SHOW: Shepard Fairey's "IMPERFECT UNION" @ Merry Karnowski, LA

California peoples!

Be sure to catch Shepard Fairey’s show opening tomorrow night at Merry Karnowski in LA. I missed Shep’s by all-accounts-amazing show at Jonathan ...

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7/30 ART: Andy Council

Good draftsmanship makes my eyes horny. This may stem from my love of Renaissance master drawings where line is king, or it could be entirely un-unique to me and rather a universal appreciation for craft. Either way, the intricate and inviting illustrations of the UK's Andy Council pull me in every time, and I'm always glad I came.

From bunny's composed of tanks to dinosaurs and ducks made of sneakers and booze bottles, Andy's work is consistently inventive and pleasing, not to mention ubiquitous. From Bristol walls to magazine covers and even an editorial illo in The Guardian, this graffitist and illustrator is being seen by more and more people and rightly so.

It was the liquor bottle mallard that convinced me I needed to own an Andy Council original (work in progress), but his unrehearsed inventiveness coupled with a pleasing palette and an attention to detail reminiscent of Geof Darrow at his crazy, simple best make Andy's work frankly hard to resist.

The only readily available reproductions of Andy's work so far can be found here at Wall Candy Art. The giclee prints on canvas are nice and sizeable, though so are the prices ($350-$400). I'd be just as content to try straight for an original, or wait around for more affordable reproductions at a smaller size or on different paper. (hint hint!)

But, my impatience aside, Andy's work is great art, and with participation in shows in Taiwan and the UK, plus a growing body of published illustrations, his career is only building steam. What's more, by all correspondence I've had with him, he's a nice guy, so doubly deserving of your patronage. Spread the wealth.

~benc

7/18 SHOW: Gary Baseman at Billy Shire

If you've ever played Cranium ("Now, Creative Cat, sculpt 'Dignity'.") then you've seen the offbeat artwork of "pervasive artist, painter, TV/Movie producer, toy designer, and humorist Gary Baseman. Beyond those way fun doodles lies a massive world of characters and creations - in paint and pencil, on vinyl and paper. Baseman's work is exotic, erotic, quirky, juicy, most always offbeat, and deceptively simple. And the more I see of it, the more I like it.

20" x 40" $8000

Baseman's new show at Billy Shire Fine Arts, Hide and Seek in the Forest of ChouChou running through August 11 at the Culver City, CA gallery introduces "chouchou" who "takes all your negative energy and hate, and turns it into creamy gooey love....out of his bellybutton." From what I gathered listening to Baseman's July 8 interview on KPFK 90.7's The Music Never Stops with host Barry Smolin, these little guys basically give love and need to be petted and stroked by naked ladies until they splooge joy all over the place. Neglected chouchou whither and die and their ghosts haunt the backgrounds of some of the paintings. The similarities between myself and these characters is striking.

20" x 40" $8000

At this point, I would say that Baseman's originals are mostly for committed collectors as opposed to casual, with large paintings going for $8000+. Vinyl and storybook iterations of his work can be found with some hunting (new blue hotchacha's coming soon!), and small originals can still be picked up for around a grand if you act fast.

20" x 40" $8000

With award-winning games, books, and international exhibitions in Europe and Asia, Baseman's a sure thing if you're concerned about your investment. But if you buy what you like you'll never be disappointed.

~benc

16" x 14.5" $1000

7/9 PRINTS: Tim Biskup's Dragamel & Tyrant Prints at Flopdoodle and Billy Shire

As I've mentioned here before, Tim Biskup is one of my all-time favorite artists. A king of the West Coast Pop Surrealist scene and a wizard of fun, quirky creations, Tim's stuff is always good. I direct your attention to the prints section of Tim's Official Online Store, Flopdoodle.com where - as with so much of what I tend to like - sits quietly in the corner being profoundly awesome the humble Dragon Head print.

$100 - Limit one per customer

I recently picked up mine after a very long engagement and can't recommend it highly enough. The edition size of this 6-color serigraph is 200, each hand signed and numbered by the man himself. It's difficult to perceive in the web image, but the grey area you see is actually metalllic foil (neat!) and the image runs full-bleed, right to the edge of the 16" x 12" sheet.

If you're after certain numbers in the edition, those under 50 are mostly gone, but Miyoko at Flopdoodle was always very helpful and quick to reply to special requests to rummage through the inventory. If you've no luck there, you might also try Bispop Gallery where more prints from the edition are available.

$150

Tim's just finished a show at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City and the work seemed way more mature and figurative, suggesting a new direction. A print, Tyrant, is still available from the gallery and looks to have been created in the same vein as the Dragon Head. The Tyrant edition size and serigraph details are the same again, though the image is squared at 16" x 16".

~benc