As you know, we do all the stuff here on the website without any real expectation in return, but there are costs associated with it all … so if you’ve ever wanted to directly help support us, now’s your chance!
First up is the classic Invurt T from Pierre Lloga – Pierre did this one for us prior to the Outpost Project up in Sydney, and its the shirt we have rocked the most over the past two years – big fans. Available in colours, as well as in both Pullover and Zip up hoodies.
Second up, is of course, our now logo from the man himself, Hancock (also check out @hancock_art on instagram). This is the same graphic from both here on the website, as well as on all of our stickers and other swag – we love this design! Also available in hoodies, yep!
The third shirt design, is from the hand of our friend Mikaela Jane (@mikaelajane on instagram) – we haven’t released this logo before and this sees its first outing! We love her custom type and we love our orange on purple (though there are other colours available also)! Yep, there’s hoodies available as well!
Lastly, I have actually gone through and put a whole bunch of my own personal artwork on a bunch of shirts as well – okay, so not Invurt related, but I hope you think there’s some cool designs of some creatures, nonetheless!
Anyways, head over to Redbubble to see them all and thanks to Hancock, Pierre and Mikaela Jane for their designs – and, again (regardless) to you – for reading and for all your continual support!
One man who continues to make us love art on a wall, is Shida. Over the years we’ve been following him, Shidas work has gone from strength to strength, and every new piece he puts up is grander than the last.
Just as grand though, is when he puts on an exhibition – and, with this one, it looks like he’s going to be pulling out some almightily cool stops at Brisbanes Blake House gallery.
"In early 2012 Brisbane artist Shida embarked on an international tour determined to make his mark on the world’s street art scene. Painting monumental murals in his signature dynamic style he collaborated with some of the most talented street artists across the globe. A gestural climax of colour and ecstatic line surges through his mystifying imagery, allowing viewers a glimpse of a sublime, pulsating paradise. Shida has ignited his career with local and international acclaim; his ongoing success in the art world is testament to his relentless creative spirit.
Shida’s signature style transitions from the street to the gallery for a series of shows across the world, beginning in his home town of Brisbane Australia.
Blake House Gallery will play host to an all encompassing show featuring refined paintings, sculpture and conceptual installations.
The “Spirits” exhibit will Throughout 2013 Shida will continue to tour the world with his works being shown in some of the most highly regarded contemporary and modern art galleries in both group and solo shows. With such a unique and memorable style, an unrivalled passion for creating and a fresh view on what defines street art his name will begin to spread farther than ever."
Head down and check it all out – a Shida show is not to be missed, ever. Here‘s a little preview from the video he just released for the show …
Who: Shida What: Spirits solo show Where:Blake House Gallery, 35 Adelaide St, Brisbane When: Show opens Friday February 1st from 6pm til 9pm and runs til 9th February
We don’t often post too much news here on the website, so please excuse this break from our regular services.
We’ve been slightly remiss with some of our updates lately, due to the fact that we’ve been hell busy on a variety of different projects. We do apologise for this, as we haven’t had much time lately to get to everything we usually would – but, it’s all for the better! Amongst things here and elsewhere, we’ve also been helping Dean Sunshine out with his upcoming book launch, moving our studio and, wonderfully, we’ve just entered into some new territory with a great collaborative project with out friends over at Nothing To Nobody magazine … so, read on!!
We’re pretty excited about this one, and we’ve been looking forward to sharing it with you properly for a while now.
For some time, I’ve harboured a wish to begin a print magazine. I’ve been writing and editing about art, music and general creativity for well over ten years now in various forms and for various different avenues, and starting up a print project has always been the dream. Given that it’s a huge endeavour, I had never gotten much beyond the planning stages for the project I had in mind (which is still bubbling away!).
By a random chance catch-up conversation at Secret Walls in Melbourne, Jo Jette from Nothing to Nobody fame told me of a project she’d begun working on – it sounded great, we talked some more, and, long and short of it, I’m now the Editor for our new print venue – Damn It! Magazine.
"DAMN IT! is a triannual, 96 page, limited edition magazine, whose staff work for smiles, mainly as we can’t afford to pay them yet! Instead we put every cent we have into the publication, so that each issue will kick the can of the previous one.
We’re firm believers in the spoon full of sugar mantra, DAMN IT! magazine features juicy articles on super talented peeps – illustrators, photographers, typographers, painters, couture designers, writers, and other creative types as well as reporting on the more serious happenings in the world.
Each issue will also shine a Bat-signal on some of the amazingly selfless work done by caring peeps setting up and running not-for-profits all round the world. We’re not afraid to put our money where our damn big mouths are, and we pledge to donate $0.50 from each copy of DAMN IT! sold to the not-for-profit we feature in that issue.
The name DAMN IT! was chosen as the expression can have both positive and negative connotations. For example: “Damn it! That’s some good cider!” or “Damn it, I just trod in a pile of ginareinheart!”
We’d Love Your Help
Myself and Jo Jette have been working on various magazines, online publications and print magazines for over ten years. On our first foray together into our new project, we are looking for a little help to get us started with our own. We have started a campaign over at Indigogo, and we are looking for a few generous donations to kickstart the whole thing. This is a long term project for myself and Jo, and we’re really looking forward to it. Damn It!, like Invurt and Nothing To Nobody will be a labour of love, and any help thrown our way would be hugely appreciated and would mean a lot to us both!
DAMN IT! Will always remain limited edition so it’s special – a collector’s item if you will, and we also promise to limit the number of advertisements to 5 per issue – never more. By helping us raise the money to print DAMN IT! you’ll also be a part of making these great things happen – you’ll be part of the DAMN IT!! community and not just a ‘reader’. Plus you’ll have our never-ending thanks and undying love to keep you warm at night!
Of course, we don’t expect something for nothing, so incentives include a whole range of great swag – issues of Damn It! Magazine, toys, custom designed Damn It! t-shirts by prominent Melbourne artist Hancock and apparel from our good friends Boy Wolf are all up for grabs when you throw us your support.
After two years at our Prahran studio, we’ve packed up and headed over to Richmond to join the guys over at SafeHouse Studios. If you haven’t heard of Safehouse, well, chances are you probably actually have!
The crew at the studio have been responsible and had their hands amongst a huge range of shows and events across Melbourne since they all got together, and comprise some of Melbournes leading design, aerosol, printmaking and art project management talent. Dangerfork, It Stands Out, Graffix Creative, MT Design, MV Communication and DJW Creative all have homes at Safehouse, and now so do we …
"The SafeHouse is based in Richmond. We are a creative studio that specialises in design & art-based productions.
SafeHouse is not only a collective of artists & designers but also a mixed lolly bag of creative businesses. The Studio encompasses many traits and individual insignias of various art, design & production facets. All involved at the studio seek to benefit as a group from each others experience & knowledge as a whole. Through our mixed specialties we are able to hit the ground running with virtually any creative project or artwork at hand.
The individuals who work from the studio and/or operate their own creative businesses all come well trained in their respective fields. As a whole the SafeHouse is on the forefront of modern art & design. SafeHouse prides itself on strong design aesthetics & also professional project management, brillant production & outstanding results. We have a proven track record of getting what needs to be done, done… with the best possible outcome & in the timeline provided.
SafeHouse is a sanctuary for various urban designers & artists that have chosen to infuse their skillsets & work together for a greater creative community based calling.
The people that make up the SafeHouse team all come from different backgrounds and their skills include: Creative Management, Design, Web Design, Animation, Art Direction, Advertising, Campaigns, Strategy, Marketing, Guerilla Marketing, Branding, Brand Strategies, Photography, Fine Art, Illustration, Exhibitions, Product Launches, Product Promotions, Exhibition Curation, Furniture Design, Signage, Shop Fit-Outs, Fine Art Murals, Graffiti Murals, Graffiti Management, Printing, Fine Art Printing, Screen-Printing and the list goes on, and on, and on."
We can’t tell you how happy we are with our new home – we’re looking forward to our stay there, and looking forward to bringing you more news, events and other cool shit from our studio mates.
Great times ahead, all, thankyou for your continuing support!!!
Brisbane artist Matt Stewart headed over to Mongolia recently to team up with some of the local Ulan Bator artists as a part of Tiger Translate – we got a hold of some great photos of the whole thing and a bit of a wrap up thanks to the crew at TT and Kult – read and view – looks like it was a pretty cool event!! Check out the rundown …
“The burgeoning arts scene in Mongolia recently enjoyed a boost with Tiger Beer’s ‘Tiger Translate Festival’. Artists and musicians from Philippines and Australia joined forces with Mongolia’s best emerging artists to explore the thriving streets of Ulan Bator and translate the country’s future in their artwork.
While Mongolia is traditionally steeped in fine arts, this festival celebrated contemporary culture and new forms of expression. Using ultraviolet markers and paint, the teams collaborated on Double Vision (a Tiger Translate initiative that involves adding a layer of graphics on top of photographs) and competed in a live neon art battle.
The three international artists in attendance were Australian artist/designer Matt Stewart and Filipino graphic artist Quiccs, who are winners of their local Tiger Translate competitions as well as Filipino illustrator Bjornik, who won the Fan Favourite on Facebook for his detailed illustration of the Manila streets.
Working with the international artists were six winners of the Tiger Translate competition in Mongolia, as selected by a prestigious panel of judges that included the Mongolian Arts Council.
Collaborating with two Mongolian artists from different artistic backgrounds was an exciting challenge for Matt Stewart, who said, “One was a traditional impressionist artist and the other was a contemporary digital artist, so their two very different styles helped fuse our three artistic values together well. Both were forthcoming and interested in telling me about their history and the relevance to today’s Mongolian society.”
Their mission in Mongolia was to contribute to the emerging contemporary arts scene through a series of art collaborations facilitated by Tiger Translate, which brings visionaries across multiple creative disciplines from the East and West together to create new works.
Matt said, “I love how Tiger Translate brings together different artistic influences from around the world into one spot and introduces them to the host country. In the same way, visiting international artists take away different artistic styles with them that they would not normally have experienced first hand.”
Every time I see a show from Guido Van Helten, I want a teleporter. Wanting a teleporter isn’t anything new for me, but my want tends to increase for every show of Van Heltens that I see come up, that I can’t attend. Alas, this one is no exception – but, luckily for those in Brissy, they don’t need one!
"Veneer is a profound new body of work by Brisbane-based street artist and large-scale muralist Guido van Helten. The exhibition explores street art’s place in Queensland’s conservative climate and raises important issues regarding urban renewal through a series of impressive artworks on reconstructed remnants of demolished ‘Queenslanders’ (for non-Queenslanders – that’s our iconic wooden houses with tin roofs).
Guido van Helten is a widely celebrated and prolific young Queensland street artist. His internationally acclaimed mural paintings in New York, London, Ho Chi Min City, and all over Australia, of massive stylised portraiture, harmoniously align contemporary street art with urban landscapes. Having exhibited in successful group shows across Australia, Jugglers proudly hosts Guido’s debut solo exhibition.
Veneer challenges the notion that street art and graffiti are detrimental to a city’s identity and references the destruction of Brisbane’s unique architecture in alignment with its stance on the arts and cultural movements such as street art and graffiti. Guido was inspired to create this body of work in the wake of what he sees as a Bjelke-Peterson styled government that seems to favour an out- with- the -old and in- with- the- new approach."
I love the theme of this. I spent my teenage years and early twenties in Queensland, and I can understand the themes for this show. I lived in Queenslanders, and I’m more than familiar with the themes of government that this show delves into.
If you’re in Brisbane, and haven’t had a chance to see Guidos work before, this is a perfect chance to do so – you wont regret it.
Who: Guido Van Helten What: Veneer Where:Jugglers Artspace, 103 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, QLD When: Show opens Friday 14th September from 6pm to 9pm, and runs until 18th September
There is no other place we love in the city as much as Blender. Home to a multitude of our friends and a bastion of amazing talent, we find ourselves spending a lot of time there in the company of more than welcoming community of artists. This veritable fortress of creativity in the heart of the CBD is lead by a man who has, over the past few years, helped and promoted the Melbourne street art scene, and emerging artists, in more ways than can be counted – Adrian Doyle.
Over the past year, Jacob Oberman has been putting together a documentary, Subtopia, on Doyle, Dark Horse Experiment and, of course, Blender Studios. This is awesome.
"Adrian Doyle is the dynamic face of the urban art world in Melbourne – part artist, part academic, part entrepreneur and part social activist. In 2001 he set up The Blender Studio as a co-op for artists and street artists alike. The old warehouse has become a hub of Australia’s finest practitioners. He runs an enormously successful council program that gets ‘young punks’ to stop doing graffiti and instead ‘beautify’ the walls of Melbourne. All this is on top of his own art that is increasingly obsessed with the suburbia of his upbringing. He’s not sure if he loves it or hates it but he has such a deep fascination with it that he’s doing a PhD studying the aesthetics of suburbia. Doyle frustrates and excites the art establishment in equal measure. Many see him as a breath of fresh air, while others regard him as a pushy kid with a runaway ego.
Doyle’s fiancé and business partner Piya is the brains behind the highly successful Melbourne Street Art Tours that operates out of the studios. With street art now the top tourist attraction in Melbourne, the couple have continuous media attention that has placed mounting pressure on their lives. Their latest venture is a gallery called Dark Horse Experiment, a partnership with the Dickerson family, scions of the traditional art world, in an effort to bring wealthy collectors to street art.
With multiple projects on the go, can Doyle manage to balance his bohemian lifestyle with his super strict fiance and the maelstrom of his fractured existence?
Created by Adrian Doyle, Jacob Oberman, Piya Suksodsai, Renegade Films, and ABC"
Definitely a unique look at Melbournes art scene with this one, and a unique insight into Doyles world, as you can see from the preview below.
Subtopia: The Myth Of Doyle is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in both Australian street art as well as the struggle involved for artists and creatives struggling to do new and exciting things with art.
Who: Adrian Doyle, Piya Suksodai & Jacob Oberman and a whole swath of friends, artists and Blender denizens! What: Subtopia: The Myth Of Doyle Where: On all TV screens across Australia When: Screening Tuesday 11th September and Tuesday 18th September at 10pm on ABC1
We’re back for another week of videos of street art and other cool shit from around Australia and NZ – so view on for some late Thursday night goodness …
Amazing short film with some familiar faces – from the team at Diamond Dozen and made by Callum Preston, and featuring Andrew King, (Art Collector), Nicole Reed, (Photographer), Rone, (Street Artist), Adele Winteridge, (Interior Architect), Steve Gourlay, (Skateboard Photographer), this is Mono.
Sofles has been over in the Netherlands lately, and this is a great video of what he got up to over there! Is there anything this man can’t do?
Shida was down in Melbourne recently, painting the shit out of everything he saw. This is a little feature on him from Blake House.
We always love seeing new videos from DabsMyla, moreso because we do see a few of them!! This one is courtesy of LRG – real, real good.
This is pretty cool – we’ve heard a lot about Back Alley Gallery in Lismore, and here’s a bit of a montage of shots of all the painting that’s been done up there! Good things.
Short short from ORDER – paste it up, boys!
And just to finish off, we’ve posted it before with his show, but Rone has his show on at White Walls Gallery, and we thought we’d post the preview again!
Well, we lied tone, that that was the last because then we just saw this and thought, fuckit, lets break our Australia/NZ only rule – here’s a cool report on all the street art thats starting to pop up in Burma now that the regime has loosened up a bit … go Rangoon, go!
Tonight brings more cool shit! As a part of Semi-Permanent in Brisbane, Benjamin Reeve has curated a side show of fairly grand proportions – taking music laden talent and combining it with visual creatives.
"BACK AND FORTH is an ART exhibition that pitches a number of Australian visual artists alongside some of Australia’s most exciting DJs in a collaboration that celebrates the culture and tradition of the mix-tape."
Big THANKS to the guys from Laced and Ironlak. Curated by Benjamin Reeve for The Bureau."
We’ve also been seeing some work in progress shots of the stuff that Gimiks Born and Beastman have been doing – and its fkn rad.
Head down tomorrow night to see it all!
Who: BEN ELY (Regurgitator, Pangaea… etc, Mark Drew -(SYD/TOKYO, Slurpee Slug (SYD, Amy Longworth (BRIS, Jesse Olsen (BRIS, Drew Bickford (SYD) – Installation piece: BEASTMAN (SYD) and GIMIKS BORN (BRIS) DJ’s: SAMPOLOGY, DJ KATCH (Resin Dogs, CUTLOOSE, SLYNK, DJ BACON, DJ BUTCHER What: Back & Forth Semi Permanent group show Where: Blake House, 35 Adelaide Street, Brisbane When: Thursday 30th August from 8pm til late!
Brisbane artists Matt Stewart is a man of many influences, from architecture to fashion, to branding, marketing and painting. His work, drawing upon areas that have had close impact on his world, and yet are often eschewed by “underground” artists, he embraces the commercial and explores the alternatives. This, all wrapped in a melange of colour and form, his pieces sojourning over territory both illustrative, graphical and, undoubtedly, decidedly “now”.
Work that explores this mixing pot of mediums and style are of great interest to us here – as apparently adaptable to the commercial as this kind of work may be, it is this use of modern themes and design innovation in artistic works that really excites us.
Last year, Matt Stewart was invited to paint as a part of the Australian round of Tiger Translate, and, as a part of that, he will now be winging his way over to Mongolia for the event later next week. As curious as we were about both the artist, his work, the event and Mongolia itself, we decided to throw a few questions Matts way to get the lowdown on his art, and his upcoming immersion into the art and life of Ulan Batar …
…
Can you tell us a bit about how you got started painting, and what your path to where you are now has unfolded?
I have always been artistic since I was young and took art classes right though my schooling. My professional career has consisted of creative outputs like graphic design right through to marketing and corporate branding. I started to sell paintings for a bit of fun on the side of a full time job about eight years ago and it gradually built up to become a monster of a side-business.
So, two and a half years ago I took it full time and haven’t looked back, moving ahead in leaps and bounds,
How about your mural work? We know that you have some skills with a spraycan. What is your history with street art and grafitti – is it a long time passion of yours?
Hahaha this is one of the big misconceptions that I get a lot with using a spraycan for some of my works. I actually don’t have a street art or graffiti background.
However, I follow and have a great interest in street art and it’s definitely a strong influence in a lot of my works.
We’ve seen a fair bit of your work, and can see that you have had a variety of influences, design, pop art and street art all seems to play a part – what do you try to channel when you are producing your art?
I have a large amount of influences on my work at different times.
Architecture, Interior Design and Fashion are all major influences in my works, so you will find resemblances of certain trends at times.
What about your views on commercial work as opposed to work for yourself, how differently do these two things present themselves in your work – what commercial opportunities have you had in the past, and what have been some of your more “create shit just for yourself” endeavours in the past?
To be honest, I love the balance between the two. Commercial work is very focused and precise and my personal canvas pieces are fun and more of a looser expression. I have been lucky to work with some great local and international brands in the past for commercial work and murals.
I’m fortunate that I can sell my “create shit just for myself” artworks to people that LOVE my work and follow my art career, but definitely do keep some of my favourites for my own collection.
We particularly loved some of the wallpaper work you did earlier in the year – this seems like such a unique way to present art ; we want to know more about this!
Yes it a great opportunity!!! It is a great bespoke way for both private and commercial clients to fit out a space, as it is all custom and made to order. I have created a single series which has had great response, so am working on a second patterned series as well as a much anticipated mural series.
It’s something different again to mix up my artwork and to apply it to different scenarios.
Tell us a bit about your involvement with Tiger Translate up until now? How did you get involved at the start, and tell us a bit about your winning the chance to be a Translate artist last year?
My entry into the Australian arm of the competition last year was a last minute entry. I literally started it and finished it about 2 days from the deadline….the rest is history. I was invited down to Sydney for the Tiger Translate event in November last year, where I painted several murals and had a chance to meet some amazing visiting artists from Korea, Mongolia and Singapore.
It was an intense few days, but very rewarding and my first look into the world of everything Tiger Translate!!
You have the trip to Mongolia coming up really soon, tell us a bit more about what you will be doing over there, and why you are looking forward to it?
Sure do! I will be collaborating with other international and local Mongolian artists on several pieces. These collaborations are fun and challenging especially when there is a definite language barrier. The process of using colour, shapes and style take over as a way of communicating that is universal, making the pieces work. I personally love collaborations as they force you to work outside your usual barriers and thinking and adapt to and merge your art and style with another artist who might have different thoughts on what ‘works well’.
Do you know much about Mongolian culture and it’s art already, and what about its cultural heritage are you most looking forward to, and what do you hope to take with you to share with lovers of art over there?
I know very little about Mongolian culture, art and cultural heritage so this will be a very rewarding trip for me! I am looking forward to taking in every second of the trip and event and making the most out of every opportunity that I get over there. I will definitely be taking Mongolian influences home with me and applying them to some of my artworks and I’m hoping to bring to Mongolia and Tiger Translate, my personal style and mix it up with some of the local artists to create something different and unique.
So, what happens after Mongolia and TT? What are your plans for after the journey, any shows or other projects you are working on?
I have a very busy few months ahead…I will get back and start working on my next canvas series almost immediately. I also have a clothing range in production which is part of a side business that I’m working on, so that will be ready to launch upon my return.
The week that I return I have a couple of large commercial murals to paint, followed a couple of weeks later by several private ones, so it’s fair to say that I will be working pretty hard …
This is sure to be one of the biggest shows in Brisbane this year – well, in our eyes anyways. From the man who has worked for over twenty years on walls across the country, and who has mastered the brush with just as much finesse, Lee Harnden, aka Linz, comes “Catharsis”
“Lee Harnden’s Catharsis is an exhibition of subversive explorations; a collection of portrayals that transcend the divide between Australian street culture and the grandeur of fine art.
As LINZ, an internationally acclaimed and Ironlak-sponsored graffiti writer with a career now spanning 20 years, Harnden’s movements have aligned him with celebrated Australian musicians, artists and sporting personalities. These figures, along with some closer to his heart, form the pith of his work; a realism characterised by the heightened juxtaposition of subject and technique.
There is a brutal honesty in Harnden’s work. While highlighting the rawness of gangland imagery he affords a sentimentalist portrayal of integrity and soul in each of his oil paintings. He achieves a unique exactitude through the medium but also draws upon a tremendous amount of depth, claiming more than a simple connection with his subjects.
Although some figureheads he depicts fall short of the limelight in the popularised mainstream, the romantic undertone of Harnden’s perception is revealed as every character he paints is essentially a hero in his eyes.
In his time and place, Lee Harnden is a catalyst of ‘subterranean representation’. Unfortunate for him as it is for many true artisans, his work will speak volumes much louder in generations yet to come.”
Not even the fact that Ironlaks “Linz Iceberg” is one of my favourite colours to paint with can compete with how incredible this show is going to be. The man is a living graff legend, and his work on canvas shines just as fkn bright as his work up on the walls.Oh yeah, kick ass fkn venue too.
Go.
Who: Lee Harnden (Linz) What: Catharsis solo show Where:Lightspace, 30 Light Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane When: Show opens Friday 17th August from 6:30pm til 10:30pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY.
Busy busy busy – it seems time slips from us as quickly as we think we have it free, but busy is good! We’ve gathered up a few videos for you from the past two weeks for you to enjoy on your Sunday evening, so enjoy!
.. it only just got released, so we’re pimping it – here is the preview video for Heescos show coming up this week, Manifest!!
Also coming up this week (we know, so fkn much!) is Taylor Whites exhibition at Just Another Project Space, Base Nature.
Lee Harnden, aka LINZ has a show coming up in Brisbane next wee, and there’s another great preview piece from Carl Allison for it.
Makatron returned recently from his overseas escapades, and we loved seeing this video of his journeys!! Maka killin it again and again.
The Borrowers is another show on this week, this time at House Of Bricks – Ryan McGennisken, Suki, Be Free and Hollie M Kelley are teaming up for this one, and theres another great video up for it.
Sam Octigan and Silkroy painted up Blue Bar recently and had a video done up of the whole shebang.
aMBUSH Gallery recently held a show, Always On Vacation and Unseen TV was also there. We really wish we could have been there, it looked like a fun show and greatly done like all of aMBUSHs events!
Here’s a great video from DabsMylas show, Break Night Lovers at Known Gallery – this pair always rocks it!
That’s it for this week .. sorry we missed last week, but, well, when you’re so busy, that’s how it fkn goes!!
Yeah, Sunday, not Thursday. I haven’t had much time to write stuff during the week this week due to other commitments, so Sundays look like my new get shit done days. First up, of course, is our slightly late run down on everything that’s been happening in the world of videos across the web.
Watch on for some great art from the streets of Melbourne, to the galleries of Sydney and beyond.
We put out a small video this week of us doing a few walls and shit in the leadup to our show opening last Friday, hope you enjoy it!
Love this – Ironlak just got up a great video of Sofles, Tues and Palms doing a bunch of work in LA last year. Perfect.
POSE has been down here recently doing some kind of secret project with Coopers – here are the first two videos from the project – looking forward to seeing more!
I was just about to do an intro saying that Low Brow is a pretty hard thing to define these days, and then I just realised the the copy for the show says it better than I can right now in my brain dead, night before returning to work with a cramped hand from over-drawing and preparing for our group show this week – (shits getting hectic)… but, I digress … where was I? Ah yeah …
"Lowbrow art can be many things, drawing, painting, sculpture, digital or street art but one thing is for sure, it’s always fun! Taking inspiration from popular and skate culture, kitsch nostalgia, tattoo art, comics, story book illustration and all things cool, Lowbrow art is a movement in which we can all find something to make us smile or maybe even cringe.
Brisbane Lowbrow is a group exhibition that celebrates and appreciates the humour and wistfulness of Lowbrow illustration. This exhibition will display 13 of the best emerging artists working in the Lowbrow sphere!"
That pretty much sums up my favourite form of art – the kind that is just fkn fun, which is what this show looks to be, and what we’d be having if we were up in Brissy this Thursday!
Who: Lucinda Wolber, Georg, Nick Drake, Brent Wilson, Travis D Hendrix, Nathan Smith, John Patterson, Tamara Nicholson, Charly Design, Raven Hodgsen, Megan Starr-Thomas, Gabriella Szableweska, Ellie Anderson What: Brisbane Low Brow Where: Bleeding Hearts Gallery, 166 Ann St, Brisbane When: Exhibition opening Thursday the 19th of July from 5pm, and will show through until Monday the 30th of July.
Check out the facebook event page and the Bleeding Heart Gallery website for more info.
Some great videos of street art from Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane this week – as well as a bunch of other cool art movies. Read on to see the best of all the video we’ve seen from across the scene …
Form Gallery launches its latest show tonight, in the shape of Living Walls – check out this cool little report on the show and what you can expect from the opening!
To finish it off, we have two newly uploaded videos taken in both Hosier Lane and Union Lane in Melbournes CBD. These are great walkthroughs, and if you want to see in detail the current state these two iconic Melbourne street art laneways then check these out!
Ah man, we really do love Australian art – what a great week for video!! Catch you next Thursday!
Having not been too familiar with Sam Hillcoat before we saw this flyer, we went off and did a bit of research and look around … and, must say, pretty impressed by the small portion of what we saw.
Having worked in Brisbane for ten years as a street artist and tattooist, a lot of his work is reminiscent of traditional Japanese styled work, but with a very prominent "modern" lilt to it, and its a really freszh take on an old style, rendering it into something quite different.
"The exhibition, Sam’s first solo show, features striking new works on canvas using oil, acrylics and aerosol. With several successful group shows under his belt and nonstop tattoo and canvas commissions, Sam has had to lock himself away and surrender much of this precious income to prepare his prolific new body of work.
Sam says he has adopted a fresh stylistic approach for this exhibition, “my new work is a hybrid of different styles. I like to take the raw expression of street art and the clandestine styles of modern and traditional tattoo design out of their natural environments. For the first time in years I have been able to flesh out all these ideas I have been developing, without having to meet anyone else’s expectations or specifications. I am excited to unveil this new style, which I feel is totally my own.”
In the last 10 years street art and tattooing has seen a surge in interest from the public and broader art world. While Sam has benefited professionally from this trend, this exhibition sees him moving away from the machine and spray can, and transforming his love of urban cultures into a fine art. Much of Sam’s new work is reminiscent of traditional Japanese art and tattoo (irezumi) with bold, colourful graffiti aesthetics. His duel occupations as a tattoo and aerosol artist have led him to developing this unique crossover style that is hugely appealing to fans of tattoo, street and contemporary fine art.
The Quiet Storm exhibition offers the pleasures of permanent ink, without the pain, the vibrancy of street art, without the legalities. It is an exhibition of exceptional artistry from a young, highly sought after tattoo and street artist with fresh, distinctive brushwork."
This coming solo show at Jugglers Artspace on Friday night will be the first solo show from the artist, and we hope it is only the first of many.
Nice work once again from the crew at Jugglers and Crush City for putting this one on!
Who: Sam Hillcoat What: The Quiet Storm debut solo show Where: Jugglers Artspace, 103 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley, QLD When: Show opens Friday 22nd June from 6pm and runs til Saturday 23d June – 1 -5pm (one day only!)
Last year we did an interview with Laura Chong, one of the two masterminds behind a cool and fresh new magazine, Six Years Later. At the time, they’d just been celebrating the release of issue #1 of the mag and they’d just done a call outs for submissions of artwork for their second issue, this time with the theme "Surface".
Several months down the track, and issue #2 is now available! Having had a good look through it, we can say that the wait was definitely worth it – this is a really limited edition magazine, chock full of amazing artwork and creative imagery.
To help celebrate their release, we have two copies of the new magazine to give away! All you have to do, is to be a little creative and take a photo of the words:
You can draw it, you can paint it, you can write it, you can stick it on the street or mark it on your hand. Take a photo of it, then just head to our fb page, post it on our wall and share it over at the Six Years Later page to show them some love from all of us! Alternatively, you can also enter by instagraming it and tag both @facter and @6ylmag.
The most innovative photo will win! See how ridiculously easy it is with this finely honed example we mocked up in two minutes on our lunch container …
Easy, right? The winner, will not only receive a copy of the latest issue of Six Years Later #2, but a very rare, now out of print copy of Issue #1 as well!Aalso in the pack, will be some stickers from several artists courtesy of our vault, both printed AND hand made just for you! But wait, there’s more! The runner up will get something too! A copy of Issue #2! Sweet! Plus, on top of all that, we’ll post up the winning entries and other images that we loved right here on the website.
Competition will run until Friday 8th of June when we’ll announce our favourite pics, and the winners of the giveaway!
Competition is open to anyone, anywhere! So get in there, and show the 6YL crew some Invurt love!!
Invurt webzine provides information on AustralAsian street, urban, illustrative, graffiti and other genre defying, nu-contemporary art to readers around the world. It specialises in events and artists who are working, displaying and visiting Australasia – particularly with a focus on exhibitions, live art and other events the artists are partaking in.
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