Pony Gold.

I Gotta New Crush

And I am crushing hard.

Image from www.jonathanlevinegallery.com Copyright Esao Andrews.

Esao Andrews, Brooklyn based, upcoming first solo show Solid Void at Jonathon Levine in NY, has done work for Baker skateboards and DC and Vertigo Comics, Juxtapoz are diggin'.

And he has a damn cute dog named Soybean.

Image from Esao's blog, by Thomas Prior

Why Brisbane Sucks:

Image from listerart.com.au

Really... It took them only two days to spot it and to get rid of it? I've been looking at the same hideous tags around my suburb--which don't get removed--for such a long time now.
I'd be psyched for a Lister piece.

OK, so it's not a big deal I guess, everyone gets buffed, but it did take him two days and was on private property, which I think is the bone of contention. The work was commissioned by the land owner, created by one of Brisbane's finest and got to with a quickness by the BCC Graffiti Reduction Unit.

Brisbane is a weird city in terms of making me think that a lot of 'enforcement' people, or people employed in sectors like the "Graffiti Reduction Unit", have a fair bit of spare time lying around, and are putting it to kind of questionable use.

In Vino Veritas

Wine and painting. Doesn't get much finer than this.
And lord knows I love nothing better than a good time lapse clip.

Also, Marcelo Daldoce is an awesome illustrator outside of wine: pretty women, buttery water-colours and slick psychedelic typography.
All of it tasting good.

Nec spe, nec metu

I've been digging on Shida's work pretty much since I moved to Brisbane and started recognising it everywhere... so understandably am psyched about this show. He has such a distinct and strong style, sort of like things you've seen somewhere... maybe... but nothing like anything that's currently out there. I get really impressed by artists who have their own definite, unique imagery. And Georg has got a kind of Anthony Lister thing happening, which can only be good right? Which is definitely not to say it's derivative, because his stuff is rad rad rad in its own right.

And as far as I can get it, the show title is translating to 'Without fear or hope" or "Neither fear nor hope"...
Ninelives now til the 24th.

Replacements

Are they still making 'em like they used to?

I'm not so sure.

Ride the Bus

Psyched. 288 pages of teeth-grinding, lip-biting, yes-thank-yous.
David Choe sometimes comes off like an asshole in interviews or the things he says, but I think that's part of his appeal. That, and his kind of intense and dirty style. Juxtapoz recently did a feature issue on him, and it definitely co-erced me into loving the artist-myth he's built up around himself. But again, is the persona behind the artwork even that important? However you feel about him, charmed or appalled, the work he creates can be separated from that.

Fear of the Dark

Photo: http://www.benvenom.com/mixedmedia.html
Copyright Ben Venom

I saw this guy on one of my favourite blogs, my love for you is a stampede of horses, a while back. Metal bands have some of the most whack but cool-in-a-kitschy-way art, and teaming that up with quilting is just too good. And of course, artist Ben Venom is from the dirty south, and his artwork is a commentary on Southern lifestyles and culture.
Which explains why I took a shine to the whole thing.

Precarious Age

A few weeks ago while I was down in Sydney, I stopped in to check out part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney running at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Although on limited time (admittedly, it was a cursory 45min sweep), I did come across one artist whose work I stood in front of, stupefied and close to drooling.

Brooklyn artist Fred Tomaselli does some amazing stuff with collage and resin. Although I'm usually pretty skeptical about collage, as it brings back some ugly memories of cutting up pictures of JTT and various other 90's heart-throbs, Tomaselli's stuff is slick, psychedelic and comes across like an intricately detailed dream. However, web images don't really do his work justice, as the compulsive patterns and the spacey depth created by the resin only really translate up close and in person. Regardless, if it's his California upbringing--something he describes as having an "artificial, immersive, theme park reality"--that informs his work, then I'm taken. Because it looks super, super cool.

Big Raven 2008
Acrylic, photo collage and resin on wood panel © Fred Tomaselli
Photo: Erma Estwick Courtesy Courtesy James Cohan Gallery (New York)

The Biennale runs until the 1st of August, so there's still time to take a simulated acid trip just by looking closely at the Big Raven's eye(s).