UK based artist Hannah Waldron began weaving in 2010. Since then she has produced a series of spirited abstractions that explore form and shape. Like maps to a quirky fantasy land a la Richard Scarry her work offers the glimpse of a joyous world populated by line and color. Her long compositions reach across the wall and sometimes barely touch the floor below. Other times her finished work is displayed within the loom as a way to bestow insight on the artform. (via)
The photographic images of artist Ahn Jun unfold at dizzying heights. Ahn captures her self-portraits perched atop ledges and windowsills. The frightening heights don’t act as a gimmick it does in the current Russian fad that may come to mind. Rather, Ahn uses the elevation more as a narrative tool. While clearly referencing suicide, she pushes the story beyond that also. She nearly seems not only to be involved in an inner drama but interacting with the cityscape as a whole – she looks as if to be addressing the city personally.
I just got back from checking out the undergrad show at UCLA Design Media Arts, and I was impressed with a lot of the work, but there was one young artist that really stood out to me: Canon Call. Call’s work is largely comprised of illustration on found materials, and the sincerely charming thing about these little disruptive doodles is their ability to build upon the image they are layered on top of in order to develop a dialogue around pop-culture and society at large. The best part of the work is the hidden irony behind the naming of each piece’s source file… each JPEG on his site is titled “dontsteal.jpg” or “dontcopythis.jpg – and various other alterations of that phrase. Genius. The work itself feels like a weird mashup of pop art and a surrealist exquisite corpse of sorts. I am very much looking forward to watching Call’s work develop.
The photographic work of Tajette O’Halloran is narrative rich. Each image seems stolen from a story in progress. The photographs borrow filmic qualities not only in its storytelling but style lighting and composition. Indeed, O’Halloran had spent time as a location scout for Australia’s film industry. She’s kept her eye for location and sense of drama. The self-portrait series featured here is set in an abandoned house in Barre, Massachusetts.
O’Halloran relates of the experience, “While staying here in this environment I felt compelled to create a photographic story of captivity, abandonment and surrender. I wanted to explore the fragility, torment and eventual freedom of the mind when left alone with yourself and your thoughts.”
Within Burkina Faso, West Africa is a circular 3 acre complex of intricately embellished earthen architecture known as the village of Tiebele. It is here that the community enlivens the earthen walls of their village by annually adorning them with traditional African patterns. To them the intricate designs have a vast history while an outsider can appreciate them for their geometric splendor and simplicity. The story of this small village brings to mind local community art projects and their worth. An entire community transforming their environment with artistic practices is a testament to the unifying power of creativity and tradition.(via)
Photographer Justin Bettman‘s Bagel Project is much more than a series of well produced photographs. Bettman meets with homeless people throughout California and exchanges a bagel for a story. He then documents each story with a photograph.
Bettman admits, “The homeless in our cities are often forgotten, as after a while they become a part of the city themselves; blending in like streetlights and bus stops, or any of the other things we walk by hundreds of times a day.”
His images, though, reveal incredible depths of narrative in simple subtle facial expressions. He goes on to say, “I’ve been continually surprised by the fact that these people are content with their lives; if anything, they are happier to have a friend to talk to rather than the food provided.”
Bettman’s blog accompanies each photo with a story – an extremely interesting read that is difficult leaving.
Photo by Katherine Cooper
Washed Out keyboardist Phil Jones’ Dog Bite is about to release their debut LP, Velvet Changes on Carpark Records on Feb. 5th. Paste Magazine recently premiered the second single Forever, Until and I’ve been playing it non-stop since I first heard it. If you like your dream-pop and 90′s lush sounds like I do, you’ll love what Dog Bite is doing.
Dog Bite will be heading out on the road with Toro Y Moi starting on January 30th at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, AZ and ending on March 3rd at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles with a ton of dates in between. Definitely check out the new song and grab some tickets to an upcoming show via Ticketmaster.
Philadelphia based artist Alex Lukas is well known for his self described “Disaster Drawings” in which desolate landscapes are presented with striking clarity in ink, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and silk screen on paper. In addition to this body of work Lukas has been producing zines and screen prints through his own Cantab Publishing since 2001. Throughout the years he has expressed his love for comic books via a series of superhero screen prints that present well known characters in a signature style. Some of the work is searing and culturally relevant while others are simple tributes to beloved heroes.
