INVURT

Oh we love the weird and slightly quirky here, and this one has a couple of names that we just cant go past so we’re putting it up! Plus, monsters fkn rule – and, hell, they’ll be serving insects, Andrew Zimmern would be proud.

“Curated by stunningly talented painter Rebecca Murphy, featuring lucky door prizes, creepy hors d’oeuvres, tunes by DJ Ford Prefect, and a whole lot of amazing art. Plus your chance to win a tasting pack of 6 glorious organic wines from Ascella Pure Wine. Monstrosity Gallery is gonna end 2010 with a SPLAT!”

 
Who: Andrew May, Ashlee Duggan, Avelina De Moray, Burntfeather, Cupco,Dan Withey, Dr Rev, Emma Kidd, Gee Hale, Gregory Godhead, Kaitlin Beckett, Leigh Kuilboer, Mz Katii, Nigel Sense, Niki Banados, Rebecca Murphy, Sam Octigan, Sandra Winkworth, Sol, TEZ,Yulia Pustoshkina, Zan von Zed and more to be announced!
What: Creature Feature – Monstrosity Gallery group show
Where: Monstrosity Gallery, 93 Bourke St, Wooloomooloo, NSW
When: Show opens Friday December 3rd, 6pm til 9pm, and runs til 17th December.

Check out the Monstrosity Gallery website for more info, also check out their facebook event page.

A huge plethora and a bit of a whose who of artists from across Melbourne, all condensed into an amazing display of prints that you can meander through, purchase and put up on your walls. This is the upcoming print exhibition, Fit To Print, from No Vacancy, and we’re looking forward to checking it out – the show itself will include a whole bunch of print making demonstrations on the weekends as well, in the QV square.

“This December, No Vacancy Gallery and QV Melbourne present FIT TO PRINT a one-off exhibition and weekend printmaking demonstrations to be held in QV Square that showcase Australia’s finest emerged and emerging printmaking artists. In total more than 40 artists’ will present different print techniques and processes including – Screen- Printing, Linocut Printing and Gocco Printing – with featured works making for the perfect gift this Christmas.”

Who: Adriana Bernardo, Andrea Innocent, Ann Gee Neo, Aramas Ridge, Belinda Kemp, Ben Carollo, Bonsai, Beastman, Brooke Williams,Caitlin Sherwood, Cat Rabbit, Cat Macinnes, Catherine Campbell, Charotte Lance, Cougar Flashy, Edouard Mouy, Elise Hurst, Emma Leonard, Eugenia Tsimiklis, Eveline Tarunadjaja, Fee Harding aka Burntfeather, Gary Seaman, Gemma Jones, George Whelan, ghostpatrol, Glen Smith, Hayley O’Connor, Heesco, Jake Stollery, Jennifer Cossins aka Red Parka, Jeremy Ley, Jessica Tremp, Jessica Charlotte, Jessica McCausland, Joel Zika, Kaitlin Beckett, Katherine Hepworth, Katie Houghton-Ward, Katja Mouvlin, Keren Dobia, Lashna Tuschewski, Lauz Rigbye, Lazerfist, Leif Podhajsky, Leigh Rubin, Liesl Pfeffer, Mark Silipo, Max Plumley, Michael Fikaris, Michael Hawkins, Miso, Natasha Sim, Nathaniel Kiwi, Niels Oeljten, Noah Seldom, Raph Banks, Ria Green,Robot Academy, Ruby Aitken, Sally Shand aka Ragdoll Illustrations, Sarah Mair, Sarah Hankinson, Scizzorface, Sera Hocquard,Simon Attwooll, Steph Pryor, Sylvia Jeffriess, Tom Vincent, Toni-Anne Dowd, TWOONE, Vidad Narayan
What: Fit To Print – No Vacancy Print Exhibition
Where: No Vacancy GAllery, Jane Bell lane, QV, Melbourne – and the QV square on Sundays.
When: Show opens Thursday December 9 and runs til to December 23

Demonstration info:

On Saturday December 11, QV Square will host an interactive Screen-printing Demonstration. Exhibitors from the FIT TO PRINT exhibition will demonstrate the screen-printing process in a marquee in QV Square. Screen-printing pushes inks through a blocked out stencil imposed on fine woven mesh to create a sharp clean image onto a chosen material
such fabric and paper. Works of art will be on sale and are priced from $20 to $200. (See image from Robot Academy).

Sunday December 12, QV Square will host an interactive Linocut Printing Demonstration. Exhibitors from the FIT TO PRINT exhibition will demonstrate the linocut process in a marquee in QV Square. Linocut is a printmaking technique where a design is cut into the linoleum surface with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then impressed onto paper or fabric. Works of art will be on sale and are priced from $20 to $200.

Saturday December 18, QV Square will host an interactive Gocco Printing Demonstration. Exhibitors from the FIT TO PRINT exhibition will demonstrate the Gocco printing process in QV Square. Gocco printing uses the exposure of flash bulbs to thermally transfer an image onto a screen where inks are then pushed through to leave the stenciled design on a chosen material. Again, works of art will be on sale and are priced from $20 to $200

Check out the No Vacancy website for more info.

If you haven’t seen her work around the streets, then you probably don’t live, or haven’t been to Melbourne in the past year or two– or, you don’t pay attention to all the blogs and websites that track down her work when it goes up. She’s been quite prolific in recent times, and her work always has a tranquil, at ease, naturalistic feel to it. This is the kind of street art that makes you stop walking, and take a few moments in appreciation of its presence.

Urban Cake Lady is as down to earth as her images. With work pasted up all over, and having partaken  in several shows and events in the past year, such as the Irene arts festival, Sweet Streets, as well, this coming Sunday, the first Melbourne Tiger Translate show, there doesn’t seem to be any stopping her – and, really, who would want to?

Invurt was really happy to get a bit of her time this week, and to finally find out a bit more about this highly expressive, creative lady …

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We’ve been seeing Max’s work pop up in various shows with more and more frequency in recent times – and from what we’re seeing, we cant help but want something to put up on our wall.

His most recent work, derived from a multitude of influences, often heavily so in the direction of the fantastical, conveys a hell of a lot of compacted imagery and symbolism into what are often smaller scale, semi-illustrative paintings – its iconographic, often fun, art, and we always feel the need to construct our own internal narratives for each piece whenever we see them.

We were really glad to be able to catch up with Max in the lead up to his coming group show, Microcosm, with Phibs, Beastman and Creepy – and to find out more about the ongoing visual narrative behind his works  …

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Oh, I wish I had of seen this one a bit earlier, so I could see if I could get hold of the artists involved (whom, admittedly, I’m not all that familiar with) – because, and lets be honest here,  I have a major art crush on anything to do with comics, and an even bigger one when it comes to girls!

“China Heights is excited to present ‘Nice Piece of Art’, a collaborative exhibition between PT and Jessi Cat, featuring works which are heavily influenced by pop-art, cartoons, comics, the traditions of graffiti and the female form.

Sharing a common belief that every artist or graffiti writer has their own style akin to their own personality, and the ability to remain literal rather than conceptual, PT and Jessi Cat have created a bold series of works using predominantly spray paint and acrylic paint on canvas, and pencil on paper.

By combining traditional graffiti art and cartoon illustration, and admiration of artists such as John Kricfalusi, Shane Gline, Coop and Ralph Bakshi, the pair have developed a set of intrepid, lustrous pin up girls which are entirely unique, and represent each of their distinct styles as artists.

The works, relating completely to the lives of exotic dancers, attempt to capture the personality inside a woman who would, at first glance, be seen only as an object of sex. A kaleidoscopic mix of tropical and cool colours masks the dark and sinister underlying notions of what these woman are really about, and the reality of their own existence.”

Who: PT & Jessi Cat
What: Nice Piece Of Art duo show
Where: China Heights Gallery, 1/133 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
When: Opens Friday 26th November @ 6pm, show runs til only the 28th November

Check out the China Heights gallery website and the facebook event page for more info.

Westsyde Connection in Sydneys Dulwich Hills are holding a massive xmas art sale come the 4th of December – and they are also “calling on any artists who want to put their work in the sale to drop it by the shop the week before with a retail price and a sale price.“

So if you’re in Sydney, and have some art handy that you want to put in to the event, just contact them at the shop or via their website – and get down there on the day to snap up some great bargains and works.

Also, on another note, and if you haven’t read our Friday wraps,  Westsyde Connection are currently under attack by the Salvation Army, who are taking them to the High Court over a beautiful piece of artwork out the back of their shop. They have set up a website to help them save the artwork as well as to draw attention to the issue. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – this does nothing for the Salvation Armys image – they are supposed to support the community, and the areas creative youth, not attack them for expressing themselves through art – its an shockingly appalling state of affairs and the local head of the Salvos in the area, Captain Ian Spall, should be ashamed of himself for taking it this far. Go sign the petition – or make a donation to help them cover their legal costs in the upcoming battle.

Who: Phibs, Bennet, Bridge, Deb, Esjay, Anton Benois, Vars, Pigeonboy, Skulk, Krystle Wright, Dina Raus and many more
What: Westsyde Connections Massive Art Sale
Where: Westsyde Connection, 441 New Canterbury Rd, Dulwich Hill NSW
When: December 4th @ 4pm

Via Westsyde Connection, also check out the events facebook page.

The first Without Walls was held at Oh Really Gallery back in May, and now, following on from the success of the first installation, and with a move to aMBUSH Gallery, Volume 2 looks set to continue the series with a whole new line up of artists. Pretty cool idea too.

“Wall less lawless art by friends for fiends – Without Walls is a collective of friends who throw exhibitions for local artists and then take some of that art and make t-shirts from it.”

 
Who: Ben Toupein, Jin Hien Lau, James Jirat Patradoon,  Brett Chan,  Aisling King-Macklin, Jumbo
What: Without Walls group show and t-shirt designfest
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4A James Street, Waterloo, NSW
When: Show opens Wednesday 8th December @ 6pm, runs til Sunday 12th December

Via Ambush gallery & the Without Walls website

We love anything that crosses the boundaries, and Short, Sharp & Sweet looks like it does a fair bit of that, judging by the list of artists in this group show opening at Greenwood Gallery in South Melbourne tonight – and it’ll be a great mesh of pop, comic, graff and other genre-traversing art.

“10 days/4 artists/no-holds barred original artworks of pop and neo-expressionism scented with eau de la Lichtenstein, Basquiat, graffiti and comic book imagery.

Green-Wood Gallery showcases again the artworks of enfant terrible Sydneysider Ben Frost, Victoria’s Dave Bowers and Nick Morris (aka the painting duo ‘Doug Bartlett’) and for the first time in Australia, France’s Johanne8.”

Ben Frost “There is duplicity where cuteness and evil coexist behind the saccharine façade of a comic-book character or a much loved fast food restaurant. I am reflecting a world in trouble, a heaving dying fur-seal of an earth that is being repeatedly clubbed with baton-sized television remote controls. The drips that melt down the canvas are nods to an immense self-destructing machine made up of endless icons, logos and expressions that are the infected medical waste of the 21st century. At first it is a feeling of wanting to express this consumerist, pop-culture Armageddon that we are a part of, but I realize I have no choice, as, like you I have been given the responsibility of its maintenance and I never flipped through the instruction book (if there ever was one). Any second now, any second now – we’ll all wake up.”

Doug Bartlett The ‘Self Portrait Red’ by Doug Bartlett was a finalist in this year’s coveted as well as lucrative Doug Moran Art Prize and recently completed Hoodoo Guru’s artwork for their new album ‘Purity of Essence’. Doug Bartlett is the name given to the energy created when Nick Morris and Dave Bowers work together on the same canvas.

Johanne8 Born 1974, Paris-based Johanne8 is an emerging artist considered to be a rising figure in the French urban/pop/graffiti art scene.

Who: Doug Barlett, Ben Frost, Johannes8, Dave Bowers and Nick Morris
What: Short, Sharp and Sweet group exhibition
Where: Greenwood gallery, Hotham St, South Melbourne, VIC
When: Show opens Thursday 25th November @ 6pm, runs til 5th December

Via Greenwood Gallery

Looks like Metro is taking some of the works from their On The Wall show over to the ACT as a showcase in conjunction with the currently running Space Invaders show – if you’re in Canberra, you need to go see this – I went to the showing here at the Metro Gallery and it was one of the coolest shows I’ve been to this year.

Nice work, Metro.

Who: Banksy, D*Face, Hush, Swoon, Lister, Rone, Reka, Meggs, Stabs, Stormie, Ha-ha, Vexta, Phibs
What: Exterior motives local and international group show
Where: Itrip Iskip – 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, ACT
When:  Opens Thursday 25th November, from 6pm

Check out the metro blog for more info and preview images.

Ahh, Tiger Translate – I’ve seen highlights from a bunch of events from overseas and it looks pretty interesting …

In order to attend you have to go to the tiger facebook page, add them as a friend, and like some of their status updates  ….apparently theres about 100 tickets left, so if you want to go, get to it. Looks like a cool event, and I hope all the artists totally kick ass, there’s an awesome line-up, and I’m sure they’ll all do amazing work.

Who: Sirum, Aeon, Beastman, Toño, Chas, Shida, Adnate, Urban Cake Lady, Rone, Numskul, Reka, Roach and Katre. Also there will be live art by Itch,  Sofles, Dvate and Does, plus installations by Meggs, Soul Orton, Song Yang and Tran Trung Linh. Music supplied by Hermitude, DJ Dexter, The Faders and Nick Fleming.
What: Tiger Translate
Where: Finlay Lane, Melbourne, VIC
When: Sunday 28th November

Via Tiger Beer and their facebook page.

There aint no doubt that skateboarding has, and very much continues to play a huge part in the evolution of both street, urban and low brow art – and this coming show from China Heights celebrates exactly that, straight from the minds of artists who have been directly influenced by the sport/lifestyle.

Looks like Verb Australia have a hand in this one, and the artist line-up as well as the Verb display looks grand.

Who: Luke Brown, Andy Murphy, Rome Torti, Nate Gamble, Jack Tarlinton, Beastman, Marcello Guardigli, E.L.K. , Steve Gourlay, Alice Edy, Kronk, Bruce Mackay, Wesley Van eeden, Jordan Metcalf, Black Koki, Bison, Theory One
What: Verb Australia presents Dont Push Mong – skateboard influenced group show
Where: China Heights Gallery 3, 16-28 Foster St, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW
When: Show opens Friday 3rd December, 7pm and runs til 5th December

Check out the China Heights website for more info.

As the flyer says, the infamous Ignore Mainstream crew will be turning up at aMBUSH come December to throw up their latest creations onto the galleries walls – all you Sydneysiders see their  names around on the streets, now its time to check them out in the gallery – aMBUSH do some great shows; this one wont be any different.

 
Who: Oricks, Jota, Roter, Opens, Yzur, Joshuair
What: IM Crew group show
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4a James Street, Waterloo, Sydney – NSW
When: Show opens Thursday 2nd December from 6-9pm, and runs til Sunday 5th December.

Check out aMBUSH Gallery’s website for more details …

I’m totally art-ed out from the past week, with way too much happening! I did manage to get to a few openings and events though, namely the A3 Small Art show, Toy To The World and the Cardbordia show that I was part of with a bunch of other cool crew …  but I’m also looking forward to seeing the other shows whose openings I missed on Friday over the next few days – namely Kami & Sasu, about:blank and Scottie “Bonsai” Neoh’s one at Fed Square …

Anyways, I got a few shots along the way (I’m a crappy photographer so don’t hold it against me if they aren’t that shit-hot =P, so I figured I’d do a couple mini-reviews and post up a few of them up …

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Four amazingly talented names in one show, and a great theme to boot – and Microcosm looks set to deliver something pretty funky by the looks of it, when Beastman, Phibs, Creepy and Max Berry, (an artistically dynamic quartet if ever I’ve seen), will be transforming Lo-Fi collective with their own brand of micro-introspection come the first week of December.

Who: Beastman, Phibs, Creepy, Max Berry
What: Microcosm group show
Where: Lo-Fi Collective, 383 Bourke St, Darlinghurst, NSW
When: Show opens December 2nd at 6pm, and only runs til the 5th of December.

Check out the Lo-Fi website for more info and words. We also interviewed Beastman and Creepy a few months ago, and should have some words from Max Berry up within the day!

Afternoon all – hope and trust that you’ve all had a great week, and that you’re all prepared for a great weekend to come! Just a bit of housekeeping news first up – we’re really happy this week to have taken on a great addition to the crew in the form of Leah Burgess – she’s here learning the ropes and has already completed a fantastic interview with Jumbo (of Jumbo and Zap fame, of course), and its  great! Personally, I couldn’t be happier, I was starting to get just a little overwhelmed with all the stuff that’s going on these days – and her positive take and enthusiasm for all this shit is sure to be great thing for Invurt.

Anyways – now we get to the busy weekend that’s ahead .. oh man …

Melbourne

• Our show Cardbordia, opens tonight at At Large Gallery in Northcote – its turned into quite a cool little installation, and the end product is looking pretty crazy cool – come join us for some beers in amongst all the other things going on tonight
• Kami & Sasu have their opening tonight! I saw pics from their Melbourne Central mural, and an awesome preview of their work at Nice Produce, and it looks fantastic – I’ll get in there tomorrow, cant wait, then I’ll head over to Paradise Hills …
• Which also has a show opening tonight! about:blank looks like something a bit different, and  oh so cool. Art meet technology – my favourite thing.
• Scottie Neoh, aka Bonsai, has a show at the No Vacancy Fed Square space also tonight! Four great shows in one night .. crazy. I just noticed I had the event info incorrect for this one, its at the Fed Square space, not at the Jane Bell gallery … sorry!
• Jack Douglas’s new show also opened this week – its on for a bit, so go see it at Blue Tile Lounge
• The A3 Small Art show opened on Wednesday at For Walls upstairs from Miss Libs, and it was a huge success, over 200 people through the door and a third of the pieces sold – a great fundraiser for Room To Read – its on for a little while, so go check it out.
• Also! Tomorrow is Toy To The World – and it should be a lot of fun, so come down to Section 8 during the day and check it out and see a bunch of artists painting up plethora of toys.

Sydney

• Next Thursday, Anthony Lister has his latest solo show at Chalk Horse – we just did a small feature on him and the show, and damn it looks like it’ll be great.
• Alexandra Lekias opened her show last night at Friends Of Leon gallery – it looked really great from all the preview images.

Brisbane

• Paper Tales, curated by Bec Winnel and Courtney Brims opens at Nine Lives Gallery next week, Thursday the 25th

Perth

• I only just really saw it today, alas, but These Days gallery has a show with the Windows on Williams crew featuring artist Jessica Singh – more details are here, but damn such a great illustrator. Go take a look at the show, as well as the other cool things happening on Williams St.

Also, keep an eye out for all the Curvy & Muscle Up launch parties happening around the place!

Bits and pieces from around the traps …

• Loved this small feature on ABCs art nation about Paradise Hills and their recent Connect Four show – have a look!
• i’m a self confessed fan of TwoOnes work, and I love the stuff he’s been doing for Wabi Sabi in Collingwood the past week or sose, check out the pics on his blog
• This ones a recap from last week, because I want to make sure that everyone is aware of it “The Salvation Army, of all people, an organisation that in the past has actually run support programs for graffiti artists, is now taking Sydneys Westsyde Connection gallery and studios to the High Court in order to have them remove a mural that was done by street artists from the backyard of their gallery. They have a petition up, so you should go and sign it and show your support.”

Alas, that’s all I can get to today – sorry if I’ve missed anything – have to bail out and go do finishing touches to our show tonight. Have a great weekend and enjoy all the cool art on show this week, wherever its at!

Ez.

There’s something distinctly nostalgic behind the name of Anthony Listers upcoming Sydney show at Chalk Horse Gallery, Memories Not Included -  the title itself feels as if it harkens back to the much loved movie Batteries Not Included of my youth, and, on the surface at least, the titulary play of words from the outset grabbed my attention – so, when I briefly caught up with Lister this week, and I asked him about what the show represented, he replied, simply, “I broke my foot, and this is what I made.”

Its this fundamental ease at which an artist can comment on their work, that always piques my interest – because although it my appear to be so, Listers work is anything but simple. Drawing on a wide range of experience and influences, Listers work often delves into the subconscious of our youth, and allows the viewer to actually participate in his work, rather than to be relegated to the position of a mere bystander.
 

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Meet Jumbo and Zap – two super powered artists from the urban realm of inner Sydney. Both have spent years gratifying our streetscapes with colour and mystery, witnessing first hand the progressive explosion of urban art and its mainstream cultural by-product.

Their upcoming collaborative project at Lo-FI, Planetarium, offers a sneak peek into two very distinct creative minds, and, as their namesakes suggest, Jumbo and Zap conjure up comic like imagery laced with futuristic overtones and otherworldly awesomeness.

Invurt had a chance to speak to Jumbo this week about his collaborative work with Zap, Sydney street art, and their craft …

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Woah, almost missed this, and really glad that we didnt – looks like Jack Douglas is back on shore and has a show on at Blue Tile Lounge – we talked to Jack a couple of months ago before he moved off to the UK< and its great to see him back here doing another show!

I’ve been a fan of Jacks work for a bit, so looking forward to seeing what he’s come up with since his last show, Twenty One.

Who: Jack Douglas
What: You Little S#!ts solo show
Where: Blue Tile Lounge, 95 Smith Street, Fitzroy, VIC
When: Show opens TONIGHT – Wednesday, 17 November, 2010 at 6pm,  runs til Sunday, 28 November

Check out as Jacks blog for more info on him!