1xrun is doing an amazing job of releasing prints that are not only affordable, but outstanding. This week they released a new print by Glenn Barr (featured) and now they just dropped a new print by Charlie Immer. “Jelly Face” is 11″ x 14″ on 330gsm Cotton Paper, signed and numbered in a max edition of 50. As always, each print comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Charlie’s work perfectly rests on the line of “cute and creepy” with the vivid candy colors he uses and the content – which is most often filled with blood, guts, and skeletons – is in a class all it’s own.
Get it here: Charlie Immer @ 1xrun.com
Cedric Laquieze is an artist working out of Amsterdam. He graduated from the Rietveld Academy just last year, and primarily creates sculptures. Very unique ones such as the flower skeleton series seen below. I like the idea that Cedric has taken the idea of taxidermy art, and added a different twist to it. The idea of skeleton is a clear link to death, but with the flowers adorning them the idea seems to be softened. It’s also a stronger connection to life; if we did not go through such trouble to embalm and preserve, the bodies we bury would give way to other life such as flowers. Cedric has many more sculptures, photography and so on over at his blog. Head on over and check it out.
The first time I saw the paintings of Fuca Ueda I was hooked. The color palette, the surreal quality, and the random staining that each of the works have is amazing. I’m surprised her art isn’t in more shows, but there may be a reason for that I haven’t been let in on. I was notified however that she recently opened a solo show at the Aki Gallery in Taiwan alongside Kenichi Yokono who does this killer woodblock inspired works. The new show features 9 new paintings, 2 drawings, and an installation. The drawings are really a mixture of acrylic and graphite, however they have that delicate feel that drawings from such a talented hand can bring. Head on over to the galleries website to see the full show, and then make sure to visit Fuca’s homepage to keep up to date with news.
If you haven’t heard of Kickstarter, here’s a basic rundown: artists, inventors, budding entrepreneurs, etc pitch their idea and offer some incentives for those that donate. Should the project reach the goal they get the funding, and it can even go over the goal and you still get the funding. One example of a great Kickstarter project is Joshua Harker’s “Crania Anatomica Filigre”. He has reached more than full funding for this project, but you can still donate and secure one of these amazing sculptures. Head on over and take a look at the project.
Chris Mars has updated his website with some new artwork, as well as news of upcoming shows and events. After checking out the new work, the next thing you need to do is go to the film/documentary section. There are two videos here showing time-lapse videos of Chris painting. It gives a great insight into how he works; such as the idea that it looks as though he is painting whatever comes to his head with no under-painting or drawing to speak of. I love how effortless the painting process looks in these videos, when the work itself is so intense. It just goes to show how talented he really is. Int he coming months Chris will have some art in some museums, such as Halle St. Pierre Sept 12, 2011 – March 4, 2012, Mesa Contemporary Arts Sept 9 – Sept 30, 2011, and again at Mesa from Sept 9th to Dec 4th, and finally the Museum of Fine Arts in Florida for a show entitled “Cute & Creepy” curated by Carrie Anne Baade opening October 7th. Along with the museum show, you can see some of Chris’ work at galleries such as Cave Gallery, Varnish Fine Art, and Last Rites Gallery. This information is all found on Chris’ homepage.
Over the weekend the Jonathan Levine Gallery opened two solo shows, the one that really caught my attention was the new “Art Army Royalty” by Mike Leavitt. Each one of these figures is based on a member of the art world that could easily be considered royalty, even though I gnash my teeth when thinking of a few of these artists placed in the same perch as the others. Each figure is made with polymer clay and is sat upon a custom made display that also has a metal name tag. I love how each artist is designed in a way that brings their own art into the presentation; this is most prominent with Ai WeiWei, Barbara Kruger, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and Damien Hirst. Head on over and took a look at the entire show, each one of these figures is outstanding.
In anticipation of the upcoming BLABWORLD No. 2 and 3, Copro Gallery opened the 7th Annual “Blab Show” featuring work by many of the best artists working today, such as: Joe Sorren, Ana Bagayan, Shag, Marc Burckhardt, Chet Zar, Martin Wittfooth, R.S. Connett, Laurie Hogin, Sas Christian, Ryan Heshka, Gary Baseman, Owen Smith, Alex Kuno, and many more. Ryan Heshka was not only in the group show, but opened his latest solo exhibition “Strange Powers 2″ at the gallery as well. The great thing about this new show by Heshka, was that along with the paintings he also offered original drawings and sketches, that were used to prepare for the paintings. It was a great way to give the fans an insight into the working process, and show off Ryan’s drawing skills as well.
This past weekend was good for art as some amazing shows opened up. Instead of making a single post talking about all of the shows, I’ll do one post for each of the shows since I have been lax on posting lately. The first show to pop up was at Thinkspace Gallery, and featured a three person show in the main room with work from Aaron Nagel, Jeff Ramirez, and Jennifer Nehrbass. I have been waiting for this show for a while now, and previewed some of the new paintings that Aaron Nagel was working on a while back. The three artists fit very well with each other, and I am excited to see more artists creating work that is not only figurative in nature, but also a new wave of “realists”. In the project room Lindsay Carr opened her debut US solo show entitled “Homage to Canton”. I have been a fan of her work for a while now, and am happy to see her work taking more interest in galleries. It’s a very strong series, and not only shows how skilled she is, but also how consistent. Take a look at the preview images and then head over to the galleries site for both shows.
1xRun is getting to drop a new limited edition print by Glenn Barr. I’m always happy to see new prints from Glenn Barr, and this one is a print that fans should not pass up. Not only only is this print a very generous size coming in at 18″ x 22″, but the giclee print also has a screen-printed addition to it as well (the Episode 9) area. Along with the print you get a copy of the latest edition of HEEP, which has been out of print for the past 11 years. HEEP #4 is a 16 page book filled with drawings by Glenn. The print is limited to a max edition of 75.
On September 1st a group show entitled “High Class Lowbrow” opened at the Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, CA. The show is curated by Chris “The Creep” Densmore, and is inspired by the Lowbrow Art Movement. This scene – once subversive and filled with monsters and pin-up style girls – has changed over the years adapted new styles of art, younger and tamer artists, and has been referred to as anything buy “Lowbrow”. Under the surface is still a group of artists, and fans that love the gritty, often grotesque art that started it all. This show features work by Dave Burke, The Creep, Peter Adamyan, Eric Ortiz, Rick “Dienzo” Blanco, Sara Ray, Eric Pigors, and more.
Opening this Friday, September 9th is a new group show from Cave Gallery entitled “Dig For Fire”. The show features art from an impressive list of artists all drawing inspiration from The Pixies. Work from Allison Sommers, Annie Owens, Ben Kehoe, Casey Weldon, Chris Berens, Chris Mars, Craww, Eatcho, Jennybird Alcantra, Kathleen Lolley, Luke Chueh, Macsorro, Ojimbo (featured), Robert Hardgrave, Shaunna Peterson, Tom Haubrick, and more. If your in the area make sure to stop by, the show is up until October 8th. This is a good chance to see some amazing work in person, such as the submissions by Allison Sommers, Chris Berens, and Ojimbo all seen below.
I would like to introduce the latest sponsor for the Creep Machine, 5 Pieces Gallery located in Berne, Switzerland. The gallery opened in December 2010, and focuses on young contemporary art in the mediums of painting, drawing, prints, and photography. The galleries goal is to be the worlds number one gallery when it comes to contemporary art. If you head on over to the site you will see work available by Brett Amory, Winston Chmielinski (featured), Anthony Lister, Michael Mararian, Aaron Nagel, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and many more.
Check it out: 5piecesgallery.com
