INVURT

There’s just something about art and backyards that go together – drinks, bbqs and good weather makes for a pretty ideal day, and, when you couple that with a bunch of highly creative friends, you often get art jams that are second to none.

Taking it one step further, Primo! Mag and The Outsiders decided that just hanging out and doing art wasn’t enough – they wanted to share it with everyone, and so Backyard Play was born!

"PRIMO! Magazine & The Outsiders are two like mind crews who have already established a place in the local Art scene. They have joined forces to create a burgeoning new collective called BACKYARD PLAY. This collective aims to cultivate a greater sense of community amongst Street & Graffiti Artist. They hope to break down the stigma that surrounds their beloved chosen Art forms.

The idea, to bring together Artists, friends & community in a way that personalises the medium of their Art as well as promotes creativity & collaboration in their very own backyards. Through shared experience, BACKYARD PLAY hopes to bring more understanding of the process of creating Street Art & Graffiti as well as the shared experience of childhood play & the shared experience of a dedicated day of painting together. The first of these days took place on 6.8.2011 in a backyard in Sydney & the result is the first BACKYARD PLAY exhibition.

6 Artists created works inspired by the theme Backyard Play using a range of media such as aerosol, pen, paint and texta. They barbecued, drank beer & painted together, making Art in the same place at the same time they influence each others work & created an inspiring work environment. This day also held a deeper message of reflection for the Artists, with a loose theme of nostalgia & ‘childhood’, which encouraged them to draw upon their background & influence in order to convey their message. This is all reflected in the show in what we hope to turn into a regular playtime.

BACKYARD PLAY is a celebration of the things that hold a community together & knit you to your community like pride, nostalgia, diversity & notions of home."

You probably even recognise a few of the names from the Sydney Secret Wars list – there’s quite a few of the competitors taking part in this event.There will also be a really cool doco of the event on show, which was made by Will Hodgett & Daniel Repetti – along with the photography that’ll also be on display you’ll be able to get a great sense of how the show developed. Put it all together, and this looks mad – get to it!

Who: Cam Wall, Sprinkles, Kon, Mr. Sweet, Teem, photography by Hannah Wang and doco by Will Hodgett & Daniel Repetti
What: Backyard Play collaborative exhibition
Where: 240 Enmore Road, Enmore, Sydney, NSW
When: Opens Thursday 8th December and runs til Wednesday 14th December

Check out the Backyard Play facebook page as well as the facebook event page for heaps more info on the event.

Earlier this year, we heard about an ambitious project to transform Sydneys Harbours Cockatoo Island into a mecca of street art. When we first heard it, it seemed a long way away, and we weren’t sure exactly what it entailed. Over time, we started learning more, and getting an idea as to what it would encompass – and it was bigger, bolder, and more jam packed with awesome than we ever imagined. The Outpost project will be a showcase of Australian street art, and international street art, that outweighs anything that has previously been seen in Australasia.

Over the next five weeks, we’ll be focusing on the Outpost Project for our editorial content – we’ll still have our regular blogs, but we’ll also be running a string of content as we document whats going on up at the island. We’ve also been working with the wonderful ArtSeries Hotels to help coordinate several forums and artist showcases as well, and there will be all kinds of posts around those. The entire team here has been gearing up for this for the last few months – its here, and we’re totally amped!

So, this is your rough guide to the event – from here will be links to articles on each event, interviews, live blogging, photos and all the rest. Use this as your feed, or just keep reading as you normally would to keep on track – all the Outpost content will be tagged so you can always just check the tag feed … Outpost will be a ground breaking event in the Australian street art legacy – we can’t wait, because its going to be mad – so read on, bookmark this article, and keep checking back here for new content links.

This is only a guide, and we’ll keep it as up to date as possible, so if in doubt, please refer to the Outpost Project website.

Invurts Rough Guide To The Outpost Project

• What Its All About
• Whats Invurt Doing There?
• Where Its At – Cockatoo Island
• Outpost Project Festival Map
• Artists & Interviews
• Events & Exhibitions
• Outpost Forums
• Educational Programs
• Media Releases & Links

(more…)

For those of you who don’t affiliate the Sunshine State with all much creativity, you’ve probably been eating your words in this past year.

This October the 21st, Ananlogue/Digital Gold Coast will be calling upon six of the finest creative minds in this great land to expose their inner most secrets and help YOU crack it in the big league.  So, if hearing the industry know-hows of creative directors, DJs and celebrated fashion photographers is your caper, we suggest you get your tickets to this event asap.

As of 6pm on the 21st, you ‘ll be heading  to the Retrospect X A/D Exhibition which will host works from key speakers from the event, you can also chat to them yourselves over a beer, maybe getting yourself a foot in the proverbial door.  How does that sound?

… and did we mention the well stocked after party at Elsewhere Bar, once you’ve soaked up all the creative inspiration you need? A/D speaker Angus Gruzman AKA Gus Da Hood Rat will be in full force, dishing out his buzz starting breed of ear dazzling mash ups. Aaaaw Yeah.

We’re a bit miffed we’re stuck in Melbourne for this, but hey, we can’t have all the fun.

Who:  Analogue Digital Creative Conference, Gold Coast
What: Conference/Exhibition/Afterparty
Where: BC & C Cinemas, Robina Town Centre, Arbour Lane Robina
When: 21st October, 2011, Conference 9am-6pm, Afterparty/Exhibition 6pm

Here we go for this weeks video stream, now crossing two countries! hahaha …

First up, we have a great process piece of one of the works that TwoOne did for the Sugar Mountain festival!

TWO ONE – Before It Fades Out from SUGAR MOUNTAIN on Vimeo.

Perth artist Stormie Mills getting busy and gettin large in Sydney – this clip is pretty cool, the intro is pretty LA styles with full obligatory hotel hottie haha, and then theres a really great rundown of his mural process – def requires a check out.

This is an awesome piece on the Mays Lane project – Mini Graff, James Dodd, anda bunch of others all make an appearance, talking about how all the panels and work are now up in the Samstag Museum on tour.

Ohhh hell yeah, High Definition at Paradise Hills was a blast, and this video from the opening is also pretty grand!

We’re huge fans of Doss Blockos here at Invurt, they’re our go-to beer guys, and they did a really cool video of a bunch of their peeps fixing up some public toilets – its different and its fkn fun! What a great idea – true street art cool.

From across the ditch, this is a cool little mini-doco on graffiti in Wellington, NZ, between 2009 and 2011 – it looks like it was just posted up, however.

.. and just to finish up, heres some freight trains, also from from New Zealand, for your viewing pleasure!

That’s fairly much it for this week, hope you enjoyeds our pick for this week!

At one of those openings, the ones that seem to consist of my entire social life these days – beer on an empty stomach, still suited up from work and the taste of too many cigarettes in my mouth, a friend and I got to talking about artists who we felt were “on the rise”. It was an interesting run of names, some old, some new, some that I hadn’t heard of – and then, she mentioned E.L.K. “He seems to just be everywhere at the moment,” she explained. I remember standing there for a moment, agreeing, and that pretty much prompted a whole new line of conversation – one that I’m still thinking about as I write this.

From his first place in last years Australian Stencil Art Prize, to his recent sell out solo show in Sydney, which was also covered in a saturation of media (and courted a small amount of controversy, in the form of protests from a Christian fundamental group), to his cover appearance on the latest issue of Australian Art Monthly, its no wonder that E.L.K.s name has been coming up with random regularity – he does, after all, seem to be everywhere.

(more…)

With what looks to be another grand exhibition at At Large Gallery in Northcote, Adele Wilkes, Mr Mupz and Jak Rapmund will be holding a trio show at the end of May. Each artists holds a unique style, each to their own, united by the use of black and gold colour palettes through their works.

We interviewed Jak Rapmund not so long ago, on the tail of his design for the hugely flavoursome and tasty Doss Blockos, and alongside the talents of Mr Mupz and Adele Wilkes this show is just another reason to get out to Northcote on opening night – shows like this, with talented individuals working together to get themselves out there, is, in our books, what its all about.

Who: Jak Rapmund, Mr Mupz & Adele Wilkes
What: Black & Gold group show.
Where: At Large Gallery, 208 High Street, Northcote, Vic
When: Show opens Friday 20th May, 6pm til 9pm, and runs til the 3rd of June.

Check out the At Large Gallery website, Mr Mupz and Jak Rapmunds sites for more info on the show and the artists.

This weekend sees the first year birthday celebration for Brisbanes purveyors of fine street art mediums, Crush City, and they’re pulling out the stops for a mad ass block party! With a whole bunch of music, free bbq, drinks and, (of course), a big live art demonstration by the talented crew from Team Ironlak.

Get on to it Queenslanders – looks like a great celebration for a great store.

Who: Team Ironlak and others
What: Crush City First Birthday Block Party
Where: Crush City Car Park, 423 Ipswitch Road, Annerley, QLD
When: 11am til 5pm, Sunday 17th April

Check out the Crush City website for more info.

Jak Rapmund is a creative epicentre of sorts, fueled by comics, horror, zombies and well … the murky insides of his own brilliant mind. Often sighted around the streets of Melbourne, his work is a foray into a dark unknown – and it’s currently hitting the Australian art scene with seismic force. Rapmund’s art is often distinguishable for its unnerving in-your-face effect – so much so, that it’s recently been selected as the face of the local beer label, Doss Blokos.

We speak to Jak, or, rather, ‘Irk’, about what it’s like to be pushing pieces one minute and a seriously sought after artist the next …

(more…)

We’re actually in the middle of hitting him up for some words about another cool project he’s done, but we heard last night that the talented Jak Rapmund will be having a show opening up at The Vic tonight in conjunction with photographer Steven Wright.

“We’re excited to announce that The Vic is now the host of regular art exhibitions. Every month vibrant artists will take over the venue and present their work for public viewing. We know it’s hard to find the time to visit galleries so we’ve made it easier for you…now you can combine your dose of art with a few drinks.”

Jaks been pretty busy, and we’re looking forward to his upcoming interview – so if you’re in Melbourne and around Richmond/Abbotsford  you should go and check it out.

 
Who: Jac Rapmund & Stephen Wright
What: The Vic Art Show
Where: The Vic, 281 Victoria Street, Abbotsford
When: tonight! 10th February, from 5pm til 12pm, and the shows run for a month or so.

Check out Jaks website for more info on his work, and Stevens website here – as well as the facebook event page.

On Wednesday June 9th, Revolver Upstairs presents the sounds of popular DJ and street scene aficionado Hans DC playing an improvised set to the mad painting skills of Drewfunk.

There need to be more of these types of events happening – lets hope that this kind of thing springboards more events like it. Really, theres nothing like a beer, good tunes, and great art to keep smiling through the winter months – should be a fun evening!

Who: Drewfunk & Hans DC
What: Live Painter/DJ Improv
Where: Revolver Upstairs, 229 Chapel St, Prahran
When: Wednesday, June 9th, 8pm

Check out Drewfunks website here for some awesome art, as well as Hans DCs blog for more info on his gigs, and plenty of other cool shit.

So after having been online for a year, and having only posted articles up from all the archives, I’ve decided its time to start writing new material in this blog, and actually using it for the purpose it was originally intended – to act as a conduit for looking at music and art here in Australia and around the world ..

(more…)