Way back in October, we brought you news of a new project that I’ve been working on with Jo Jette, a brand spanking new print magazine by the name of Damn It! Well, it’s done, printed and all ready to go – and we’re having a party to celebrate!!
Designer and Publisher Jo Jette has been working on the amazing Nothing To Nobody for a few years now, which, sadly, has just released its awesome final issue (Jo will be working on Damn It! from here on out!) This dynamo of a lady has crafted what I think is a stunning, collectable piece of visual beauty, and written a slew of grand articles. For myself, well, I’ve edited my ass off on this one, and if you’ve been reading Invurt for a while then you can expect a whole bunch of full feature articles from yours truly on artists from across the globe!
"Tired of the same old same old? Want to feel like you’re doing something positive when you shell out your hard earned cold cash for a magazine? Want value for money in a convenient bag size read? Then say hello to our little friend – DAMN IT!
DAMN IT! is a brand spankin’ new, biannual, 96 page, limited edition magazine run by Publisher & Designer Jo Jette (of Nothing to Nobody magazine), and Editor in Chief Fletcher Andersen (aka Facter, of online art webzine, Invurt). We put every cent we have into the publication, so that each issue will kick the can of the previous one.
Each issue we feature juicy articles on super talented peeps – illustrators, photographers, typographers, painters, writers, and other creative types as well as reporting on the more serious side of things from around the world.
We also shine a Bat-signal on some of the amazingly selfless work done by caring peeps setting up and running not-for-profits all round the world. We’re not afraid to put our money where our damn big mouths are, and we pledge to donate $0.50 from each copy of DAMN IT! sold to the not-for-profit we feature in that issue, which in our first ever issue is Skateistan, a not-for-profit set up to teach kids to skate in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Pakistan. Skatistan also teach journalism and art to their students, 40% of whom are girls. Plus we’ve adopted a Polar Bear for our first issue to accompany our article on Polar Bears and Arctic conservation, but just wait ‘til you see what we are sponsoring for issue 2!!
Launching officially on 2 May at the Just Another Project Space in 153 Greville St, Prahran (Melbourne) from 6-9pm, and we’ll be giving away a Hamburger YoYo to everyone who attends. Yes, you heard us right – so join us for a drink!"
It’s a bittersweet feeling, knowing that the mag is being launched, and my not being able to actually attend the launch party! Lamentations aside, both Jo and I are stoked at how the mag has turned out, and we’re sure that you’ll all love this first issue (we hope!) – its been a long process and a lot of hard work, trial and trepidation, but its something we’re pretty proud of.
So, we’d love for you to al head on down to the launch party next Thursday – grab a mag, enjoy a read and let us know what you think!!! Massive thanks to the team at Just Another for letting us use their awesome Just Another Project Space for the launch, we couldn’t be happier with the venue!!
Massive thanks to everyone for all of their support, especially the artists and advertisers who are featured in the first issue!
Who: The first issue of Damn It! Magazine features articles on artists and creatives such as Lee Romao, Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins, Ken Taylor, Chris Peters, Poise, Adam Oehlers, Ink & Clog, Skateistan, Polar Bears of the Arctic, Naoto Hattori, Tom Hussey, and Hit+Run and some special artwork from Chris Hancock and Eleven, photography from Nicole Reed and much more. What: Damn It! Magazine Launch Party Where:Just Another Project Space, 153 Greville St, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia When: Opening will be one night only, Thursday 2nd May 2013 from 6pm til 9pm!
For thousands of years, philosophers and mathematicians have been pondering the deepest intricacies of our lives – seeking the answers to mysteries that have plagued mankind since he first glanced up towards the stars. Foremost in these explorations, has been the desire to unlock one of the most enigmatic keys to the nature of our existence – the fundamental order attributed to our physical universe by the rules and laws governing the geometric form.
As an artist, Tom Vincent not only pays homage to these millennia of explorations, but further attempts to add to the vast amount of knowledge, theory and thinking that surrounds their inherent philosophical musings. By vigorously expanding both his knowledge and understanding of the many facets of geometric lines and shapes, yet never eschewing nor relying on their mathematical underpinnings, Tom breaths life into what is often an overplayed motif in contemporary art – the results of which are astonishingly beautiful.
Juxtapositions of intricate lines are enfolded within simplicity, shapes meandering between true and construed – all held together by an eager willingness to expound upon the colourful flow of spectrums to which each shape is attributed – it is, simply, art that entrances and beguiles you with its depth.
Tom is an artist who has designed, illustrated and painted walls with spatterings of aerosol across Melbourne, who has now come forth with a unique vision that sits apart from his youthful exuberances, and yet still maintains the trappings of "rebellion" that harken back to his formative years – for what is there more rebellious, than to try to challenge people to see the hidden beauty in the underpinnings of our existence, beauty to which we are, shamefully, all too often oblivious to?
I grabbed an interview with Tom on the eve of his show, Toroidal Fields, this coming Thursday at the Anna Pappas Gallery in Prahran – I hope that you enjoy it, and find yourself as enamoured of his work and artistic philosophies as I.
Tell us about how you first picked up a pen and brush and started doing art – when you were young, what first gave you a feel for being creative?
When I was young I was always drawing in my spare time, just doodling stuff. Then it sort of evolved into drawing stuff onto the bottom of my surfboards and skateboards. I began snowboarding a lot around the age of 13/14 and I was doing graffiti in my downtime and the summer.
A few years later, I ended up breaking some collarbones at a time when I had a lot of snowboarding ahead of me – doing graffiti was a release from the frustration of that happening. From there it pretty much sucked me in and I stopped the snowboarding.
You have an early history of having done a bit of graffiti around Melbourne – can you tell us a bit about it, and how you got into it? What made you want to get up and paint, and who, at the time, were influential in you starting out?
My first exposure to graffiti was when I saw Reset and Sirum painting in the lane way at the back of my house, it just sucked me in right from that moment. I watched them for probably 2 days and I immediately started to mess around with some sketches.
I kept seeing them when they would re-do the wall every 6 months or so and I would be out there watching and learning from them. I started to paint my first piece on our back wall in the lane way and they saw this and gave me a few pointers and showed me some tricks. I had some friends at school who were also into it at the time and we just started to paint. I used to get a lot of motivation from seeing all the really good pieces around and it just made me want to get better and paint more.
Have you done any sort of formal training in terms of art and design – what in the way of artistic education has contributed to your work today?
I haven’t had any formal training with art & design, instead I ended up sharing a studio with David Milne. David is a brilliant hard-edge painter and his technique is spot on. I was in that studio for about 3 years straight out of high school, I ended up living there for a period and it was just a constant barrage of art.
It was exactly what I needed to develop my work, I was completely sub-merged in it.
Tell us a bit about the studio spaces you’ve found yourself working in over the years – what, especially, do you believe that a studio space can contribute to an artists work, and what kind of activities do you usually find yourself conducting in the studio, beyond painting?
I’ve had my fair share of spaces over the few years and i believe it is important to have a work space that is comfortable for you, by that I mean a space that allows you to focus 100% on your work. But it is also good if there are like minded artists around that can give you some feedback on your work and to do some fun things along the way.
Often I find that it is a very fine line between being much too serious or far too relaxed. I guess in the best places that line is blurred and it allows you to maintain a steady work output whilst having a relaxed feel.
Tell us a bit about how you came to be exhibiting at Anna Papas gallery, and why you chose there for this most recent show?
Anna was kind enough and helped me out by showing me, she is a lovely person and I have a lot of respect for her gallery. I really enjoy the actual space that she has as well, and I had always dreamed of showing my work there. She has a really good stable of artists that span a variety of mediums and it was something that I wanted to be involved with.
In terms of the show – I know you’ve been working on it for some time now, and that you had a big bulk of it completed a while back, but what in the duration of putting it together changed in regards to what you were producing, and how did time help to shape the final product as it now stands?
In the beginning the work was changing quite rapidly. Initially I had it all planned out, but as the weeks went by the plans changed. The ideas remained the same, the actual images were changing. Then I just began painting – I decided that I had lost myself in the planning stages so I moved on. I felt the work should evolve organically so I allowed it to take its natural course.
Having the time allowed me to really step back from what I had made and connect the pieces more intricately. I have had the work finished for a month or so now so it has been quite a relaxing time in the lead up to this show, something I don’t think will happen every time.
Some would say that the work that you are doing now is a direct opposite to the earlier work you were doing with graffiti and design – well, I would! How have the two directions coalesced or did you make a conscious decision to move towards a more contemporary feel in your work, or did it just happen in an organic fashion?
The two different styles of work are vastly different. I can tell that the current work is coming from a different pattern of thought than when I was doing graffiti.
When I was in the very early stages of exploring geometry, I was still painting a lot of graffiti. It was always a conscious decision that I wanted to step away from graffiti on canvases, so when I had my first studio I would be painting inside, then I would also paint outside and they were two completely different things. I begun to slow down with graffiti and really focus on painting canvases with out even really thinking of graffiti.
I always had ideas that I couldn’t fit into the graffiti model, so to speak, and this other direction has really allowed me to pursue these ideas.
What is it about geometry that you find most alluring? Some would say that geometry can be a trap of rigidity, others find it the bare basics of the world around us, and yet others relish the mathematical of it – which of these most speaks to you, or doesn’t? What other ideals of geometry most excite you?
I am completely fascinated at how geometry has constructed the material world. Geometry might seem simple to many people, but there are still a lot of things we don’t understand about shapes.
There is a massive history with geometry dating all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and it is pretty obvious how good their understanding of geometry was. I do love the rigidity of geometry also, but exploring the boundaries of this notion is more interesting to me. I tend to stay away from the mathematical side of it, as this is not my forte, but I will still get the compass out and check the angles etc.
I am a big fan of Plato, Archimedes and the rest of the ancients – to me it is a wild notion that I am learning the same things they were.
You also have a pretty interesting development cycle when it comes to the colours that you use in your work – having seen some of your test pieces and a lot of your work in progress, you’re quite meticulous when it comes to colour placement – is it the technical side of colour variation and spectrum’s that fascinates you, or the sheer variety? What theories of colour do you most look to when utilising it in your work, if any?
I tend not to try and go by any theories with colour selection, I usually have a few colours I’m particularly interested in at a certain time.
Then, for me, its just a matter of exploring all the different variations of the select colours, seeing how they sit next to other colours and just feeling it out.
I tend to work through colours quite slowly, at first I might not even notice when a new colour starts emanating through my work but then I realise I am completely obsessed with it. I am constantly taking note of colours I see and it plays a big part in general life for me.
What do you hope comes out of this show, what is it that you are trying to say about Tom Vincent, the artist, with this work?
The ideal situation for me would be if everyone enjoys the work, they realise they know these shapes and begin to notice geometry in every aspect of life around them.
That is what I want out of art – to show people that these shapes are important, and that we don’t know enough about them. These shapes have been around us since this planet came into existence, and it remains the governing force in all of the planetary bodies we have found.
After this show, will you continue to investigate geometry in your work, or are there other facets of creativity that are piquing your curiosity? What’s in the future for Tom Vincent?
I will defiantly be continuing along this path, I don’t think I will ever be finished with geometry.
I have a few group shows in the pipelines for the end of the year, so I’m just working towards those and developing the work into a different aspect of this knowledge.
Tom Vincent is one of those artists who has been quietly making his own way into the art world, surreptitiously building a body of work behind the scenes the likes of which I, for one, am hugely excited about.
I’ve known Tom for some time now – not only is he a great artist, but he is also an all round great guy with a fantastic vision for his art. Having shared a studio with Tom before, I’ve seen this show, Toroidal Fields, coming together over the past year and I can easily say that it is going to be fkn beautiful.
"Anna Pappas Gallery introduces Tom Vincent in his first solo show which explores the ‘sacred geometry’ concept. Revealing how shape and form are the underlying principles of all manifestation, Toroidal Fields focuses on the torus, a structure that is present in every facet of life, from galactic energies and planetary forces, through to the smallest being and atom present on earth. Key to this investigation is an understanding of platonic solids and the realisation that the humble triangle is at the base of all shapes and the building block in the fabric of our existence."
The Anna Pappas gallery in Prahran is a great fit for this show from Tom, and we urge you to head down to Prahran this Friday night to see it for yourself and celebrate this grand accomplishment by one of our favourite artists.
We also have an awesome interview coming up with Tom in a day or so, so keep your eyes peeled for it!!
Who: Tom Vincent What: Toroidal Fields solo show Where: Anna Pappas Gallery, 2-4 Carlton St, Prahran, Melbourne When: Show opens Friday 10th April from 6pm til 9pm and runs til 27th April
There aint nothing like a Seasons Of Change show down at Revolver – for the past two years this quarterly exhibition has been a stalwart favourite of ours.
The most recent show saw some of Australias top graffiti lasses get together for a one night only expose of their work – and it was yet another cracker of a show. ISIS, ISHK, JOSKE, POISE and SEAR were totally on their game, and looking through the photos, I can only wish I had of been there to check it out myself!
Massive thanks to David Russell, once again, for the mad ass shots – check them out!
About a year ago, we started working on a project in Prahran/Windsor with local artist and film media guru Wayne Tindall, at a laneway that was given the title Union Lane (it runs between Green and Union streets in Windsor). We helped organise a whole group of artists to paint for the first session, and then we helped again for a second session during winter last year – both were a great success. You can see photos from the first paintup here and the second session here.
When we’d finished off the laneway, (for the most part), I looked over at a big carpark towards the end of the laneway and remarked to Wayne how great it would be if we could paint there – he said he’d make enquiries and see what he could do …
Some months later, after a bunch of organising, a very supportive building owners permission, as well as with Wayne and his wife Annes generous above and beyond help (Anne and Wayne run the amazing Change The World organisation that you should check out), we had the paint and lifts organised and were ready to go. This was our big end of year painting session, and we wanted to see out 2012 with a bang.
It took us a day to buff the entirety of the carpark – we went for a simple primary colour scheme to hold it all together, and still give everyone free reign to paint as they liked.
We invited a bunch of people down to paint, not only was almost our entire WSW crew present (Conrad Bizjak, Heesco, P-Yeah, Jack Douglas, Hancock, Unwell Bunny and myself – minus Mysterious Al who was off in Thailand on a beach somewhere) but we invited down a whole bunch of people who we thought would enjoy a bit of an epic paint. Meggs, DVATE, Gent, S4beth, Porno, Askem, Presto, Eleven, Phoenix and Dcat all joined in on the action – a massive thanks to all of them for their time and amazing artwork, and to everyone else who helped out with the project.
There is currently a documentary being made of the entire project by Wayne Tindall and David Russell charting the progress of all three painting sessions over the past year or so (you can see part of the eventual doco from the first painting session here) – its going to be grand, and we’ll let you know when its coming out; the plan is to have a big festival in the laneway and carpark for its release.
Good things come to those who wait, and these were well worth waiting for! We finally got hold of some great pics from the SDM show at Revolver the other week, courtesy of our mate Dread Cat.
Have to say, that every Seasons Of Change is amazing, and this one was no exception to that. So much amazing work on the walls from one of our favourite crews, grand night and great art!
Seasons Of Change is one of our favourite series of shows here in Melbourne, and, now with the series into their second year, it’s still going strong, bringing graff infused art in all it’s glory to the southside
Couple the strength of this series with the next “Summer” iteration this Friday night, which will be showcasing the infamously talented and globally renowned SDM crew, and you have of a one night extravaganza of pure fkn grand.
“SDM was seen as one of the main driving forces in Melbourne’s graffiti scene in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s.
They are known for elaborate full colour productions with a huge diversity in styles from member to member. Everyone in the crew has a different perspective, so an SDM production always stands out as something completely unique to the standard Melbourne style.
Responsible for Melbourne’s infamous first full colour top-to-bottom whole train and the epic SDM between South Yarra and Richmond stations which is still one of the biggest pieces in Melbourne.
The crew was also selected to take part in the recent NGV mural event at Fed Square last year.
Members recently won the best production category for the Aus/New Zealand region in the Ironlak 2008, 2010, 2012 competitions and were selected to compete in the 2008 ‘Write For Gold’ graffiti competition.
The crew is still as strong now than it ever was, with most members going on to take their craft to the next level. With members spread around Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney as well as London, Hong Kong, LA and San Diego.”
Head down to Prahran this Friday night to check it all out for yourself – if you have any interest in both the history, and the future of Melbourne graffiti, you’ll be there.
Who: SDM Crew What: Seasons of Change – Summer Where: Revolver Upstairs, Chapel St, Prahran, VIC When: Show opens Friday 7th December, from 6pm til 9pm – one night only!!
We’re hugebig (no, thats probably not a word) fans of modern collage art, and the way in which artists of today push an artform that has been around for hundreds of years. What we also love, is the fact that (outside of the common perceptive eye), that there is a thriving community of these artists here in Australia. Kareem Rizk, Mauro Palmieri, Danilo Brandao and Phoenix all put their best foot forward to show us what its all about, and it was an unmitigatedly successful display.
This community got together last Friday night to present Alterations, Disturbances and Rips at RTIST Gallery – and the results were nothing short of stupendous. Installations, cuts and slices were the name of the day – and if you haven’t been down to RTIST to see this, you need to; this isn’t your high school art class collage, kids.
Thanks to Dave Russell once again for all the pics!
So much great shit on this week, and we apologise for being a bit behind on our events – we’ve missed a couple, alas – the crazy season has truly come, that’s for sure.
Not to miss tomorrow night, however, is the next awesome show out of RTIST Gallery – and this time, its the kings of Australian collage and cut will making themselves known as Alterations, Disturbances & Rips makes its way onto the walls of one of our favourite galleries.
"Collage” originally a French word, derived from the word coller, meaning “to paste” is an art form very much reflective of our omnipresent consumer culture and a compelling medium in the contemporary art practice that seeks to interrogate it.
The cut-up aesthetic, the chopping up of found imagery and the reshuffling of the fragments, invests new meaning in familiar imagery. Themes of anarchy, instability and heterogeneity emerge as everyday images are deconstructed and reassembled.
Sampling and tapping into the ubiquitous scraps of modern life the exhibition suggests an investigation around the Collage medium and the various techniques employed by the 4 participating artists.
With each artist engaging with the medium from a different perspective the resulting assemblage of artworks will present as a complex tapestry of investigations – joined in the gallery space to become an extensive and multifaceted collage in itself."
This is something a little different, but really fkn awesome. We’re big fans of collage work, its a challenging medium for most – but these guys are real masters of their game, and their techniques for producing their work is phenomenal.
Definitely go and check it out for yourselves.
Who: Kareem Rizk, Mauro Palmieri, Danilo Brandao and Phoenix What: Alterations, Disturbances & Rips group show Where: RTIST Gallery, 29 St Edmonds Rd, Prahran When: Show opens 7PM Friday the 16th of November, 2012.
Modern illustration is an indomitable beast. Drawing from a rich history and legacy, illustration has transgressed beyond the barriers of ancient papyrus, rich pages of mediaeval Illuminations and zinc plated lithography prints and to emerge into a world of high end inks, pens, markers and, of course, digital software.
Although the technology that enables the modern illustrators world has progressed far beyond those used in times past, the fundamentals has remained constant. Imagination, a good eye for contrast and shadow, and of course, fueled by the mastery of the most simplest of artistic expression – the line. When we look at modern illustration, and the many various ways in which it expresses itself today, we see that mark of history within it – but, with the materials available today, and the influence of the world that we live within, we see an overlay of indulgence for precision. Illustration, like many arts, is like the unfolding of a babushka doll, (or the attempt to by the LHC to unravel further layers of the physical world) – an ongoing voyage deeper and deeper into the artists own journey of discovery, wherein, unlike a Babushka doll, there are no limits to how deeply one can delve.
Alex Lehours, is a thoroughly modern artist, with deep roots in illustration, painting and design. Self acknowledged as having drawn upon erstwhile masters of both ink and paint for technique,and paying homage to the rich wellspring of classical art, his work blends this homage of influence with the vibrant, passionate, and distinct styles made popular by imagery found within tattoos, comics and popular art. Like all artists with an illustrative penchant, each new piece of Lehours progresses his form and technique, and creates something new and unique – not only for himself, but for others. When we talk about the evolution of an artists practice, it is artists like Lehours that we take a keen eye to – having an eye for technically collated pieces that are still able to, oxymoronically, have enough chaos within them that they do not feel staid and boring (as Adobe has a great hand in hopefully feeling much guilt for), we are, admittedly, a little biased in this regards.
As much as we try not to have too much of a personal opinion, it has to be said that if you can’t draw, then you just can’t fucking paint – thankfully, else this article would be sunk and this preamble would go nowhere , Alex Lehours can do both.
In the lead up to his show, Pandemonium Paradise, at Just Another Project Space (in the read of Prahrans Signed & Numbered), we had a chance to throw a few interview questions in regards to his work to Lehours himself – and, thankfully, he took the time out of his pre-exhibition madness-get-shit-done scramble to tell us a bit more about his work, and to let us ruminate, just a little, on the shear grandeur of the painted line …
As with every artist, you must have started out somewhere! What are some of your earliest creative memories and when did you realise that art was a path that had chosen you?
I have always been into drawing and illustration. From a very early age my real passion was art. During school all I cared about was art and from there I knew that it was what I wanted to pursue as a career.
It has only been in the last two years though that I have found my feet in the art world and hopefully I can keep going for a long time.
Your work consists of a large amount of exquisite line work, there’s almost something quite classical in its feel, but there’s a modernity to it that loudly proclaims everything we love about modern illustration. Where would you say you have primarily derived the style that you have developed, and what are some of the key influences you have drawn upon over the years?
I am glad you have made that observation because that is exactly the affect I was after! Yipee I’m doing something right! I have always loved the art of the great classical masters such as Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Da Vinci. Although my work doesn’t fall under the “classical art” category, those artists are definitely an inspiration of mine and I think that is where my classical vibe comes from.
I like combining vintage with new in my work and as a result you get a mix between comic, pop and tattoo art. I think this is where my style has derived from. I always try and incorporate a lot of sub culture with different elements that others wouldn’t expect.
I like to describe my work and style as a “chaotic explosion of colour, humour and absolute randomness”.
How do you find the life of a full time freelancer? Having to be a jack-of-all-arts and continually pushing yourself in new directions in order to cover different creative markets and jobs, do you ever find yourself yearning to focus on one thing, or does the continual jumping between different projects and mediums spur you on?
The life of a full time freelancer is is crazy! In both good and bad ways ha! I love the freedom of being my own boss and answering to myself as well as being able to work on projects that I am passionate about. However it means I am my own boss and I have to look after everything else non-art related. All I want to to is draw and paint not worry about remittance forms and chasing invoices for tax purposes blah blah. But hey if that is the only down side, then I have nothing to complain about!.
Becoming a freelancer full time is the best decision I have ever made. Although you don’t know when you next pay day is, the challenge and pressure makes you got off your ass and do things to get work and work that you really want to do. I am also still trying to get into a good habit of shutting off work at a set time each day. It is way to easy to stay up until 3am every morning trying to fine tune a job … stop that, stop that now!!
I don’t mind the continual jumping between different mediums and projects at all. If anything it is helping me develop my skills in all different areas. There are jobs that I do to pay the bills which don’t have a lot of creative freedom but then there are jobs that I can really sink my teeth into and go nuts – like a lot of the mural work I do. So I feel there is a good balance there.
I wouldn’t change being a freelancer for anything. It has allowed me to take part in a lot of great projects as well as meet new clients and I really think i have grown and developed as an artist since becoming a freelancer.
How do you find the wage struggle with being a full time freelancer, and can you give anyone starting out in the freelancing area any wisdom from your experience so far?
To be honest I have been fairly lucky since becoming a full time freelancer. every time it looks like work has dried up I will receive a couple of emails and just like that several new jobs open up. I guess its all about connections and networking. If you do a good job for someone then they will show their mates and from there they may need some work done too.
As far as money goes you just have to be logical when it comes to earning. I mean if you don’t know when your next pay day is then don’t go and spend all your money on new threads. The best advice I could give to people in the same position as me is get involved and take on as much work as you possibly can. At first cash flow may be an issue but from those first jobs that pay small amounts some big pay day work will come through. It is also important to try and get deposits from your clients before you start the work. This should cover you for anything needed for the job as well as wages etc … cash flow is the key!
As a freelancer it is so important to promote yourself and with the new digital age it is so easy to do so. Show your new work on your website and blogs and social platforms like facebook and Instagram. You will be surprised by how many people see it and you never know who needs some work done for them. Don’t be afraid as well. Even if you feel out your league just back yourself and something good usually comes out of it.
Tell us a little about your mural and public art pieces – as someone who does a fair bit of design and illustration work, how do you approach such a large canvas and what are the differences for you between the two?
At the moment mural work is my absolute favourite thing to do! I love working on a large scale and creating pieces for the public eye. Most of my day to day work is illustration based. Whether it be on the computer or on some paper it is obviously a much smaller scale compared to a large wall.
Mural work was a bit of a jump from the usual work I did and it did take me a while to get the hang of it. It is much easier to control the composition and proportions of your piece when it is sitting in front of you on a screen or a bit of paper so it took some practice to be able to do this on a wall.
Other than the scale I approach a mural just the same as any other design I do. I have my concept sketches worked to scale, I use the same sort of materials and love every minute of it. At the end of the day a wall or bench or whatever you are painting on is just another type of canvas.
You have a show coming up pretty soon in Melbourne at Just Another Project Space, titled Pandemonium Paradise. Can you tell us a bit about the theme of the show, and what it entails? What will you be bringing down to Melbourne with you, and how will this show differ from what you have done in the past?
I do have a show coming up on the 12th October. It is my first ever solo exhibition and will consist of watercolour, aerosol and acrylic works. ‘Pandemonium Paradise’ is an exhibition that highlights the cynical, raw and humourous characteristics that play a major role in my work. Bringing together elements of contrasting families, the show explores the subtle harmony, delicate balance and precise equilibrium between good and bad, calm and chaos, beauty and ugly, Pandemonium and Paradise.
Came up with that myself ;) hahhahaha!
Ill be down in Melbourne for that entire week and will be working on a mural at the space for the show. I don’t want to give too much away but it will all be a lot of fun!
All the shows I have done in the past have been group shows, and now that this is a solo show it heaps a lot more pressure on me to get things done in time. I am enjoying every minute of it though and can’t wait for the opening night.
Earlier this year you actually went up to Darwin to do a piece commemorating the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the city by the Japanese, the final piece was incredibility cool – how did you get involved with this, and can you tell us a bit more about the project?
I was actually approached by a good mate of mine, Barry Shackleton, who I went to uni with. He moved up to Darwin a couple of years ago to run his own graphic design business No Hands Design. One of his Clients, Associated Advertising & Promotions, approached him for an illustration and from there he contacted me.
The Darwin Port Corporation commissioned us to create A mural 6m wide by 3m high to be printed on to large ACM panels and bolted to a wall on the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin. The mural was unveiled on 16/02/12 to commemorate the 70 year anniversary of the 1942 bombings by the Japanese in World War II. It is permanent fixture and pays tribute to those who were affected and lost their lives on this tragic day.
I was very proud and honoured to be a part of a project that had such a significant impact on Australia’s history.
We saw something mentioned about a label as well – what are your future plans of expansion into the clothing arena, and can you tell us a bit about the work you’ve done in the fashion realm in the past?
I had planned on starting a full apparel label but decided to step back from that and release some limited edition t-shirts. So far I have two designs available for both mens and ladies. Only 30 of each design have been produced never to be done again. They can be found on my web shop. www.alexlehours.com
In the past I have created t-shirt designs for several clients including Buried in Verona, VNA Magazine, Mad Mex and T-Bar. I also won a t-shirt design competition for the hip hop group Thundamentals. This design was then sold on their national tour last year
So what’s next for Alex Lehours? Beyond your upcoming show, where to from here? What does the rest of the year, and 2013, hold for you?
Next for me?? Well after my show a rest! I have been working non stop for a few months now and in desperate need of a break hahaha! From there I have a couple of big mural jobs lined up which will full up the rest of the year for me. I am just hoping to keep going, get more and more work and see where it takes me – for now, I am just enjoying the ride.
We caught up with Stormie Mills last weekend at the Art & About Conversation Corner – one of the things we heard whilst we were there was that he was also going to be adding his own personal touches to the Cullen Hotel.
"Artist Stormie Mills will be the first Australian street artist to be honoured with a street art suite at The Cullen hotel in Melbourne, joining internationally renowned artists D*Face, Swoon and Blek Le Rat.
Stormie’s suite will be the fourth Street Art Suite in the hotel. Renowned street artists D*Face, Swoon and Blek Le Rat have left their marks whilst staying in the hotel since it opened in late 2009. In 2012, The Cullen officially launched their Street Art Suites to guests, further cementing the Art Series Hotels mandate of creating unique art inspired experiences for guests.
Stormie, who is in residence at the Hotel from Tuesday 2 October for an exhibition at Metro Gallery 1 – 20 October, will gather inspiration and leave his mark in the suite over the course of the week.
Best known for his character based work, Stormie explores the idea of isolation and the human condition, drawing on his time as a homeless adolescent for inspiration. Stormie has travelled the world showing in London, New York, Tokyo and Miami. He has now settled back in Australia, selling out shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. His latest work, ‘Peoples and Places’, is showing at Melbourne’s Metro Gallery.
General Manager at The Cullen, Alicia Brown, says;
“The Cullen has always been a sanctuary for expressive art, which is why street art is such a great fit. It pushes the boundaries, like Adam’s work does, and really makes you think about the concept of what makes art. It’s such an honour to have such a revered artist leaving their mark one of our suites and adding to our growing street art collection.”
The shows over at Just Another Project Space just get better and better – and for their next one, they’ve got a great treat for us with Alex Lehours very first solo show.
We’ve been following Alexs work for quite some time, and he’s one of our favourite illustrators/designers/painters at the moment – the mans been doing some great shit, and this show looks pretty damn cool.
"Alex Lehours is a Sydney based illustrator, artist, designer and muralist whose work can best be described as an eccentric explosion of chaos, humour, colour and absolute randomness. The Sydney based artist constantly features Ink, paint, water colour and aerosol in his work and his first solo show is no exception.
‘Pandemonium Paradise’ is an exhibition that highlights the cynical, raw and humourous characteristics that play a major role in Alex’s work. Bringing together elements of contrasting families, the show explores the subtle harmony, delicate balance and precise equilibrium between good and bad, calm and chaos, beauty and ugly, Pandemonium and Paradise."
Looks grand! Oh yeah, we also have an interview with the man coming up real soon, so stay tuned for a whole heap more goodness ….
Who: Alex Lehours What: Pandemonium Paradise Where: 153 Greville St, Prahran When: Show opens Friday 12th October from 6pm til 9pm and runs til 30th October
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!
So, something special for you in the lead up to the weekend – a few preview pictures for you before tomorrow nights massive swath of shows all across Melbourne, the highly anticipated Multiple Reality Disorder from Bryan Itch.
This is only a very small slice of some of the fucking magic that we’ve seen shaping up over the past few weeks, as Itch has been slowly but surely creating a huge body of work to fill both rooms at RTIST Gallery.
Master of aerosol, brilliant painter, amazing illustrator. Itch has a way of both viewing the world, as well as visualising it through his art, that allows anyone to tap in to a shared manifold of a hitherto hidden continuum between the real and surreal. This isn’t so much a journey, as it is a black ops invasion of fantasy, fiction and lucid dreaming upon the minds eye.
This show moves amongst a wide variety of avenues, but the central theme of illusion and images within images pervades it – and there is no deviation.
We’ve always loved artwork that involves repurposed artwork, and Itch has carried off this portion of the show with a masterful deftness. Some of our favourites are a mini collection of these repurposed images, like this one below.
There are also quite a few works on wood, filled with various xenofloric life; colourful, enticing and entirely otherworldly.
Then of course, well, then there is the detail. These images are a very small portion of one of the larger pieces in the show – and, well, a photo of this work just couldn’t do it justice - one of our these two images represent perhaps 5% of the entire work. It’s one of our favourites, and when you see it as a whole, you’ll understand what we mean.
There are over thirty works in Itchs show, not counting the walls he’s in the midst of painting. None of these images event cover the lightboxes, or the strangely macabre yet beautiful sculpture we saw – or the fact that almost all of these works have hidden aspects within them. This really is a show with multiple realities to it and, well, there’s some magic amongst it all as well.
And, like any kind of magic, it’s something that must be witnessed, not described.Those of you with glasses? Trade them out for the evening, and wear your contact lenses – trust me.
We’ve had the pleasure of interviewing both Matthew Dunn and Kaitlin Beckett in the past, so when we first hard about their upcoming collaborative show, we were seriously eager to see what they would come up with.
Being absolute nerds at heard, we admit, two fantasy worlds such as those that Dunn and Kaitlin have created individually, smashing into one another in the guise of a global war between man and beast? Holy shit, yes.
"Humanity is no stranger to the concept of war. Nations have battled each other for centuries. But for generations there has been a secret war raging across all corners of the globe. An epic battle between man and beast.
Kaitlin Beckett and Matthew Dunn present artistic documentation of their chosen sides of this conflict in their joint exhibition,VS.
MATTHEW DUNN: Matthew Dunn is a Brunswick-based artist who works across a range of fields including comics, film, album design, and more. His art is heavily influenced by a lifelong fascination with comic books and exploitation-era cinema, as well as the concept of vigilantism throughout time. He is the artist in residence for UK band Crippled Black Phoenix, and is currently working on a film project with US author Kris Saknussem while continuing to work on new comic projects of his own.
KAITLIN BECKETT: Kaitlin Beckett is a Melbourne-based artist, originally from New Zealand. Working with airbrushed inks, acrylics and pastels, she has created a bestiary of curious creatures of the sea, air, land and subconscious. Her art is influenced by the quirks of the natural world, cryptozoology, mythology, anatomy, sci-fi films, and most of all the idea of a dystopian convergence of biology and machinery. Kaitlin works primarily on canvas and paper, though she has recently begun to create sculpted beasts and automata."
Just check out the preview video for a taste of what is going to be up on the walls – awesome.
Yeah, we so can’t fkn wait for this!!! Such. Epic.Shit.
Who:Matthew Dunn & Kaitlin Beckett What: VS Where:Artboy Gallery, 99 Greville St, Prahran, VIC When: Friday 14th September from 6pm til 8:30pm and runs until 21st September.
Invurt webzine provides information on AustralAsian street, urban, illustrative, graffiti and other genre defying, nu-contemporary art to readers around the world. It specialises in events and artists who are working, displaying and visiting Australasia – particularly with a focus on exhibitions, live art and other events the artists are partaking in.
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