INVURT

.. and its quiet, and then its busy. Today I saw and got word of about four or five openings coming up in the next two or three weeks, so I’ll get to them in the morning – but, before I rush off to go and help out at the Collingwood Underground tonight, I wanted to get this one up as it will be opening at the LoFi Collective gallery tomorrow night!

Loving all these massive plethora of short run shows at Lo-fi – wicked idea and such a cool concept. Really have to get up there and see at least *one* show there soon …but this one, curated by Josh Roelink – very cool.

“An artistic celebration of the
other side of life.

Every single being alive on this planet right now will one day cease to exist – will one day die. The majority of those beings will not know this until it’s happening, but human beings are different – we have awareness of our eventual demise. It’s something that every human being has to deal with on a daily basis, whether through denial or acceptance, and it’s one of the driving forces in our lives despite it being camouflaged and mostly hidden away in the humdrum of modern life.

This exhibition is about the way we deal with our own mortality. Over 25 of Australia’s best tattoo and visual artists explore the world behind the thin veil.”

Who: Over twenty five tattooists and artists.
What: Morte Group Show
Where: LoFi Collective, 383 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, NSW
When: Opens Thurs 21st October 6pm at

Check out more info, and a bunch of preview images at the LoFi website – (just wish there was a list of the artists there because those previews look amazing!)

Sweet Streets powers on through its last week of events, and tomorrow night sees another big event event with the opening of the Collingwood Underground, a massive converted underground carpark and one of the major hubs of the festival, to artist and purveyors alike. This interactive event will showcase a massive variety of artists who are participating in the Festival, as well as providing areas to paint for anyone wishing to participate in the festival in a more hands-on fashion – theres also a bar and music, so it’ll be a grand night.

 
From the Sweet Streets website:

“Come join Sweet Streets to celebrate the opening of the Collingwood Underground Wednesday 20^th October 6 – 10pm. This is an exhibition of co-creativity between artists, and all involved with the festival, workshop participants, staff and audience. Free flow is the name of the game. We all need to play with this underground thing coz it’s real and does not belong to any individual, the opening will blow you away – you gotta help this be a real festival with the diversity we can all bring in our own unique ways. The exhibition continues Thursday 21^st – Saturday 23^rdOctober, 2 – 8pm. Click here to find out more about the underground space. Download an e-invitation here.

See magnificent walls painted during the festival by some of Australasia’s leading artists, images and footage of sweet streets happenings, participate in live painting, and generally immerse yourselves in this unique creative space.”

 
Absolute not to be missed event if you are in Melbourne and at all interested in street and urban art, which, if you’re reading this blog, you are. A lot of artists will be working and painting in the lead up to the night, as well as on the night itself, so there is a lot happening. I’ll be running around during the night as well (and maybe hopefully getting some painting in!) so say yo if you see me.

Who: Sweet Street Artists & YOU.
What: Collingwood Underground Opening – Interactive & Live art event
Where: Collingwood Underground, 44 Harmsworth St, Collingwood, VIC (google map!)
When: Wednesday 20th October, exhibition of art produced runs til October 23rd

See the Sweet Streets website for more info.

Even though my dreams of being a pro-kick ass skateboarder were curtailed early in life due to a complete lack of co-ordination and a general fear of bodily harm as a result of a broken hand, I still love anything to do with skateboarding.

Opening on Thursday night, Ambush Gallery in Sydney are presenting Beg, Borrow, Steal – a celebration of skateboarding culture and creativity via photographic exposé.

“‘’Beg, Borrow, Steal’ is a photographic exploration of the people, places and the creations behind the D.I.Y skateboarding movement as viewed through the eyes of Tristan Still.

Skateboarding and photography have shared an intertwined history in Tristan’s life since the age of sixteen. Armed with a Pentax Spotmatic F (on permanent loan from his father) and sharing a cheap and nasty Kmart skateboard with his close friend Lynch, Tristan’s foray into the world of skateboarding and photography began.

Driven by a passion for exploration, skateboarding embodied freedom and raw energy, and at the same time provided shapes that were full of tension and beauty and could be captured in time by the lens. To Tristan, photography and skateboarding begged the question – what
is possible? In the past fourteen years, Tristan’s yearn to explore and learn has led him to squat skateparks in Spain and the Netherlands, to employ the use of the world’s largest mobile Polaroid camera, to exhibit a solo show at the Australian Centre for photography and, in recent years, to teach photography and digital imaging at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts.

Often synonymous with anarchic ideology – an affront to government, authority and corporate endorsement (i.e. those who will tolerate skateboarding as long as they can make money from it) – D.I.Y. skateboarding has promoted autonomy and self-sustainability by fueling new creative endeavours into unused places. It aims to recycle the built environment, including old factories, vacant lots and abandoned high-schools, and transform them into new spaces of true creative energy. The truly dedicated even transform their lounge rooms, kitchens and bedrooms into skateboarding spaces to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”

Looks rad.

Who: Tristan Still
What: Bed, Borrow, Steal solo photographic exhibition
Where: Ambush Gallery, 4a James Street, Waterloo, NSW
When: Show opens Thursday 21st October @ 6pm, runs til 30th October

Via Leeloo. See more details on the Ambush Gallery website.

A good friend of mine sent me the info to this today, something a little different but no less cool. This is the annual show put on by the Artful Dodger Studio, which, since 1995 have “aimed to assist young people to access education, employment and training for young people aged 15 – 28 who have multiple and complex needs. Additionally the Gateway program addresses young people’s health and wellbeing needs while they participate in pre-employment programs.”

Its a great initiative, and has had a really positive hand in helping to support young artists get out there and into the creative world – and the show looks like a really cool concept as well – really something worthwhile to check out.

“The Artful Dodgers have created an evocative sensory experience that will transform a basement in Flinders Lane into a fantasy garden.  Discover the young artists’ interpretation of what we have in and around our sheds, listen to what emerges from foreign amorphous plant forms, delve into monochrome wall-scapes, flip through botanical illustrations and be beguiled by multi layered projection work pollinated with flora and fauna imagery.  Discover the beautiful, surreal and seamier side of our backyards.”

Who: Artful Dodgers Studio collective
What: Into the Shed group show
Where: FortyFive Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
When: Show opens Tuesday 26th October @ 6pm and runs til Saturday 6th November, 2010

Check out the Artful Dodgers website for more info!

Pioneering old school graff and street artist Petro will be visiting our shores in November, with two exhibitions at both China Heights Gallery in Sydney as well as at Backwoods gallery here in Melbourne (I popped in to the Elph exhibition briefly on Friday night at Backwoods and it was great – loving the shows they’re putting on there).

Melbourne

Backwoods Gallery
25 Easey St, Collingwood, show opens 6pm – 9pm, 5th November, runs til 13th November

Sydney

China Heights Gallery
Level 3, 16-28 Foster St, Surry Hills
Show opens Firday 22nd October – 6pm to 9pm

Check out the Backwoods Gallery site, China Heights and the facebook page for more details to be released on this show.

I wasn’t able to make it to the opening exhibition the other week at Richmonds new gallery, Paradise Hills, but I’m hoping to make it down for this next group show opening from Reko Rennie, Stabs, Rus Kitchin and Jay Walker. I’ve heard really good things about the gallery itself, and I know the work of most of the artists for this next show, so it should be a good one.

“The exhibition surveys four artists that have been involved in the street art scene for many years throughout Melbourne, Australia and now internationally. They are recognised as having their roots in the underground street scene and are now emerging as a select group of artists in a movement that is a forerunner in contemporary art.
Connect Four aims to bring the murals of the outdoor brick walls into the white cube space of the gallery, also providing a forum for these artists to break away from pure street associated work and amalgamate with the contemporary and traditional realms of visual art.
Opening features a session by Ry David Bradley on the decks.”

Who: Reko Rennie, Stabs, Rus Kitchin and Jay Walker
What: Connect Four Group Show
Where: Paradise Hills Gallery, 1-9 Doonside St, Richmond, VIC
When: Opens Friday 22nd October, @6pm til 8pm. Show runs from 20th October to 13th november.

Check out the Paradise Hills website for more info.

I have no idea how I missed putting this one up, all I can say is that its been a hugely busy last few weeks and I thought I had already put it up ages ago!

Scotlands Elph is will be opening up at the awesome Backwoods Gallery tonight, with a range of works  on display – so why not get down there, then afterwards head over a couple of blocks and check out Urban Intervention. Cool night ahead.

“Backwoods Gallery are proud to present “Data Loss” by renowned UK illustrator and graffiti artist ELPH on the 15th of October until the 31st of October.

Please join us this friday the 15th of October for the official launch of ELPH’s first Melbourne solo exhibition from 6 – 9pm.

“Born in 1977, Elph grew up Edinburgh, Scotland, Elph started painting graffiti aged 12, inspired by the book Subway Art. Obsessed with comic books and graphic design, a self confessed ‘visual addict’, he creates everything from pencil drawings to large scale murals.”

The exhibition will be a mix of photography, small scale acrylic/gouache drawings and a largescale mural painting in the space. This will be Elph’s first time in Melbourne since 1999 where he lived for a short while in Prahran.”

Who: Elph (Scotland)
What: Data loss solo show
Where: Backwoods Gallery, Upstairs (rear of side alley), 25 Easey Street, Collingwood
When: Show opens Friday 15th October @ 6pm til 9pm, runs til October 31st

Check out the Backwoods site as well as Elphs site for more details.

Gotta love themed shows, and what better theme than one between shades and saturations deadliest competitors – black &white and colour.

This upcoming group show at Collingwoods Off The Kurb Gallery with a  showcase a variety of well known and upcoming names in an attempt to add yet another argumentative display of art to the argument.

Who: Bec Winnel, Sarah Beetson, Drew Funk, Robert Jenkins, I & The Others, Jack Douglas, Steve Leadbeater, Caitlin Rigby, Ed Wakeham, Eleanor Yap, Kubota Fumikazu, Lwnski, Yiyi Wang, ERo, Madelynn Holmes, Belinda Suzette & Mark Alsweiler
What: Black & White vs Colour Group Show
Where: Off The Kurb Gallery, 66B Johnston St Collingwood 3066
When: Show opens Friday October 22 @ 6-9pm, and runs til November 12th.

Check out the Off The Kurb website for more details on the show and gallery.

Sweet Streets keeps building up steam as it continues along its eventful program, and another awesome event of note is the upcoming Urban Intervention exhibition.

In partnership with the Yarra Sculpture gallery, Urban Intervention concentrates on “site specific installation, culture jamming, yarn bombing, guerrilla knitting and other public art forms that relate to an engagement, subversion, dialogue or interjection with the urban topography.”

They have coupled the event and exhibition with a google maps system in order to add context and historical notes and value to the art trail portion of the event and it really does look like a wonderfully unique and cool way to spend a Friday evening, wandering the streets and checking out some amazing guerilla-styled works.

“A Google map will be launched live on opening night. The map locates existing works by the artists on Melbourne’s streets. This open access, collaborative platform will enable the public to ‘tag’ the location of artworks on the trail and surrounding area. This project has the potential to produce an endlessly expanding web of connections between sites, artists and artistic interventions. Prospectively it could deliver an endlessly growing archive of Melbourne street art.”

Who: Mic Porter, Magnus McTavish, Nick Ilton, Will Coles, Junky Projects, Melbourne Light Painters, Van Rudd, Phoenix, Public Assembly, Yarn Wrap, Thomas C. Chung. The exhibition also includes an installation by Michelle Robinson, Lani Fender, DJ Element and David Murphy.
What: Urban Intervention Street Sculpture & Art Trail
Where:  117 Vere Street Abbotsford, VIC
Parking: Street parking is available (Melways ref. 44 D5)
Train: The gallery is next to Collingwood train station
Bus: There is a bus stop on the corner of Vere and Hoddle Street
When: Opens Friday 15th October 6 pm – runs til 23rd October – (closed Monday and Tuesday) – 12 – 5.30 pm

Check out the Sweet Streets website as well as the facebook event page for more details!

Last Friday night was the opening of Sweet Streets, the 2010 Melbourne street art festival.

I was there most of the night at the Awards exhibition helping out with the show (as semi-official red-dotter and general run-around-er), and got a glimpse into all the hard work that was done in the background for both the opening, and the next two weeks of the festival. The committee really needs to be congratulated for putting it all together – it was packed out and there were so many unique and amazing pieces in it. A special yo also has to go out to the other volunteers, who all did a great job too.

As a pretty shitty critic (You may have noticed that I tend to love anyone who puts anything up on walls!) I wont comment too much on the content, but suffice to say there wasn’t anything there that I didnt like, I picked up a piece from a favorite artist, loved another massive four panel work that had awesome robotech-ish spacecraft across it (that was a little out of my price range), that Junky Projects rules, that the music was great, the crew doing the live drawing was amazing, and that all the winners of the prizes were well deserving of their kudos – as were all of the artists involved.

Theres some more on the opening over at Melbourne Art and Culture Critic – I had the chance to meet and chat to the affable and friendly Mark, whose blog I’ve been a big fan of for a while, and we took a good look at the show together before the opening, and he sums it up nicely. I’m looking forward to the next installments over the coming fortnight, starting with both the show at the BSG on Wednesday as well as the film night on Thursday … not to mention all the other events and workshops happening!

So heres photos from Friday pre-show as well as the opening, with my oh so ultra awesome camera skills haha .. its on at 1000 pound Bend for the next two weeks, so get in there and take a look!

The layout …

Toy Mountain with the panel I mentioned in the background ..

The Hand!

Some of the awesome work up for auction at the charity event!

Crowded room …

Live art!

One of my favorite urban sculptors, hands down. Finished live art product, up for auction (excuse the crappy photo!)…

Sick night, sick art, sick festival.

Download a copy of the entire festival guide and get to it!

Following on from the recent solo exhibition by Perth artist Adrian Baldsing, the once-Mixtape-now-These Days gallery in Northbridge will play host to an amazing variety of prints by a whole host of talented Oz artists with their group show Print Nation – some definite favourites and some newer names also, its grand to see such a variety in the one show – These Days is starting to ramp it up!

Who: Gala Bent, Pedro Matos, Karl Kwansy, Justin Nelson, Bec Winnel, Murray Smoker, Sara McNeil, Roge One, Victo Ngai, Martin E Wills, Kaitlin Beckett, Charmaine Olivia, Aramas, Beth Josey, Jason Galea
What: Print Nation – An exhibition of limited prints
Where: These Days Gallery – 454 William Street, Northbridge, Perth, WA
When: Show opens 15th October @ 7pm and runs til late.

Seeing any event involving Miso or Ghostpatrol is grand – I love the whole pop-up installation/exhibition thing also, and this one adds a bit of paper cathedral building, tattooing, animation, drinks and good times into the mix just to make it even better.

From Ghosxtpatrol:

“miso and I are building a paper cathedral, and tattooing inside it for free from sunset to sunrise, and making a stop frame animation while we’re at it.

It will also be a pop-up shop of sorts, a party, drinks, food. First come first served, with a breakfast date in the end for anyone who makes it to the morning. get to it.”

Who: Miso & Ghostpatrol
What: Sunrise to Sunset popup exhibition
Where: 124 Nicholsons Street, East Brunswick
When: Sunset, Saturday October the 9th, and runs until sunrise, October 10th.

Via Ghostpatrols blog

Busy Friday this week with the opening of the Sweet Street festival, and several other exhibitions – not least including a solo show from Melbournes Aramas at the Brunswick Street Gallery.

“Evanidus is a collection of paintings and sculptures looking at the vanishing of some the important things in our life; the passing away of memories, of loved ones and the environment around us; it is about mourning the evanescence of our connection with life and meaning.”

There is also a great little studio visit article that the team from JAA did with Aramas on their website, and theres some really beautiful in-process pics there too.

Who: Aramas
What: Evanidus solo show
Where: Brunswick Street Gallery, 322 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
When: Opens 8th October @ 6pm, show runs until 21st October

I posted a fairly generic notice about this some time ago, but now that the festival is upon us its time to post again, this time with a little more detail. Sweet Streets is the new incarnation of the Melbourne Stencil Festival, reinvented by a new committee to traverse and cover all aspects of the street and urban art scene here in Victoria.

The guys and girls at the festival have been working hard to get everything running, and they have some pretty amazing things lined up for everyone, and just looking over it I’m really impressed by the variety, creativity and effort that has been put into it all!

The festival runs from the 8th to the 24th of October, and is really jam packed with what looks like an event for pretty much everyone, and it will be run over a variety of venues, so, heres the kinda really rough guide  …

Sweet Streets Festival Opening

October 8th, 6pm @ 1000 Pound Bend – 361 Ltl Lonsdale St,, Melbourne, Australia, 3065

The night to begin what is sure to be an amazing two weeks, and as the release says:

“It’s your first chance to see the works in the award show, as well as find out the winners of this years prizes. You can also grab a festival program on the night to find out what other events you can get involved with! (events are also posted on the Sweet Streets website)

The night starts at 6pm, with live performance by Great Earthquake and guest artist. Speeches and formal announcements will happen around 7pm. Then lets all kick back and party the night away with Dj Mike Zun!

This is a free event and perfect way to spend your friday night. So come on down and bring your friends to celebrate the opening of Melbourne’s street art event of the year!”

Theres an e-invite here on the Sweet Streets website, so download it and send it to all your mates.

Street Art Workshops & Master Classes

Undoubtedly the heart of the festival are the artist run education sessions that will be running over the two weeks that the festival will run for. A huge range of artists, designers and street art aficionados have pooled together with the Sweet Streets festival to play host to a wide range of workshops and master classes for anyone interested in finding out more about street art, or just to learn new techniques. There is everything from street art classes for secondary teachers, to stencils workshops, character design, yarnbombing and urban sculpture.

For a complete list of all the festival workshops you can be a part of, and to book your attendance, check out this link.

Festival Film Night

1000 Pound Bend – Thursday 14th October 7:30pm – Tickets $7 (+online booking fee)

Mark Holsworth, secretary of the Festival, well known for his impressive and often street-art supportive blogs, Melbourne Art & Culture Critic, has put together a cool night of street art short films “featuring four fresh short films about street art and by street artists – three of these films will be having their premiere screening.”

For more details on which films will be screening, check out this link – his selection looks pretty slick.

Sweet Streets at the BSG

Brunswick Street Gallery – October 13th @ 6pm – 322 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy – show runs til October 21st

The Brunswick Street Gallery in Fitzroy will also be playing host to an exhibition featuring artists from both sides of the Tasman during the festival, with a great range of talent such asl Cracked Ink (NZ) ,  Cinzah Seeyakem (NZ) , Liam Moore (NZ), PNTR (NZ),Rhys Burnie, Nate Gamble, Deb ,  Jo Waite, Megan Dell , Bados Earthling, Heesco  and KA’ …

“Through a small bookshop, squashed between two kebab shops, and up some narrow stairs, you will find the hidden gem that is the Sweet Streets at BSG exhibition.

Finding the place may be tricky, but it is worth the effort as Brunswick Street Gallery and the Sweet Streets Festival presents an amazing show of urban and street artists from Australia and New Zealand during the Sweet Streets Festival (8-21 october).

This cross-Tasman show will feature artists working in comic illustration, stencil, free-hand graffiti, screen-printing, mixed media, and painting.”

Pretty sure that this one is curated by Tessa Yee, who put together the amazing Urban Art 10a earlier this year. Check out more details on this show here.

Sweet Streets Fund Raising Auction

October 24, 2010 @ 6:00 pm -  1000 Pound Bend – 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, Australia, 3000

Closing off the festival will be a great fundraising auction, where a bunch of the artwork from the awards ceremony as well as some other unique items will be auctioned off to help fund the future of the festival, as well as charity.

“Help raise money for the future of Sweet Streets as well as the Collingwood Housing Estate Arts Community, and Anglicare Victoria – our chosen charities.

Featuring signed prints donated by Obey, the Award Show murals by well-known local artists including Deb and Drewfunk, and a range of unique works created especially for the Charity Auction, by local and visiting artists, through the facilitation of the Collingwood Underground Artists hub – active throughout the three weeks of the festival.”

Check out the link to the event here.

So, thats the very brief  kinda rough guide to the festival – but there is so, so much more detail that I haven’t covered, so make sure you check out these links:

Sweet Streets website
Sweet Streets facebook page
Sweet Streets on Twitter

Have fun, and see you at the festival – I’ll probably be doing other updates as the various events come round, so stay tuned …

Following on from last years showing of paintings in his great “Revenge of the Teddybugs” show, Jason Howe returns to Melbourne and the At Large gallery for yet another show, this time one laden with drawings, sketches and experimental animations.

“Returning from Sydney, fine artist Jason Howe conducts his 2nd solo
show at At Large Gallery Melbourne, bringing down his large portfolio
of over 200 sketches/drawings/doodles/characters/abstractions/ideas & designs for his paintings.

As you ponder his bold, fluid and flowing marker line drawings you
will see through to the ballpoint pen scribbles, which are the
origins, ideas and lines that spark a sketch.
Influenced by cartoons & animation, hip hop, the graffiti art
characters of Vaughn Bode & Kenny Scharf and contemporary American
pop surrealists Greg Simkins, Jeff Soto, Joe Ledbetter and Alex
Pardee his work will delight, humor, mess with your head & make your
mind wonder.

Drawn on a patchwork of recycled stickers, Jason breaks the
boundaries of the portrait/landscape style of his sketchbooks to
bring you a peak behind the scenes and behind the eyes of a
practicing, prolific post-pop hip-hop doodling surrealist.
As well as all original drawings being for sale, Jason will be
selling prints, hand painted shirts and caps and will also have a
showing of his experimental, colourful animated music clips.”

Who: Jason Howe
What: Fool Moon Toon solo exhibition
Where: At Large Gallery, 208 High Street, Northcote, VIC
When: Opens 6pm til 9pm, Friday October 1st. Show runs til 14th October

Check out Jasons website, as well as the At Large Gallery for more details on the show and the teddybugs themselves!

The folks at Nine Lives Gallery have a showing this Thursday of the second part of Sam Smiths Mad Dogs exhibition. His patterned and semi-chaotically rendered pieces always remind me of large scale etchings and woodcuts, but done with a cool tribal-esque style.

It’d be great to be able to get along to see this, so if you’re in the Brissy area, do it.

Who: Sam Smith
What: Mad Dogs, Part 2
Where: Nine Lives Gallery, 694 A Ann st, Fortitude Valley, QLD
When: Opens Thursday 30th September, show runs til October 10th

Via weAREtheIMAGEmakers and Sam Smiths blog. More details on the Nine Lives site also.

It’s great to see shows happening in Adelaide, and this time its a solo show by the renowned and somewhat infamous Sofles. This four day exhibition will showcase a variety of the Brisane artists work as translated to canvas.

“Notorious graffiti figure. Prodigious talent. Sofles has been both reviled and embraced by the media over his ten-year career, which began as a graffiti artist in Brisbane, Australia. After a well-publicized conviction in 2009, Sofles burst onto the scene with various sold-out exhibitions, collaborations with artists such as Anthony Lister, Ben Frost and Revok, and contracts with the likes of Red Bull, Myer, Adidas, and Toohey’s.

Returning from a tour of New York and Los Angeles, Sofles has chosen Adelaide for his first interstate exhibit, with new works on canvas featuring his signature mash up of aerosol, acrylics and oils, rendering evocative imagery in explosive colour. The progression from graffiti to canvas was a natural one, explains Sofles.

“Not much has changed, really. I’m painting every day, using the same tools, applying the same techniques, to a different platform, with a different audience. The work is finer, more considered, but my graffiti influence has been really well received.”

Sofles imagery is wide and varied, with collages of mind-bending abstraction melting into intricate form, perfect snapshots of the artist’s wild imagination. Sofles’ ability to create depth and detail with aerosol is unmatched, and combined with his bold use of colour renders pieces so distinctive they have firmly set Sofles reputation as one of Australia’s most watched contemporary artists.”

Who: Sofles solo show
Where: Bull n Bear Basement – 89 King William St, Adelaide
When: Show opens 6pm Thursday October 7th, until Sunday October 10th

You can check out more of Sofles work on his webpage.

Okay, so the word dynamo comes to mind when I think of Twoone, and now I’m just going to apply it to Thomas Jackson as well. Only a two or three weeks after their last duo show, they are hitting back again with yet another one – again at the Lo Fi Collective space.

This time they’ll be showcasing a series of Giclee prints of new water color drawings, typographic works, and more – knowing those two artists work, theres sure to be some amazingly cool stuff on display.

Who: Twoone & Thomas Jackson
What: Attic Antics duo show
Where: Lo-Fi Collective, 383 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst
When:  Show opens Thursday 30th September at 6pm.

Via Twoones blog.