Skeleton Hug

Preemptive Evolution in Paris

2011-11-06T11:47:00.005-05:00

Hey Everyone, just wanted to finally make a blog post about my solo show in Paris with the press release, happening this thursday November 10th. I've been working on it for what seems like forever, but was actually 18 months. If anyone is in Paris, come on by, or if you know someone is Paris that you think may be interested, please let them know about it. I've posted these before, but I just want to put a cross section of my work for the show on here, and below that is the press release. Just to make it simple though, here is the name and location of the gallery:

Galerie Dukan Hourdequin

24 rue Pastourelle

75003, Paris

Opening thursday November 10th, 6-9 pm.

And HERE is the event page on Facebook.

If you come to the opening, come up to me or Andrew and introduce yourself, we don't really know anyone there so we're looking for friends. Ok, here are some images (I know I've posted them before in separate posts, this will be the last time) and press release. There will be 18 pieces in the show but I don't want to post them all here. Thank you so much to William Huffman for writing the press release.

dukan hourdequin gallery is pleased to present Preemptive Evolution, the first solo exhibition in France by Canadian artist Nicholas Di Genova (1981).

Nicholas Di Genova has developed a unique practice that is as firmly rooted in the utterly fantastical as it is in the deeply scientific. His depictions of hybrid creatures examine wildlife illustration through a Sci-fi lens. Di Genova’s highly detailed, and often encyclopaedic investigations of the natural world, yield monstrosities that are the most unlikely of amalgamations – these can be, for instance, a fusion of cat, goat and snake with cormorant, or tortoise merging into carnivorous plant and even a toad with eight, tentacle-like tongues. His depictions are obviously imagined; but Di Genova’s illustrative precision, makes these Audubon caricatures almost plausible.

His materials are simple; he looks to the conventions of analogue animation, which employs gouache paint on Mylar, or the very basic approach of ink on paper. But Di Genova pushes line-work and a compact colour palette to the extreme; his seamless and fluid application of medium is in the service of an unparalleled intricacy of image. From the tiniest black and white elements (which can be a mere couple of centimetres square) to the robust and colourful, full-sized works, Di Genova’s articulation of shape and texture is nothing short of masterful.

For this exhibition the artist presents a new work entitled10,000 Vertebrates which takes the form of a genus grid comprising 10,000 micro-portraits – perhaps a periodic table of this morphed and grotesque animal species. This particular work is pivotal; certainly because it embodies Di Genova’s relentless capacity for minutiae and detail but moreover, it gives reference to the research back story of his practice. From books, the internet, film and television – this is a practice contingent on mining a diversity of source materials, from factual to absolutely fiction. Not merely a random selection of beaks, claws, fangs, feathers, fur and scales, these creatures are built conceptually first – each telling a distinctive story that is equal parts biology and mythology.

William Huffman, Toronto, July 2011

William Huffman is an visual arts educator, writer and curator based in Toronto, Canada. He currently holds the post of Associate Director at Toronto Arts Council.

La galerie dukan hourdequin est heureuse de présenterPreemptive Evolution, la première exposition personnelle en France de l’artiste canadien Nicholas Di Genova (1981).

Nicholas Di Genova développe une pratique artistique unique en son genre qui est aussi fermement ancrée dans l’absolu fantastique que dans le profondément scientifique. Ses représentations de créatures hybrides examinent l’illustration de la faune à travers le prisme de la science-fiction. Les recherches extrêmement détaillées, et souvent encyclopédiques, de Di Genova sur le monde naturel donnent lieu à des monstruosités qui résultent en des mélanges improbables – il peut s’agir, par exemple, de la fusion d’un chat, d’une chèvre et d’un serpent avec un cormoran, ou une tortue s’amalgamant en une plante carnivore voire même un crapaud avec huit langues en forme de tentacules. Ses représentations sont évidemment le fruit de son imagination ; mais la précision illustrative de Di Genova rend ces caricatures d’Audubon quasiment vraisemblables.

Ses matériaux sont simples ; il s’approprie les conventions de l’animation analogique, qui emploie la gouache sur Mylar, ou la démarche élémentaire de l’encre sur papier. Mais Di Genova étend sa ligne et sa palette de couleurs à l’extrême ; l’application fluide et continue de sa technique est au service d’une imagerie à la complexité sans égal. Du moindre élément en noir et blanc (qui peut avoir la taille d’un carré d’à peine quelques centimètres) aux travaux les plus imposants et colorés, l’articulation de la forme et de la texture de Di Genova est tout simplement irrésistible.

Pour cette exposition, l’artiste présente une nouvelle pièce intitulée 10,000 Vertebrates qui prend la forme d’une grille de genre comprenant 10 000 micro portraits – peut-être un tableau périodique de ces espèces animales métamorphosées et grotesques. Cette œuvre en particulier est cruciale ; certainement parce qu’elle incarne la capacité implacable de Di Genova pour le détail mais plus encore, elle fait référence aux sources de sa pratique. Dans les livres, sur Internet, à la télévision ou dans les films – sa pratique est basée sur l’exploration de sources très diverses, du factuel au plus fictionnel possible. Ces créatures ne relèvent pas simplement d’une sélection aléatoire de becs, de serres, de crocs, de plumes et de fourrures, elles sont avant tout conçues conceptuellement – chacune d’entre elle racontant une histoire distincte ayant aussi bien attrait à la biologie qu’à la mythologie.

William Huffman, Toronto, Juillet 2011

William Huffman est un commissaire d'exposition basé à Toronto, Canada. Il occupe actullement le poste d'Associate Director du Toronto Arts Council.

THREE KNOCKS at Narwhal Art Projects

2011-11-03T01:46:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to let you know that Jamiyla and Adrienne are in a three person show with Katy Horan at Narwhal Art Projects coming up on Friday Nov 11th. I think that Jamiyla and Adrienne's new work is looking amazing. I have never met Katy, but what she has done for the show is looking great as well.

Here is the banner from the show, and a couple of Jamiyla and Adrienne's new pieces. I think this is going to be great, they've been working very hard on it for months.

Here is a link to the FB page, and HERE is a link to the Narwhal page.

3 more pieces

2011-10-30T17:19:00.004-05:00

Here are three more pieces I just finished for the show in Paris. My next post will hopefully include the press release and all of the information for the opening, although I don't know if anyone from Paris actually reads my blog. But maybe people with friends in Paris read my blog...

"Dirt Wolf", ink and animation paint on mylar, 24" x 24", 2011

"Ambush Sloth", ink and animation paint on mylar, 44" x 32", 2011

"Plumed Iguana", ink and animation paint on mylar, 24" x 32", 2011

Lesser Minotaur and group show in Paris

2011-10-20T23:56:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of things. I just finished one of the last drawings for my show, here it is:

"Lesser Minotaur", pen and ink on paper, 14" x 18", 2011

Also, I'm in a group show in Paris going on right now. You can check out the details HERE.

Lesser Minotaur in progress

2011-10-01T00:58:00.000-05:00

tumblr

2011-09-21T11:45:00.003-05:00

I joined tumblr.

http://nicholasdigenova.tumblr.com/

Lots of Stuff I've Been Meaning to Post

2011-09-18T12:01:00.012-05:00

Hey everyone, its been a couple of months since I last updated my blog, so I have a few things to post on here. Lots of work has been done on my show, and a lot has changed in my life in the last couple of months.

First off, here is some new work for my show, I just got the mylar pieces scanned at Uberscan, a great resource in Toronto for high quality captures of large pieces. They are a bit expensive, I literally spent the rest of my money on these scans, but they are worth it I think. Plus the people at Uberscan are incredibly pleasant to work with.

Anyway, here they are, click on them to make them big, the files are pretty large. I've posted a couple of these on here before, but I want to show the grids together because they are meant to be seen together, and wanted to put a good scan of the Kelpie up.

'Wandering Desert Demon', 37.5" x 32"

'Kelpie', 24" x 24"

'Cthulhu Toad', 24" x 24"

'Domesticated Chimera', 24" x 32"

'221 Carnivores', 14" x 18"

'221 Herbivores'. 14" x 18"

'900 Terrestrial Invertebrates', 14" x 14"

'10 000 Vertebrates', 46" x 46"

The next thing is a couple books that my art is featured in. Instead of copying out the whole press release, I just pasted links to them.

'Walls and Frames, Fine Art from the Streets' - Gestalten

You can purchase a copy here.

There will be a book release and signing in Paris sometime in late October, which I think I will miss by only a week or so:(

'Style Needs no Colour, SCHWARZ AUF WEISS Vol. II' - From Here to Fame Publishing

You can purchase a copy at the link above.

In October, I will be taking part in a group show at Galerie Dukan et Hourdequin in Paris, and the next month is my solo show at the same gallery. Below is the press release for the group show. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it there in person because I'll be finishing up the rest of the work for the solo.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
Group exhibition
October 19 - November 5, 2011
Opening: October 18, 2011 / 4 - 11 pm

dukan hourdequin gallery is pleased to present Colorless green ideas sleep furiously, a group exhibition including about ten artists with hybrid, syncretic, psycho-plastic practices: Emmanuel Barcilon, Josef Bolf, Folkert de Jong, Nicholas Di Genova, Bayrol Jimenez, Olivier Masmonteil, Yigal Ozeri, Alicia Paz, Narcisse Tordoir, Craig Wylie.

« Colorless green ideas sleep furiously » is a sentence composed in 1957 by Noam Chomsky, American linguist and philosopher. In Syntactic Structures, he uses it as an example of a sentence that has never been spoken before, syntactically correct but semantically nonsensical.

Meaningless at first sight, this haiku echoes the current chaos and is not only grammatically correct. The liberty that confers language enables to create concepts which grasp the real better than analyzing it. The oxymoron gives free rein to the thought and as silence can be eloquent, ideas can be green, green without color and sleep, but furiously! As poetry springs up with images, this exhibition tends to stimulate our poetic, metaphorical and hallucinatory abilities: the mind is always at the origin of the meaning.

Ok, here are some studio shots to end the post. The spacing and text is getting all weird on here and I don't know how to fix it, so I will end soon...

A few pieces in progress with my crappy camera phone:

Arya and Blanche, the studio rats. Arya is giving Blanche a piggy-back while they are eating carrots.

The little table beside my drafting table:

I like the title of this book:

I got an autographed photo of my hero, David Attenborough:

My crappy bedroom, which becomes my not-so-bad studio during the day. At the end of June I moved back into the studio for the first time in about 18 months, it's not the best living arrangement, but it looks like I'll be moving into Team Macho's for the third time in November, it should be fun and disgusting at the same time. My studio mates will be happy not to have to face me half asleep in my underwear every morning.

Google +

2011-07-30T17:54:00.003-05:00

If anyone has a Google + account and wants to add me, you can find me here.

Die Young book back in stock

2011-07-21T22:42:00.002-05:00

Hey there, just letting everyone know that my Die Young book is back in stock. If you are interested, you can order it in my store. Click on the image below if you want to see it larger.

wunderkammer #1 review

2011-06-28T00:36:00.003-05:00

I googled my own name because I'm a loser and I found this very nice review of Wunderkammer #1 by Sean T. Collins. Thank you Sean.

Jamiyla just made this

2011-06-24T00:45:00.005-05:00

I think it looks great. Proceeds go towards the Will Munro Queers Living with Cancer Fund. You can see the facebook page HERE.

This was on The Ministry of Artistic Affairs website today, thank you to Randy Gladman for writing it, he is very kind.

images and studio shots

2011-06-20T15:32:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone, this should be the last big post for a little while, unless anything unexpected comes up this summer. For the last year or so I've been working away on a solo show for Dukan et Hourdequin in Paris, and I'm now down to the three month mark, which means I basically do nothing other than work until the damn thing is done. Coming closer to the end of a deadline is always a bit rough, but in the past I've always been frightened enough to get it finished.

Hopefully I get it done this time too, and in three months I'll post an invite to my show. Below is some of the work I've done so far, some is finished, some is partially finished, and some doesn't exist yet, so instead of posting blank white photos or photos of an empty drafting table, I decided not to post those ones yet.

I'm particularly excited about the first piece, it's the centerpiece for the show, 10 000 vertebrates divided into the 5 classes, I worked on it for 18 months and just finished it this afternoon, so I'm pretty happy right now.

Here is some work, and below that some shots of the studio. The first few shots are details of the centerpiece, click any of them to zoom.

10 000 Vertebrates

Mammals detail

Birds detail

Reptiles detail

Amphibians detail

Fish detail

Angler Tortoise

221 Carnivores (I'm working on 221 Herbivores)

900 Aquatic Invertebrates (I'm working on 900 Terrestrial Invertebrates)

Kelpie

Domesticated Chimera

Cthulhu Toad

Burrowing Wolf

I don't know what I'm going to call this one yet. Maybe something about a lizard and... a bird.

My Studio

I bought this rowing machine off my neighbor, but there isn't enough room to use it in the studio, so I have to use it out in the parking lot and it's a bit embarrassing.

The crappy insulation-chair bed some of us sleep on when we work late.

My checklist

9 400 down, 600 to go

2011-06-17T21:09:00.003-05:00

current state of the studio

2011-06-09T22:23:00.003-05:00

The studio has been a really exciting place lately. One of my interns from last summer, Andrew Remington Bailey, and a good friend who has just moved back from London, Tyler Bright Hilton, just moved in. Aside from having extremely fancy three part names, they are also amazing artists and good buds, so the studio is a really good place to be right now. Here is a photo that we made our friend Adam take on the first day that all 5 of us were here at the same time.

From left to right is Andrew Remington Bailey, Andrew Wilson, Tyler Bright Hilton, me, and Patrick Krzyzanowski. Thanks to our buddy Adam Levett for the photo. Next update I'm going to post some studio shots, and some work I'm doing for my solo show, I've got about 10 or 11 pieces on the go now, and I'm 94% done the centerpiece.

One last thing, Dukan et Hourdequin, my gallery from Marseille that recently moved to Paris has just launched a new website, check it out.

Hanged & Drawn

2011-05-25T21:27:00.010-05:00

Tomorrow night is the opening for Hanged and Drawn, a group show that myself and 5 artists I deeply respect are a part of, curated by Wil Kucey of LE Gallery. Below is the press release, and an image of my piece in the show. Come on out, look at some art and have some beer. I've seen some of the other works in the show, it all looks amazing... It's at LE Gallery, 1183 Dundas St West.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HANGED AND DRAWN

PIERRE DURETTE

TOM NGO

TRISTRAM LANSDOWNE

NICHOLAS DI GENOVA

LUKE PAINTER

AMANDA NEDHAM

FROM MAY 25TH TO JUNE 19TH

OPENING MAY 27TH, 2011 FROM 7-10PM

The last decade in the international art world has seen the act of drawing and graphic tendencies welcomed into the hallowed halls of arts institutions. It is more frequent that we come across artists whose practice is based in the act of drawing, or with a strong graphic sensibility. Typically sidelined as a less than serious pursuit or as a means of preparation and study, Hanged + Drawn thrusts 6 Canadian artists of inimitable skill and talent forward as the vanguard of this new generation of mark makers. Hanged + Drawn highlights artists who are forming the basis of their artistic practices in their ability to develop a drawn language. These artists have all been the focus of critical contemporary collectors and institutions, having shown in almost all major international art fairs and within museums and institutions across North America and Europe.

Digital catalogue available upon request.
For information, inquiries or previews, contact Director Wil Kucey: 4165328467 or wil@le-gallery.ca

Here is my piece in the show, it's 24" x 24", ink and animation paint on mylar, titled Canopy Devil. The image gets really large if you click on it, see you tomorrow!

ART AMSTERDAM

2011-05-05T00:17:00.004-05:00

Just a quick message to let you know that I'll be participating in Art Amsterdam this year with Galerie Dukan et Hourdequin. It runs from May 11th - 15th, you can see the fair's website HERE, and below is a photo of one of my pieces smoking a bong.

mini interview and stuffs

2011-04-25T11:28:00.003-05:00

Very quick update, just on my way out of the apartment.

I did a fun mini interview with Toronto artist Tara Krebs the other day, you can see it here. You can see move interviews and a bunch of her work on the rest of her blog.

Also, I forgot to post these awhile back, two of the group shows I was involved in over the last few months were reviewed by Magenta Magazine, Jamiyla got a nice mention and image in one. You can see them here and here.

Artist talk at TSA, benefit auction, new piece, tattoo

2011-04-24T18:13:00.007-05:00

Hey Everyone, just a couple of things.

This Wednesday I'll be doing a talk at the Toronto School of Art for the 'I do my own stunts' artist talk series. It's pay-what-you-can, there will be beer for sale, and I'll be talking about my work and showing some images that go back as far as 1992 (I was 11) and some will be as recent as half an hour before I leave my studio to go do the talk. Come on out of you are free, here is the facebook page, below is the poster.

The next thing is a fundraiser I am taking part in in Naples Italy. It is a benefit auction for Mattia Amf Onlus Fagnoni, a young boy born with Sandhoff Syndrome, a generic, degenerative and lethal disease. Very little is known about the disease, and there is no standard treatment, and the disease is lethal. In fact, Mattia is the only person in Italy suffering from the disease, which made it extremely difficult for his parents to have him diagnosed and to figure out his needs. They have started a foundation to raise awareness of the disease, and to generate money to go towards research and to help the families of children suffering from it. There are over 1000 works available for auction, and over 800 artists participating. You can visit their facebook page if you would like to learn more, the auction starts Tuesday. If you are in or around Naples, it seems like it is going to be a massive event.

Here is a piece that has actually been finished since the winter. I didn't want to post it though because it was a gift for the girlfriend of the person who bought it, so I didn't want to post it too soon and potentially ruin the surprise. It's 18" x 24".

The last thing is this tattoo that India Amara Nicholls of The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop recently did. I think it turned out fantastic. I'm not sure who had it done, but if you read this, thank you.

Rudele Artist Residency

2011-04-09T12:43:00.004-05:00

My friends Srdjan Segan and Jenny Wing Yee Tong are organizing a fundraiser to support Rudele Artist Residency, Srdjan's artist residency he is setting up in Croatia. There is a lot of great work in it, and I have a few prints. The invite and press release is below. There is also a blog featuring the works available.

Dear friends in the art community,

I would like to invite you to an art exhibition and silent auction I have organized. Happening this Saturday, April 9 at Lonsdale Gallery from 7-10, the event will fundraise in support of RUDELE ARTIST RESIDENCY - an art residency I am founding in Dalmatia.

The evening will feature a silent auction of donated artworks: drawings, prints, photos, paintings and sculptures given very generously by artists in support of my project of creating a venue for artists to convene and create projects in my ancestral home in the rural village of Rudele, Croatia, which had withstood partial destruction during the civil war of the 90s and has since been reconstructed.

The residency had its inaugural run in summer 2009, and will reconvene August 20 – September 6, 2011. The funds raised will go toward supporting home-cooked meals, supplies and local travel costs for participating artists.

To preview some of the artworks you can visit the Rudele Artist Residency's blog at

http://rudeleartistresidency.blogspot.com

or view the event at Lonsdale Gallery's news page at

http://www.longsdalegallery.com/news/

There will be refreshments and a presentation about the residency at the exhibition. Artists who are exhibiting and/or have generously donated work:

Aleks Bartosik

Erik Jerezano

Ilyana Martinez

Jenny Wing-Yee Tong

Joshua Choi

Jesus Mora

Julie Oakes

Kevin Bishop

Luke Painter

M. Eileen Murray

Michael Farnan

Momir Bulovic

Nahum Flores

Nicolas di Genova

Olga Dermendji

Oscar de las Flores

Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo

Ortanza Moraru

Rita Camacho Lomeli

Robert Farmer

Srdjan Segan

Stanzie Tooth

Tyler Bright Hilton

Victoria Cowan

Z’otz* Collective

I sincerely appreciate your interest and support and look forward to seeing you all.

Cheers,

Srdjan Segan

Japan Fundraisers

2011-03-27T14:44:00.004-05:00

I'm taking place in a couple of auctions for the relief efforts in Japan here is the info:

Time: Tuesday march 29th at 7:00pm - Wednesday March 30th at 2:00am

Location:

The Great Hall

1087 Queen Street West

Toronto, ON

Our heart and minds are with the Japanese people and now its time for action!
The Toronto arts community felt the shock much like everyone else when images first started to appear on the news and stories through friends started to come in

Many of the artists have traveled to Japan as visiting artists or to study its rich culture and its embrace with nature and nurture. We have made many friends and built bridges through collabora...tions and deep friendship

Curator Rafi Ghanaghounian and Artist Daisuke Takeya are organizing a fundraiser event that will bring the arts community of Toronto together to support our friends in Japan both mentally and financially. All artists and performers will give their time and efforts for this very cause

This night will include musicians, artists, poets from both Canada and Japan. As well galleries have donated books and other items available for purchase

Thank you for your support!

Participating groups, sponsors and partners:
The Great Hall, GUU restaurant, K6cards, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Japanese Visitors Association (JAVA), Nihongo Art Contest 2011, Toronto Artists Fund Raising, Orange LLP, Healing Japan, Hardboiledinc for doing our shirts!!

Special Thanks to: Kateryna Topol, Christine Seki

Participating galleries (more coming!):
OBorn Contemporary, Le Gallery, Show and Tell Gallery, Art Metropole, Koyama Press, Narwhal/Magic Pony, OUCHI Gallery NYC, Orbital arts

Participating artists (more coming!):
Howard Podeswa, Laura Horne, Fiona Smyth, Yuriko Kubota, Tomori Nagamoto, Winnie Truong, Nicholas Di Genova, Shigeko Okada, Keiko Tokushima, Ayako Bando, Sonomi, Kobayashi, Bernice Lum, Ron Loranger, Pierre Julien, Richelle Forsey, Jae-hong Ahn, Juno Youn, Miki Shinozaki, Keita Morimoto, Shinobu Akimoto, Yumi Onose, Shinya Kumazawa, Martin de la Rue, Joshua Choi, James Fowler, Martin Ouellette, Patrick DeCoste, Daisuke Takeya, Matt Evans, Martin Reis, Aisha Simpson, Harvey Chan, Peter Chan, Shary Boyle, Akira Yoshikawa, Rie Aikawa, Bud Fujikawa, Laura Adams,Tanya Reed, Dasar, REN, Amy Wong, Risa Kusumoto, Chrisopher Hayes

Participating performers:

Your MC's for the evening:
Rafi Ghanaghounian and Nana Akimoto

music:
Clara Venice and Ken Ogawa
Nobu Adilman: Choir!Choir!Choir!
Rambunctious featuring Michael Louis Johnson
Ashely Ingram

performance:
AKA Dance (Keiko Ninomiya, Amy Hampton, Mike Dell)
Natasha Bailey, Nayeon Kim, Adam Herst, Yumi Onose
VPV (Daisuke Takeya, Ayumi Sawada, Tatsu)

tea ceremony:
Tomori Nagamoto and Mika Sato

poetry by:
Ewan Whyte, Bonnie Bowman

DJ
Luis Jacob
Derek Mainella

Time: Thursday, March 31 at 12:00pm - April 5 at 8:00pm

Location: Gladstone Hotel, 2nd Floor

Narwhal Art Projects, Invisible-Friends and friends are excited to host Toronto Hearts Japan, a fundraiser for our far-away loves. Our hearts have been broken by news of devastated towns and people separated from their homes and families, and we want to help. This event lets all of us who feel a special connection to Japan lend a hand in our own way. All proceeds will be donated to The Red Cross and to helping rebuild the Birdo ...Flugas Artist Centre and Community in Shiogama.

Toronto Hearts Japan is an exhibition, silent auction, and two (count them!) parties at the beloved Gladstone Hotel (with DJ Paul E. Lopes and DJ Jun). Featuring works from local to international artists (and other surprises too), everybody can find a way to offer our hearts to Japan and help them soldier on.

Silent Auction Art Exhibition:
Thurs March 31- Tues April 5th
12-5pm daily, Gladstone Hotel 2nd Floor

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday April 1st
7-10pm

$20 admission (includes raffle ticket)
*Special one night only auction and raffle with art gifts and surprises*
With DJ Paul E. Lopes (Bump N' Hustle) & DJ Jun (Cr8apes.com, Invisible-Friends.com)

CLOSING RECEPTION
Tuesday April 5th 5-8pm
Winners of our silent art auction will be announced at 7pm. Art pickup from 7-8pm.

More info and art preview at: www.torontoheartsjapan.com

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PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Sonja Ahlers, Paul Aloisi, Nicholas Aoki, Stephen Appleby-Barr, Andrew Remington Bailey, Ashley Barron, Marc Bell, Diego Bergia, Katie Bethune-Leamen, Shary Boyle, Mat Brown, Robin Cameron, Tyler Clark-Burke, Trudie Cheng, Mark Connery, Robert Dayton, Taku Dazai, Brett Despotovich, Yuri Didrichsons, Nicholas DiGenova, Brian Donnelly, Dave Dyment, Shayne Ehman, Matthew Feyld, Melissa Fisher, Brendan Flanagan, Theo Gallaro, James Gardner, Shannon Gerard, Dana Gils, Heather Goodchild, Adrian Hayles, Sachi Hirano, Derrick Hodgson, Jay Isaac, Melinda Josie, Nathan Jurevicius, Adrienne Kammerer, Patrick Kyle, Christy Langer, Tessar Lo, Amy Lockhart, Jamiyla Lowe, Derek Mainella, Chris Martin, Derek Mainella, Megan McKenzie, Jason Mclean, Alex McLeod, Julie Moon, Jennifer Murphy, Alicia Nauta, Tibi Tibi Neuspiel, Noel Middleton, Luke Painter, Roula Parthenou, Sandy Plotnikoff, Brad Phillips, Katherine Piro, Andrew Pommier, Lauchie Reid, Tony Romano, Kathryn Ruppert-Dazai, Tania Sanhueza, Jennifer Rose Sciarrino, Seth Scriver, Emiko Sekiguchi, Germa Shible, Lisa Smolkin, Jordan Sonenberg, Jennie Suddick, Derek Sullivan, Team Macho, Jon Todd, Michael Toke, Celeste TooGood, Karen Tracanelli, Howie Tsui, Lara Vincent, Andrew Waite, Meichen Waxer, Jacob Whibley, and Balint Zsasko.

RAFFLE PRIZES FROM:
The Arcade Fire, Art Metropole, The Beguiling, Cabaret, Carte Blanche, Coupe Bizarre, Dark Horse, Fieldguided, Films We Like, Honeybea Designhive, Hunter & Cook, Jayna Corbett, Kid Icarus, Klaxon Howl, Koyama Press, Living Face Photography, Liz Milkau, Magic Pony, Ministry Of the Interior, Monster Factory, Robber, Sweet Bliss Baking Company, Sydney’s,The Ten Spot, Turning Point Training Methods/SBG Toronto, Warriors, (and the list keeps growing!)

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Drawing Now in Paris, Maclean's Magazine, and more stuff.

2011-03-15T22:20:00.012-05:00

Here are a bunch of things I consider noteworthy. I should be making smaller posts more often, but I tend to forget to update my blog, until I have a bunch of things piled up...

The first thing is that I'll be participating in Drawing Now, a fair in Paris that is centered on contemporary drawing.

I'll be represented there by my gallery in France, Dukan et Hourdequin. The fair runs from March 25th -28th, you can check out more information here. Below is one of the pieces I'll be exhibiting, its pretty large, 24" x 24"...

If you click it it gets bigger, but I guess every knows that because computers have been around for so long.

The next bit of news is that I was mentioned, along with a picture, in an article in this week's Maclean's Magazine. The article revolves around the rising importance of an online identity in the art market. My friend Alex McLeod was mentioned as well, his art is fantastic. I was really happy to be included, there is something really legit feeling about being included in a magazine with such history here in Canada.

Here is the article online.

The next thing is that Jamiyla and I are now selling our prints through a really nice print shop in Paris called Sergeant Paper. You can check out our, and many other people's, prints there. They have some really nice stuff available.

Awhile back I posted about The Dazzle, a group show at Narwhal Art Projects that included myself and a bunch of my friends. The people at Narwhal just released a book containing much of the work in the show, you can purchase it at Magic Pony.

Ok, just two more things and then that's it. My friends Adrienne Kammerer and Jesjit Gill just released a book of Adrienne's drawings, its fantastic. Adrienne drew it and Jesjit printed it. I asked Adrienne how people should go about buying it, and she said to either contact Jesjit or get it from Magic Pony. It's an extremely limited edition, so if you want one, you should get it soon. Adrienne's going to take off soon, so it will probably be worth a lot of money in 10 years.

Ok, very last thing. My good friend Stephen Appleby-Barr has a solo show up at Nicholas Metivier Gallery here in Toronto. If you are in the city, you should check it out. It's a really great show. Stephen's a great guy, when I had nowhere to live a few years back, he let me sleep under his ping pong table for $50 a month. He lets me come to his studio sunday nights and we draw together. Well, we did last week, but I'm going to come every week from now on. Anyway, check it out, I was really impressed with the show, and apparently the public was as well, it sold out opening night.

Anyway, that's it, thanks for reading.

Group Show in London, NYC Art Fairs, New Interns

2011-02-20T15:39:00.009-05:00

A few exciting things are coming up in March, here they are:

OK, NOW THE FLOOR IS LAVA! is a group show that my friend Tyler Bright Hilton from London (originally from Toronto) has curated. He's put a lot of hard work into finding some great artists and a great space. The opening is March 10th, below is the press release...

OK, NOW THE FLOOR IS LAVA!

Club Row – Rochelle School

Arnold Circus

London E2 7ES

11 March – 17 March 2011 (closed Monday)

Private View: Thursday 10 March 2011, 6-9pm

This exhibition collects the work of a group of artists whose practice focuses primarily on drawing. There is a shared ambition to create relevant contemporary art engaged and fuelled by a relationship with craft and narrative elements in a conceptually integrated way. Each artist is invested in creating their own environments, histories and stories, with content varying from entomological to autobiographical. Using a labour-intensive approach to craft, they aim to create a unique aesthetic married to, and further articulating, this content.

Given their developed use of rendering and immediately apparent debt to popular art forms such as classical Victorian era illustration or Marvel comic books, it can be challenging to position this type of work within a contemporary art setting. Comparisons can mistakenly be made with artists who have an interest in rendering but rely heavily on irony as a contemporising tool; or, who prize surface above innovation and believe industry can be equated with aesthetic or imaginative merit. The artists in this exhibition strive to avoid both.

The show’s title takes its name from a children’s game, where navigating through a space can only be done by moving from one piece of furniture, playground equipment, etc., to another without touching the floor, which is imagined to be lava. This simple metaphor refers to the imagined worlds represented in the work and playfully suggests the artists’ motivating impulse to progress through dangerous territory. One false move and it’s straight into twee illustration, tediously obsessive rendering, incomprehensibly idiosyncratic iconography or worst of all: thick, ironic, contemporary art discourse goo.

Including work by:

Alexander Brenchley

Nicholas Di Genova

Tyler Bright Hilton

Meaghan Hyckie

Amanda Nedham

David Price

James Pyman

Srdjan Segan

Andrew Wilson

It’s pretty easy to find:

I'll also be participating in two art fairs in New York at the beginning of the month, The Armory Show with Fredericks and Freiser Gallery, and Scope New York with Dukan et Hourdequin (who is in the process of relocating their gallery from Marseille to Paris)... If you are at the fairs, check out their booths. Both galleries show some incredible artists...

As I mentioned before, I now have two interns helping me out in the studio. They both fit in with the studio dynamic right away, and are great artists. Below are photos of them looking like they are having a really great time (although I think they were faking), and links to their respective blogs..

Melissa Luk

Vivian Rosas

Lastly, my studio mate Patrick was recently featured on the BMX website The Northern Embassy. Pat's been BMXing for years, but this feature focuses on his paintings, and a large part of the images are of our studio... Oddly, there are not a lot of images of his work, but there is a photo of his newest painting, his watercolours are amazing, and he's a great guy to share a studio with...

Here's the link.

And here's a painting of his.

Elle Canada

2011-02-14T19:05:00.001-05:00

I have a small photo and mention in the March issue of Elle Canada in an issue on collecting Canadian art. The perfume ads gave me a headache when I read the article...

LE 7

2011-02-04T09:57:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to announce that I'll be in a group show tonight here at LE gallery in Toronto. The show celebrates the seven year anniversary of the gallery, it's been a really great seven years...

details below.

studio shots

2011-01-27T23:13:00.012-05:00

Thanks again to everyone who applied for the internship position. I've hired two people for the time being, one person from the list of people who applied, and one person who I was already friends with. There is actually so much to be done that I am considering hiring a third person. Either way, I will be referring to the list of applicants when these people eventually quit or mess up bad enough that I have to fire them. For my next blog post, I will post their information, links, and some of their work. For now though, I'm just posting some studio shots and details of work in progress. I've said this before, because it takes me so long to do a show, there are huge gaps on this blog when I don't really have any new work to post, but I will try to do a couple of these updates along the way, and I'll be in a few fairs and groups shows as well...

So here are some shots and a few descriptions. This might be boring, you can click on any image to make it bigger...

My small drafting table and my computer desk covered in garbage.

A detail of an almost finished painting.

An empty checklist is really panic inducing...

I got this in the mail today, the new Kris Kuksi book. I met Kris through my friend Daniel, who did both of our websites. The book is excellent, if you don't know his work check out his website...

I listen to audiobooks basically every minute that I spend in the studio, unless I'm writing emails or reading real books. I just started listening to George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire. My two favourite things to do are drawing and listening to epic fantasy novels, so when I combine them I'm in nerd heaven. I've taken it so far as to print off the maps of the worlds that the novel's take place in, and tape them to my desk so I can follow where everything is happening. If Jamiyla reads this I'm afraid she might make me sleep on the couch tonight, but I'm proud of my fantasy audiobook dedication...

A drawing I am working on, it is 14" x 18", a grid of carnivores.

Our fish tank, most of the fish are hiding.

Anyone who has read my blog for awhile might remember Patrick, he was my intern a couple of summers ago. He just finished school, and is now renting a portion of the studio. Having him in here is awesome, we trade a lot of audiobooks and he always cooks spaghetti. I really love his work, he hasn't updated it in awhile but you can see his blog here. You can see the blog post I made when he started as an intern here.

The painting area.

A piece in progress.

This is my bike, it's a bit of an old man bicycle, up until this summer I rode a roadbike, but I fell off of it and hurt my hip, and couldn't really ride it for the rest of the summer. Then I needed money so I sold it to a friend, and when I could ride again I bought this guy.

I really like the front rack, I do all my grocery shopping and art supply shopping with it. The dumb thing actually cost more than my bike did...

This is what my hip looked like after I fell. I couldn't really move around for a few days, but the World Cup was on, so it turned out to be awesome.

This is the little room that all of the store orders get wrapped in.

Below are a couple of drawing on mylar, 24" x 24", that need to be painted for my show. The show is November in Paris.

This is the big piece that I'm working on in my apartment above my studio. I've been working on it for about 2 hours a day for about 10 months now, and it is going so slowly, it's testing my patience. It will be a grid of 10 000 vertebrates, the idea is that it will be the centerpiece of the show, but I'm going to have to really move on it. It's about 40% done.

A detail.

Ok, that's all. I thought this update would take about 20 minutes to do, but it's been about an hour and a half and now I'm sorta anxious. I'm going to plan some new mylars tonight, I hope to have about 9 mylar paintings in the show...

Another reason that I haven't been updating this blog quite as much is I tend to post very small updates on facebook, and sometimes forget or am too busy to post them here. If you want more news, or to just read the dumb stuff I post when i forget that people I don't know are reading or watch the rap videos I put on my wall, friend request me here.

Internship Position

2011-01-05T00:43:00.003-05:00

Thank you to everyone that sent me an email regarding the internship position. I am a bit overwhelmed, I left my computer in my apartment, went downstairs and worked all day, and now I've returned to my computer to see that I've received more responses than I had anticipated. I'm going to take my laptop onto the couch and go through all of the emails before going to sleep, and I will email everyone a response tomorrow.

If you do not receive a positive response, please understand that it is just because I have received more people responding than I could possibly employ. If I could, I would have everyone come in and help out in the studio. Also, I imagine that an unpaid intern position will have a high turnover rate, so I will keep this list on hand and email more people as positions become available, or if I discover that I could use a second intern.

Again, thank you to everyone who contacted me today, I will send out an email tomorrow afternoon.

Looking for part time intern

2011-01-04T10:49:00.004-05:00

Hey Everyone, happy new year.

Lately I've become really busy in the studio doing things like packing orders, packing art, scanning stuff, and I've been having a hard time actually getting in full days of drawing. My solo show is looming closer and closer, and I'm getting more and more freaked out. Anyway, because of this, I'm looking for a part time intern to help me out with these tasks...

Ideally, I'm looking for an art student that is looking for some studio experience. The work is unpaid, but it is only half a day a week. I would like a student because I feel a student could find some value in this type of experience, seeing how an art studio is run and learning along the way. I did this type of work when I was in college, and I did find the experience useful. Tasks would mainly include packing and shipping online orders, preparing my surfaces for drawing, and documenting my pieces. The studio atmosphere is pretty fun and laid back.

If you are interested, email me at mediumphobic@gmail.com and we can set up an informal interview.

Happy 2011!

A few random things

2010-12-10T14:33:00.004-05:00

Here are a few things I've been meaning to post...

First off, I've started doing some work with a company in France called Skinizi, adapting some of my mylar drawings to skins for things like laptops and Ipods... If you are interested in these, you can check them out in English or French.

Also, tonight is The Unicorn, a group show happening at Narwhal Art Projects. If you live in Toronto, you should stop by. A bunch of my friends are involved in it, including Jamiyla Lowe, Adrienne Kammerer, Andrew Remington Bailey, Stephen Appleby-Barr, Jennie Suddick, and Jacob Whibley, plus a bunch of other great artists. The night is also doubling as a launch for the catalog for the show I was in there in the fall, The Dazzle. I'll post pics of the catalog once I get a copy...
Lastly, thank you to Scott Sawtell and his 3rd year painting class at Brock University for inviting me in to do an artist talk and guest critique earlier this week. It's not often that I get to leave the city for a day, and I saw some great art... Downtown St. Catherines sorta scared the shit out of me...

Ok, that's it for now. I've been working hard on solo-show work and work for the fairs coming up in the spring, I'll post some of it and some studio shots soon...

2 New Prints Available

2010-11-30T00:59:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone! This is a quick post letting you know that I have just released two new limited edition gicleés, which are available from my website.

The first is a 11" x 14", signed and numbered gicleé, edition of 100. It depicts an Apocalypse Toad, a creature capable of breathing air, water, or through photosynthesis, perfectly suited for survival in harsh environments where the air quality is suspect.

It is printed on Canson Arches Aquarelle rag, 240g/m², and is available for $50 plus shipping.

The second print is a 13" x 17", signed and numbered gicleé, edition of 50. It depicts a species of tortoise perfectly suited to blending into a desert environment. As it moves from place to place however, it is often pursued by large numbers of bats, which feed on it's nectar and reveals its presence to potential predators.

It is printed on Canson Arches Aquarelle rag, 310g/m², and is available for $125 plus shipping.

If you would like to purchase either of these prints, you can do that through my webstore, HERE.

I'd like to thank my good friend Daniel Barber of Aleph1 for doing so much to help me with these prints, they wouldn't exist without him. You check out some of the other work he has done on his website.

Facebook Community Page

2010-11-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

I found this a few days ago on facebook... at first I was a bit confused because I didn't know who made it, but now I think they may be semi-randomly generated... anyway, if you are on facebook and want updates on things like interviews and new work, 'like' it...

Facebook Community Page

I've been working hard in the studio on a new body of paintings, lots of amphibians and fungus are finding their way into the work lately... I'll post some studio shots soon...

Push.ca Interview

2010-10-08T23:59:00.005-05:00

This week I met Erin Hogue, a very talented local photographer and writer for Push.ca, a website promoting skate and snowboard culture. Before the interview I warned her that I haven't been on a skateboard in about 10 years, and I could barely ride the thing back then, but she was ok with that because I've done some skate graphics over the years. She came by the studio, took some beautiful photos, we later did the interview, and here it is... I'm really happy with the way it went, you can take a look at it HERE.

Tomorrow is the gallery walk through at Narwhal Art projects, I get really nervous before talks, even short ones like this... I hope I don't mess up...

Print Show Tomorrow Night, Gallery Walkthrough Saturday...

2010-10-06T17:47:00.004-05:00

I haven't updated this blog in about a month, I find it hard to keep it updated while working hard on a show, just because when I'm doing a solo show, there really isn't a lot to post. And it takes about a year of solid work to do a show well, so that's a long time without new work on here... Why didn't I become the type of artist that can do a piece in a week? I could post progress shots, but then the work will be old news by the time I open my show, so I'm not sure what to do... Anyway, I'll keep it updated with any small things that come up between now and my solo show (November 2011 in Marseille), but be aware that I am working my ass off in the meantime...

Tomorrow night, Jamiyla and my intern from this summer, Andrew Bailey, are in a group show at LE. Gallery. Its called The Maker and it's part of the Printopolis Festival, and has quite a few good printmakers in the show. I have a piece in the show as well, but it is slightly older work, it is a collaborative piece I did with Luke Painter last year as a fundraiser for OCAD...

Anyway, here is one of Jams' piece for the show, and below that is the link to the facebook event... In case you don't already know, LE. Gallery is located at 1186 Dundas W, the show is Thursday October 7th, 7-10pm...

You can see the facebook event page here...

One more thing, this Saturday, I will be a part of a walkthrough of The Dazzle, the group show up at Narwhal... I guess I'll just talk about my work, my studio, and the influence of nature in my work... I'm really not great at public speaking, I get pretty nervous and I stutter, so that will be additional entertainment if you come...

Below are a few installation shots of the show, and a link to the facebook page. Just in case you don't have facebook, the walkthrough is between 3 - 5 on Saturday October 9th. Narwhal is at 680 Queen West...

Here is the facebook event page...

Ok, that's it for now, take care everyone...

The Dazzle

2010-09-07T10:33:00.008-05:00

I'm really happy to be part of a huge group show at Narwhal Art Projects this Thursday (Sept 9th) entitled The Dazzle. I'm excited to get a chance to show at a gallery that I love, alongside a bunch of my friends and other people's work that I admire...

Narwhal Art Projects is located at 680 Queen Street West, and the show runs until Oct 17th... You can visit the gallery's website here...

Below is the invite, my piece, and a bunch of work that my friends will be showing... click on any of the images to make them larger...

River Hunter

Adrienne Kammerer

Jamiyla Lowe

Carly Waito

Melinda Josie

Joe Becker

Jacob Whibley

Stephen Appleby-Barr

Jennie Suddick

Pilot Project Stories

2010-08-20T14:00:00.002-05:00

Awhile back I submitted some drawings to Pilot Project, a book that a few friends of mine curate and produce. Recently they ran a short story contest, encouraging readers to write short stories based on some of the art in Pilot, and a few people wrote stories about my drawings. Although I had to pick a 'winner', I thought that they were all pretty great.

You can see the submissions here and here.

A couple Lush Life reviews

2010-08-15T22:30:00.006-05:00

Lush Life was reviewed a couple of times this week, and I was lucky enough to either get a mention or an image in the reviews... Richard Price did a walkthrough of the show, and saw my piece... Regarding my drawing, The New Yorker printed this:

'Richard Price wasn’t sure what to make of this one: “It’s kind of mutated bears and birds or something? Whatever it is, it’s some kind of animal I shouldn’t be near.”'

I guess I can't consider him a fan, but I'm happy he saw the piece:)

You can read the reviews HERE and HERE.

Limited Edition T-shirts and Jamiyla's New Website...

2010-08-04T12:42:00.004-05:00

I'm posting this to announce two things...

Firstly, I've just released a new t-shirt, it is available through my STORE. It's a one colour print on a silver (which really just looks like light grey) American Apparel cotton t-shirt. The run is limited to 50 shirts, and they are $40 each plus shipping...

Below are some images of the shirt, click them if you want to see the images larger...

Secondly, I want to post that Jamiyla has a new website up... I think it looks pretty good, it's nice to be able to see all of the drawings together in one place. There is also a store section, making it easy to purchase her prints no matter where you live... Anyway, HERE it is, check it out...

detail

2010-08-04T01:36:00.002-05:00

Corduroy magazine and LNB

2010-08-03T15:59:00.004-05:00

A couple of things, tomorrow night is the season finale of Late Night in the Bedroom, a great art talk show based here in Toronto... They did a video studio tour with me, and they are showing it along with a large group of guests at the Toronto Underground Cinema at 8pm... The LNB crew are all really nice people and I'm a really big fan of their show, details below...

Because I spend so much time alone drawing in the studio, I'm a bit nervous speaking with people, particularly in front of two video cameras... I feel like I botched the interview a bit, I knew what I wanted to say but it kept coming out wrong, so I'm a little nervous about seeing the final product... They kept assuring me that they were very good at editing:)

One last thing, I have a piece and a little writeup about why I became an artist in the latest issue of Corduroy Magazine, a fashion and art magazine that, from what I can tell, is based in New York. Isabella Rossellini is featured on the cover which is awesome, because I'm such a huge fan of her Green Porno and Seduce Me shorts. I'm sure most people have seen them, but if not you can see them HERE.

Ok, thats it for now... I think I'm going to do a bigger update either later tonight or tomorrow morning, I have a new limited edition (of 50) T-shirt, and Jamiyla is about to launch her new website... I'll post more details here very soon...

details

2010-07-20T19:44:00.005-05:00

Here are a few details and work-in-progress shots of a few things I've been working on in the studio... I have about 8 or 10 half-finished pieces in the studio, but nothing finished and it's driving me crazy...

LUSH LIFE review in NY Times...

2010-07-09T10:15:00.003-05:00

There is a review of Lush Life in today's NY Times, you can read the online version HERE...

I'm pretty happy because I got a small mention... He doesn't really say if he liked my piece or disliked it, but I was a bit bummed out last night in the studio, and then I read this, and it put me in a happy mood:)

LUSH LIFE map

2010-07-08T13:56:00.002-05:00

My friend Ian sent me this today, it's a map of all nine galleries involved with the LUSH LIFE opening tonight... The red pin on the map is where the after party is taking place, it should be fun... If you are in New York, check it out...

Jamiyla's New Screenprint

2010-06-28T18:06:00.006-05:00

Jams just finished a new screenprint. It's about 15" x 20", I think it's really great... Here it is:

It is available for sale at Magic Pony. It will be available on their website soon...

Group Show in NYC: LUSH LIFE

2010-06-24T22:35:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I'm in a group show in the Lower East Side in NYC. I'm really happy to be involved, it looks like it will be a good show. The show starts tomorrow, but the opening reception is July 8th... Below is the press release...

Exhibition:

LUSH LIFE

Chapter 3. First Bird (A Few Butterflies)
Curated by Franklin Evans & Omar Lopez-Chahoud

Nicholas Di Genova, Christoph Draeger, Jeffrey Gibson,

Karen Heagle, Ezra Johnson, Wes Lang, Dana Levy,

Gina Magid, Jon Rappleye and Xaviera Simmons

June 25 - July 31, 2010

Reception:

Thursday, July 8: 6-9pm

A nine-gallery exhibition

inspired by the Richard Price novel

LUSH LIFE is an exhibition curated by Franklin Evans and Omar Lopez-Chahoud which takes place at nine Lower East Side (LES) galleries: Collette Blanchard Gallery, Eleven Rivington, INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, Lehmann Maupin, On Stellar Rays, Salon 94, Scaramouche, Sue Scott Gallery, and Y Gallery. LUSH LIFE adopts Richard Price’s 2008 novel to title and organize the exhibition. The novel is set in the contemporary LES and through a murder investigation exposes the dynamically changing community of the neighborhood, which despite its evolution retains a ghostly and vital link to its layered past. The deep and varied history of the LES now includes the LES galleries as new community members, and Price’s novel provides a potent vehicle for the consideration of community as voices compete for, ignore, and occasionally share the same physical and conceptual space.

The galleries will host concurrent exhibitions with each exhibition reflecting the idea of one of the nine chapters in the book. The curators selected one artist from each gallery to participate in the exhibition and solicited from each of them one additional artist recommendation of an artist not from one of the nine participating galleries (nine total recommendations). The curators then supplemented this base group of eighteen artists to complete nine exhibitions, ranging in size from three to twelve artists. LUSH LIFE will be the present for what will become a living ghost to the future form into which the LES will inevitably morph.

The exhibition schedule varies slightly at each gallery with the earliest installation being June 17 and the latest closing being August 13. There will be a collective opening of all participating galleries on Thursday, July 8th from 6 – 9 pm. See the full schedule.

INVISIBLE-EXPORTS is a gallery dedicated to superior conceptual work. IE is located in the Lower East Side, at 14A Orchard Street, just north of Canal. NOTE: The gallery will be closed on July 3-4. July hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 12pm – 6pm, and by appointment. For the month of August, we are by appointment only.

For more information, call 212 226 5447 or email: info@invisible-exports.com

SCOPE Basel

2010-06-13T18:22:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I'll be participating in SCOPE Basel this year, which runs from June 15 - 19th... I'll be showing with my gallery in Marseille, Gallery Dukan et Hourdequin...

Cheap T-Shirts....

2010-06-04T10:02:00.002-05:00

So my T-shirt supply is getting a bit thin, and I've decided to mark them down considerably to move them all, and to make room for some new shirts. Im out of a couple sizes, but if you go to my site, you can get any of my shirts for 66% off, which means they are $10 each. You still have to pay for shipping, but if you get a few, shipping is really cheap per shirt. So if you've ever wanted one of my shirts but didn't want to pay full price, this may be a good time...

Here is the link to my store...

Dragon Killer #2

2010-05-28T12:03:00.008-05:00

Here's the second and last issue of Dragon Killer. The dedication page isn't as good, but the ending is a bit bloody... I'm a bit ashamed of how I chose to draw the ninja, but when I was 11 I was pretty confident thats what a ninja would look like, and it has a Terminator reference that no relic of the early 90's can be without... If you click on the pages they will become large enough to read.

Dragon Killer #1

2010-05-26T17:24:00.008-05:00

I went home to visit my family last weekend, and spent some time digging around in the basement looking for old National Geographics. I found a box full of drawings and some old books I made when I was a kid. They are all pretty awful, but my friend convinced me to post some of them up here… Below is Dragon Killer #1, a book I made in grade 5. It's pretty brutal, but here it is, if you click on each image it should become large enough to read. Thanks to Sarah for doing the scanning…

Sarah Vandenbrekel & Andrew Remington Bailey

2010-05-26T14:34:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned last post, I have a couple of interns helping me out this summer... They are both awesome people to spend the day with, and both great artists... Below are examples of their works, and links to their blogs...

Sarah Vandenbrekel:

...her blog...

Andrew Remington Bailey:

...his blog...

new interns, Danilo McDowell-McCallum, the White House

2010-05-11T21:40:00.008-05:00

I meant to post all of this stuff earlier, but I've been having some crazy tooth pain the last couple of days and have been laid up a bit... Here are a few things that are post-worthy...

First off, I have two new interns working for me this summer, they are both great people and great artists... Sarah Vandenbrekel is an illustration student at Sheridan College and Andrew Remmington Bailey takes printmaking at OCAD. So far we've been having a really good time together, I'm lucky to have them in the studio all summer... I'll post their work soon, Sarah asked me to hold up for a few days until she updates her blog...

Next up, a good friend of mine from college, Danilo McDowell-McCallum, is having a solo show tomorrow night at 52 McCaul, the same place as the skateboard show last week. Danilo is a great artist and a great guy, I encourage everyone to check the show out... Details are on the flyer...

One last thing, this morning I received a message from a friend of mine who is on the board of directors at the White House, the studio space initiative here in Toronto...

They are looking for an intern to work for them. Below is the message that was sent out, and below that is the link to their website...

Hello friends!

The Whitehouse is looking for student interns who could help us maintain and update our website and mailing lists, help out at events and general upkeep.

If you are interested in getting involved with a lot of practicing artists, getting some installation experience, meeting some people and having fun times please email theotherwhitehouse@gmail.com with your interests/qualifications.

We can only pay with hugs and beers and there's a lot of us so be aware if you have personal space issues OK maybe this isn't for you. Just kidding please help!

Happy Spring!

TWH

The White House website

Anyone interested should send them an email, I think being their intern would be awesome...

Ok, thats it... I'm doing some new drawing as always, I'm in a fair in June, I'll post more stuff soon...

Artforum review and Koyama Press at TCAF

2010-05-05T12:13:00.006-05:00

I'm really excited today, I just found out that my solo show in NYC was reviewed in the May issue of Artforum... The review isn't online, but if you happen to be in a magazine store this month you can check it out...

Also, Koyama Press has recently released two new books, "Pobody's Nurfect" by Wowee Zonk, and Lose #2 by Michael Deforge (currently one of my favourite comics)... You can go to the Koyama Press website for more info, or better yet, you can go by the Koyama Press booth at TCAF this weekend and check them out in person. And then buy them.

One last thing, I just finished the drawing I've been working on, here it is... Blogger is messing up and not making the image larger when you click it. It's working for every image, except the one that I want it to work with...I'm not sure how to fix it, but I'll try to after I get back from running a couple of errands...

finished detail

2010-05-05T12:10:00.003-05:00

in progress

2010-04-28T02:49:00.002-05:00

a few things coming up…

2010-04-22T22:29:00.007-05:00

I've just come off of a little vacation... I mentioned earlier that Jamiyla and I took an apartment above my studio, and it needed a lot of work, so I spent all of March and some of April fixing it up... It's mostly done now, and I spent the last couple of weeks back in the studio, it feels great to be back to work... I'm working on a few drawings, I'll post them when they are completed...

In the meantime, here are a couple of things coming up that I'm involved with…

The first is LIMITED: A Collaboration Project with CBE, a local producer of some really nice hoodies... Myself and 4 other artists designed a hoodie, and the launch is this saturday... Below are the details, it's a little small, so I'll quote the details. The opening is Saturday April 24th from 7:30 onwards, at 116 Geary Ave #201.

And you can see the CBE website here.

The next thing upcoming is a fundraiser that I am a part of, organized by Freedom Fighter Skateboards. A bunch of artists are making custom skateboards and they will be put up for silent auction at the opening, all proceeds going to Freeskates. The opening is May 8th, 7pm-12am, at 52 McCaul. Below is the flyer, and the board that I came up with... If you click on it it gets bigger...

You can see the Freedom Fighter Skateboards blog here.

One last thing, Jamiyla just had an article written about her in Plaid Magazine, here is the link.

Ok, that's everything for now... I should finish one of the new drawings in a week or so, I'll post it when I'm all done...

Facebook

2010-04-21T17:24:00.002-05:00

The other day I had lunch with Anne Koyama of Koyama press (the publisher that put out Wunderkammer), and she suggested that I set up a facebook account to have more contact with art people... I had an account a couple of years ago, but when I moved to NYC I spent too much time on it missing my friends back in Toronto, so I deleted it... Anyway, if you want to follow some of the work I've been doing, we can be friends:)

Here's the link.

Speaking of Wunderkammer, the first issue is still available on my store... You can purchase it here.

MARS-1 and Haitees shirt

2010-04-07T19:39:00.005-05:00

Toronto is lucky enough to host MARS-1 at Meta Gallery for the month of April... He's been one of my absolute favourite artists for years and it was amazing to get to see so many of his pieces in person... Here is a link to the show info:

http://metagallery.com/exhibitions/11/infinite+tapestry/

Here are a few of his pieces from the show:

On Sunday, he and the folks from Meta Gallery came to my studio to hangout for a bit... It was nice to finally get to meet him in person, and I acted like a total fanboy and got a photo with him...

Anyway, if you live in Toronto, I strongly suggest going to see his show at Meta Gallery. The gallery has recently switched locations, it's now on Ossington between Queen and Dundas. If you want to see more of MARS-1's work you can visit his website.

One more thing, I have recently donated work to Haitees.com, an organization that makes T-shirts, sells them, and then donates all proceeds to support Red Cross's aid effort in Haiti.

Below is the shirt, and you can buy one of the shirts (for pretty cheap), here. The only image of it I have is pretty small, click on the link to see a much larger image.

Lots of Stuff

2010-03-13T14:53:00.019-05:00

I don't have a computer right now, so I haven't been so good at updating my blog... Here's a bunch of random stuff that I've been meaning to post...

First of all are some photos from my solo show at Fredericks and Freiser in NYC. It was a lot of fun and there was a good turn out... Thank you to everyone who came out, it was nice to finally meet some of the people I've spoken to over the internet.

Here are a few images from the opening...

My friends Sean McCarthy and Shawn Cheng, who are great guys and two of my favourite artists:

Me trying to look deep into Jamiyla's eyes and creeping her out:

This is Maia, my best friend in NYC. In 2003 I went to NYC for the first time for a show and slept in a park because I only had enough money for the bus. We met at the show, and have kept in touch ever since... She's pretty much the nicest person ever, and a lot of fun to drink with. She is a really good artist, here is her blog: maiavalenzuela.blogspot.com

The afterparty was a lot of fun too. We got a lot of free pizza and drinks and a lot of people came out. I was a bit nervous at the opening, so we all just goofed off a lot at the party and acted like children... Example: Aaron trying to eat a slice of pizza without using his hands and entertaining the hell out of us:

Wait, this is better, here is a video of it, he gives up at the end though...

Andrew doing a creepy dance in the corner:

I always get a bit nervous before openings, and when I was getting dressed for this one, Yarek, Jamiyla, and Andrew kept saying: "Oh, you're not going to wear THAT are you?" They eventually made me so self conscious that I said: "Fine, what do you want me to wear?!" And they came up with this:

I sort of look like a wimpy art Terminator.

At the hostel we stayed at, every room is painted different. Aaron and Yarek shared a room, and it had this giant illuminated panel of people doing it that dominated most of the room... I thought it was a bit weird...

One of the coolest sign I've ever seen. The signpost is going through the sheep, and there is a little bit of blood dripping out...

Jams trying to look deep into my eyes:

At the last minute Jamiyla and I decided to stay an extra day so we switched our bus time... It turned out to be a big mistake. there was no heat on the bus, I had on long johns, winter boots, a hoodie, my wool winter coat, gloves, a scarf and a toque, an I was still freezing my ass off... The bus driver was really angry, he got into an argument with a girl on the bus and actually turned the bus around, drove back to the station, and had her arrested. I know that sounds like a lie, but it actually happened. An older guy stood up and asked why she was being arrested, and the police made him go with them too! If someones phone rang while on the bus, even if it was super quiet, he would come over the intercom and yell: "What part of turn off your phones don't you understand?!" What was more scary than thinking that this guy might stop the bus and kick your ass at any moment was realizing that he was clearly on the edge of some sort of breakdown, and that he was the one steering the bus we were all in. Anyway, it was way worse than I'm making it sound, it was the worst ever... So yeah, the trip was a lot of fun. The bus ride, not so much...

Here is a taxidermied frog that I bought from an antiques shop...

I've posted all of these before at separate times, but just to have them all in one place, here is all of the work I did for the show...

I've done a bit of new work since my solo show... it is for a drawing fair happening in Paris called Salon du Dessin Contemporain, here is the link:

http://www.salondudessincontemporain.com/

And here are a few of the pieces I've done. I'll be showing 10 in total:

The other big thing that happened recently is Jams and I took an apartment together, right beside my studio... Its pretty big and really close to work, so I love it. It's large enough for Jams to have a studio space in as well...

I'm currently rebuilding and soundproofing that long wall on the left, so the place is a complete disaster right now... It should be a pretty ok place to live after all of the construction is done... I'm not very good at building stuff or using tools, but I'm forcing myself to learn, and it's a lot of fun...

Jamiyla and I dog sat my sister's dog Archie for a little bit, when he lies down I think he looks like a dumpling with chicken wings sticking out the back...

He's really possessive. I think I remind him of my sister, because if he's around and I see a friend and give them a hug, he starts humping my leg to show them that I'm his... It's not a coincidence either, Jamiyla and I tested it out and it happens every time, it's pretty funny but it's a little embarrassing sometimes...

Ok, just a couple of more things... Andrew, Adrienne, Jamiyla, and I are all in the new issue of Free Drawings... You can pick up copies at a bunch of shops in Toronto, there are a lot of good drawings in it...

If you want to submit to the newspaper, you can send hi-res scans of your black and white drawings to Jesjit at freedrawingsnewspaper@gmail.com. Everyone who draws should submit, the more badass submissions, the better the newspaper.

Also, I have work in a group show happening in the Bronx, curated by my friend Sean McCarthy. Below is the press release. The show has been up for awhile, but the reception is tomorrow.

Here is a link to the gallery's site, and here is the invite:

One last thing, I've posted the drawings I did for that RxArt colouring book on here... I just stumbled upon this on the internet, a young person named Erin coloured in my piece and it ended up on flickr... I think it's really cool!

Phew, I think that's about it for now... I know that was a lot of stuff, and some of it was a bit boring. I'm currently trying to get caught up with all of my emails, which isn't easy because I don't have much of a chance to get on someones computer lately... So again, I apologize if you have emailed me about something and I haven't replied to your email yet... I'm taking a bit of a break from the studio this month, I haven't taken a break in a few years, and I'm trying to distance myself a bit, so when I get back to serious studio work my next body of work should be a bit different than my current work.

Ok, thanks for reading all of this, have a nice day!

cider

2010-02-26T16:15:00.004-05:00

I meant to post this a long time ago, but kept forgetting until now...

My friend Adrienne has been making cider for a little while now... I used to live with her and having cider in the house all the time was a bit of a problem because I'd drink really good and really cheap cider everyday after being in the studio and then I started to get a bit fat... Anyway, it's really good, and if you live in Toronto you should buy some from her...

Here is her blog to contact her through: adriennekammerer.blogspot.com

The label was drawn by our friend Jesjit Gill, here is his blog: jesjit.blogspot.com/

Also, I've just finished work for a fair in Paris, and taking a tiny bit of a break for the week... Actually, I'm soundproofing my apartment, so it's not really a break, but it's a break from the studio... My friend just lent me an old PC to check my mail on, and I have around 200 emails to reply to... If you have emailed me in the last 2 months and I have not yet replied, I apologize... I am going through all of them now, and will rely to you as soon as I can...

I have a big update coming soon, I'll include some photos of the opening...

The Armory and no computer

2010-02-24T11:52:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post to say that I'll have work in the Armory Show this year with Fredericks and Freiser Gallery at Pier 94... It runs from March 4th - 7th, you can check out their website HERE.

Also, last week I spilled some water on my computer and now it's dead.... Sorry to anyone who has emailed me since my show, I'll reply to everything as soon as I can, hopefully within the next couple of weeks... I never realized how inconvenient studio life can be without a computer, I'm just happy that I saved my hard drive.

Lots has happened since my last post; my solo show opened in New York, Jamiyla and I had the bus ride from hell trying to get back to Toronto, we moved into a new place together right beside my studio, I've made new work for a fair in France, I found a taxidermied frog... Once I get a chance to sit down at a computer for longer than a few minutes, I'll do a big post...

Facebook Event

2010-01-30T19:11:00.002-05:00

I'm not on Facebook, but my friend Matt was kind enough to set up an event page for the show... I'm not completely sure how it works, but Andrew says you can invite people with it...

Here's the link.

Chimera - Feb 4th - NYC

2010-01-26T17:45:00.004-05:00

This is the post I've been excited to make for a long time now... I just received the invite for my show in NYC... There are 14 pieces in the show, its pretty much all of the work I've done over the last year and a half. Here is the opening info:

Thursday Feb 4th, 6-8pm
Fredericks and Freiser Gallery
536 W 24th Street

I guess I didn't need to type that, you can click on the flier below and it will become large enough to read.

Generally at openings at Fredericks and Freiser we all go out for too many drinks afterwards at a bar not too far away... Anyone still around at the end of the opening is more than welcome...

Here are a couple of pieces from the show...

Mitsuo Kimura

2010-01-26T17:28:00.004-05:00

My friend Mitsuo is having a solo show at LE Gallery next Friday, February 5th. Unfortunately I can't be there because I'll be in NYC for my show, but anyone who is in Toronto should check it out... His stuff is crazy, when I first saw it I assumed that Mitsuo did tons and tons and tons of drugs, but according to him he doesn't...

Below is the flyer, click it and it will become large enough to read.

stuffs

2010-01-10T15:46:00.005-05:00

Here's another drawing from my upcoming show... It's called: "Wildlife - Marine Regions" and its 18" x 23"... I noticed that I never put up decent documentation of the butterfly piece, so here it is. It's around 46" x 60". Now I will never mention the drawing again... click on them and they get a lot bigger...

Also, anyone wo reads The Road of Knives may have noticed that I haven't posted on it in a really long time, since early summer... I've actually stopped working on it. I feel sort of sad about that, because I loved working with Shawn and Zak and thought it was a really cool project. I decided to drop out though because I found it took up a lot of my time, and I was having a hard time getting my personal work done.. Anyway, they are still going strong with it, Shawn's newest move is killer, and they just set up a new website for it...

Below is Shawn's newest mover, and HERE is the new website...

Ok, bye everyone. I'll put some more show work on here later on...

1 more

2010-01-09T14:30:00.004-05:00

I just thought of one more that I should have added to yesterday's list:

Tristram Lansdowne:

Tristram has a show in New York coming up; his opening is the weekend after mine at Joshua Liner Gallery on the 13th of Feb. I'm pissed because I'm going to miss it by a few days, but anyone in New York in February should check it out...

4 of my favourites

2010-01-08T14:31:00.011-05:00

Just to do something different, I'm posting a list of a few of my favourite Toronto artists... Two are more established, and two are very much emerging; they are both still in school actually...

Anyway, I'm not going to write about them, just post their names and work examples, and you can do some further research if you think they look interesting... I think they all kick ass pretty hard...

Mat Brown:

Christy Langer:

Patrick Krzyzanowski:

Patrick's Blog

Winnie Truong:

Winnie's Blog

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T12:24:00.004-05:00

It's been a little while since my last update, I've just been working away as hard as I can. At 5 pm on New Years Eve I finally finished the work for my solo show, which in a way was good timing because I could go out and not think about work. But in a way it was bad because generally when I go out, after a certain point I stop drinking because I know I have work to do the next day. But this time I didn't have that voice in the back of my head, and I haven't been out in months, so it wasn't pretty....

Anyway, here is a drawing. The show is Feb 4th in NYC, but I'll post more work and more specific information soon... clicking on the image below should make it a lot bigger...

Between the Lines Volume 2

2009-11-20T13:21:00.004-05:00

Back in the spring I posted that I had done some pages for a colouring book for RxArt, a charitable organization based in NYC... Here are those 2 pages:

The book has now been released and is available for sale through their website. I'm pretty excited to be in a book with Takashi Murakami and Raymond Pettibon... I'm pretty big fans of them both...

Between the Lines: A Coloring Book of Drawings by Contemporary Artists, Volume 2

If Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner, and Raymond Pettibon each unleashed their inner child and created art for coloring books, what imaginative renderings might they come up with? That's what you'll discover in Between the Lines, Volume 2, RxArt's follow-up to Volume 1 of its immensely successful coloring book.

Contemporary art fans and artists of all ages will be delighted with this lively new collection of more than 50 original line drawings contributed by a diverse roster of today's celebrated contemporary artists. Everyone is free to add their own personal touches to the pages of Between the Lines, Volume 2, which are supplemented with a series of vibrant stickers designed by Nate Lowman and Mickalene Thomas.

Please contact RxArt for wholesale orders and discount information on orders over 10

Phone: (212) 260-8797 or Email: info@rxart.net

Contributing Artists in the Coloring Book:

Mike Bayne, Matthew Brannon, Olaf Breuning, Delia Brown, Edgar Bryan, Ernesto Caivano, Gordon Chung, Dan Colen, Dexter Dalwood, Tacita Dean, Nicholas Di Genova, Sam Durant, Marcel Dzama, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Inka Essenhigh, Tony Feher, Robert Gober, Evan Gruzis, Wade Guyton, Ridley Howard, Ben Jones, KAWS, Karen Kilimnik, Terence Koh, Andrew Kuo, Jim Lambie, Sean Landers, Louise Lawler, Scott Lenhardt, Justin Lieberman, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Sarah Morris, Matt Mullican, Takashi Murakami, Jorge Pardo, Raymond Pettibon, Ed Ruscha, Cynthia Rowley, Alison Saar, Aurel Schmidt, James Siena, Tom Slaughter, Marc Swanson, Tats Cru, Mary Temple, Mickalene Thomas, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kon Trubkovich, Lawrence Weiner, Kehinde Wiley

a few things...

2009-11-17T11:41:00.009-05:00

Here's a small list of things going on... I just woke up so I hope it all makes sense...

This is Luke Painter's work. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a hard time shutting up about it, he's one of my favourite artists... Ok, here it is, Luke's work is so amazing...

Anyway, I've been lucky enough to get to work on a small project with Luke over the last few weeks... Luke and I made a limited edition print for the OCAD Whodunit fundraiser, it's an edition of 100 and is selling for $150... Details on how to get a print, and when the show takes place are HERE.

Here is the image:
Um, next is a shirt of mine that was just released by LaFraise. It's limited to 250 pieces, and I'm not selling it personally, but it can be purchased through their website... I decided to do it because I've received a few emails asking about new shirts, and now there is a new shirt.

Here are the images.

Next is an article that was written about my work in a Toronto monthly called Steel Bananas. I really enjoyed the article, so I thought I'd post it on here.

The author calls me out on not being able to draw teeth very well, and he/she is right... To A.M. Standish, next time I release an issue of Wunderkammer, I will pay particular attention to the teeth) I didn't know that it was obvious, but sometimes when I'm trying to draw a set of teeth in a creature, all I'm thinking is: "I'm....fucking...this...up..." Anyway, here it is.

Last thing, because I love posting photos of my niece and nephew on here, I'm going to. Right now:

I spent yesterday visiting them. In October I was supposed to see them for their birthdays, but I was sick and couldn't make it, so I gave them their birthday presents yesterday. I bought Ava a little dress, and Jack got a plaid Queen West hipster button up shirt. With a shirt like that his first tricycle better be a fixed gear. Jack seemed to take a particular liking to my hat.

Here is Jack after a long night trying to pick up at WrongBar. Click on the image, it gets bigger, and funnier.

Ok, thats it, thanks for reading!

Illustration Now 3 and Jamiyla & Adrienne's show...

2009-11-10T13:25:00.004-05:00

A couple of things. First off, Illustration Now 3, published my Taschen, has just been released... I'm lucky enough to be included with such an amazing group of illustrators... It feels great to be in this book, as I'm such a big fan of the series and so many other books published by Taschen...

Here is the official blurb:

The latest volume Illustration Now! presents a dazzling selection of groundbreaking work by 150 of the world's most exciting illustrators. A fascinating mix of established master draftsmen and neophytes, working in a vast range of techniques, Illustration Now! Vol. 3 features illustrators from 30 countries, including information about their career paths, and lists of selected exhibitions. Also included is an introduction by specialist Steven Heller on current trends in the field. This book is perfect for graphic artists, creative professionals and illustration students, as well as anyone with an appreciation for draftsmanship and visual language.

And HERE is the link to the Taschen page featuring the book...

Secondly and more importantly, Jamiyla and Adrienne are having their first two-person show this weekend... It's happening Friday night at Penny Arcade, which is located at 1177 Dundas West... It runs from 8pm - midnight, they will both have new work, and there will be cheap beer... If you live in the city, you should come out and have fun! I'm really really excited...

Stephen Appleby-Barr

2009-10-28T22:25:00.005-05:00

This is Stephen, one of my closest friends. The girl in the photo is my room mate Adrienne, who happens to be Stephen's girlfriend.

Back in 2005 I moved into a studio apartment up at Dupont and Ossington, and Stephen was my next door neighbour... At first we didn't really like each other, but after about a year we were ok with each other, then we eventually became friends. When I moved back from Italy and had nowhere to stay, Stephen and the rest of the Team Macho guys let me sleep under their ping-pong table... I would often wake up to the sound of the guys playing ping-pong, which is more relaxing than you would expect...

Anyway, the point of the story is that tomorrow (Thursday) night, Stephen has a solo show of his paintings at Narwhal Art Projects. It's his second solo show, although he has done several shows as a group with Team Macho... Anyway, his work is really good, so if you are free, you should come. I'm linking all of the show info, it can be found..... HERE!

detail

2009-10-28T01:41:00.004-05:00

So I've pretty much figured out when my next show will take place... It will be in February at Fredericks and Freiser Gallery in NYC. Once I figure out a specific date, I'll post it on here...

Only 3 months to go, this is pretty much the point where I stay up until 7 am and crash on the studio couch for a few hours every night. But I've been stashing audiobooks to listen to for months, so I'm good...

Here is a detail from a recent piece... click it and it gets bigger...

Illusive 3

2009-10-25T17:35:00.004-05:00

The Illusive 3 book from Die Gestalten has just been released, and contains one of my drawings. Also, if you haven't seen Amanda Nedham's show at LE Gallery yet, then you should go this week. I think it's incredible, and that's not just because we are friends...

SLICK 09 in Paris

2009-10-16T13:39:00.003-05:00

I just want to post that from October 23rd-26th, my gallery in Marseille, Dukan & Hourdequin, will be taking part in the SLICK Art Fair in Paris... They will be showing a few of my pieces along with the rest of the gallery roster. That's next weekend, if you happen to be in Paris, check it out...

HERE is the SLICK website for more info...

CURVY

2009-10-14T13:25:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow night, my room mate Adrienne and my girlfriend Jamiyla are in a group show at Magic Pony, curated by the people of Magic Pony on behalf of Curvy Magazine... At first I thought this sounded like an 'adult' magazine so I was a little weirded out, but as it turns out its an annual book that "presents a handpicked selection of the most exciting female graphic artists and illustrators in the world today."

HERE is a link to all the info...

Drifting Creatives Video Interview

2009-10-04T23:26:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, the guys from Drifting Creatives came by the studio, we met, and I showed them some work and the studio and they filmed it. Drifting Creatives is comprised of Martin Hooper and Gavin Braman, two recent grads from Texas A&M University... They are driving all over the continent getting jobs, interviewing people, crashing on couches, and taking showers in car washes...

Anyway, check out the video, its HERE... I really liked these guys, I encourage you to sift through the other content on their site, they have some fun videos... They have a really good energy about them... Does that sound New Agey? I don't care, they DO have a really good energy about them...

I always get sorta nervous when a camera is around; I laugh kinda funny and all of a sudden everything I say takes the form of a question...: "So this one is kinda like the...uh...uh...mythical wildlife of ...uh... the rainforest?"

Although maybe I'm always like this and my friends are just too kind to tell me... Either way, after watching this I'm a little surprised that I've ever managed to get a girl to talk to me...

Anyway, good dudes, nice website, and I had a lot of fun meeting them... take a looksy...

Die Young Back in Stock

2009-09-14T10:28:00.002-05:00

My Die Young book is back in stock, it can be purchased from my store, which is here.

Buzz Montage

2009-09-06T15:41:00.003-05:00

Buzz Montage in Tokyo is now stocking my merchandise... You can check their site out here.

They've got some crazy stuff for sale in there, but these two just might be my favourites:

jams' window display 2

2009-09-04T13:41:00.013-05:00

I just wanted to post some photos of Jamiyla working on her display over the last couple of months...

If you want to see the display in person, its at Magic Pony (694 Queen west), and you can see more of Jamiyla's work here: www.jamiyla.blogspot.com. Her prints are for sale at Magic Pony as well now...

I think it turned out really great! Anyone who knows me knows I haven't been able to shut up about it all month...

Here is her initial screenprint that she based the installation off of...
And photos of the process:

This was around the time of Jamiyla's birthday... That night a bunch of us went to the park and drank too much... I put an opened bottle of Gatorade in my backpack (which contained my camera, ipod, and sketchbook), and didn't notice until we were leaving and saw my bag sitting in a giant yellow puddle... The next day my camera only took pictures that looked like this:

I took it apart, cleaned it, and it sort of works, but everything is pinkish... It sort of drives me crazy, that's why the rest of the photos look weird and shitty...

These are from last night... Jams, her roommate Stephen, and I were setting up...

I just borrowed Andrew's camera and took some photo's of the final product...

Ok, thats it, I swear I'll stop talking about it now!

jams' window display

2009-08-30T19:19:00.006-05:00

For the last month and a half my girlfriend Jamiyla has been working on a big window display for Magic Pony... Its pretty much done now and she'll be installing it thursday night I believe... I'll post a bunch of pictures once its up, but in the meantime, here's a shot of her working on it...

During Jams' birthday party last month I put an open bottle of Gatorade in my backpack, and didn't notice for 3 hours... At the end of the night I noticed what i had done, and also noticed that my camera was also in there... It was literally dripping Gatorade from the seams... I took it apart and cleaned everything and it still works, but every shot I take with it now is pink... I feel like everything looks like a mid 90's Prodigy photoshoot or something...

details of a drawing in progress...

2009-08-19T21:48:00.002-05:00

Group Show

2009-08-04T12:06:00.005-05:00

I'm in a group show here in Toronto throughout August... It's at LE Gallery (1183 Dundas St West), and the opening reception is this friday from 7-10... I'll be displaying the butterfly piece before it ships to NYC...

Below is the invite, a little write up the director did, and a shot of the piece framed...

A few of my artists in the show are some of my favourites in the city, so I'm pretty excited to be involved... If you are in Toronto come on out...

YOUNG CANADA
YOUNG CANADA
YOUNG CANADA
PRESENTS

WHO’S GOT THE PAPERS?
SARAH CLIFFORD-RASHOTTE - NICHOLAS DI GENOVA - JAMES GAUVREAU - MATT JANISSE - GENEVIEVE JODOUIN
MITSUO KIMURA - TRISTRAM LANSDOWNE - JOYCE LAU - BRITTANY LUCAS - AMANDA NEDHAM - BEN OAKLEY
TIM OAKLEY & APRIL WALSH - DAVID TRAUTRIMAS - ANNA PANTCHEV

AUGUST 7TH - 31ST, 2009
OPENING AUGUST 7th, 7-10PM

Who’s Got the Papers?

Young Canada is committed to bringing forward survey shows that distill contemporary Canadian practice into a series of exhibitions that offer access to Canada’s most confident and ambitious young contemporary artists. A new generation is forging a path of innovation, creativity and technical proficiency which not only contribute to international dialogues within the visual arts but are also beginning to write their own. Who’s Got the Papers celebrates works on paper from a selection of artists and highlights the impact of what has come to influence a new generation of contemporary artists. Accelerated access to global cultures, and sub cultures, as well as a redefining of privacy and Interaction with digital social networking structures has created a set of influences unlike those experienced before. Today’s Visual Artists gauge and reflect the effects of this new landscape and our August Group show serves as a cross-section of drawing, printmaking and photography in today’s changing climate. Matt Janisse appears courtesy of Show and Tell Gallery.

Store Back Online and New Book

2009-07-31T01:11:00.003-05:00

My store is back online, and its got some new stuff on it... The item I'm most excited about is my new book...

Its small (5.75" x 7.75"), 24 pages, and black and white... It contains some of the black and white drawings I've done over the last year and a half, the ones I'm most proud of... It was published by Koyama Press, a great little operation based here in Toronto... Its called Wunderkammer No. 1 and the idea is that in about a year or so there will be a Wunderkammer No. 2, then hopefully a No. 3, and so on...

Below are some images. You can purchase it from my store, which is linked HERE. Its $8 plus shipping.

Store Temporarily Down

2009-07-29T11:36:00.002-05:00

My online store is temporarily down... I'll let you know when its back up, it might just be a few days... In the meantime, prints, shirts, and books can be purchased through Magic Pony's Online Store...

Kanye West's Blog

2009-07-27T20:31:00.002-05:00

I was featured on Kanye West's blog this weekend... I think that's sorta crazy. It amazes me how famous that guy is, just having a few pictures of my work on his blog has already come together to help me out quite a bit... I think I was featured on about 50 blogs the day after being on Kanye's...

Anyway, HERE it is. People left some crazy comments. Here's the best thing I've ever seen anyone write about my work:

DonSuave | July 25, 2009

That's the kinda shit you look at and wanna write like 64 bars of some hot shit!!! Intensely inspiring....
CERTIFIED DOPE!!!

Anyway, there it is, and I'm very grateful to be included on the blog. I'm in a group show in August, I'll post about that in the next few days...

100 post anniversary

2009-07-14T11:40:00.003-05:00

This is Skeleton Hug's 100th post... I'm not really sure why I consider that noteworthy, I think I just wanted an excuse to post this picture....

website update and babies

2009-07-10T10:05:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to post that I've done a small update on my website... nothing major, just put up some of the drawings I've done over the last year, new photos, and added lots of links...

www.mediumphobic.com

Normally I'd add a screen shot of my website, but I'm visiting my parents and I don't know how to do a screen shot on their PC, so here's a photo of my niece and nephew!

tattoos

2009-06-30T17:15:00.002-05:00

I just got this image from Christopher Clark from New York... He got my work tattooed on him, I think it looks pretty cool... here it is... The image is a bit small, but if you click it it will get bigger...

It was done by an artist named Christopher Brandli. I feel like I worded this email really strangely for some reason... i think I've been in front of the computer for too long...

CGArt Feature

2009-06-09T11:44:00.003-05:00

I have a feature in this months issue of CGArt out of China. Its an online magazine that can be found here. Its huge, 710 pages huge. If you want to see my feature, its on page 200...

Scope Basel

2009-06-02T10:46:00.003-05:00

In about a week Scope Basel will be taking place, and I have some work in it through the gallery I work with in Marseille, Dukan et Hourdequin. Here is the website:

http://www.scope-art.com/Index.php/basel

Here is the flier that my gallery sent out. Click it to make it readable....

NOW Magazine profile...

2009-05-22T20:11:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I had an artist profile go up on the now magazine website... Click here to check it out.. It was a lot of fun. Sara Titanic, the girl who interviewed me and organized the whole thing, is really personable and great at what she does...

lots of stuff

2009-05-12T15:12:00.013-05:00

I haven't properly updated the blog in awhile... I've been in the studio trying to get some drawing done, but little odds and ends have come up, so this is my blog post about a whole bunch of little things...

Ok, the first thing is that I did bit of work for a charity in NYC called RxArt... It puts together and distributes colouring books for sick children made by a selection of contemporary artists... Below are my contributions, I had a really hard time with them because I wanted enough detail so the drawings were sort of interesting, but not enough detail to make colouring them very difficult for the children... This is what I came up with...

Ok, the next thing is that I have an intern for the summer, his name is Patrick Krzyzanowski, he's a really nice guy and a good artist.... He'll be around all summer, and I'll post some of his work on here soon... We found out he's a BMX biker, so on lunch last week Andrew and I got him do tricks in the parking lot...

Then we realized it would look cooler if he was wearing some sort of costume, so we gave him a mask, and then gave him a hazmat suit to wear over top... Then he hurt his ankle because he couldn't see what he was doing, so we let him stop...

I think Andrew got jealous that there was a new assistant and that he was getting all of the attention with his fancy bike tricks, because then Andrew grabbed Patricks bike and was all like: "Look at me Nick! I can do tricks too!" but all he was doing was riding really slow and looking at me and pumping his fist in the air... it was weird and uncomfortable so we took a photo so he'd feel included....

Hmmm, what else? Oh, These are two of my closest friends, Matt and Aaron:

Matt is the guy getting tattooed, and Aaron is the one doing the tattooing. Matt and I grew up together, and the three of us used to live together and have studios together... Anyway, Aaron is an amazing artist, when it comes to both tattooing and stuff on paper. He just set up his own website, you should check it out...

www.aarontattoos.com

Ok, um... whatelse? Oh, I am in a new book that has recently been released...

Its called Beyond Illustration, and its a pretty nice selection of artists in one book... Here is the banner that the publisher sent out... If you see it in a store somewhere, check it out... Just please don't read my little blurb on "the difference between art and illustration". After reading it, I thought to myself, how can I manage to run my own small business, but still come off as such a colossal idiot at times...

Ok, um, the next thing is an interview that I did a really really long time ago, back in 2003... I think it is actually my first or second interview I've ever done. In it I mention a show that I am working on, which was actually my first solo show... Anyway, the site was recently relaunched, and I had a good time reading it over because its so old... Some parts of totally cringe-worthy, and at one point I actually say: "I hate school." Oh boy. Anyway, you can read the interview here.

Um, the last thing is my newish Road of Knives page... here it is, I tried to go for sadness, sort of... You can check out all the action here.

Um, ok, one more thing... My girlfriend Jamiyla just finished a new screenprint, here it is... You can check out her blog here.

Ok, thats a lot of stuff... bye!

drawing

2009-05-04T11:55:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted a new drawing on here since the fair... here's a little one... it will get bigger if you click it...

DALMATIA RESIDENCY FUNDRAISER

2009-04-21T10:58:00.003-05:00

On Thursday I will be taking part in a fundraiser for an artist residency in Croatia that Andrew and I will be attending later on this summer... I'll be donating a big screenprint and maybe some smaller lithos, and Andrew will be donating a pen and ink drawing. the work will be sold via silent auction...

Here is the email that my friend Srdjan (the co-ordinator of the residency) sent out regarding the fundraiser...

Dear friends,

I would like to invite you to attend ART RESIDENCY:
Dalmatia - a silent auction exhibition and fundraiser in
support of the inaugural artist residency I am co-ordinating
in Croatia this summer.

The evening will take place at Headbones Gallery on
Thursday, April 23, from 6-9 pm, with artwork at affordable
prices, Balkan food and music, and information presented
about the residency.

I hereby thank my artist colleagues and friends who have
been donating their work and time in support of this fundraiser. I look forward to seeing you.

Srdjan Segan
Host and residency co-ordinator

ART RESIDENCY DALMATIA, 2009
A Fundraiser at Headbones Gallery
Thursday April 23, 6 - 9 PM
260 Carlaw Ave. 102, Toronto

T. 416-465-7352
C. 416-565-1115

28

2009-04-01T01:41:00.003-05:00

Today is my birthday, which is pretty good I guess, especially because it means that instead of working in the studio I can go watch The Watchmen without very much guilt... :)

The good news is that later today I'll finish the butterfly drawing, I have one butterfly left to draw. In the last 16 months I've drawn 20 009 butterflies... I think that's a lot...

In closing, here's a photo of me today (april 1st 2009) and one taken exactly 26 years ago (april 1st 1983). I think I look a lot older... and hairier... and less excited about cake...

I'll post pictures of the butterfly drawing soon...

Jamiyla!

2009-03-09T23:43:00.004-05:00

My girlfriend Jamiyla just set up a blog for her illustration and screen prints... I really love her work, and that's not because we are dating, for about 5 years before we dated, even before we were friends, I loved her work...

Anyway, please check it out, and if you are into it, please leave a comment or follow it...

www.jamiyla.blogspot.com

Here are a few of her drawings, and a mushy/gross photo of us from last summer...

labels

2009-03-06T03:07:00.002-05:00

I just went through my old posts and labeled them, so now you can search the blog by category...

Art Paris

2009-03-05T14:19:00.013-05:00

I'm lucky enough to be involved with Art Paris coming up, a great fair that my gallery in Marseille, Dukan & Hourdequin will be representing me in....

It runs from March 19th- 23th, so, uh, if anyone from Paris reads this go check it out... But I've checked my stats on here and I don't think anyone from Paris actually reads this...

Here is a link to the fair, and here are a few of the pieces I made for it... I've posted some of them on the blog before, I won't put them all up, but here are the majority of them...

Taiwan Magazines

2009-03-03T10:38:00.007-05:00

I just got these in the mail, a book and a magazine that I was featured in in Taiwan... Thankyou to the people at DPI for getting me involved with these...

Here is a crop of another new drawing, I have a bunch of pieces going to Paris this week for the ArtParis fair... I'll post more of the images and info about the fair next post...

Zebrasaur

2009-02-27T01:04:00.002-05:00

Interviews with Ben Dugas

2009-02-22T16:49:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago Andrew was interviewed by our friend Ben... A couple of weeks after that, Ben interviewed me... Both of the interviews are related and are quite laid back and in my opinion, funny... Mine is sort of a response to his....

You can read Andrew's interview HERE.

And my interview HERE.