art

I'm back bitch!

in , ,

So. If you click my link within the last year and some change you got a "website expired". I'm aware. Many of you let me know.. 

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"Your website's down" ."Sup with the site" "Why your website not working?"

Honest answer, I didn't feel like doing shit. I lost a lot in 2015. I was empty, pissed, hurt, uninspired, frustrated, and probably depressed. I also was spending money monthly on a website people weren't buying anything from. There's always people that are asking for a website but will DM you asking where to buy shit.  

  "Well, there's a link in my damn bio.........Bruh"

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At the time I felt it was pointless and it was. I know in right and I know because it's my shit. Anywho. I'm in a better place mentally, creatively, physically, etc. So I turned the site back on. I will be updating the blog with cool shit that I like or find inspiration in daily. I will also be adding new products and art as it's created & photographed.  May drop a new backpack and duffle bag combo soon. MAY. 

 

If you read this and got to this part of the reading, I fucks with you and you're clearly with the shits. Hit me on whatever social network platform we're friends/followers on and I got a discount code for you.  

 

-Blaq

Therapy.

in

As artist we sometimes lock ourselves away and work, losing track or the world outside of the workspace.  Personally I cram everything into the figurative box, that space gets stuffy. The one place I can go to empty the clutter is the museum. 

The DMA is perfect. It's filled with everything I love, it's clean, spacious, and free. It's literally the place I can go exhale.  

Here's my two favorite pieces from toasts quick therapy visit.

 'Hanging Neon'. Stephen Antonakos. neon & black paint on metal .

 'Hanging Neon'. Stephen Antonakos. neon & black paint on metal .

Paraj, 1965. Victor Vasarely- tempera on panel.

Paraj, 1965. Victor Vasarely- tempera on panel.

Just realized they're both green and red. Hmmmmm.. Inspiration maybe.

Kaws. The millennial's pop art icon.

in

aws is hands down one of my favorite artist. He's an artist who's work gets everywhere, FAST. No matter what he releases, the masses flock to buy it up. Many were introduced to Kaws from his album cover work on the Kanye West's 808 and Heartbreak album. For others it was the remix of the Simpson's character with the signature cross bone skull heads.

No matter how you got your first dose of the artist, nothing was bigger than The Macy's day parade Companion and The MTV Awards Kaws Moonman. Artist born Brian Donnelly start his art career on the streets of New York in the graffiti world. After some schooling he went on to coloring in cartoon animation. During this time he would unlock advertising displays and paint his crossbones over ads from huge companies. Well some of those companies took notice and begin hiring the artist to make their shit cooler. This was what lit the fuse. These opportunities created a pop culture icon out of Kaws. Clothing, toys, pillows, rugs, collectible key chains, paintings, prints, figurines, album covers, bigger ad collaborations, books, and knock offs flooded the art market. 

Kaws is one of the examples of the art grind paying off big time. The most remarkable thing is. Mr. Donnelly remains this quiet power house that loves his work to be enjoyed. No ego, no flashy life, just work. So artist, Just keep fucking creating!

Ian Strange's (@kidzoom) perspective of Home, Suburbia, & Displacement.

in

There are artist as we all know artist, then there's those who are working on a grand scale that stuns and makes you wonder "how the fuck?"

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I've followed the work of Kid Zoom aka Ian Strange since about 2010.  Social networks got ridiculously useful and made accessing new things even faster. I followed Kid Zoom every where via tumblr. Coolest thing is, he's accessible. Often open to brief discussion about projects.  What struck me in 2010 was the size of his art work. I was breaking out 16x20 inch canvasses and he was working on taxidermy bears and huge wall sized canvas. My tiny studio efficiency was no where near large enough to work large, but didn't stop me from dreaming about larger work.

Soon after the large canvas and taxidermy works, Strange built a replica of his childhood home from memory in the exhibition "HOME" and spray painted one of the dopest skulls I'd seen on it. This is the exhibition that Ian also beat up and set fire to 3 sedans in the short film "The Destruction of Three Holden Commodores"

Of course after doing work on a grand scale you have to do it now on a grander scale. The Home exhibition was followed by "Suburban". This was a personal " investigation " of the "icon" status of the home and suburbia as many know it. The project was photographed and recorded in amazing quality but the exhibition was held in Australia. 

 "Final Act" was the continuation of the Home & Suburban projects. It was executed in the town Christchurch, New Zealand that suffered major damage from an earthquake. 180 people were killed in the quake that buckled the earth's crust and liquefied sections of soil. The town of Christchurch was evacuated due to structural instability. The abandoned town was a showcase of nature's power and how humans are displaced by it. The home were cut, dissected, and lit to highlight the framework. The project showed the homes in a more spirited manner before being demolished. 

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After seeing & speaking to Kid Zoom via his Instagram, I learned that this project is continuing in Japan's Nuclear exclusion zones that were abandoned in the tsunami disaster that was also caused by an earthquake. The force of the quake no only caused a massive tsunami the killed almost 20,000 individuals but it also displaced many more from structural damage to homes and Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power plant. Interested to see how this body of work will be executed by Strange. I would like to also see how the work is received by the residents that once occupied the exclusion zone.

All pictures and video is courtesy of Ian.