INVURT

We love finding out about new artists, and Jacinta Kyam sure is one that we’re pretty keen on finding out even more about! We have covered a fair bit of collage in the past (obviously, one of our favourites, Phoenix, makes an appearance on here often) and we’re damn glad to see even more coming out to put on shows – this show looks fkn splendid indeed!

"Exhibition One explores the process between instinct and fine art through collage making.
Jacinta has become a collage artist, in her words, ‘by accident’. It all started as a teenager when instead of plastering her walls with posters of her favourite celebrities she would create elaborate collages on her walls with cut up magazines and bluetak (much to her mother’s delight!).

Kyam’s original collages take up to 2 months to complete. These collages are photographed, blown up and printed on metallic photographic paper. The effect is stunning. The viewer can observe the meticulous hand cut detail of the collages, viewing their sculptural detail and lucid, contrasting imagery as a photographic whole. Kyam’s works are inspired, contemporary and a refreshing take on collage. The inspiration for the collection has come from Kyam’s background in fashion and art magazines. The process of creating the imagery evolves as the pictures ‘speak’ to her.

Renowned photographer Rob Little has photographed each work. The resulting original prints are simply beautiful. The size, colour and detail – awe-inspiring.
Jacinta recalls stapling one of her teenage bedrooms together with a staple gun until it resembled somewhat of an installation with fabric billowing from the ceiling, textural fabric ‘art’ on the walls and of course, her collage which resulted in a rather unpleasant phone call from her mother when she took apart the room after Jacinta left home. It looked like someone had gone over the walls and ceiling with a sewing machine.

These instinctual beginnings have flourished into mature surrounds, where approach to the medium is the only thing that has shifted over time. From childhood to adolescence we take in an entire life, reflected through the care and detail of the assembled images. Jacinta’s work is original and like nothing else. Jacinta prefers not to see what other collage artists are doing as she feels it may taint the purity of her work which is her own and not inspired by any other artist. The inspiration comes when the pictures start coming together.

“It’s like an infant growing to full maturity, evolving and changing every step of the way”.

Yeah, we’re really liking the look of this one, so get yourself down to House Of Bricks this
Friday night to see this mad collage artist in action – colour and depth, oh my.

Who: Jacinta Kyam
What: Exhibition One solo show
Where: House Of Bricks, Budd St, Collingwood
When: Show opens Friday 12th April 6-9pm and runs til 28th April.

Check out the facebook event page and www.houseofbricks.net for more info on the show!!!

There aint nothing like a Seasons Of Change show down at Revolver – for the past two years this quarterly exhibition has been a stalwart favourite of ours.

The most recent show saw some of Australias top graffiti lasses get together for a one night only expose of their work – and it was yet another cracker of a show. ISIS, ISHK, JOSKE, POISE and SEAR were totally on their game, and looking through the photos, I can only wish I had of been there to check it out myself!

Massive thanks to David Russell, once again, for the mad ass shots – check them out!

In just over a week, I’ll be heading off for more distant shores (more on this later!), but, in the meantime, I’ve decided its high time to do something down at the amazing Blender Lane Artists Market . We’ve got a new shipment of stickers through, some tests of the new shirts we’re about to release on Redbubble (again, more on that soon) and a few other cool things as well – we’ll be giving out stickers and selling sticker packs on the night to visitors to the market.

As you know I’m not usually one for self promotion here on Invurt, but I’ll be selling a bunch of my own artwork on the night - I’d love to try to get rid of as many of my drawings as I can to happy buyers before I leave Melbourne. We’ll be joined by a few friends as well, so you never know what might turn up on the table of loot! We’ll be camped out just inside the studio entrance itself down the back of the Blender laneway.

Also on the night, Silent Army will be releasing some new fanzines as a part of their ongoing mission to provide you all with grand art and comic treasures in tidy, zinely format. This latest iteration is another version of Who Is Ha-Ha – one of our favourites. Plus, the Silent Army have an entire zine workshop set up in the back of Blender studios, with a heap of zines and other cool shit, which you should really check out if you haven’t seen it yet!!

Blender Lane artists market is hands down, our favourite mid-week activity in the past few weeks it has been absolutely pumping. With more and more stalls all the time, and a huge variety of cool, creative art and other eclectica on sale, oh, and not to mention all of the live entertainment – well, it’s a grand night out. If you’re interested in having a stall at the market, just email them – market@theblenderstudios.com

Seeya all there!

Who: Melbourne artists, artisans, Craftspeople
What: Blender Lane Artists Market
Where: Blender Laneway & Studios, 110 Franklin St, Melbourne
When: Event starts at 5pm this Wednesday January 23rd – runs til 10pm – Night Market runs every Wednesday night!

Check out the Blender Lane Artists Market facebook page for more info, or head over to the Blender Studios facebook page.

‘The Hours’ launched their first specially curated solo show at The Tate last week, on show was the vibrant work of UK artist Mr Penfold. The artists’ first solo exhibition on Aussie shore, titled  ’Bric ‘a’ Brac’, was also the last show at The Tate for the year. His paintings shone in the space; vividly bright, bold and incredibly crisp. The artists’ skill with a paintbrush and impeccably smooth line work were a pleasure to behold. Some of the pieces moved away from his traditional character portraiture and moved more towards abstraction, breaking apart and reassembling parts of his characters to build abstract forms.

We do love it when artists visit our shores from afar, and even more so when its an artist like Mr Penfold – someone whose work has both levity, humour and tight linework that really gets us inspired.

Abstract art meets comicbook bliss, graffiti meets illustration, Mr Penfolds work is grand as.

"Penfold has made his way out to our sunny shores to open his latest exhibition titled ‘Bric ‘A’ Brac’ at The Tate Gallery in Glebe, Sydney on Wednesday 19th of December.

‘Bric ‘a’ Brac’ will be showcasing a collection of new paintings, sculpture and the release of a limited edition screen print by the UK based artist. This body of work sees Penfold delve into his roots of abstract art and graffiti, combining and dissecting his characters to create abstract forms.

During his stay in Australia, Penfold will be painting a variety of walls in the lead up to his show. Stay tuned to the Opening Hours website and their instagram (@theopeninghours) for all of the updates and locations."

Head down to that bastion of cool, The Tate, this Wednesday night to see it all for yourself!

Who: Mr Penfold
What: Bric ‘A Brac solo show
Where: The Tate Gallery, 345 Glebe Point rd, Glebe
When: Show opens Wednesday 19th December from 6pm til late – for one night only!

Check out Mr Penfolds website as well as the facebook event page for more info on the show.

When artists come together to donate work and raise money for charity it always warms our hearts. Relatively new Sydney gallery, He Made She Made, put on an excellent group show of work from nationally and internationally renowned artists of differing genres. The cause, the Dandelion Support Newtork – an organisation that provides baby equipment for less fortunate families in NSW and ACT. 26 artists took one letter of the alphabet and reconstructed it with their creative flair, they included Will Lynes, Numskull, Luke Lucas, Paul McNeil, Greedy Hen and Jeff Rogers.

Christmas is upon us, and you know what that means? That means you should go and buy some art for those you love! Where else could you find some real bargains on such an occasion? Well, Safehouse Studio, of course!

Haha, okay, enough fkn infomercial. But, really, you know that when a group of artists in a studio get together to do a garage sale, that even the word "garage sale" wont do it justice. Okay, so we might be a bit biased here, considering Safehouse is our home base, but this Saturday’s Super Garage Sale is going to be mad – and we want to see as many of you there as possible!

We’ll all be digging into our piles of work and putting everything on sale – prints, paintings, sketches, drawings, hidden blackbook gems, and rare pieces from the archives. Not only that, but there will also be a bunch of painting and live art going on, a bbq (of course), art supplies and general good times.

Dangerfork, who are also residents in the studio, will also be pulling out a whole heap of mad stuff will also be "selling lost prints in the archives, test prints, and a selection of current prints at a HUGE DISCOUNT."

This is a chance to not only check out all the work from the crew at the studios, it’s also a great chance for you to come hang out, and maybe lighten our piles of art a little! haha.

If you’re in Melbourne, we’d love to see you there!!

Who: All the Safehouse Studio crew
What: Safehouse Super Garage Sale
Where: Safehouse Studio, 67 North St, Richmond, VIC
When: Starts 11am, Saturday 8th December and goes until 4pm!!

Check out Safehouse studios as well as the facebook event page for more info on the day!

Sydney powerhouse Numskull brought the heat for his latest solo show ‘Survival Tactics’ at the Tate last week. The show follows on from a previous exhibition the artist had in Brooklyn NYC earlier this year, as part of a collaboration he did with Brooklyn based streetwear label MNWKA.
With one of the best looking shows that has graced the Tate, Numskull again confirmed he is a master of many mediums. A huge installation took up one end of the room housing his rad tshirt collab, a GIF projection took up another wall, then prints, sculptures, a massive work on canvas and 6 signature wood panel pieces took up the rest of the space.

Fezwitch had a pretty big night the other night, as he opened up his first solo show “No Frills Caviar”

The man certainly has his own style going on, and his first show is as ecclectic and intriguing as everything we’ve seen on the streets. It’s on at Egg Gallery in Collingwood for another week or so, and its very much worth checking out.

Check out all the photos from our man Dave Russell below …

Way back in 2010, we had the chance to chat to Numskull about what he’d been up to – fast forward to now, and we have to say, this man has been doing some great shit over the past two years.

Coming up this week at The Tate, he will be presenting his new solo show Survival Tactics – this follows on from a  long ago successful showing in Brooklyn not too as a part of his collaboration with Mishka, and it looks like its going to be damn cool.

"Numskull is an Australian based artist, working out of Sydney in a variety of fields and mediums. His work spans across painting, sculpture, illustration and outdoor murals.

‘Survival Tactics’ is a re-interpretation of Numskull’s recent exhibition in Brooklyn, New York at Mishka in August this year. It is an extended capsule of artwork comprising of 6 limited edition prints, hand carved wooden sculptures, paintings and a unique video installation. In collaboration with Mishka NYC, a limited edition shirt made by Mishka and designed by Numskull will also be released on the night.

‘Survival Tactics’ is a show about repetition. The artists constant struggle and frustration with advertising and the internet has become a focal point for his work. This group of work is a direct analysis of repetition, one of life’s most common aspects. Especially in this new age, repeated action and messaging is part of our lives, wether we like it or not. Do we compete against this wavelength, or ride along with it…"

There’s also a preview video from the show up on Youtube, check it on the embed below – love this shit haha.

Head down to the Tate  this Wednesday night to see it all for yourselves!

Who: Numskull
What: Survival Tactics solo show
Where: The Tate Gallery, 345 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
When: The exhibition opens on the 28th of November, 6-9pm and runs until Sunday 2nd September. Open daily from 12-5pm.

Check out Numskull on his website as well as The Tate website for more info.

Following on from the successful first exhibition, ‘Don’t Grow Old It’s a Trap’, the people behind the Fuck You / I Am project showcase a photographic journey entitled ‘The Future Just Happened.’ A display of works from Sydney-based photographer Sam Stephenson, explore the subculture of DIY tattoos, via raw black and white imagery. The confronting images peep the audience inside the bedrooms, people and paraphernalia that exist in the underground world of inking yourself or others via crude, often hand made, implements. There is a youthful energy and humour in the works whose subjects are as intriguing as the tattoos themselves.

We’ve been enjoying Melbourne street artist Fezwitch’s work around the traps for some time now; his clever, witty pieces to be found right across the city.

Some of our favourite works from Fezwitch are his repurposed floppy discs – if you’ve walked the citys laneways, chances are you’ve seen them hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city. He’s also quite a prolific pasteup artist, and has had works in Street Advent and also participated in last years Paste Modernism 3 at Cockatoo Island – his pieces always containing that cynical vibe for which he has become well known.

No Frills Caviar will be featuring a collection of typographical and satirical Witchisms, it will include original screen-prints, stencils and gilcee prints – all the good shit.

“The Maggid (storyteller) of Fezwitch is a Melbourne based graphicdesigner / street artist.He work conveys the power of visual communication and typography through satire and his obsession with vintage technology.

“In this consumer-driven society we tend to forget about what is important. My work is about not taking life too seriously and poking fun at consumer brands we all live and breathe by. It’s also about letting the viewer interpret their own message”.

Head down to Egg Gallery in Collingwood to see the mans work for yourself – it’ll be well worth the trip!

Who: Fezwitch
What: No Frills Caviar
Where: Egg Gallery, 66a Johnston st, Collingwood VIC
When: Show opens Friday 22nd November from 6pm til 9pm. Show runs until 2nd December

Check out Fezwitch at his website, as well as his facebook page and the facebook event page.

Last Wednesday night we made out way over to Metro Gallery to check out the latest exhibition from E.L.K., Not With It.

This has to have been possibly one of the best shows of stencil art that we have ever seen – the mans technical skill is amazing, and we absolutely loved the combination of his new direction in portraiture as well as his social commentary pieces. You can read our latest feature on E.L.K. here, but if you are in Melbourne, you should head down to Metro and see it all for yourself.

In the meantime, check out our photos from the opening below!

Last Thursday night we headed down to Just Another Project Space to check out Kaff-eines first solo show, Boneyard. What can we say? It was everything we had hoped it would be – fanfuckingtastic shit!

Check out all the photos below from our man Dave Russell, bringing the goods again!

Our mate Hancock put us on to this one, and we’re glad he did – always great to see a cool show at one of our favourite inner city Galleries, No Vacancy – and what a show!

"New links between audience and artist will be created through interpretations of this very concept; Half.

The initial idea came from imagining what a piece of art would look like at the halfway stage of creation and how you would measure where half really is?

This idea evolved into giving the artists no restraints in interpreting Half. For instance they can; collaborate halfway with another artist, visually represent half, chop their finished artwork in half, the limitless choices are theirs to make.

Half Exhibition has incorporated a large spectrum of art forms, including; graffiti art, sound art, graphic design, jewellery art, photography, visual art, poetry, typography, illustration and more."

We can see a lot of great artists names in that list, especially a whole bunch from Perth – we’ve actually seen some of the stuff that Hancock has been working on for it and, damn. We just know that the rest of its going to be just as good as well. Check out this great preview video as well -

It really does look like like a great group show, and we’re looking forward to checking it all out!

Who: Yok, Acorn, Hancock, Henson, Luke Lucas, Future Inform, Eveline Tarunadjaja, Kevin Tran, Jacob Rolfe, Douglas E Pope, Sheryo,  Michael Cain, Young Hunting, Nina Waldron,  Kubota Fumikazu, SKULK, Lauren Besser, Juan McArb, Michael Berry, Keith McDougal, Hamish O’Neill, Autumn Royale
What: Half group exhibition
Where: No Vacancy Gallery, 34 – 40 Jane Bell Lane, QV, Melbourne
When: Opening night Thursday 15th November from 6pm til 9pm. Show runs from 14th to 18th November.

Check out the No Vacancy website for more info on the gallery and the show.

One of our favourite shows we’ve been to this year was Ink Dots Black Spots – so much to see, so much damn fine art in print form. Spread over two venues, it was a jam packed with punters and purveyors.

When we saw last week that it was heading up to Sydney, we couldn’t be happier – a chance for everyone up there to see the great shit hat has come out of all these artists, who, themselves, are spread out over a huge number of Melbourne tattoo and art studios.

"In its inaugural year this exhibition was born from the idea to share artwork from numerous artists to their fans & the public, whilst contributing to those of us who support the fight against cancer. Each sale will add to our total donation goal for Cancel Council Victoria.
Info at www.inkdotsblackspots.com

Featuring 62 limited edition artworks screen printed in editions of 20"

That little bite doesn’t really do it justice though – check out some of the pics we got from the Melbourne opening, as well as the Ink Dots Black Spots website for a glimpse of whats heading up to the Tate this week!

Who: Adrian Krygsman, Alex Rusty Cairns, All One, Alvaro Flores, Amy Duncan, Andrea Daniel, Andrew McLeod, Ben O’Grady, Brett Hayes, Brian Graydon, Bugsy, Caleb Walmsley, Capilli Tupou, Charley Gerardin, Craig Deuce, Dave McAleese, Dave Riley, Marshall, Matt Deverson, Matt Wisdom, Nathan Puata, Nick Edwards, Nick Rutherford, O.T, Owen Williams, Ozzy, Rosa Hardy, Rudie, Sean Jackson, Simplesime, Teniele Sadd, William Yoneyama, Zach Hart, Zoe Dennis, Dean Sacred, Donny Dont, Evan Griffiths, Garth Neale, Gary Krygsman, Geordie Cole, Gred Heasly, Jane Laver, Jess Swaffer, Josh Piddock, Josh Roelink, Julian Fletcher, Lee Stain, Mark Lording, Mark Sender, Mark Tumaru
What: Ink Dots Black Spots group show
When: (Tonight!) Wednesday, October 31st from 6pm til 9pm
Where: The Tate, 345 Glebe Pt Rd, Glebe, Sydney

Check out the facebook event page for more info