INVURT

After checking out Phibs exhibition, Perfectly Imperfect, we sauntered on down to House Of Bricks to see Beastmans show, Natural Progression. Stopping briefly along the way to check out TwoOnes awesome new piece , we arrived to a show in full swing.

Colour seems to have been the order of the evening, and Beastmans show had a riotous conflagration of brightly splayed work. From the piece adorning the entrance, to the art within, to the wonderful glimpse we got of the processes and sketches behind the artists work – well, between Beastmans show and Phibs, our night was made.

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Shots from Lachlan Curtin-Corr and Jess Brohier. Check out House of Bricks and Beastmans site for more info on the gallery and the artist.

This weekend see’s this months return of the Bend & Snap Markets at 1000 £ Bend in Melbourne CBD – if you haven’t checked out this market yet, you should!

On another exciting note, they have also announced that come May 5th, Bend & Snap will be setting up in Melbournes iconic Hosier Lane for a pop up market of most awesome proportions – check out the release below …

"Bend and Snap is back again for the month of April and we’ve got some new friends that have joined our family, along with some old favorites.

Pop M’art, Melbourne’s very own moveable art studio, will be popping up once more to give our patrons a chance to get crafty.
As always we’ve got killer tunes and tasty treats in our cafe.
Bend and Snap is also announcing our very own pop-up location. That’s right folks, on May 5th in conjunction with the City of Melbourne, Just Another Agency and Garage Sale Trail, our little ol’ market is kicking’ it in Hosier Lane.

Garage Sale Trail is a massive garage sale on a national scale. It happens all over Australia on one day, Saturday May 5th 2012
To join our regular Sundays or to secure your limited spot at Bend and Snap’s Hosier Pop-Up send an email to bendandsnap@getnotorious.com or apply online at http://bendandsnapmarket.wordpress.com/apply"

Two pretty cool markets within a week of each other – combine that with the upcoming Blender Lane market, and the Charles street markets, and the ongoing Rose St Markets … and you’ve got something to browse every weekend this month! Nice!

Who: A whole bunch of creatives, crafters and artisans.
What: Bend & Snap Markets

Bend & Snap @ 1000 £ Bend 
1000 £ Bend – 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, VIC
Sunday 29th May from 11am til 4pm
Check out the Facebook event listing here.

Bend & Snap @ Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Saturday 5th May from 11am til 2pm
Check out the Facebook event listing here.

Check out Bend & Snap, Garage Sale Trail and Just Another Agency for more details.

If you’ve been reading us for a while, you would know that we are, at the core of it, pretty massive geeks. So when Supanova, the years largest festival of “pop culture expo” comes around, well, there’s no doubt that we’ll be there.

Covering every base from tv and movies, to toys and comics, scifi and fantasy and everything in between, Supanova is the epitome of creative culture. Just seeing all of the cosplayers and various suited and costumed people showed to us just how much the creative realm is permeating our society, more so than it was even a few years ago. These days, geek is cool, and being creative is even cooler. Supanova is, really just that – a massive celebration of creativity.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived, were the massive lines into the expo – we attended last year, and the crowd this year was definitely larger. The traders had been moved into one of the large exhibition halls, and even that was pretty damn crowded!

So. Many. Toys. And. Cool. Shit.

Again, one of the best parts of the day was checking out everyone dressed up for the event. You just know, that as soon as Supanova is finished, that a lot of the cosplayers are going to be heading home to start work on next years outfit immediately – you can see that much effort in their work.

We went and checked out the last  bit of Edward James Olmos, and then the finals for the cosplay competiton. The Samurai Pizza cats vs the French Revolution. Strangely enough (not really, they had great costumes), the French revolution won and went through to the finals.

We finished the day off by catching Summer Glau (aka Fireflys River Tam aka Sarah Connor Chronicles Terminator) doing her talk – ahh. Fan crush to see Summer Glau in person sated. What a girl.

We met these nice ladies when we went to get supplies from the supermarket – they were pretty curious as to what was going on with all these people dressed up. We gave them some stickers and told them to keep calm and carry on!

Supanova keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. It’s an inspiring day out, and there is so much to see and do – if you want a day that is a little out of the ordinary than your usual fare, this is the place to be. For us, the best part of the day really was watching how much creativity was on display – even if your bag doesn’t run to the scifi or fantasy realms, you should at least experience something like this once in your lifetime. We’re looking forward to next years saga!

Melbourne was just the first show in the run of events, so if you’re in Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth, the Supanova events are coming up, so don’t miss out!

So. Much. Awesome!

We’ve been seeing these strips from Kieran Mangan, starring local Melbourne artist (and legend) Ha-Ha for quite some time – bits and pieces here and there, and we’ve loved them. They’re a perfect blend of Ha-Haisms, great art by both Kieran Mangan and Ha-HA, and the wonderfully … non-mainstream theories that the man espouses.

"Finally, the book is going to be launched. All who sponsored the book are welcome to come and pick up the book on the night, otherwise they will be posted to you within the coming weeks. Books will also be available on the night for purchase."

When we saw new of the book a little, Ha-Ha and Kieran were raising money for it on Pozible. Thankfully, this was successful, and its now due to be released – that went quick!! Back then, Kieran said of the book -"The comic strip is about Haha/Regan, street artist and conspiracy theorist. Now myself (Kieran Mangan) and Haha are going to put all of his comics and my comics about him and the people we know into a proposed 100pg+, perfect bound, colour covered comic book.

For those who have yet to see the comic strip, it exists in part here online – http://thehahaconspiracy.tumblr.com/"

This fkn rules – so head down to Blender tomorrow night , take some booze and snags, buy a copy and check it out for yourself!

Who: Kieran Mangan & Ha-Ha
What: The Conspiracy Of Ha-Ha Book Launch
Where: Blender Studios, 110 Franklin Street, Melbourne
When: Friday 2nd March from 6pm til 9pm.

Check out Ha-Ha and Kieran Mangan and the facebook event page!

Last night we had an absolute ball down at the opening of Shoe‘s exhibition at RTIST Gallery. A cool bit of performance art as he got completely covered in gold paint, lots of book signing, heaps of heads and good times.

Afterwards, we headed down to Rooftop for the screening of Kroonjuwelen – seriously, if you haven’t seen this doco yet you should go and get the DVD, it was really, really good and a great eye opened as to the evolution and development of the Amsterdam graffiti scene. We’ve seen a lot of graff docos in our time, and this ones up there. Sorry, no photos from that, too drunken and temporarily disorderly!

As always, my photography skills leave a hell of a lot to be desired, but here’s a couple I got from the opening nonetheless …

 
Though we don’t usually cover too many photographic exhibitions (as we’ve said before, there are plenty of sites out there that cover photography and do it way better than we could) but every so often we do make exceptions – and Hindu Tattoo at Sydnetys Lo-Fi is one of these.

"Hindu Tattoo is the result of an epic four month journey through incredible India. A visual documentation of its rough and often D.I.Y approach to tattooing. Hindu Tattoo displays images of pilgrims tattoos and their tattooers at work. Taken alongside the sacred Ganges river, and through the hectic streets and bazaars of India.

Indian street tattooing is raw. It has an oldschool element and feel, where the divine meaning and devotional aspect of the tattoo are more important than the aesthetics of the design itself.
Explore and experience the taste of India’s Tattooing culture and traditions.

There is a limited run of 60 full colour "Hindu Tattoo" booklets with images from the show printed in India on Eco-Friendly paper, stamped and individually numbered. Limited run of 40, 3 colour screen prints featuring the Hindu Tattoo Magician Illustration. Hand printed in India on acid free Art Paper, individually numbered.

T-Shirts produced in the ethical factory "Freeset" based in Kolkata, which helps Indian women get off the streets and on with their lives. The Main Images are photographic prints, and are on offer with unique fully hand decorated frames. All supporting images are digital prints which are also available as photographic prints to order. All Images are available for reprint."

Really, that says it all – traditional tattooing rules, okay?

Who: Sarah Murphy & Matt Feder
What: Hindu Tattoo
Where: Lo-Fi Collective @ The Standard
When: Show opens Thursday the 10th January at 6pm

Check out the Lo Fi Collective website as well as the facebook event page for more info.

‘Page Girls’ is the lovely new exhibition by Kate Macleod, tomorrow at Lamington Drive in Collingwood.

Based on her original ‘Michi Girl’ illustrations from previous illustrated books (‘Like I Give a Frock’ and ‘What On Earth Are You Wearing?’, Kate, has brought Chloe Quigley and Daniel Pollock’s fictional weather girl and fashion commentator out of the pages and into the gallery.

A whirl wind of fashion and style, the inspiration for these works is ever present and well presented by this  The Jacky Winter Group artist, specially so in the coming exhibition. The mix of placid, water colours, stream lined drawing and paper to express is perfectly balanced with the stunningly executed portraiture.

“The rah collective is a small group of artists working together to help forge our own place in the art world. Working almost exclusively on paper, the six artists that currently make up the rah collective all have a strong focus on the creation of their work, either drawing, printing, cutting or folding their work by hand.”

Artists who will be right along side you in the pages of this stylin publication are Qwux, Luke Burcher, Jessica Minervini-Eringa, Kirst Ohh,  Jess Cally, Thom Bransdon and Kara Nissen.

Rah Collective will be taking submissions for their new art book  from anyone who fits the following criteria:

• australian born OR australian based
• student OR emerging artist (that is, within the first 5 years of your creative career)

To get your submission in, simply email: book2@rahcollective.com

By popular demand submissions have been extended to 31st of October 2011, so if you want your art on the book shelf – get working, and get it in soon!

Who: qwux, luke burcher, jessica minervini-eringa, kirst ohh,  jess cally, thom bransdon, kara nissen and YOU
What: Ra Collective Art Book Submissions
Where: book2@rahcollective.com
When: Entry by 31st October 2011

Check out the Rah Collective website for more info.

Mark Whelan, aka “Kill Pixie” will descend upon Gallery As this Thursday, for the opening of his show "One Moment Please", an exhibition of signature works from a man who commands artistic kudos on a seismic scale. The night will also kick off the Sydney launch of Whelan’s book of works, ‘Human Development’.

Los Angeles based Whelan will offer you an insight into his unique style, and as always, he will blur any distinction you once had between street and gallery art, quietly providing you with his brand of intriguing entertainment along the way.

Who: Mark Whalen
What: Kill Pixie - A new exhibition of small paintings
Where: Gallery A.S, 80 commonwealth St, Surry Hills (Sydney).
When: Opens 6th October

Check out the Kill Pixie and Gallery A.S websites for more info.

Sometimes there are places that hold the power of memory, those special landmarks that draw like minded individuals together to collaborate, create and grow. Across the world, there are, and have been, spontaneously evolved locations that have endowed communities with a sense of belonging. Places where many differences in backgrounds and beliefs have often been swept away by shared passions. Amongst these places are counted many of the worlds past and present sub-cultural destinations – Londons Fabric nightclub, 27 Rue de Fleurus, Harajuku Bridge, Tacheles, Goa, and …  Craigie?

There was once a wall that sat a stones throw away from where I grew up. Where my suburb of Padbury had the Macdonald park underpasses, bus shelters and the often bombed and riskily pieced wall behind Padbury Shops, Craigie had something unique – and yet its uniqueness wasn’t just restricted to those who lived in the area, it was shared amongst the entirety of Perths graffiti community . Post-Cinema City (a long standing graffiti artist hangout in the 80s and early 90s), the Craigie wall was, for fifteen years, a thriving communities bastion of experimentation and expression; its continually evolving works a testament to the passions of those who painted there.

Old, new, beginner, expert, toy, king, local or visitor, it was a rare artist who painted a wall within the West who wouldn’t have, at the least, if not having sprayed a lick of paint, visited this small suburb some twenty k’s north of the city. Craigie, a suburb whose biggest claims to fame include a long gone (but kick ass) old roller-skating rink and bowling alley, and where a gentle waft in the air from a certain water treatment plant can still be smelt … well, you’d be forgiven if you haven’t heard its name before. Sure, there are other, similar, sites today all over the world that hold the same significance to their communities (Melbournes Hosier lane amongst them), but there was something unique about the Craigie Walls that defies even these meagre words of explanation.

It’s a sad fact, however, that a place of that held such cultural substance was lost on anyone who didn’t share the enthusiasm of the painters who worked there. It is only now that a book has been produced, that the general public is slowly becoming aware of the artistic bounty that once stood in their midst.

For over two years, Craigie artist Trevor6025 has been collecting, collating, researching, talking, writing, scanning and documenting this extraordinary piece of local history. Through his efforts, and via the words and images donated by his peers, the forthcoming publication “Craigie Tales” examines the story of this once prominent landmark, and its place in the evolution of our countries graffiti culture.

Released this weekend in Perth, we had the chance to talk with Trevor6025 about the book, and were given the chance learn more about the walls, the artists who worked up them, and the bullshit politics that lead to the destruction of this lost piece of Australian art history …

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For our readers who are uninformed of some of the background of Invurt’s editor, Facter, he actually grew up a stones throw away from the Perth suburb of Craigie, 6025 – (sharing the same postcode in neighbouring Padbury), and one of the landmarks near there, was  "the Craigie Wall." Described as a legal wall that all were invited to make contributions to, many Perth based artists took their first spray can to concrete on a legal wall up in the 6025 postcode, and it was an important part of the WA graffiti and hip hop culture for many, many artists and youths in the area. Way back when he was a youngu’un, even Facter attempted a piece there, which he promptly described as “a piece of shit” and was happy when it was covered over by a burner not long after [ed. so MANY fkn burners on that damn wall … ].

“For 15 years the northern suburb of Craigie provided a place for graffiti writers to paint without fear of prosecution or persecution. For the first time in the suburbs history an attempt to document the stories, pieces and individuals that made the Craigie Walls an important place in West Australian graffiti culture, has been made.

Craigie Tales is a publication about a suburb, a site and a mural arts program regulated by the painters that took ownership of three local High School tennis court walls.

Craigie is having a party and everyone’s invited! Finally your book is ready and tacos served. Cordial for the straight edger’s, art on the walls and a RTR after party. Every purchase of Craigie history receives a Lucky dip for stickers!"

The up coming book, released this coming weekend at The Bakery in Perth, should be a reminder to the general public, local councils and our local community about the importance of supporting local established and emerging artists abilities, and the walls on which they are able to paint, and the importance of these places in our history … and that sometime a legal outlet is all that is needed to start the dream.

What: Craigie Tales Book Launch
Where: The Bakery, Artrage Complex, 233 James Street, Northbridge,
When: Saturday August 20th, 6pm – 8pm

Check out the Craigie Tales website, and the facebook event page for more info on the book and the launch party … and stay tuned for some great words from the guys who put together the book ;)

One of Perths Last Chancer’s, and all round cool, weird and wonderful artists, Sean Morris, has his first debut UK solo show coming up later this week, with the launch of "Killer Abs Will Kill You."

We saw this over at Heaps Good:

"Beach presents ‘Killer Abs Will Kill You‘, the debut UK solo exhibiton and zine launch of Perth artist Sean Morris. The show will include the 28 page zine – riso printed and in an edition of 200, super limited edition A3 risograph prints, installation paintings and Sean himself.
Sean’s artwork is described as ‘grotesque character work and explorations of trash culture’"

Prints, books works, very nice. Theres’ also a really cool interview with Sean Morris over at VNA, so If you’re in and about ‘ol London town and anywhere near Brick Lane, go take a squiz.

Who: Sean Morris
What: Killer Abs Will Kill You
Where: Beach London, 20 Cheshire St, Shoreditch, E2 6EH, London
When: Show opens Thursday 18th of August from 6pm til 9pm.

We highly suggest you check out Seans website for more works and such, as well as the Beach London website for some info on the venue!

Collectives make the creative world go round, and when they go ahead and do something like put together a book, it makes us smile all through this cold Canberran night (wah).

The Rah Collective formed about two years ago, bonding over their love of paper printing, cutting and folding. They’ve put this pulped out love to good use, and gone and produced a mad ass book celebrating the collective; and they’re releasing it next week.

"To mark their 2nd year of collective existence the Rah Collective – a group of Sydney based emerging artists – have set the stage for creative takeover. The group champions the application of a range of styles, all with individually unique practices but ultimately bought together by their distinct approach to creation. The exhibition will serve as both introduction to the collective, as well as a launch for their self-produced book. The book itself features 42 hand-picked emerging Australia artists, with full page images and interview style profiling of key artists. Rah Collectives intention is to carve its place, along with the book-featured upcoming talent, into the consciousness of the art world and public – specifically targeting galleries, libraries, and creative professionals."

Hell, they even have Viking beer from Iceland on offer for the night – how’s that for cool?

Who: Collective members Qwux, Luke Burcher, Jessica Minervini-Eringa, Kirst Ohh, Jess Cally and Thom Bransdon, and the exhibition will also feature the work of Terry Chisolm, Nick Boerma, Dan Gray, Kirbee Lawler and Chris Yee
What: Rah Collective Exhibition and Book Launch
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4A James St, Waterloo, Sydney
When: Book launch is on Thursday 18th August from 6pm til 9pm and continues 19, 20 & 21 August from 12pm-4pm.

Check out the aMBUSH Gallery website as well as the Rah Collective website for more info, and, of course, the facebook event page.

I love you. Those three little words we all adore to hear…

Once upon a time, a prophecy was born – an online project with over 1500 followers, a ‘travelling hearts project’ running in conjunction, where you are invited to adopt a heart (we think this is oh so cute), that is sent to respondents all across the globe – all bundled with an exhibition showcasing a book launch, with a bunch of shit hot emerging and established bohemians.

God damn, AMBUSH you’ve got the goods …

“The ‘Love is Here Project’ Book Launch and Exhibition features 35 shortlisted artists from all around Australia showcasing their creative responses to a set of words ‘I love you’ in black and white. The idea being, that there are many ways to say ‘I love you’ so experience some of the amazing responses up on the wall. It is also being compiled into a limited-edition, 25 page, A5, booklet titled ‘Love is Here’"

There are a whole selection of social media outlets to check out in regards to this exhibition, including an online gallery, showcasing over 130 works attainable via Facebook if your curious (images Facebook have declared to be x-rated are available for viewing via flicker). Also,  ‘love is here’ have also invited some very distinguished companions to paint a mural at the show, and accompanying musical bliss from Sietta, all in the name of love.

So, break out that digital black book and get on the phone, as you’ll want someone ‘special’ to hold hands with at this show …

Who: Daniel Angley, Rachael Baker, Ben, Odi Churchward, Rach Burke, Tal Fitzpatrick, Erin Forsyth, Alice Kenny, Fee Harding, Jennifer Ho, Skye Jackson, Holly Leonardson, Marie Larkin, Rena Littleson, Moffat Photography, Les Pretend, Linderh Nguyen, Katherine Nguyen, Eirryn Porter, Shelley Roach, Josh Rufford, Ellen Stapleton, Rachee Renee, Stephen Tschaepe, Kat weir, Diane wisdom, Tiffany Atkin, Hannah Bourke, Nicolle Cheung, Sonya Gaidukova, Scott Kirkman, Racheal Mc Cosh, Ben Neoh, Jacque Prior, Kim Wheeler, Amanda Whitelaw and more.
What: Love Is Here group book launch and exhibition
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4A James Street Waterloo, NSW
When: Exhibition Opens on the 11th from 6pm-9pm running till the14th August.

Check out the aMBUSH Gallery website, the facebook event page and the facebook "Love Is Here" page for more details.

We do like our unusual fare, and this one is really up there. We admit, this isn’t really an art launch as such (well, thats a fine line, literature is art, in our eyes), yet it reeks of visuality, so we’re posting it up nonetheless – and, we love everything that For Walls has been doing the past year!

Some of you may have heard of a new book that’s been making waves through the websphere lately – Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat. Weird name, cool premise – and as scifi and noir fans, we’re pretty excited about it. Of course, the opening has a bunch of art and music related shenanigans, and other bookish type things – what could be better?

We’ve been chatting to the author of the book here and there, and he told us this about his book, the show, and what its all about  …

"My name is Andrez Bergen, and I’m an expat Aussie journalist/musician (from Melbourne) who’s been ensconced in Tokyo these past 10 years.

My novel Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat was  just published as a paperback ….so what’s the book all about, in a tightly-wound nutshell?
Think sci-fi/noir/post-apocalyptic tones set in Melbourne, Australia as the last city in the world. Melbourne, after all, is my home town. But it’s also heavily influenced by Japan, a country I’ve lived in for the past 10 years, and the novel also owes about 60% of its content to classic noir cinema."

The book has been getting some great press since it was published, with a whole bunch of rave reviews – Vice magazine said it flowed effortlessly and that it was “smart, mesmerizingly dark and difficult to put down.” – and, you know, if Vice loved it, then we’re sure to!

Just to keep it on track a little as well, the artwork was done by San Fran artists Scott Campbell, and we’re pretty sure that some of the work will be on display on the night … mostly, however, we just can’t wait to read it.

Who: Andrez Bergen
What: Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat book launch
Where: For Walls Gallery, Upstairs Miss Libertines, 34 Franklin Street, Melbourne
When: Book launches Wednesday, 10th August 7pm til 10pm

Check out the books website, the wikipedia page (!) and the cover designer, Scott Campbells, website (who we think is one talented dude!).