JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

For starters, Ben Frost is not dead.  If you’re not familiar with him, Ben’s a Sydney, Australia based artist know for his often controversial pop-art.  His paintings feel like precision pop mash-ups, predominantly media and and advertising centric.  Frost has wicked good compositional skills, an amazing portfolio, and a serious track record of makin’ bold moves in the art world.  Check out his work.  It’s certainly worth a gander.

Andenken Gallery is pleased to announce their upcoming show “The Group Show” featuring an all-star cast of characters from home and abroad.There are some serious heavy hitters in this show! Just to name a few… Ian Millard has really got some fresh work coming up, Kill Pixie has some super detailed amazing work, Alexone’s paintings always impress and the Magnet Mafia has been gettin up after it. Also, Tom just informed me of a 20×40 Fafi piece that’s on it’s way from France today. So, duh, Come on down to the Block Building at 2990 Larimer Street this Thursday night for another awesome evening of art, drinks, good folks and ping pong! Be sure to check out Beauty And The Street for a preview of the show. See you there!

Phu is killin’ it!  His latest creation, Spectrum, takes Mad*L’s classic toy design to new heights.  Rad.

Our pal Max Kaufman just filled us in regarding a great little art show he recently put together.  Max rallied Chris Huth, Brian Robertson, Moh(from Newspeak), and himself - collectively they’re be dropping Plaid Panda at Icelantic Gallery on July, 11th from 6-10.  Denver’s reppin’ this month on the art front.  Frikin’ rad.

Mike Graves life involves lots of painting.  Since we met Mike a couple years ago, we’ve never known a time when he wasn’t working on a new series of paintings for a new show.   He blows our minds every time. This go round it’s Lucha Libre at The 400.  The show opens on Thursday, July 17th.  Check it out.

Our boy, Anthony Hull is one of the most legit dudes up on his shit that we know.  There aint no frontin’ with homeboy.  He reps what he believes in and lives it for real.  In a world of copycats and biters he’s one that’s stayed true.  And, he’s goin’ places because of it.  From kicks to hip hop, bball to acting, hosting to interviews like the one below with The Cool Kids - Mr. Hull is on top of his game.  Check him out kickin’ with some of the hottest new hip hop sound comin’ outta Chitown - The Cool Kids.

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Part 2:

Adam Hansel aka DEADVOLT, ASH, ADAMSKI was born in Dubuque, Iowa but now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.  He’s a wicked good designer and all around rad guy, I met him a couple months ago through my homey Pe.  He and Pe went to high school together back in Iowa.  Here’s some of Adam’s work, and oh, he happily responds to “Hey Asshole!” - just don’t ask him for a cigarette.

THIS makes me sick. Are you serious?

I saw an entertaining documentary last night about a 4 year old girl who paints pretty amazing abstract pieces. After showing in a family friends coffee shop for the sake of fun, people begin to notice and start to inquire about buying her pieces. At the height of her popularity her work was selling for $20,000. But when 60 minutes runs a story debunking the authenticity of her work, things begin to go downhill. I’d like to believe she did the work on her own, but the film makes it hard to be certain. Check out the trailer here.

The oh-so-amazing John Fellows came by today and gave us a nice gift - the new issue of PaperCut 4, Spring 2008. This new release from Fellows comes with a sketchbook mini-zine with all cyan illustrations that pop off the page. The PaperCut book has a new addition, a full page fold-out. Again, Fellows shows his creativity and takes another step forward with his work. If you’re interested in getting one of these issues for youself - adding to your collection of art magazines and books - contact Fellows through his website.

Our pal Phu just doesn’t stop… customizing the shit outta some of the best toys around.  We can’t get enough of his work.  I frikin’ love it!  His incessantly updated site is pretty amazing too.  If you haven’t really dug in yet, you oughtta.   This time it’s a 9″ Bootleg Kaws Chum customized using acrylic paint, one bamboo stick, brass rivets, Phu’s signature zip ties, cloth, plastic bottle caps, and some screws… damn.  Creativity taken out on toys the way it should be.

cypher13 Design Studio just wrapped up their new boutique online store offering up their latest line of super limited edition tees. You can expect the addition of all sorts of new cypher13 products over the course of the summer, ranging from hand-made custom toys, to fonts, to apparel. Yea-ahhhhh!!!