INVURT

There is no doubt that colour has the ability to crack open the eyes of even the most weary of souls – and, if one has the ability to match swatches of vibrancy with free flowing, organic geometry, the harmony that ensues is more than palpable.

Taj Alexander, aka Deams of AWOL fame, has, through experience, influence and hard work, found an essential balance in a time honoured art theory – his mastery of clean geometry, lines and swaths of tone has given rise to a style that is, paradoxically, achingly familiar in feel and yet uniquely fresh in appearance. Intertwined abstractions merge seamlessly with asymmetrical patterning – which, coupled with his highly charged imagination and subject matter, results in gorgeous renderings from the artists hands.

We were lucky enough to get down to the opening of his solo show, Swoop & Melodie, at RTIST Gallery in Melbourne last Friday, and left with that sense of wonder one gets after having seen something inspiring – if awesomified was a word, that’s how we’d describe it. Having had a chance with this article to get an insight into some of Taj’s background, thoughts and views on his painting passion, we’re pretty hopeful that you’ll agree that the word should be put into the Oxford dictionary as soon as possible – or, at least, that you’ll be left with that same sense of harmony and intrigue as we were …

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Sean Morris is a guy who isn’t afraid to turn over a few stones, looking under the skin of our metropolistic culture for gems of uniqueness. Not all of these gems are beautiful in the traditional sense, however the scenarios and characters that his work portrays hold their own attraction – you know, like that incident you saw on the way to work. You wanted to look away, but couldn’t, so you kept looking, torn between curiosity and the desire to avert your eyes, but settling on "wow".

It is often those feelings that his work evokes, that Sean Morris has garnered a whole swath of fans all throughout the world. It’s not only that, though – his work also carries in it elements, be they pop sensibilities, or iconography, that everyone can relate to.  Low brow in so many senses of the word, he pulls no punches – indeed, the Perth artist is at times highly characteristic of a West Australian, reflecting in his words, and work, a relaxed, no worries, whatever, ever so slightly (okay, more than slightly) piss taking attitude.

It’s for all those reasons, and many more, that we love the work of Sean Morris. When we had a chance to talk to him after his recent return from an international sojourn, we just had to dig a little deeper …

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CDH, a Melbourne street artist, recently sat down with the NGVs David Hurlston on behalf of Invurt, to talk about street art, as well as the new NGV Studio in Melbournes Federation Square  …

As the acting Senior Curator of Australian Art at the National Gallery for Victoria, David Hurlston is the man responsible for the entirety of the Australian Art Collection in Victoria. The collection at the NGV includes the first non-indigenous Australian works, all the way through to contemporary art. On top of this, David has also recently taken on co-supervision of the newly opened NGV Studio in Federation Square (with Deborah Ratliff),

You may have heard of this space in recent months, and the very first exhibition in the new studio space is a month long residency by Melbournes Everfresh crew. Everfresh competed against three other crews (AWOL, SDM and the Formula One crew), by painting a 25m long wall inside the space. Votes were then cast via new media (Twitter and Facebook) to determine who would occupy the space –with the Everfresh crew taking out the honours.

David is a champion for street art in Melbourne; someone who is helping it to be recognized as a legitimate part of our culture and true art movement. He’s also a really nice guy – halfway through the conversation that I had with David last week, an elderly Chinese man came up and asked for assistance sending a text message – and David patiently helped him for a good 15 minutes …

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Magazines, and media in general, are a part and parcel of the art world, and theres no escaping it. These days, with our rich technological endowments, various new forms of media continue to break news in a time honoured fashion, albeit often via very different means than would have been available even a mere two decades ago. Sure, not everything these days revolves around technology, but you can be rest assured, that at some stage, no matter where or how, no matter the magazine, the paint, the canvas or medium, technology has played its part somewhere along the line of process.

As a big supporter of art-related media, and, especially online media and journalistic output (obviously), it is this realm of new wave publishing that particularly gets my attention. I, like most, love the feel of a good magazine in my hands, its easy to put it into my bag and just whack it out to check out the articles and artwork within, but, equally these days, I also just love sitting down with my laptop, iPhone or suitable reader to go through and read the wealth of digital media thats exploding out there. From the big publishers, to the semi-pros, to the independents, ebooks and docs are everywhere, and are rapidly, if not already, becoming a ubiquitous part of our every day lives.

Its in this realm that a variety of new publications are coming out in support of – the production of digital media, though with no less effort and skill required in their production to provide a decent read, has changed over the past few years to enable more people better opportunity to get out there, write, promote and bring information to those interested via a digital interface – whatever the content. Thus its the kinds of people like those behind Nothing To Nobody, a new, all digital magazine dealing primarily with the types of artists and creatives that you probably browse to this page to find out about, who are leading a new charge alongside their erstwhile print media peers.

"Nothing to Nobody” comprises “a digital magazine created especially for people with style, taste and intelligence – like you! Inside you’ll find a wonderful collection of articles and imagery expertly mashed together to create a visual feast that is the equivalent of the most amazing chocolate sundae you have ever eaten!” – and as such, I feel is a pretty worthy addition to the reading list of any visual voyeur.

With all that in mind, Invurt caught up with Jo Jette, the talented and versatile publisher and creative director of this exciting new magazine, and picked her brain about both the new publication, the people behind it, as well as the goals that they wish to attain with the future of their digital lexicon  …

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Over the past year or so, I’ve been seeing several KA’a pieces popping up across the city and in exhibitions, but it was only after the guys from At Large gallery told me to check out some of the work done by their friends, Kirsty and Mathieu, that I realised that they and KA’a were one and the same. Their collective skills, coupled with their emerging activist-orientated tenants and their exploration of both urban and traditional indigenous cultures, has gifted the Melbourne streets with a blend of layered stencils and freeform aerosol pieces that are often unique in their execution.

Since then, then I’d wanted to do an interview with the busy duo, but unfortunately our schedules just didn’t make it possible – so when I saw that they were some of the many talented artists involved in presenting work with Sweet Streets festival, I happily managed to catch up with them for a bit of q&a time …

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A couple of months ago I saw a new website turn up online – at first glance, I was mostly drawn to it for the beautifully rendered, and oh-so-recognisable, Timba Smits (of Wooden Toy fame) design. It didn’t take me much reading, however, to realise that the website represented something new, and invigorating, amongst both the Australian and international low-brow/design/urban/street/you know scene.

Just Another Agency is somewhat of a misnomer, because after a only a fragment of research, and, having read through the interview below, it feels like anything but “another agency”. The two whirlwinds of frenetic energy behind the JAA master plan, Toby and Melika, are a pair of creatively impassioned champions of that which they love most – emerging or established, stunningly unique creatives from as many different walks of life as the varieties of mediums they represent. Not only do the pair encourage and provide opportunities for their impressive roster of talent, but they are also, in turn, supported by a collective network of friends, artists and other industry entities, formulating a circle of creative representation that is, in my eyes, one of the wonders of the Australian artistic community.

With their first few months of operation spent translating their vision into reality, it came as no surprise that find out that they were given the reins to produce a massive group show to be held in conjunction with the upcoming Melbourne Semi-Permanent conference and to coalescing that vision into the first (of a seemingly many) showcase of the artists under their supportive wing.

Dedicated to their cause, bold and humble, Toby and Melika are at the start of something very cool indeed, and we’re delighted to be able to share a few of their thoughts with you …

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Gifted Queensland bred artist Jae Copp has had a busy artistic career so far, from designing skatewear and starting his own brand, to exhibiting his artistic output in a wide range of shows.

Having worked utilising wood for many years, producing a cool array of works in the process, Jae has branched out into new directions with his upcoming exhibition at Melbournes Gorker Gallery. We caught up with Jae to get the lowdown on what he’s been up to, and what we can expect from what is surely to be a great show …

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Next week sees a beginning of a busy period for the At Large Gallery crew, with the first of several back to back shows opening Friday the 6th of August, in the form of Craig Poore and ADis duo show, Beautiful Strange.

ADi has done some remarkable work over the past few years, ethereal and alien, yet familiar and entrancing. With Beautiful Strange, he has taken a stripped down, bare basics approach by rendering his works in pure graphite – however this bare basics approach to materials does nothing to tone down the intricacies and details within each painstakingly rendered piece.

We were able to steal a few moments of the mans time, with his words encompassing some universe-spanning philosophical journeys,  down to earth ethos, and, of course, the nature behind his lovingly nurtured creations.

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In light of his upcoming exhibition, Infinite Nature, at Gorker Gallery, there was no question in our minds that Beastman was someone we wanted to touch base with.  Having followed his work the last few years, the progression of his artistic expression into a fully fledged, stylistically manifested world of strange creatures and infinite evolved entities is an example of the beauty and talent that modern urban and street artists, or their derivatives, are presenting to new audiences.

Thankfully, he had a spare few minutes during the busy preparation for his show and we couldn’t have hoped for a better glimpse into the themes and processes behind his, evocative, and categorically cool, paintings.

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Going through our daily blogs, we spotted the flyer for the great group exhibition that is “Free Brains” at SJS Gallery, and, amongst the talent listed, we noticed that one of our favourites, Adnate, was also contributing a piece to the show.

So we figured, what better opportunity to ask a few questions, and delve into the mind behind some truly cool work?

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It was almost dark by the time I found the number, the only indication of any type of habitation was in the form of a non-decrepit steel door all stickered, tagged and signed with various recognisable marks – names, logos,characters, and, of course, the stylised, almost runic arrangements of TwoOnes familiar font.

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We cant say enough and as many times as possible, what massive fans of Robots we are here at Invurt – big, small, electric, atomic, steam, lazer beams for eyes, transforming, fighting, all out fantastic bio/metallalic things – but we’re guessing you’ve noticed this by now.

So when we saw that Sekure D, renowned in the sneaker realm for his amazing custom designs, as well as for his past exhibitions and design work, was putting on another exhibition featuring his array of mechanical minions … well, there was no way we could resist asking him about his futuristic cohorts, how he manages to come up with such rad kick designs, and where he wants to take us on his ride into the future, where Robots > Humans …

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There are a lot of great books on the market these days that deal with Street Art, and the past handful of years has seen upsurge in their popularity, mirroring the ever growing fascination that people have with the artists that participate.

From small print runs of artist designed books, such as Dabs Mylas  recent Super Smooth, to the release last year of the impressive history of Melbourne graffiti, Kings Way, Australian publications are on the rise, from magazines to blogs, media features and books, it is these communicative devices that are simultaneously pushing the art form further into public perception, as well as documenting its history. It comes as no surprise either, that there are yet even more publications on the way later this year, which will continue adding historical-as-present images, words and practices to the wealth of information available.

Having successfully kept the Street|Studio project under wraps for a surprising amount of time, Alison Young, Timba Smits, Ghostpatrol and Miso are ready to unleash their creation onto the shelves – with what is sure to become as important a work of documentation as any other. Focusing primarily on ten prominent Melbourne Street Art creatives, including Niels (Nails) Oeltjen, Tom Civil, Tai Snaith, Ghostpatrol, Ash Keating, Al Stark, Miso, Twoone, Mic Porter as well as the Everfresh Crew, Street|Studio takes a metaphorical magnifying glass to the artists, and delves a little deeper into the processes behind their work, as well as their gallery practices.

Thankfully, even given their busy schedule before launch, both Miso and Alison were happy to sit down and answer a few questions about the book, and give us a better glimpse into the nature of its coming pages …

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Well known for her stencil and street art, Vexta is in a constant state of creative exploration. Whether it is painting her way across various far flung countries, or throughout the streets of Melbourne, her work embodies all the excitement that such exploration entails – and yet her work never seems to step across the line into banality, instead working its way into the subconscious with its vivid clash of colours and ideas.

Her recent exhibition at Melbournes Platform, Extinction in Technicolour, has allowed Vexta to cross over into the installation realm in such a natural extension of her mural work that is is hard to see the boundary between the two forms, which is a measured coup unto itself.

Intersecting both the natural, and futurist world through the use of found urban and, if somewhat slightly necrotic, remains, Extinction in Technicolour is a playful display of juxtapositions that carries a thoughtful undercurrent – and we were more than happy to ask her all about it …

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In amongst its pages, Chris Parkinson’s newly published Peace Of Wall presents a view of the nation of East Timor that has seldom been contemplated outside of its boundaries – that of one of its strongest social engineering methods; street art.

In honesty, I just binned the editorial introduction for this interview, in which I spieled on about the importance of reflecting on liberty, the ways in which art can enable change, and how humbling it is to see it playing such a healthy role in the foundations of a new nation. After reading back, I realised that the interview already does justice to all those things, and more -  and sometimes you just have to let these things speak for themselves.

So, read on, and hopefully, like me, you’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve clicked away … and bought the book, of course …

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Last week, we all heard the news that Per Square Metre, Collingwoods much loved and respected artist run gallery, was to shut up shop after several years of providing the community with a veritable feast of shows.

This week, however, comes their final hoorah, a celebration of the galleries achievements in the form of their final exhibition, featuring, along with some special guests, DVATE and SEAR, two of the galleries founding members.

We luckily managed to snag some of their time to get a few questions in before their show this Friday night, and talked to them about plumbing, hanging, tequila, and the history and drive behind what is already an icon in the history of Melbournes art scene.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Last Call …

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