INVURT

Things just keep getting better and better, along with the news of a new gallery opening up later this month (more on that soon!), Adelaide continues to throw up some of the coolest shows we’ve seen.  Next up from the Espionage team is a show from Fletch Cuts and Lost Track, two fine assed cutters with unique styles and mad skills.

"Espionage Gallery Proudly Presents Lost Cuts, a exhibition by Lost Track & Fletch Cuts, two of Adelaide’s most prominent stencil artists.

The culmination of many months work Lost Cuts will see 2 of Adelaide’s most skilled stencil artists come together for a stencil exhibition out of this world!

With Lost Track’s focus on bringing the world of the outback to the streets of Adelaide and now the gallery space and Fletch Cuts incredible attention to detail this is one exhibition you will not want to miss."

Man, we keep saying it, but we really have to get over to Adelaide – it’s really starting to boom, and the quality coming out of there is second to none. Mad times.

Who: Lost Track & Fletch Cuts
What: Lost Cuts duo show
Where: Espionage Gallery,  Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall (entrance off Lindes Lane), Adelaide
When: Show opens Thursday 17th May, 2012 and runs til

Check out , the Espionage Gallery website and the facebook event page for more details.

What’s up next for the gallery that just doesn’t stop giving us all the goods we could ever need? How about an all female exhibition, with both local and international artists?

Amongst the list of names, here are a bunch that are familiar, and some cool up and coming artists as well. There’s no doubt that Les Dessinatrices, translated to "The Cartoonists", will be yet another amazing group show put on by Josh Smith and co at this most excellent venue.

Who: Elisa Mazzone (Paris), Lisa Vanin (Toronto), Rebecca Murphy (Sydney), Yvette Tziallas (Sydney), Kaitlin Beckett (Melbourne), Luka Va
(Melbourne), Nicole Tattersall (Melbourne), Jelena V, Caitlin Millard,
Katie Johnson, Emmaline Zanelli, Jenny Allnutt, Fruzsi Kenez, Tiff
Rysdale, Lilian Choo, Sally Jo Cook, Kerri Ann Wright, Lindsey Bryant,
Olya K, Meaghan Coles, Pip Kruger, Ellie Kammer
What: Les Dessinatrices (The Cartoonists)
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA
When:

Check out the Espionage Gallery  website as well as the facebook event page for more info!

In this somewhat elephantine memory of ours for artists names, it isn’t surprising that we constantly stumble across names that we thought we should know, but somehow don’t. That said, discovering new artists is one of the reasons we love doing this.

Such was the case with Cameron Brideoak – so we’re pretty happy to say that until now we hadn’t seen much of his work, as its allowed us to discover something pretty cool. We’re definitely going to be keeping an eye on this guy, especially given the sneak peak of his work for his show coming up at Espionage Gallery in Adelaide …

"Cameron’s work is a melting pot of ancient meets modern. Japanese animation meets fine art. A show framed entirely with eastern fabrics, Cameron has created a series of characters, inspired by world mythology.

Although Cameron is quite new to the art scene his work is already
highly sought after by collectors both locally, interstate and interest from overseas is already forming. Cameron’s attention to detail and shading work is a force to be reckoned with which is already making established artists nervous.

Mythmaker is the second Solo exhibition by Cameron and his final show before he takes his work to Melbourne and leaving Adelaide behind. Cameron is sure to explode in a big way on both the Melbourne and International art scene."

Well, we’re looking forward to seeing more of Camerons work over here in the ‘burn, that’s for sure!

Who: Cameron Brideoak
What: Mythmaker solo exhibition
Where: Espionage Gallery – Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide
When: Show opens Thursday April 12th from 6pm til 9pm

Check out Cameron Brideoaks website, the facebook event page, and the Espionage Gallery website for more info.

This is a huge and exciting one, not to be missed if you are in the area!

‘As the Adelaide Fringe and Festival have just finished up, Espionage Gallery is offering up the hottest Screenprints, Giclee Prints, Etchings, and Stencil Prints by some of Australia’s best printmakers. With budget in mind, all works are limited edition prints aimed at even the money conscience art buyer.’

It’s going to be a quick show, running for three days only – and with well priced, amazing, limited edition works up on offer, which art fiend can resist? This will be Espionage’s most ambition group show yet – featuring the works of 30+ artists!"

We’re well familiar with the awesome work of many of the artists in this show, and by the looks of it there’s going to be sooo much cool stuff to check out and/or grab!

Who: Ankles, Caitlin Millard, Chris Edser, Daniel Purvis, Donovan Christie, Fletch, Fruzsi Kenez, Gary Seaman, HEX 1, JAKE ONE, JAKE TWO, Jayson Fox, Jelena V, Jenny Allnutt, John Engelhardt, Joshua Miels, Joshua
Searson, Joshua Smith, Kate Kowald, Kerri Ann Wright, Lilian Choo, Lindsey Bryant, Lucas Croall, Mustachio, Peter Fong, Pip Kruger, Rose Swincer, SCATTERBRAIN, Suzie Lockery, Tiff Rysdale, Tom Borgas, TWOONE and more
What: Limited Edition Group Print show
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide (entrance off Lindes Lane)
When: Show opens Thursday 5th of April at 6pm until Sunday 8th

Check out the Espionage Gallery website and Facebook event page for more info!

If you’ve spent any time at all meandering around the colourful streets of Melbourne – then there can be no way that you have not been transfixed and delighted by the delicate, whimsical and playful works of Be Free and Suki.

The talents of these two amazingly creative ladies comes together for their first collaboration, and also first interstate show, at Espionage Gallery in Adelaide. Both are well known Melbourne street artists and their beautifully handcrafted paste ups and stencils cannot be missed – each results in a personal journey of surprise and intrigue.

"Be Free and Suki are creating a space in a gallery with a focus on stencils, lino prints and instillations."

Check out the event video here, and our interviews last year with Suki and Be Free. Looks like this one’s not only going to be something to see, but also something to experience! So cool.

Who: Be Free and Suki
What: Alone Together
Where: Espionage Gallery,  Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide.
When: Show opens Thursday, 8th March from 6pm and runs til the 13th

Check the facebook event page and the Espionage Gallery website for more details!

Yep yep, once again we’re back with our roundup of videos released over the past week, and this week there’s a smorgasbord of goodness – so scroll on, and hit play!

Our first feature video this week, is the Tropfest film by Jacob Oberman, featuring E.L.K. and Fr Bob Maguire. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should watch it – its a really different and cool film of E.L.K.s efforts to do a stencil piece for the Archibald prizes of Father Bob prior to his retirement. Awesome.

Oh, and coming up next week, which we’ll get to soon, is a show from two of Melbournes coolest street artists at Espionage GAllery, Be Free and Suki!

Alone Together from Dave MSA on Vimeo.

This past week was also all about Bode! There’s an awesome time lapse here of the piece he did behind the Station Hotel in Richmond. Check out more of this kind of stuff over at Delta Thunder.

Check out this sick time lapse of our mate Choq, all the way from France, getting up out the back of Juddy Roller!

Alex Mitchell, one of the team behind Backwoods Gallery, and Louis Mitchell, put together this short doco about Usugrow, who exhibited there last year. Amazing short film, this one – must see.

Lister apparently has a new show opening up tonight in LA at New Image Galelry – and there’s a great preview video to go along with it!

Anthony Lister @ New Image Art (2012) Teaser… from Carlos Gonzalez on Vimeo.

That cool crew over at the Design Files had an open house not long ago, and made a small video all about it – looks like fun, spewin we missed having a look!

The Design Files Open House ! from The Design Files on Vimeo.

Token International Video

It’s not very often that we post up any videos from outside of Australia, but I mean, shit does happen across the waves! This one really struck us this week .. so we’ve decided each week to post up a token international video, just for the fuck of it. Conor Harrington is one of our ultra favourites, and this is a short film abut his trip back to Ireland to paint …

That’s all we got, you know the deal, if you have a video, send it to us!

Has it really only been a year since Espionage opened up in Adelaide? The gallery feels like it’s been such a mainstay with event in South Australia over the past year that we could swear its always been there. Josh Smith and his crew have done amazing things for the art scene over there in this past year, with a huge range of exhibitions and events – and this first birthday show looks to be no exception to that.

"Espionage Gallery is proud to present our One Year Anniversary
exhibition! After a successful year in 2011 Espionage Gallery is going
ahead full steam for 2012 with a whole string of new and exciting
exhibitions planned featuring prominent established and emerging
local, interstate and international artists.

Come along and help celebrate one year of business and wish the gallery a Happy Birthday! Espionage Gallery is lucky enough to showcase one of the best exhibitions thus far for this special occasion featuring 30 of Australia’s best artists!"

It really is an amazing line up as you can see – there’s really nowhere else you want to be in Adelaide next Thursday night, is there?

Who: Joshua Smith, Gary Seaman, Sync, Fredrock, Tarns, Fletch, Fu, Emmaline Zanelli, Kate Gagliardi, Sean Thomann, Rebecca Murphy, James Dodd, James Dean, Kate Kowald, Jelena Vujnovic, Joshua Miels, Cameron Brideoake, Véra Ada, Fruzsi Kenez, Donovan Christie, Jayson Fox, Peter Fong, Lilian Choo, Luka Va, Lampin, Elita A’Vard,
Katherine Prue Eggelston, Jack Artini, Jake One, Daniel Purvis
What: Espionage Gallery First Birthday
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide (entrance off Lindes Lane, next to ZU Shoes).
When: Show opens Thursday the 9th of February at 6:00pm

Check out the Espionage Gallery website for more info.

Another Christmas Art Market is on its way, and this time it’s Adelaides turn!

Espionage Gallery has had a great year. Opening up back in January 2011, they have had a whole slew of great shows over the past twelve months, and they’re celebrating a successful year with a Christmas Art Market.

"With over 14 stalls bursting with amazing goods that have been
hand-crafted by some of Adelaide’s most talented artists and makers,
this is one market not to be missed!

The markets will run 5 – 9.30 pm, with music and beverages available
all night long. In addition, gracing the walls is our current
exhibition ‘Wise & Quirky’, the solo exhibition of Julia Blanka
Lesniewski."

Sounds like a really great day to end off a great year!

What: Espionage Gallery Christmas Art Market
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1 Leve 2, 93 Rundle Mall
When: Event is on Friday 16th December between 5pm and 9:30pm

Check out the Espionage Gallery website for more information, as well as the facebook event page.

Man, Espionage just keeps on bringing it! This time they’re showcasing a bunch of their favourite artists in, yep, an all star lineup!

With artists from both Adelaide and Melbourne featured, this is an eclectic range of some really top notch names – and something that those of you in Adelaide should definitely get down to see whilst its on!

Who: 23rd Key, E.L.K., Alysha Menzel, Michael Carney, Ebony Heidenreich, Emmaline Zanelli, Fletch, Gary Seaman, Hailet Lane, James Dean, Jordan onasson, Peter Fong, Pip Kruger, Sean Thomann
What: Espionage Gallery Allstars Group Show
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide
When: Show opens Thursday 24th November from 6pm til 9pm, and runs til the 29th November

Check out the Espionage Gallery website, and the facebook event page for more info.

Prolific artist, and the man behind Adelaides amazing Espionage Gallery, Joshua Smith, is having another solo show this Thursday night – and its one for everyone.

Josh is a phenomenally cool stencil artist, up there with the best of them . Often feminine in nature, his work is vibrant and alluring, belying the effort that often goes into the design and cutting processes behind each piece. When we caught up with Joshua in an interview a few months ago, we got the overwhelming impression of a creative, hard working and passionate artist – and this next show looks pretty damn cool.

"Internationally renowned stencil artist and gallery director Joshua
Smith is unveiling his newest solo show, 300, with the premise of making his art affordable for everyone.

As the title suggests, all the pieces in the exhibition will be market at
that price, creating equal opportunity for all to get their hands on a Joshua Smith original. The work Smith does on the streets is for all to enjoy, and instead of making art on canvases to cater only for collectors, he felt it was important to hold an exhibition of work that was affordable for everyone. With his extremely collectible art, and over 104 exhibitions worldwide, Smith is a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, he recently took out the 2011 King of Canvas aerosol art
prize, in addition to being a 2011 Australian Stencil Art Prize
finalist.

Needless to say, this exhibition is not to be missed."

The last sentence says it all, really!

Who: Joshua Smith
What: 300 solo show
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall (Entrance off Lindes Lane)
When: Show opens Thursday, November 10th at 6pm and runs for two weeks.

Check out the facebook event page, and the Espionage website for more info.

Check out the Espionage Gallery website and the facebook event page for more info.

“These vehicles acted as outside galleries, which roamed about NYC and Paris, showcasing artwork to the masses,” Josh says.

“There’s also a reference to the artwork on these vehicles in an outside context; it’s artwork which has originally been created for an outside audience which I am now capturing the feeling, energy and style of and then painting it onto canvases which will be showcased in an inside environment; in this case, inside the 19Karen gallery space.”

An eclectically stunning collection of hand cut miniature vehicle stencils sprayed onto canvas, and containing many layers of paint and thought, these works are inspired, to say the least.  Provoked by 70’s and 80’s subway graff from New York and Paris, each piece within Joshua’s collection brings the street exteriors to the exhibition interior and us, the viewer, to places we might only think upon.

One can see the immense influence Joshua, a widely travelled and practiced artist, has taken from his many experiences across the globe. We’re excited to be invited into this part of his world – so get down if you’re on the GC and soak up some of this sick work for yourself!

Who:  Joshua Smith
What: Outside Inside – Solo Show
Where:  19 Karen Contemporary Artspace – 19 Karen Avenue, Mermaid Beach, Gold Coast, QLD
When: Show opens Saturday 13th August 6-8pm, and runs til 10th September 2011

For more knowledgeable treats and insights into the artist and his works, check out our May interview with Joshua Smith! You can also find heaps of helpful info at the 19Karen website and the facebook event page (which also features the opening of Melbourne based artist Simone Maynard!

We get more excited than Rebecca Black [ed –who??] on a Friday whenever we hear of something fresh in the world of stencil art. A relatively new medium of artistic expression, stencils have created a new and significant niche within the urban arts culture, and in our opinion, have paved the way for some of the most expressive and influential craftspeople to dominate this industry yet.

A CUT ABOVE, hosted by Joshua Smiths Espionage gallery, will showcase the carved out creations of international talents such as; David Soukup and Scotch Willington from the USA, PISA 73 from Berlin, as well as local stencil celebs. E.L.K., Joshua Smith, and Fletch.

This Exhibition will play host to what could be regarded as some of the best stencil work in the world today, and, considering the added bonus of free wine on the night from Bird In Hand (because we know you just can’t appreciate amazing art without it, right?), this is definitely not an event that you would want to miss out on if you’re in Adelaide.

Who: Joshua Smith (Adelaide), E.L.K. (Melbourne), PISA 73 (Berlin), 23rd Key (Melbourne), David Soukuo (Chicago), Scotch Willington (USA), Artestenciva (Brazil), Phil Bungle (UK),
Ian Walker (UK), Fletch (Adelaide).
What: A Cut Above, international stencil art exhibition
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall.
When: Opens Thursday 21st July at 6pm sharp, running until the end of August.

A little bit more info and some pretty pictures at the: Facebook event page, and Espionage Gallery webpage.

Joshua Smith is a busy man; between coordinating exhibitions, teaching creative classes, fundraising through art auctions and opening hugely anticipated gallery spaces, he somehow also manages to create artworks with a larger-than-life visual effect.

Drawing inspiration from varying cultural aspects of classic film, Japanese culture and well, anything that proves awesome to look at, Joshua showcases his works on both local and international stages. Just as importantly, he is also the proud owner of the newly founded Espionage Gallery in Adelaide. With two successful shows down already, Espionage will also play host this week to an amazing group show, a fundraiser to provide donations to the Japanese Red Cross -  Uchiwa Fan.

Invurt were quite stoked when this creative busy-bee agreed to an interview – and here it is, enjoy!

(more…)

The newly minted Espionage Gallery in Adelaide has a fundraising gig opening up this week. Looks like a great idea – gallery owner and curator Joshua Smith purchased 50 uchiwa fans and sent them out to fifty Australian artists to decorate. The fans will be sold during the exhibition for a flat rate of $60 each, and all of the funds raised will be sent off to the Japanese Red Cross.

We love these kinds of shows – things like this, Get Trucked (that is being done by JAA, who are helping out with this show as well) and This Little Teapot are great themes for group shows, and its always great to see such a large and diverse range of artists putting the time in to help out charities such as these.

If you’re in Adelaide, get down there and support the show, and buy a fan from one of your favourite artists!

 
Who: Stacie Reeves, Haley Roberts, Elyse Williams, Dan Withey,Kitty Horton, Hannah Pedley, Bec Winnel, Jack Douglas,  Rebecca Murphy, Joshua Miels, Aida Sabic, Joel VDK, Drypnz, Arisa Yamamoto, Mat Hede, REM, Kate Kowland, Daniel Purvis, Genevive Dawson Scott, Apeseven, Madison Bycroft, Kaitlin Beckett,Ciarne Braes Chappell, Matt Walker, Elisa Mazzone, Susan Catt, Daybot, Greg Eden, Aramas, Fruzsi Kenez, Kate Gagliardi, Daniela Catalano, Steve O’Connor, John Willanski, Ashowka Chowta, Matt Healey, Nish Cash, Sally Jo Cook,  Rachel Strzelecki, Sebastion Blazely, Stacy Alexandrou, Olivia Andreula, Donovan Christie, Christine Smith and more
What: Uchiwa Fan Fundraiser group show
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia
When: Show opens Thursday 5th May, 6pm til 9pm and runs until the 12th May

Check out the Espionage Gallery website for more information.

We don’t usually cover photography events – there are other mags and blogs out there that are all over that stuff, and they are many! That said, when renowned illustrator and stencil artist Joshua Smith sent us through news of the first official show (after the opening show, that is) at his new urbanesque gallery, Espionage, we figured we’d definitely make an exception this once to get the word out about this great new space in Adelaide.

The show itself “features the work of some of Adelaide’s best up and coming and established photographers including Bradley Gaskin, Brent Leideritz, Hailey Lane, Matt Carty, Michael Walter Ziebarth, Vera Ada & Belinda Leopold – it all looks pretty cool to us.

Who: Bradley Gaskin, Brent Leideritz, Hailey Lane, Matt Carty, Michael Walter Ziebarth, Vera Ada & Belinda Leopold
What: Day & Night photographic group exhibition
Where: Espionage Gallery, Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA
When: Show opens 31st March, from 7pm til 10:30pm, and runs til the 30th of April.

Check out the Facebook event page and the Espionage Gallery website for more details on the show.

Floods, cyclones, rain – its all just another week of mayhem across Oz, and if I wasn’t such a cynic I’d be shouting global warming doom from the rooftops (okay, so 2012 is obviously the end of the world via zombie apocalypse, but I’ll hold out on my scepticism til then).

The other week saw us put up our new logo, and this week saw a whole bunch of galleries getting back into the swing of thing, and a whole heap of announcements – it finally feels like 2011 has totally ramped up, and we’re all excited.

So here’s the run down for what’s on, and what’s coming up in the next week …

Melbourne

• Toy To The World finishes up tomorrow! Get down there for some last minute bidding on some of the awesome toys that were in the show, and help raise some money for the Victorian AIDS Council
• Ed “UnwellBunny” Bechervaise opens up his solo show “Fast Forward” tonight, we’ll be heading there – so should you.
• No Vacancy opened up its first show of the year last night, with the Oz launch of Feiyue – couldn’t make it down to this so no pics, but I heard really good things – have to check it out over the weekend.
• C3 at the Abbotsford Convent opened some new shows this week, with Darren Henderson being one of the artists displaying works.
• The next round of Melbournes Secret Wars is on next Wednesday – this one looks like it’ll be a doozy of a battle, so get your asses down there. The first round of the Sydney comp started last night, and it looks like Kon narrowly won over Alex Lehours – would love to get up to Sydney at some stage to see these ones.

Sydney

• LoFi are back next week with a new show, this time featuring the Well Dressed Vandals and friends.

Adelaide

• Numskull opened up his solo show, Strange as Fiction last week, and its still running at Weymouth Gallery
• Espionage Gallery opened up its doors last week, and we’re assuming that its open show is still going – really keen to hear more about this gallery and what its doing over the next year, so we’ll keep you updated …

Miscellaneous bits and pieces …

• Don’t forget the High Water art auction that Nine Lives and a bunch of others have put together to raise funds for the victims of the recent QLD floods, go check it out.
• Very cool interview with Kid Zoom, the man of the moment (deservedly so), over at fecalface.
• Last Australia day some of the EF crew did some work at the Lost In Bass party, heres some cool shots over at Rekas site – Makatron has put up some pics of some of some work at Rainbow Serpent (Which I am just recovering from hearing all about every day for the last week).
• Those cool exports, Dabs Myla, have a new look website up and running – go check it and their blog to keep up to date on all their US shenanigans
• Cool video we saw over at Dont Sleep of the Ironlak team in the US doing the 2010 Primary Flight show
• We’re loving this automated spray rainbow. Sick.
• Take a look at this cool jewellery thats been produced in conjunction with a few well known Oz street artists, Vans, Shem, Meks and Teazer – wow, very very nice.
• Have we ever mentioned how much we love the Streets Of Melbourne blog? Regularly updated, great cross section of work – go read.

As usually, I’ve probably missed stuff, so apologies for that – enjoy your weekends (after you read todays upcoming interview with Pierre Lloga, that is! haha) ….

Awesome. So good to see more shiz happening in Radelaide – and Espionage Gallery looks like its going to go off. Their first show has a huge collection of both Australian and international artists, and, we have to say, we’re excited to see what these guys are going to be doing over the next few months.

Its all being put together by well known and slightly infamous stencil artist, Joshua Smith – well done, señor!

Who: 23rd Key, Koleszar, Joshua Smith, Gary Seaman, Peachpatrol, Elisa Mazzone, Rem, Fredrock, Ruby Chew, Kate Gagliardi, Bri Hammond, Store, Chris Edser, Joel VDK, Cloack & Dagga, Matt Stuckey, James Dean, Thom Buchanan, Sam Barratt, Mr Tomek, Darren Reid, John Engelhardt
What: Espionage Gallery opening – group show
Where: Suite 1, Level 2, 93 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia
When: Show and gallery opens Friday 28th January @ 7pm

Via Dissociated