This contorted gif art by Francoise Gamma is a weird wonder. Captivating to watch in silence or some string violin. Check out more human deformations on his website gallery.

As regular readers know myself and Mush recently graduated from University. This short time between education and employment has enabled us to take a bit of time out to travel and try new things. With Mush jetting off to Oslo, I found myself touring the country from Cornwall to Scotland.

One of the first sights I saw on my trip was the Turner prize-winner Martin Creed’s  installation at the Tate St Ives entitled Half The Air In A Given Space, this playful piece saw the Tate’s sea-facing gallery filled with hundreds of ballons with the artist inviting visitors to interact with the work.

The Expressionist is a short film from Intel’s highly impressive Visual Life series.

In this documentary, designer and co-founder of Wolff Olins Agency, Michael Wolff explans  how “Seeing is a muscual exercise” and goes on to give us his thoughts behind the idea that curiosity, appreciation, and imagination are all important “Musles”.

Megunica is the latest film from director Loremzo Fonda  which documents his travels with Italian street artist  Blu and their two friends as they make their way across South America through Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Argentina (hence the acronym Megunica).

From the outset, the aim of the film was to capture how different cultures and lifestyles would inspire Blu’s work.

While filming Blu paint the crew meet a host of colourful locals, tour guides and artists.

With the characters we meet along the way often having their own stories to tell, the completely unscripted film ends up being a blend between a road-trip and a cultural exchange movie which you can watch in it’s entirety for free right HERE

Last friday the stright talking illustrator Richard Sayer (aka French) got into a bit of a squabble with one of his customers from the United States through an exchange of emails.

I guess as a way of venting his anger, Richard decided to publish the emails on his blog. I truly believe that recording  thoughts and feelings is the greatest use of blogger (which is essentially an online diary anyway), so it’s refreshing to see an artist use there blog in this way and not just as another platform to promote and sell  work.

We applaud French for not holding back and hope that other artists follow suit.  

Below I have re-posted the conversation between the artist and customer but I suggest you head over to the funeral french BLOG and check out the original post as well as the comments.

Our favorite comment comes from British illustrator Dave The Chimp who explans how much work goes into sending out prints that customers have paid pennies for - ”I’d like to send him an envelop full of razor blades”.

Its always flattering when some one buys a print from my site and I think, thats seriously cool, they must be a like minded person, reasonable and interested in having a piece of my art. Rad!!!

Here’s a great email conversation for you:

— On Thu, 4/14/11, Jake Williams wrote:

From: Jake Williams
Subject: Plague Doctors order
To: funeralfrench@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 4:31 PM

I ordered the Plague Doctors print from you on March 22. I have yet to hear anything regarding this order. Has it been shipped? If I don’t hear from you in 24 hours, I’ll assume that you’re bullshit and begin the dispute process through Paypal.

Jake Williams

—

On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 2:08 AM, “French” (Richard Sayer) wrote:
Hey Jake,

I mailed your item on the 27th March, as I do all the mail on mondays. It’s gone to this address:

xxxx
xxxxx
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
United States

It can take 2 weeks or more sometimes to get to an address as far away as you in the states. Maybe chill, relax, have a cuppa and put your feet up. If it doesn’t come in the next 7 days, drop me and an email and we can work out what you wanna do.

Cheers for the rude email.

french

—

From: Jake Williams

I guess you’re new to how things work on the internet. Let me inform you. When a buyer purchases an item from a seller, the seller provides confirmation that the item has been shipped. The buyer doesn’t need to request this because it is assumed. Clearly you’re unaware of this because you are new to the internet. That’s fine. Hopefully you’ll learn. Allow me to continue. The buyer always sends the item withsome sort of tracking. This practice has two benefits: 1) The buyer can track where the package is, and 2) The seller has proof that the package has been delivered. You see, if you don’t send it with tracking, as I’m assuming you didn’t, what is stop me from receiving the package and then claiming I never received it?

A PayPal dispute has been opened. Check your PayPal account.

—

I couldn’t be arse with this nobhead, so I refunded him. I hope he gets the print soon and every time he looks at it he can realise he’s a massive twat.

Danish artist Armsrock is currently working on a new site specific street art project which aims to change the urban landscape of Copenhagen.

The artists non-permanent works are created using Dia slide projections, this means that once the artist moves on, the images are gone. Seems to us like an incredibly ethical way of practicing street art.

Here are a couple of released images from the relocating architecture project. To find out more you can visit the artists official Blogger page HERE

All this week the good folks at the Creative Review will be offering blog readers a chance to grab a half price magazine subscription in order to raise money for Comic Relief.

The offer includes 12 issues of the Creative Review Magazine plus Monograph and accsess to the Creative Review’s online archive, all for £35 (90% of the proceeds go to Comic Relief, with the remaining 10% used to cover selling costs)

After being announced yesterday, the first load subscriptions sold out within one minute. For those of you who missed the offer, the Creative Review blog has promised to add more half price subscriptions over the next few days.

Keep an eye on further announcementsHERE

Cage One is a Bradford based veteran street artist who’s been painting since 1987. His paintings have taken many forms over the years with his current work  evolving into a purely abstract style, based on the decaying urban landscape. Here are a few street pieces which have been completed recently:

The artist has also taken his new direction into his studio work and has added some original Ink and Aerosol paintings to his online store (pictured below), which are available now for £80 each. To find out more you can visit his official site HERE

We interviewed Cage One a couple of years ago, you can find the artical HERE

In the wake of the devastating earthquake which hit Haiti on the 12th of January 2010, 1.8 million people were left homeless. In an attempt to raise money for the relief efforts artists Robert Ryan has designed a beautiful and touching print entitled “For Haiti”.

The print reads:

“We are all part of each other and this is my promise, I won’t pass you by and I won’t ignore you and look the other way but I’ll help you build your nest again. This is my promise”

100% of the profit from every print sold will go to the Haiti earthquake appeal, with artists hoping to raise £37,200. Prints come in an edition of 200 and are priced at £200 each. For more information please visit the artists offical site Here

Today Radiohead announced the release of their 8th studio album, The King of Limbs. Here’s the official video from the albums first single “Lotus Flower” featuring a warm creeping bass, a loose drum beat and as always, beautiful vocals.

To coinside with the albums release Stanley Donwood, the bands official artist, is holding a solo exhibition entitled “Work On Paper” at The Outsiders gallery in Soho. The exhibition features rare print editions, originals and brand new screen prints. Here’s what the artist had to say about the show:

“Work on paper, I thought… work on paper. The forthcoming show at Mr Lazarides’ earliest gallery acquisition, once an emporium of sadomasochistic paraphenalia called ‘Swish’ and now a sort of shop-cum-gallery called ‘The Outsiders’ is to be an exhibition of various marks that I’ve made on paper. And the thing is, I’m not actually in my studio, but in a kind of no-man’s-land in the crumbling edifice that houses it… It’s at times like this that I wonder why I didn’t listen to my teachers when I was younger, why I laughed at those careers-advice people.”

The exhibition will run until the 12th of march, for more information check out the official gallery websiteHERE

Today marks the release of one of the most intriguing prints previewed in the Pictures On Walls winter catalogue, “Sing It Agian” by ARYZ.

ARYZ is a  22 year old student from Cardedeu, a small town near Barcelona. Although still currently studying at collage, ARYZ seems to have already found a trademark style with his first print release showing real maturity. We can’t wait to see his future offerings.

Here’s a quick look at the artist in action (in the white t-shirt):

“Sing It Agian” is a three colour silkscreen print, made in edition of 100 and is priced at £90. For more information please visit the POW website HERE

Tom Fruin is a 36 year old American artist who was born in Los Angeles but now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Often using recycled or discarded objects in his artwork, Tom’s latest street sculpture project entitled “Kolonihavehus” incorporates hundreds of pieces of recycled plexiglass and steel that have been hand cut to create an inspiring church like green house, casting light and shadows across the plaza of the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen.

In order to breath life into the sculpture, Kolonihavehus features light design by Nuno Neto and sound installation by Astrid Lomholt. As well as this local dance, theatre and poetry groups are set to perform around the piece based on the theme of the concrete poetry by Danish poet Vagn Steen.

Tom is set to exhibit across Europe this year including cities such as Vienna (Austria), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Geneva (Switzerland). To see more of his work please visit his websiteHERE

Critics are already calling her one of the greatest street photographers of the 20th century. Here’s the amazing story of how former estate agent John Maloof discovered the extraordinary work of Vivian Maier

Here’s a fantastic film from Ovation TV’s Art or Not series. In this video we hear the views of  Mat Gleason, art critic and author of the book “Most Art Sucks” who was dubbed “the National Enquirer of the Art World” by the New York Post.

What I love about Mat is how incisive he is, whether it’s his recognition of our fast food culture and how that translates to the current state of the art world: “We live in a culture of immediacy, we want it delivered to us right now, we want the answer” or his comparisons to the art industry and other industries such as film and music: ”The art world is full of people who try to get real cleaver in order to have real quick success it’s like when one movie’s popular all of a sudden there’s a bunch of knock-off’s”

All this leads to some well thought out opinions of artists he likes, dislikes and in some cases absolutely hates. Whether you love him or hate him this short film is well worth a watch:

It is predicted that today will be the busiest shopping day of the year with credit company Visa predicting a £1.2 billion spend by UK shoppers. So as is the tradition at this time of year, there have been a bucket load of new products unleashed on the consumer buying public, tempting you to part with your hard earned cash. Here’s a quick post containing three of the best books  released this holiday season.

Dran – I Love My World

Here’s the new promo video for “I Love My World”, the 6th book by French artist Dran.

A great looking publication featuring satirical parody’s of everyday life in the form of beautiful illustrations. It’s no wonder why Pictures On Walls have giving the artist so much attention recently.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGPqW9hBqmk

The book is available now through http://www.editionpopulaire.com/blog/ priced at £15

Rop Van Mierlo – Wild Animals

“Wild Animals” is the new book by Rop Van Mierlo. Featuring 14 water colour animals in 40 pages. Here’s how the artist describes his latest work:

“The Snake rattles, the Lion yawns and man makes a book. A wild book for civilized people. a sophisticated book for wild people. A beautiful book with wild animals for civilized people. a book with beautiful animals for wild people”

Wild Animals is available now through Rop’s Website, priced at € 30.

Phlegm – Issue 10

Phlegm latest comic has been available for a couple of weeks now and is arguably his best self-publication to date. Featuring a three colour screen printed cover and 20 litho printed pages, the book has been made in an edition of 1000 and is a steal at £3.

Also for a limited time you pick up issues 7-10 of phlegm for £10 with each issue hand wrapped in a screen print!

For more infomation check out his official web Here

Sheffield City Scape, £60 – 35cm x 100cm. Edition of 60

If, like me, you’ve left your Christmas shopping to the very last minuet this year and are still wanting to buy a loved one something special, you’ll be pleased to know that Sheffield’s own art terrorist Kid Acne has released a set of very affordable prints this week with the A.P.G gallery. The four prints released feature two brand new designs and two re-issues made in a half scale format.

As you can see there is an evident northern influence in Acne’s latest body of work, depicting northern heritage, culture and landscape. Although we love all his work, our Current favorite  is Acne’s depiction of the Sheffield city scape, featuring all the famous landmarks from the steal city in a beautiful panoramic print.

For more information on the work you can visit the Acne Blog HERE

Helsinki Girl (2nd Edition) £60 – 50cm x 70cm. Edition of 30.

Knife & Forkshire, £50 – 35cm x 50cm. Edition of 50

Strong & Northen (2nd edition) £45 – 35cm x 50cm. Edition of 100

Metropolis 2 is the latest installation piece by Chris Burden. The genius large scale kenetic sculpture is currently being constructed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and will feature 1200 Hot Wheels cars.

Amazing to watch and what every little boy will be asking for this Christmas.

Here is some absolutely stunning work from mix media artist Gabriel Dawe, taken from his latest site specific installation at the Dallas Contemporary. As you can see the large scale pieces shown are aesthetically beautiful featuring bold yet gentle colours with some interesting geometric patterns woven and twisted to stunning effect.

We only wish is that Gabriel could exhibits these pieces in the UK so that we may have the opportunity to experience the installation in person, but in the mean time you can keep informed of his works through his Website HERE

Here’s a little bit more background on the artist taken from his Biography:

“Gabriel Dawe was born in Mexico City where he grew up surrounded by the intensity and color of Mexican culture. After working as a graphic designer, he moved to Montreal, Canada in 2000 following a desire to explore foreign land. In search for creative freedom he started experimenting and creating artwork, which eventually led him to explore textiles and embroidery—activities traditionally associated with women and which were forbidden for a boy growing up in Mexico. Because of this, his work is subversive of notions of masculinity and machismo that are so ingrained in his culture. By working with thread and textiles, Dawe’s work has evolved into creating large-scale installations with thread, creating environments that deal with notions of social constructions and their relation to evolutionary theory and the self-organizing force of nature.”

Plexus no. 4

Plexus no. 3

To see more work from the exhibition please vist the artists website HERE

In his third book in as many months, Ian Stevenson aims to tackle large and often confusing subject of the art industry in the signature style we’ve all come to love. The book is  a mature take on an intresting subject as the artist internally critiques an industry he currently operates in, with insightful opinions and messages that come across in way that can only make you smile. 

Now That”s What I Call Art is Lithograph printed and features 48 pages of twisted Art goodness.  Available now through Pictures On Walls for £5. Bargain!

Phlegms large scale and intricate street art has taken many forms over the years. From full colour wall murals to black and white illustrations, with his current pieces looking like they’ve jumped straight from the pages of his sketchbooks on to the walls of South Yorkshire.

But aside from being one of the most talked about street artists of  this year, with work featuring on the Wooster Collective, Concrete Hermit and Vandalog to name a few, Phlegm holds a true passion for comic book publication and one could argue that he’s an illustrator, first and foremost.

Having recently declared that he’ll be turning his back on the exhibition circuit for good in order to focus on new projects, Pejhy decided to catch up with the artist for a rare interview in order to gain an insight into some of the themes behind his work, his current methods and his views on the art industry.

When speaking to artists and galleries in Sheffield I found that you had a reputation for being quite a private artist. Gaining the respect of the local artists by exhibiting only when it feels right to you and then only on your terms. What are your thoughts behind exhibiting? Are you against your art being used a source of entertainment?

I’ve done a few small shows in the past but last year I decided to I stop exhibiting altogether, even in group shows. I have a love hate relationship with what I do.

Working on walls instead of canvass and making books instead of doing shows cuts out all the crap. It puts my work in the world for people to take it or leave it, with no brands or gallery reputations attached. Too many artists these days just don’t seem driven by ideas and a burning desire to follow a body of work. It’s just constant spamming, networking and hype. For me the work is way more important than getting somewhere with it.

One aspect of your work I really admire is your mock advertisements, highlighting the naivety of consumers and the way businesses manipulate us into believing we need there products to be happy. How do you feel as a consumer yourself?

I try and just keep away from it all; apart from buying paint and ink I really don’t need anything. Most of the time I find it funny like I’m walking around in a Douglas Adams novel.

I love the fact that you can advertise a shoe with a special heel that tones your arse and that people will buy that rather than exercise properly. That you can buy face creams that cost huge sums of money because they have some extract from a herb that flowers once a year on a full moon or some shit…like we can force back the ageing process with this 0.00001% extract.

Your recent time lapse video has been well received around the web, featuring on many blogs (including this one). Why do you think more and more artists, street artists in particular, are using the medium of film to show their work?

I think for artists that work in an ephemeral and spontaneous way video has become a great outlet these days. It shows the speed and freedom that makes this kind of art what it is.

You regularly blog you work in progress and keep your site updated with recent work and show previews of up and coming comics. As an artist working today do you think it’s important to have an online presence?

My blog is for me really, I see it as a diary. I update every week and it keeps me on my toes, helping keep lulls and burnouts at bay…helps me keep my pace. I’m not sure if I can say it’s important for all artists, I can only speak for myself really. It seems that having an online presence is important whether you’re an artist or not these days so I guess it must be important.I don’t mind updating one thing every week for anyone out there interested.

Some people have Myspace, Facebook, twitter, a blog, a website, a flickr account… I think at some point you must have to take a day off to do some artwork… so yeah it’s important but I think it can easily be detrimental as an artist or just as a person too.

Your last comic publication, issue 9: the sketchbook issue was unique in that it showed the reader how one of your works would evolve over time. It seemed like quite a personal issue. What made you want to publish a comic of your work in progress?

To honest it was just knocked together because I didn’t really have time to do another issue at the time. I was working on a bigger long term book project.

I produce huge amounts of sketchbooks; I have shelves full of them. I think I’m always looking for ways to use them in some way. The old issues of my comic from one to five had sections of sketchy Shrigley style drawings all of which I used to scan from my notebooks.

I recently purchased a comic on your recommendation, “Funeral” by Barnaby Richards which was absolutely beautiful. What other comics can you recommend?

I love Chris ware and Tom Gauld. Lesser known artists like Mark Beyer too. I like a lot of outsider art like Henry Dargers mad journals or the books of insane flying machines drawn by Charles Dellschau.

I don’t read a great deal of stuff because I don’t like being influenced. Every now and then I’ll treat myself though.

Is it true you’re currently working on your first book? What other projects do you have lined up for the future?

Yes I figured that if I’m rejecting gallery work I need to look at taking my self publishing to another level. I’m working on a long story set at sea called ‘in brine’ Its going to be a few hundred pages long, a4 and with a hard spine.

I’m currently about half way through drawing it. The next issue of phlegm will be out mid to late November and then I’m going to take a long break from the comic while I get in brine wrapped up.

Unfortunately I’m unable to post all of my favorite images from Phlegm’s huge portfolio of sketches and street art, so to see more from the artist please visit his website HERE

Above is the fantastic new print from Anthony Burrill entitled “Oil and Water Do Not Mix”, printed with oil taken from the contaminated beaches of Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico after BP’s oil spill disaster.

The prints comes in an addition of 200 and is priced at 150 euros with all proceeds going to the CRCL, a non-profit organisation dedicated to restoring the Gulf of Mexico’s coastal wetlands. For more information please vist their website HERE

Legacy of Letter is a short video from calligrapher Luca Barcellona, showing the artist at work in his studio.

One thing that really impressed me about this film is the speed at which the artist works, completing a flawless piece of typography in just under 5 minutes.  A true professional.

Art Support is hand drawn, surrealist animation from 1994 by the 54 year old Dutch artist Lars Nørgård featuring a well executed sound track composed by Vagn E. Olsson.

The ultra fast pacing in the film makes for some really compelling viewing, with every occurrence moving the story on to another subject (which is not dissimilar to Blu’s recent animations). Unpredictable and brilliant:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNfGsaOYSQ

To view more work from Lars please visit his website HERE

At the risk of posting two non-current (and incredably self indulgent) video posts in quick succession, Here is a little gem taken from a 1985 documentary based on the life and works of Francis Bacon.

In this interview clip we get an interesting in-site into Bacon’s take on Life, Death and Gambling:

Despite passing away 20 years before the invention of the world wide web, you may be surprised to find that there are a good number of Picasso videos currently floating around youtube. My current favorite is a live painting clip taken from the Paul Haesaert documentary “Visit To Picasso” which uses footage of the artist painting on glass.

Once you get over how strange it is to see a the artist in action, I hope you’ll find the film as beautiful and mesmerizing as i did. Enjoy: