If you haven’t done so already, head on over and check out the Creep Machine Facebook page. Along with news featured on the site here, we also feature print releases, studio visits, and news from a wide variety of art sites. There are also random contests such as the one going on right now, in which fans can win a limited edition canvas print by Chris Peters (shown below).
A new has started and a new round of featured artists has begun, and to kick of the new year we have Marco Mazzoni as the featured artist for January. Marco creates these beautiful colored pencil portraits, and we even have a short interview with him. I would also like the think last months featured artist Edward Cao who can now be found in the archive. Head on over and check out the work of Marco Mazzoni.
1xrun has just released a new time limited print by Allison Sommers entitled Reliquary. The print is 14.5″ x 12.5″, signed and numbered in a max edition of 50. Allison is a mastermind when it comes to gouache, a medium that many find very difficult to work with. I have been able to see her work in person a few times now, and the level of detail, colors, and consistency in her work is truly remarkable.
I recently met Zoe Williams when she came to my lecture in New York this Fall. I’d initially discovered her fuzzy-surreal rabbit relief sculptures months prior, and was very excited to meet her in person! Newly moved to Gotham from Seattle, she has been spending a lot of time meeting all the local characters in the scene as well as finding more spots for her soft and witty artwork. At this very moment, you can catch her work in The Matryoshka Show, curated by Michael Alm at Ghost Gallery in Seattle until January 8, or in Roq La Rue’s Lush Life 3 until January 6th. Coming up in February, her sculpture “Gold Rhino” can be viewed on the other side of the country in Hey Beautiful! at Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn from February 1 – February 25 with an opening reception on Feb. 2 6-9pm.
Gold Rhino
Crane, Egret and Ibis
Seven Red Eyes
Genesis/Deconstruction
Antlers
Parallax III
One of the most amazing about the internet, is the ability to connect with people from all over the world. After just a few short years, I was blown away to learn the Creep Machine is visited by people from over 130 countries around the world. Quite an amazing feat by someone who at one time knew nothing about websites, and how to gain a wider audience. The power of the internet was that someone, like myself, was able to start a website and share what inspired me, in this case art. I try to keep politics away from this site, as they are often depressing to no end, and I like the idea that the Creep can be a place to enjoy art and share the creations of others. Every year some politician creates a bill that threatens the freedom of the internet, the most recent one is something I feel I needed to share.
This week the SOPA or Stop Online Piracy Act is making its way around and could very well be passed. The intention of this bill is to curb the amount of online piracy that is going on. I personally believe this specific issue would entail coming up with new ideas of how to share digital information, and even consider that many forms of entertainment are simply too expensive, and the the temptation is too high to resist sometimes. It’s only recently that may labels have begun to reduce the price of cd’s, even though the price of the technology has gone down considerably. With SOPA, any site that features copy-written material could be shut down. Now I am all for the idea of protecting the copyright of art, music, and film, however this includes sites like Youtube in which a group of youngsters uses a famous song to dance to, or an up and coming artist covers a famous song. Even closer to home, what if a big name artist or gallery decides they don’t like an art blog sharing images from a recent exhibition. There is no conclusive proof that things could go this way, but the threat is real enough that companies like Google, Microsoft, and even Wikipedia are fighting it. Wikipedia is even considering a blackout that would shut the site down for a day or so (source), and considering the site gets more than 2.7 billion views per month it’s a big message.
When recordable tapes came along the music industry cried the sky was falling down, it didn’t. It also didn’t come crashing down when recordable cd’s or the mp3 player and mp3′s as whole came around. Piracy will always be there, but it can be curbed. The more important question is if this is the right way to do it. If you think this is the wrong way to go about it, and that the way we see and view the internet is being threatened, make your voice known. Boing-Boing recently posted some more information on the bill with some ways you can help, and there is even a dedicated forum over at Reddit.com that will give you more information and steps to take (here). Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian even posted a video talking about how Reddit, a site that gets more than 30 million unique visitors per month, could never have been created with SOPA in place (here).
New ideas and solutions will bring us forward. As Albert Einstein once said “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson
I would like to introduce a new sponsor to the site, artist Bjorn Bauer. An artist working out of Oklahoma, Bjorn is also an art teacher at a high school. His art is inspired by life and world we live in, and all the feeling associated. Bjorn works in a variety of mediums, oils, acrylics, screen prints, and has a shop filled with prints that have been a good amount of attention lately. Head on over to Bjorn’s homepage to see more work as well as the work available in the shop.
The site rarely takes on sponsors, but the sponsorship allows for me to hold contests and giveaway art. I appreciate all of my readers and hope the next few years will become even more exciting here on the Creep Machine. If you haven’t done so, head on over to the Facebook Group (scroll down) to enter a current contest we have going, a print by Chris Peters is up for grabs.
There’s not yet been much critical writing published about this century’s newly prevalent Urban Art. Yet. The genre has been gaining respect in recent years because its most important artists do much much more than tag walls and cars, and cannot be dismissed as being simplistic mark-makers. With their work they are tackling social, political and environmental issues in the very backyards of those places that they hope to change, and they are doing it with intelligence and powerful imagery that has always made waves in the arts.
One such artist is Stephan Doitschinoff (aka Calma) whose work is rife with symbols and text that explore the depths of the human condition in a multitude of ways. Stephan’s art concepts originate from his explorations of religion and faith, and address sociopolitical issues that are not only prevalent in his home base of Brazil, but in the world-wide. He indeed paints much of his work on city walls, however his installations in existing or specially-created religious structures transcend the American definition of simple Urban or Street Art by addressing society from its spiritual nodes.
If you will be in New York this month, his newest works will be on view at Jonathan Levine Gallery starting tonight, December 10th, 2011, in an exhibit entitled Novo Asceticismo (New Asceticsm). To quote the gallery’s press release:
In Novo Asceticismo (New Asceticsm), [Stephan Doitschinoff] reflects on the sacrifice and deprivation necessary for modern man to live purely, without feeling alienated or falling into vices, mental traps and social conditioning of contemporary society. He explores concepts constituting new forms of practicing austerity in regards to self-discipline in manners of sexuality and the body as well as contemporary Shamanism. The work is permeated by themes of Asceticsm, redefined to reflect political issues of our times.
While Calma’s art works well in any environment, I’m a little skeptical that its impact will be the same in a commercial white box as on the streets of Brazil. That’s not to say that I won’t be moved by this exhibition. Don’t miss it!
The end of the year is drawing near, and I wanted to get one more featured artist of the month in and help get that section rolling again. I want to thank the many artists featured in October’s Halloween feature, and also welcome this months artist Edward Cao. We have a short interview with Edward and a 25 images. Click here or the image below to check out the feature.
To continue the conversation that Josh started in his earlier post on Shepard Fairey’s “Occupy Hope”, I thought I’d let you know about the art-minded support Molly Crabapple has been lending to Occupy Wall Street in New York City since the movement began. Many of the sketches she has been doing have been available for free for protesters to print out for use in the crowds. She has also been donating a portion of the money from the sales of prints of these artworks to the Occupy Wall Street cause. Check out her website, mollycrabapple.com, for recent information on the prints below (some are no longer available – they go fast).
The image below can be purchased through Occuprint.org where many other Occupy artworks are available:
New York artist David Hochbaum‘s alchemical works, based around his personal twists of antique myths, are simultaneously unsettling and consoling. David’s photo collages are rife with repeating symbols that are weighty, almost anthropomorphic with personalities of their own, and arranged with highly skilled stagecraft. They are deceivingly easy to lock onto; to sympathize with what story unfolds on his picture-planes.
David recently began offering a limited edition book set that showcases three seperate bodies of his recent photo collage work: Creatures of the Sea and Sky, Kaiden Shu, and Large Format Polaroids. In addition to images of his artworks, these precious 5″x7″ books each contain one limited edition, 5″ x 7″ silkscreen mystery print on watercolor paper, all contained within a numbered, handmade, custom-printed sleeve.
These sets are available only through the artist directly. You can find more information about David’s artwork and the box set on his website. To inquire about purchasing, you can email him directly.
Travis Louie will be opening an exhibit of new paintings at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles this coming November 12. Travis got the idea for this show of people with their extravagant pets a few years ago when he spied a book on tarantulas in a pet store. For those of you who know Travis’s work well, you’ll likely understand why the image of the book’s author in the back, proudly displaying his blue ribboned tarantula whilst donning a dapper blue tuxedo, inspired an entire exhibit of work. This exuberant-looking author was quite a character!
Don’t fret, Travis is still depicting Victorian-era portraits; there will be no leisure suits in this show. Perhaps you will see a fly with people eyes or a giant truthsayer toad…but I’m not allowed to confirm any of that.
Curious Pets will be on view from November 12 – December 10, 2011 with an opening reception on Saturday, November 12, 8-11pm. Travis is extremely excited about this exhibition. If you live in Los Angeles, don’t miss it!
It’s that time again, and one of my favorite times of the year. It’s October and this means Halloween is just around the corner. This is the month you can spend your nights watching horror movies, which I do all year long anyway, as well as appreciate all of the horror and dark art that is created. This months feature has some outstanding art from some of the best artists out there: Sarah Joncas, Jay Doronio, Tom Bagshaw, Gary Pullin, Nikko Hurtado, Leilani Bustamante, Larkin, Jackie Gallagher, Dan Harding, Ryan Heshka, Jason Levesque, Ojimbo, R.S. Connett, Charlie Immer, Akira Beard, John Cebollero, Craig larotonda, Christopher Ulrich, and XNO. Click the image to go to the feature and have a great October!
