaking hundred artists!!! (Although I’m sorry, for your sake, that you’ve probably by now missed the art opening, which was hosted by Dennis “Mr. Belding” Haskins, formerly of “Saved By The Bell”.)

www.nineteeneightyeight.com
idiotbox88.blogspot.com

Every once in a while, I get really excited about a new artist, and Dennis Zimmermann is one who has definitely sparked my interest as of late. Despite the fact that he’s been holed up on the generally fine art, mom and pop-friendly art Whidbey Island for the past three years, it’s about time to get Zimmermann’s work to the larger cities. He doesn’t seem to have one style, but does have the unique ability to do it all, from graphic design and hand-drawn works to computer rendered, multi-layered beauties. Ultra Libre VII, shown above, features inkjet projections onto vellum paper, which can be a frustrating task for those of us who have ever worked with vellum. But what’s even more interesting is Zimmermann’s ability to crank computer-created works out into formats that can be accentuated by or even mistaken for a more hands-on approach.

Below is one of his newer pieces, on display now at the goforaloop Gallery in San Francisco.

zimmermannstudio.blogspot.com
www.goforaloop.com

The Suite 100 Gallery, now has work of Jason Limón in their Uniform group show (which unfortunately ends in two days — sorry! At least their doors stay open until 10:00pm this Friday, though!). San Antonio’s Jason Limón is an illustrator whose work has been seen in publications like Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print Regional Design, and Graphis. What’s special about this particular piece, Generate.5, is not the acrylic paints he uses, but the custom canvas panels he paints on, which give his paintings the illusion of being, in this case, almost wood carved and definitely three-dimensional.

www.suite100gallery.com
www.limon-art.com

Urban Medium likes to delve head-first into the playful manipulation of well-known yet controversial figures. Throw all the clear-cut positive role models out the window, and bring in the unruly.

You can join the revolution by purchasing one of their initially confusing prints.

Anger strangers who come to your house and see a print of Charles Manson… and then throw them off guard when they look closer and realize Mr. Manson actually has a Hello Kitty stamped onto his forehead!

Or maybe you can surprise your Communist neighbor an image of the beloved North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il… who has really been transformed into Kim Jong ILL!! He’s all flossed up, and he’s no longer supporting early morning calisthenics routines; he’s supporting Wu-Tang Clan, Nike, and James Bond. Bling, bling. Blang, blang.

The limited edition three image screened set is limited to 100 copies, printed on 18″ x 25″ 80# stock (thick paper, for those unacquainted with printing techniques). They are signed and numbered with UrbanMedium pins and stickers, and at $200 for all three, they’re actually kind of affordable.

www.urbanmedium.com

The problem: What to buy the person that has everything.
The problem: You’re not creative enough to make anything.

The solution: Turn to Samantha Ferguson!

Ferguson has just started up a new website dedicated to offering custom portraits for regular everyday folk. She can render you, your loved ones, and your friends as joyful caricatures! And even if you’re not into turning yourself into vector art, you can come up with a concept, send it to Ferguson, and watch as she creates custom artwork for a baby’s room, holiday cards, stationary, or your office.

www.illustratedportraits.com

Of Montreal is a band that has seen success as the result of good music (arguable), but also good marketing (possibly also arguable, but not as much).

First, their music video for “Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games,” featuring cutsy-wootsy pop art animation, garnered wide attention from the web nerds. Then, the same song was used, slightly altered, for a obnoxious yet hypnotic Outback Steakhouse commercial.

And now comes of Montreal’s wonderful new shenanigan for their new album, Skeletal Lamping… Blik Surface Graphics inspired by the album artwork!!

A true of Montreal fan benefits hugely from this offer, as purchasing one $40 set also gives a code to download the whole album digitally. So, after doing the math, if each song is purchased at $0.99 apiece digitally and there are 15 songs, the graphics pretty much only cost $25. Which is not bad at all, especially when one considers that these are these are extremely intricate packages with many pieces.

The David Barnes package (click here to view) has 105 movable and reusable pieces, and the Gemini Tactics package (click here to view has 55 movable and reusable pieces.

Compare that to something like this Lacy Sunday package by Jan Habraken, which only comes with 4 colors in three packages, and you REALLY get an idea of what a good deal this is. If you’re an of Montreal fan.

Or maybe you just like their graphics and want to sell the code for the album download.

Castle Crashers is one of XBox Live’s newest runaway hits. It brings back the side-scrolling video game action that those of us who grew up on Nintendo and Super Nintendo know so well. It’s about time someone made a game that scrolled sideways and was attractive to the new generation.

With kickass animated graphics, cuddly cuddly characters, a remarkably disgusting yet hilarious sense of humor, and one of the most epic soundtracks ever to grace the XBox Live Arcade, Castle Crashers is building up momentum through word of mouth, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

This weekend, an ultimate nerd-fest, PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) came to Seattle and artists from Castle Crashers holed up in a booth. They brought with them glorious glorious vinyl toys of the game’s knights and one of its barbarian. Two life-sized foam characters were also present. At “Buy 3, Get 1 Free,” the vinyls of the knights probably sold much, much better than anyone with Castle Crashers could have ever anticipated. They sold out far before the event was over.

Here are two of the characters — the Green Poison Knight and the Barbarian:

But for those of you who are still interested, the vinyl’s will be available on their website, and it is a great bridge between the videogame world and the urban street art world.

Agree or disagree with Barack Obama’s policies, he has done something that has caused numerous artists to practically idolize him and reproduce him in visual form. Amongst the most famous is probably one image that has been used somewhat ad nauseum, and that is the rendition of Obama shown below, crafted by Obey Giant creator, Shepard Fairey.

Obama fans will rejoice loudly. There will soon be a Manifest Hope Gallery on display from August 24 through August 28 at the Democratic National Convention. The gallery will be housed within Denver’s Andenken Gallery, and an additional transformed warehouse space, which spans 10,000 sq. ft, will be included as well. Dozens of artists will take part, including Alex Pardee, David Choe, Elizabeth Rosen, and Zina Saunders.

All this goes hand in hand with our coverage of artwork made by supporters of presidential candidates back in Spring 2008… seems like Obama is the favored candidates of artists, hands down.

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