SPECTRUM

I found out several months ago that a few of my pieces were going to be included in the latest edition of Spectrum, but since then I had been wondering how they going to be layed out, given my long vertical compositions. I was afraid that they would be crunched down to half a page and the detail would be lost. When I received my copy of Spectrum 17 in the mail last week I was happy to see that not only were the images printed full page size, but they were also bundled together in a little spread (along with a nice piece by Ching Cia Ee).

As usual the book is loaded with amazing work, with a nice mix of styles and mediums. There is also a nice balance of representation between Spectrum regulars and new comers. Throw in a great piece by Fearless and you have a really nice art book.

DYSTOPIC (ventilate)

Michael at Ventilate asked me to be part of their latest poster series. Ventilate had featured some of my work a few months back and their site is great (check it out), so I was more than happy to say yes and work with them. When I found out that the theme of the series was "dystopia" I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. I had worked on a number of dystopic projects over the last few years and I was kind of tied of the whole genre. But I soon got over that, really enjoyed creating the piece and was pretty happy with the end result.

The geometric forms in this work, that represent the ideas of intolerance, discrimination, and conformity, have taken on the form of a cityscape. This city, with its monotonous forms and dull, limited palette is meant to portray a dystopian society, perhaps one that has become violently egalitarian. The cosmonaut represents the non-conformist (the artist, the magician, the outsider), unable and unwilling to submit to the limited regime of the majority. His mind remains high above, "in the clouds", holding on to the fragments of a life now lost. But he nurtures and cradles a hope (here displayed as a sage plant), a hope for a better and more fulfilling future.

This poster is available for free download, at print resolution (24"x 36" @300 dpi), at the Ventilate website.

Thanks to Michael Brown, and everyone at Ventilate for inviting me to be a part of this project.

CARNE MAGAZINE

I was invited to contribute a few pieces to the current issue of Carne Magazine. Carne is an online visual arts magazine based out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every issue is packed with a great selection of photography, design, illustration, street art, etc. by artists from all over the world. It is definitely worth checking out. Download Issue #6 here.

I had to crop a number of pieces as the template of the magazine didn't really work well with the aspect ratios of my work, but I think in the end it turned out well, and gave the images a new perspective.

Thanks to Ignacio Sauri Torres for inviting me to be part of this issue.

AVANTGARDE/STROKE.03

Here are a few pictures from the Avantgarde Digital Exibition at the Stroke .03 Urban Art Fair in Berlin that I contributed a few pieces to. I wasn't able to attend but apparently the show was a great success with a host of amazing artists, over 8000 visitors over the 4 days (Oct 7th-10th), and a lot of media attention.

Thanks to Marco Schawlbe for offering me a spot in the exhibit and to everybody that helped put the show together!

ARARITA

This is one that I've had in my head for awhile. Using the orbs in a planetary formation, with a large orb representing the sun surrounded by smaller orbs representing the planets, is something that I've wanted to do since the beginning of this project. I've focused on the seven "traditional" planets as these correspond to the seven points (six exterior points and one in the center), of the Hexagram, although I've also placed Uranus and Neptune in the distance. The character is the Earth (with the Moon orbiting his helmet), and more specifically mankind as a whole, the qabalistic Adam Qadmon. He represents our unique position in, and our relationship to the rest of the solar system/universe. That he is solitary refers to the fact in some ways we are all alone....and that we are all human, all related, that we are all one.

The title ARARITA is a qabalistic name of god formed by a notariqon of the Hebrew phrase "achad resh achdotho resh yechodo temurahzo achad" or "One is His beginning, One is His individuality, His permutation is One", and speaks to the unitary nature of the divine. In the tradition of the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn the name ARARITA is used in the Rituals of the Hexagram, with each of it's seven letters assigned to one of the planets.

Higher res. and detail here.

AIRHOLE

Here are a few images I created for Airhole's 2010 facemask line. These pieces were for the "Aviator Series", and I guess they figured that I would be good for the job given my apparent love for helmets, cables, wires, hoses etc. Anyways, these were a lot of fun and they should be hitting the shelves in the fall (if they aren't already!).

STROKE.03

I've been invited to take part in the next installment of the Stroke Urban Art Fair. Stroke.03 will take place in Berlin from October 7th to the 10th in Hall 5 Station-Berlin. From looking at the previous installments of Stroke, it looks like it will a great show, with wide range of art, including street art, poster art, paintings, videos etc. Some of my work will be included in a new aspect of the show that features digital art. For more info check out the Stroke.03 website here.

ENTANGLED

Here is one I squeezed in between a couple of side projects. The title is reference to my own feelings, and position towards this project as of late. I would love to spend more time on it, emmerse myself in it, make it better, but a busy life prevents me from doing so.

All the orbs represent different aspects of my life (which I won't go into here), which entangle me, and compete for precious time. Some of these aspects are good, some bad, and a few are much more important than my digital scribblings, but they pull me away regardless.

I don't know why the figure is female...maybe my anima is surfacing...

Details and higher res. images here.

FLICKR

I've created a Flickr page to post higher quality images, along with more details. This will help address Blogger's short comings and hopefully give me more control over how my work is viewed (and spread around the Internet).

Moving forward all the details of the pieces posted on this blog will be posted on this Flickr page.

Check it out here.

HIGH 5 VIDS

Here are a couple of videos featuring the Endeavor High 5 board that features the Hexagram images from my Entartete Kunst series. The first is a product knowledge video produced for Endeavor by Randy Ross. The product shots look amazing and I don't look like a total fool (I hate being on camera)......You can find it here or on the Endeavor website.

The second vid is from Snowboard Review.com at their 2010 Snowboard Test. From the print review:

"This was the last board which I tested at the 2010 UK board test and it was so nice to finish off with a traditional cambered twin which had, in our opinion, the best graphics of any board at the test. The topsheet was basically made up of Endeavor's 'Cosmonaut" graphic which was beautifully printed and the base shared the same burnt orange colour with very detailed Space-odyssey style sci-fi space 'things' painted on it. The cost of such elaborate artwork cannot have been cheap and this board looked so good I was desperate for it to work for me on the hill. Fortunately, I was not to be disappointed."

Check the video here.

THE TOWER

I'd had been picking away at this one on and off for awhile, but spent the last few nights finishing it off before I lost all interest in it. Now that it is done(?), I think I'm pretty happy with now it turned out.

The title "The Tower" is a reference to 16th card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and represents the breaking down of established forms to make way for new forms to emerge, divine energy descending from a higher reality, or in the case of Yeats, the location in which the descending lightning of daimonic inspiration is received. The large angular figure takes the place of the tower while the other figure, bracing himself to receive this energy, represents the artist, magician, poet, etc. hoping that his soul will be transformed by the creatively destructive gift of daimonic inspiration.

STATE OF THE ART

Here are a few pics of my wall at the State of the Art exhibit that ran for a week up in Whistler. The show was good, with some great work by some really talented artists, and it was nice to hang out with some old friends before the heading over to the opening party.

Thanks to Kassia O'Connor for organizing the event, Max Jenke for giving me a spot at the show, and to Richard Alm for doing a great job with the giclees!

Photos courtesy of WSSF.

DRIFTING (Apologies to Charlie Harper)

Here is one I started awhile back and just got around to finishing. This one grew out of a period of low energy. The whole family was ill (those kids can bring home a lot of germs, and I seemed to catch every bug brought into the city during the Olympics), it was pissing rain day after day, I was pretty busy at work, and was just run down. The form, the mood, the palette and the title sum up my mental, emotional, and physical state at the time.

The subtitle is a reference to Cincinnati based artist Charlie Harper (1922-2007). My wife introduced me to his work last summer, and his minimalist style really appealed to my own graphic sensibilities. As a gift to her I bought her this wonderful book by Todd Oldham that collected a large selection of of Charlie Harper's work. I went through the book, cover to cover, numerous times. I hadn't looked at the book for a few months, but as I was finishing this piece I happened to be flipping through the book, and to my surprise I looked down and saw almost the very same image on the page. I didn't recall this image from the book at the time, but it must have bored it's way into my subconscious. It is humbling to realize how derivable your ideas are. Maybe one day I'll have an original idea.

I've included the Charlie Harper image (from the Giant Golden Book of Biology, 1961),with the detail. Enjoy.

STATE OF THE ART

I've been invited to be part of the State of the Art exhibit up in Whistler again. Last year was a lot of fun and I think a number of the artists that participated in the exhibit last year are returning this year, so it should be a good show. The show starts on April 18th and runs for a week at the Whistler Conference Center. If you are in or around Whistler that week you should come and check it out.