JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

Adam Hansel, the man behind DEADVOLT just let us in on a super fresh exhibition of skateboard graphics that he’s a part of.  The exhibition, aptly titled Till Death Do Us Part showcases the wonderful world of skateboard graphics.  The exhibition includes work by legendary skateboard artists Jim Philips, Randy Laybourne and Hessenmob amongst a variety of others of the same persausion.  The art in this show is produced exclusively for it, and will simultaneously be auctioned on ebay where profits will benefit the local skateboard community in Aalborg.  More on the show and the auction here.

You don’t wanna miss this art opening… Emit & Scribe tonight at The 400. We just got a sneak peek from Fry, and it’s nasty, nasty shit. See you there.

Mr. HYP just returned from his first international show, Die Post Ist Da, at Intoxicated Demons gallery in Berlin. Mike showed his latest works alongside ARO and Morten Andersen. Here’s some of Mike’s pics and thoughts on his recent adventure,

“Just returned from Berlin. . . the show was amazing. That town goes off! Between hanging the show, the opening, seeing The Beatnuts play, some mid-day shopping / sneaker freaking in Mitte and Kreuzberg, then seeing Rubies / Jaime Lidell at Admiralspalaast AND James Lavelle’s DJ set at the LOWDOWN / Fenchurch party at Cookies the same night. . . . it was a busy, exhausting and amazing 3.5 days. Maybe I’ll recover this week. . .

I think I could live for a year in one of Morten’s paintings and never see the same thing twice, kid has some serious talent. The layers he builds up are so intense that they actually reveal intricacies in different light conditions. Nuts. Seeing ARO’s stuff up close and personal makes me rethink the way I use Illustrator. That kid twists vectors like no one I’ve ever met. To top off the fact they are massively talented, both guys are incredibly humble and have mastered the craft of late night madness. And hearing a Danish dude drop Quasimoto lyrics in Germany made me realize that we are in a truly global culture with zero lag time. Also, I’ve gotta give props to Marco who runs Intoxicated Demons Gallery, he hooked us up hardcore and is a visionary for filling the contemporary gallery void in Berlin. The gallery is a killer space, filled with fine beats, slate-walls and cold beers.

All in all a great, albeit short trip. I can’t wait to get back. . .” -HYP

Our pal Morten Andersen over in Denmark just wrapped up a show (Die Post Ist Da!) with Aro and our boy HYP over in Berlin. The show looked amazing from the pics we’ve seen. Here’s a sample of some of Morten’s most recent paintings from the gallery he shows at in Paris.  I’ve been paying close attention to Morten’s work for close to two years now, and damn…  Mr. Andersen has raised the bar and his work more than stands on its own.  No arguing that.

Dutch artist, Jasper de Beijer, is currently having an exhibit at MCA Denver. He has a wicked process for creating a single piece of art and presents an interesting perspective on photography and the photographic process. He takes photographs, creates sculptures/models out of those photographs; then photographs these three-dimensional creations with the objective of the final photograph being the piece of art to be exhibited. It’s an unusual exhibit because MCA Denver is including a selection of miniature props de Beijer made and then photographed as a key element of his process. The artist also works on a computer to alter the photos before they’re printed. Interestingly enough, this is the first time that the models and the photos have been brought together in a single display.

 I went on a bit of a morning foray looking for some new and inspiring work, and I found the portfolio of Joey Piziali.  Mr. Piziali is a San Francisco artist.  He make spectacularly artwork.  I’ve assembled a bit of a collage of some of his more recent pieces to share the love.

Since leaving Sid Factor Seven and going solo Brian Krezel has been a busy man.   He’s been doin’ some remodeling to his pad and getting his home studio all dialed in.  After a steady foray into woodworking and gettin’ gritty for a bit Krez seems to be ready to get back to his roots and start pushin’ out his signature illlustrations.  Here’s a sneak peek at what Brian is startin’ to get after… keep in mind that these little nasties were most likely done yesterday afternoon while jacked on coffee, in not much more time than it takes to run a load of laundry.  When you’re good… you’re just good.

I received a rather alarming email from the good people at conceptart.org this morning. It appears that legislation regarding artist’s image rights is being rushed through congress, and it appears to lay the groundwork for artists losing the rights to the very images they create. Please read all of this and click the links to contact your state representatives (it literally takes minutes and has been done for you) and email this story to everyone you know below!

According to the ORPHAN WORKS ACT (which will be written in the House at 2:00 today, and in the Senate tomorrow), “orphan work” is copyrighted work whose owner is unable to be located with what the infringer himself decides as “reasonably diligent search.” In a radical departure from existing copyright law and business practice, the U.S. Copyright Office has proposed that Congress grant such infringers freedom to ignore the rights of the artist and use the work for any purpose, including commercial usage.

Essentially, this will mean artists will be responsible for paying to register their images in a system that is untested, time-consuming and redundant, costing them hard-earned money and time to legally retain the rights to images THEY ALREADY OWN. A website has been created that allows us to easily contact representatives, and tell them to vote this down! Please, if you value art and the people who create it (you’re HERE so I know that you do!!!) then take a minute and help put those assholes in Washington in their place.

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

This link has all your information on what this bill will mean to artists, and how to contact congress and see this changed. Things like this happen every day people, and democracy doesn’t work if we don’t participate. Don’t let this bill weaken our artists’ rights!

contact Senate Judiciary Committee:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11349191

contact House Judiciary Committee:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11349111

We’re stoked to spread the love on this one… This Saturday, May 10th at the Plastic Chapel on Colfax… COLLABORATION at it’s finest!!! John Fellows and Kris Fry have teamed up to break out In Cahoots, a super-collaborative endeavor conspired and created over the past 2 months. This seriously graphically skilled duo will be droppin’ silk screen posters, lino cuts, drawings, and an all new zine for the show. The work’ll be rad for certain - stop by.

Regan Rosberg is a good friend and a spectacular artist. Regan will be showing work in the upcoming Molten group show at Space Gallery on June 6th. Molten runs from June 6th to June 28th and features work by some of our regions top talents. You can get all the info on the show here. Below you’ll find one of Regan’s latest pieces. Her work for the Molten show is resin based and includes some seriously photorealistic painting. Ms. Rosberg is certainly on top of her game.  Visit her website to get the real deal.

Based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, artist Joris Laarman designed this line of furniture, which mimics the structure of bones. Though partially hollow, these form a strong, almost architectural matrix of support. This polished aluminum chair was created using software that mimics the process by which bones grow over time.

 Our pal and co-conspirator in all things art & design related, Rob Angermuller, aka Lifter Baron was recently brought on by Minneapolis creative powerhouse, Seventhsin.  Rob will be formally joining the super-talented crew in mid-may and coming on as a Sr. Designer.  Yeah boyee!  The loss of Rob and his designer/partner/lady-friend Celeste  was a significant one to our little arty community, but their recent move to MN seems to be proving fruitful.  One man’s loss is often anothes gain, and we’re confident that Rob & Celeste will be upping the ante out in MN.  In a day and age where anyone and everyone with an Apple computer thinks they’re a designer, it’s quite refreshing to find a super-functional couple, both with Apple computers, formal design training, and real fucking skills.  You guys rock.  You can keep up with Rob & Celeste (and one of our favorite local design talents and all around awesome dude, Josh Wills)  and their graphically inspired adventures on their blog, becausweliketo.