INVURT

‘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.

Well, we know this one is a little late, but things have been way too hectic lately as we go into the Xmas period – apologies.

The other week we were invited to The Peoples Market grand opening – since then its been in full swing, with a huge variety of art, music and events happening down at this amazing temporary space. If you haven’t been down there just yet, then you should go and check it all out – theres something new and unique every weekend.

Dave Russell got down there whilst they were preparing for it – getting the containers in place and watching Meggs and Rone doing the amazing feature wall, and we also got a few shots from the opening, and all the artwork about the place – theres plenty of it!

If you haven’t been down there yet, you’re really missing out!

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.

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 …

Last week Mark Bode returned to Melbourne for a second solo show, Ned Kelly & Other Outback Stories.

The Backwoods pop-up space was filled to the brim with Marks amazing and iconic work, gorgeous illustrations over maps of the Australian countryside – a great show from a masterful hand.

Check out all the photos from Dave Russell below!

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 Friday night we had the pleasure of attending Mikaela Janes first solo show at Egg Gallery in Collingwood. Great turnout for the show, and the work was really impressive – there were some definite favourites of ours amongst it all – and quite a few red dots to be seen!

Biggest congrats to Mikaela on her night, here’s looking forward to seeing more from her in the future – it can only get better from here.

Check out all the photos from the show below, from our always on-point camera guy, Dave Russell.

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!

A few weeks back popular Sydney based street artist Deb curated a huge group show, collating an incredible bunch of male artists from the nation and world wide. ‘Man Up’  was a charitable showcase with 100% of proceeds going to the Cancer Council of Australia to fund prostate cancer research.

Amongst the staggering array of work were pieces by Mark Bode, Mike Giant, Ben Brown, Ken Taylor, Ben Frost, and Edward Woodley. The works dotted the walls in monochromatic hues coming together to form an exciting and no doubt successful show. Making buying more art feel even better.

Photos via Takie and Jess Howell!

Kind Of – Gallery has found a new home on Oxford Street, and to celebrate they opened with a massive group show titled ‘Fuck You / I Am.’ The premise; a bunch of Sydney’s new and known artists were given a piece of furniture from the 50′s to 70′s to ‘deface.’ On display were a cupboard, record player, sofas, table & chairs and loads of old framed artworks that more than appreciate a face lift.

BENNET, Bridge Stehli, Deb, Dboe, and Pigeon Boy were among those who transformed the old and used to the new and now. After a huge renovation it was great to see the show was a raging success, we’re super excited to see what else the guys can bring to this shiny new space.

Last week saw the opening of Stormie Mills latest solo show, People & Places, at Melbournes Metro Gallery.

As to be expected, Stormie brought his “A game”, with a delectable array of his stylised, emotive characters spread across the walls of the gallery.

Something else we loved, was the “cityscape” piece that heralded the show – this piece was different – we saw something like this of his in a previous show, after he had visited Antarctica, and, we have to say, it was gorgeous and we hope to see even more of this abstractia in the future!

Check out all the photos from the opening below, thanks to Dave Russell …

It’s been a  huge past week or so, with shows, travel and so much going on its not funny!

All that said, we’re still at it – and we got some cool shots today for you. Dave Russell, our intrepid photographer down here in Melbourne, headed down to Itchs show at RTIST Gallery post-opening to get a whole slew of shots from the show. Given the mass of people at the opening, it was no surprise that we couldn’t get too many photos of the opening night itself.

So, here’s all the work we loved best – you need to get down and check it out whilst its still on!

As you all know we a had a massive night Friday with four big openings in the one night.

VS was our second stop of the evening after TwoOnes show, and both Marc Huntington and Matt Griffith of ArtBoy Gallery did a great job in helping to put these two artists together in the same room!

With battle lines drawn, maps of the conflict and each section of the wall dedicated to a part of the ongoing struggle, the war of art was, we can say for a certainty, definitely a draw – or at least, a good dose of M.A.D.!! Kaitlin Becketts creatures, and Matt Stewarts urban warriors continue the ultimate struggle ….

This was a show we were all looking forward to, and Hiroyasu Tsuri ( TwoOne ) did not disappoint. TwoOne is just one of those artists who continues to push the boundaries, his work has equal street and contemporary appeal and always challenges the eye.

Congratulations to Alex Mitchell and the crew down at Backwoods Gallery, for putting together such a great show, as expected from a TwoOne solo, it left us amazed.

There is no other place we love in the city as much as Blender. Home to a multitude of our friends and a bastion of amazing talent, we find ourselves spending a lot of time there in the company of more than welcoming community of artists. This veritable fortress of creativity in the heart of the CBD is lead by a man who has, over the past few years, helped and promoted the Melbourne street art scene, and emerging artists, in more ways than can be counted – Adrian Doyle.

Over the past year, Jacob Oberman has been putting together a documentary, Subtopia, on Doyle, Dark Horse Experiment and, of course, Blender Studios. This is awesome.

"Adrian Doyle is the dynamic face of the urban art world in Melbourne – part artist, part academic, part entrepreneur and part social activist. In 2001 he set up The Blender Studio as a co-op for artists and street artists alike. The old warehouse has become a hub of Australia’s finest practitioners. He runs an enormously successful council program that gets ‘young punks’ to stop doing graffiti and instead ‘beautify’ the walls of Melbourne.
All this is on top of his own art that is increasingly obsessed with the suburbia of his upbringing. He’s not sure if he loves it or hates it but he has such a deep fascination with it that he’s doing a PhD studying the aesthetics of suburbia. Doyle frustrates and excites the art establishment in equal measure. Many see him as a breath of fresh air, while others regard him as a pushy kid with a runaway ego.

Doyle’s fiancé and business partner Piya is the brains behind the highly successful Melbourne Street Art Tours that operates out of the studios. With street art now the top tourist attraction in Melbourne, the couple have continuous media attention that has placed mounting pressure on their lives.
Their latest venture is a gallery called Dark Horse Experiment, a partnership with the Dickerson family, scions of the traditional art world, in an effort to bring wealthy collectors to street art.

With multiple projects on the go, can Doyle manage to balance his bohemian lifestyle with his super strict fiance and the maelstrom of his fractured existence?

Created by Adrian Doyle, Jacob Oberman, Piya Suksodsai, Renegade Films, and ABC"

Definitely a unique look at Melbournes art scene with this one, and a unique insight into Doyles world, as you can see from the preview below.

Subtopia: The Myth Of Doyle is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in both Australian street art as well as the struggle involved for artists and creatives struggling to do new and exciting things with art.

Who: Adrian Doyle, Piya Suksodai & Jacob Oberman and a whole swath of friends, artists and Blender denizens!
What: Subtopia: The Myth Of Doyle
Where: On all TV screens across Australia
When: Screening Tuesday 11th September and Tuesday 18th September at 10pm on ABC1

Check out the ABC page, Dark Horse Experiment and The Blender Studios for more information.

This show has to be one of the most amazing we have seen – Shohei Otomo; master of the ball point pen. His work left us spellbound, as all of those who have seen the show would agree.

Thanks to Lesley Kehoe Galleries and Alexander Mitchell from Backwoods for bringing Shohei Otomo to Australia for this debut exhibition – he put on a great show. For those who didn’t go to the opening, get down over the next few weeks, you wont be disappointed.