Sometimes artists, through the most simple of interventions, can do something that profoundly sums up how you feel. Justin John Greene has a whole portfolio of pretty goofy paintings, this one is my favorite. I wish I had made it. It was like in the sea of my mirthful misery, the clouds parted, this painting was delivered and elicited a fleeting moment of joy. Also, you can’t beat his ninja-turtle fort tipi replete with Ren & Stimpy dream catchers below.
It’s no surprise that everyone at B/D is obsessed with bizarre hippy, psychedelic references in art. However Charles Glaubitz work differs from the usual psychedelic hookas pokas as it mixes in character based imagery more in line with japanese magna. The resulting work is bizarre, funny, and imaginative.
This Iranian artist living and working out of Brooklyn, NY makes paintings that look like they can only be found on Geocities sites and Google image searches. They have this janky magical pixelated quality that I love in jpegs…
The atmosphere of Michael Alvarez’s artwork ranges from casual to epic in an insane sorta way. This guy for example looks like its about 10 feet tall. (Theres a photo on his website of someone standing next to it and he looks tiny!) But the intimacy of this work makes me feel like I might know him. Maybe its the subtle truths his work touches on. The glamour shot, The awesome kiss that turned out different on film. Are these culture specific? Alvarez’s work is very culturally charged, but I kinda feel like I share these ideas as well, and Im a frail, westside jew! So whats next for Michael Alvarez? Well, hes participating in a Street Fighter tribute show starting April 25th. Crazy world.
Really clever and adorable (!!) stop motion video about a wolf who wants to eat a pig… the whole thing is constructed of photos in developed film, involving multiple mediums and layers of reality. Kind of meta-meta. Also, last I saw it was in the popular section of saved bookmarks on Delicious!
This Saturday 12:00p-4:00p Beautiful/Decay will be participating in a one-day dont-miss event at University Park Campus, USC. Shelf Life: A Big Day for Small Press spotlights small press writers, designers, artists and publishers address issues concerning the future of independent publishing. B/D will have a table at the bazaar, featuring all our favorite indie and small press magazines, books and other great stuff. Admission is free. Yes, there will be a taco truck. Heres a map. Harris Hall is the building with two courtyards, visible along the bottom edge (Exposition) of the campus map.
FAIRspot and Beautiful/Decay are hooking-up one fabulous reader with a treasure chest of assorted tees and magazines. To enter, all you have to do is follow this link. One grand prize winner will be picked at random at the end of the contest period. Contest ends April 15, 2009.
