What’s pretty in 2011? In a time where there is just as much hate and backlash for every chime of ‘love yourself, you were born this way’, I’ve asked this question myself. So, what is pretty in 2011? It might look something like a walking billboard if you ask me. But Los Angeles based artist Erik Mark Sandberg has a brighter vision.

For his latest exhibition, the aptly titled The New Pretty, Erik draws from contemporary consumer culture and its psychological effects. These portraits, essentially studies, embody the self-consciousness of a contemporary generation living under the social media microscope, and the double-edged promise of instant celebrity.

Issue 4 cover artist Greg Gossel is unstoppable. In his latest exhibition at Together Gallery in Portland, OR, the aptly titled Paper, Minneapolis based artist the artist presents 24 new mixed-media works in his now iconic style which includes a bevy of techniques and styles.

Paper opens tonight, July 28 at Together Gallery in Portland, OR. Click here for more information. Take a closer look at images from Greg Gossel’s Paper below.

[View with PicLens]

I settled on Kai Lin and Artlantis. Kai Lin is a gorgeous destination gallery on Peachtree Street in Midtown, and Artlantis is an annual music and art event held in my neighborhood, right near the edge of old money Druid Hills and the current hipster headquarters, Poncey-Highland.

Music pulsed as Yu-Kai’s space was thronging with the Midtown gays, the fashion set, the hot girls, the urban swanksters, all dressed to the nines in overpriced casual wear. I immediately spotted the jovial Ted Bruner; he’s a friend of mine and work colleague of my wife and the immediate past president of the Atlanta Gay Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. “The girls are out,” he jokingly commented about my wife’s a bit too-revealing top. I looked around the space, concurring inaudibly.

You know it’s not a scene without the king, and cool Nick from King of Pops was there with product cart ready-to-sell. I commented on noticing his recent expansion to Athens. He said, “Athens, Charleston and Asheville.” My pop was blackberry mojito, and it “actually mixes well with the drink,” he informed. “We call it poptails.” I concurred again, this time with a slurp of free booze, which was being soaked up by the delicious homemade pop. Ted said, “Your popsicle matches her dress.”

My attendance had been in doubt and when Yu-Kai noticed me he said, “You came.” I felt so welcome and really got why Yu-Kai is at the top of his game as one of the most creative businesspeople in Atlanta. So many nametag-plated reps, so professional, and the free food by Sufi’s, flowing cocktails and hot art didn’t hurt.

Interior designer Gil Hammond and I explored the work, which as he commented is “certainly affordable.” Small, fun, childlike wood block pieces by Janie Stamm amused me. Greg Noblin’s color-saturated, whimsical detailed photographic story paintings captured my eye. And Adam Wellborn’s urban image, orange-red mixed media pieces reminded us that this is the city. My favorite was his tank-like train rumbling through urbanity, called “Mass Transit.” I utterly adore taking the train.

My art train next saw me super bouncy bright and early up the block by foot to Artlantis. An ice coffee from Aurora got the day started right, and then I made the mistake of accepting a free Red Bull from the hot Red Bull girls. So I was amped.
The Beep Beep guys arrange this great outdoor event, and the usual faces from the local lowbrow art scene were well represented in artists’ booths with works for sale. WonderRoot and Burnaway are local non-profit organizations that fight the good fight for local art, so I enjoyed rapping with them. The Dashboard co-op folks were also on hand with stickers stating, “Awesome Rides our Coattails.”

Body painter and fine artist Stephanie Anderson was painting away on the sweaty flesh of a festival visitor as the music started. Multiple sets by a myriad of talented acts were scheduled throughout, veering mostly in the direction of local art-rock.

Timothy Michael’s color-in-color is applied with brushes and forks, using cool on warm colors to express a modern twist on Cezanne’s pre-cubist framework. Vail Davidson’s Innerlight Creations express positive messages via word collage. And Louis N LaPierre’s free pins will go so nicely on my denim jacket when in season.

My favorite stuff I saw all weekend was by Chris Hamer and Jeffree Lerner. Lerner’s modern primitive work is full of life – I’ve owned one of his owl magnets for a year and want to get a larger piece soon. Chris Hamer’s Urbnpop brand features a one-eyed, friendly monster popping up in unusual places. I bought one of his bottle openers and vowed to work with him as my illustrator on an upcoming project.

As the sun reached full bore and the summer heat fully threatened to begin, I reached my air-conditioned home worn out but wearing a wide grin. Let art in.

A $10 entry donation netted us free drinks poured by the affable Doog Becker, one of the bartenders for the event and gallery owner-in-residence. His small, clean space on Holtzclaw Street off Memorial Drive was packed with energy and walls of art, some for sale outright, most included in a silent auction. I was first struck by “pensive” – a mixed-media piece by photographer Linda Costa featuring an old acquaintance of mine, comic book artist David Mack of “Daredevil” and “Kabuki” fame. Mack is photographed enraptured in his work, while actual “Daredevil” panels are layered atop him. I literally jumped at the chance to bid. My wife, Jami Buck-Vance, was at a nearby table purchasing a cleavage-accenting steel necklace with hematite beads from artist Damon Mace of Aries. They specialize in chain mail weave of titanium and stainless. Stunning Stephanie Anderson of Neon Armor and another associate were in the opposite corner of the space, body-painting Japan mountain scenes on radiant beauties. DJ Minkey Boodle was spinning a tight groove just off-center of it all. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a piece and liked the way I looked in my new fedora. I knew the vodka and powdered lemonade was working. Why go to bars and nightclubs when there are art events? The booze flows more freely, the people finer, the evening more cultural. “Rising” by Jean Baugnon of New Orleans origins, showed a rising sun inside a green-eyed Japanese face. A much larger mixed-media panel he created, “News” displayed an intoxicatingly captivating Japanese face overlaid atop newspaper clippings from the day of the catastrophe. He told Jami that the earthquake reminded him of the horrors of Hurricane Katrina hitting his hometown. David Ramirez’s “Rising Sun” doubled as show flyer. While Ashley Norfleet’s “Our Lady Nippon” title piece was like an Asian version of Mexico’s revered “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” haloed and shrouded in bright light, tranquil and mercifully loving amidst a swirling chaotic base and the trees of Japan. Ashley’s feather hair extensions suit her, as she efforts to grow into the role of Ladybird of the Atlanta art scene. She paints of birds more than occasionally and encouraged Jenny Birdsong to donate a painting, a floral arrangement and origami cranes in a myriad of colors and patterns. One woman wearing hounds-tooth checked pants purchased a hounds-toothed crane, and I exclaimed, “Your pants!” Of Birdsong, Ashley said, “One of the most respected and illustrative Atlanta female artists.” Of Craig Henderson and his donated “Gentleman Godzilla” in a tuxedo piece Ashley proclaimed, “My favorite Atlanta-area artist.” Asian-themed oceanic creature pieces were most prevalent, with Brent Mellecker 3-ding “Koi” taking the prize in our eyes. A former Japan resident, my wife placed a bid on his piece, only to be edged out in the silent auction by gallery owner Doog. I was luckier and won my Linda Costa piece. Departing with a happy gleam, I caught up with Masa Watanabe of Asahi, who donated the beer for the event. He summed it up simply without the help of his translator, “This is a great show.” To donate visit: http://give2asia.org/artistshelp

During his 2010 residency at the McColl Center for Visual Arts in Charlotte (North Carolina), Fahamu Pecou created a collection of four series of works under the title Hard 2 Death. Now the works have been presented in his first ever French exhibition at Backslash Gallery.

Fahamu Pecou is questioning the idea of the boundary between self-protection and self-destruction. Each series of work offers some sort of an answer: the recent trend for trousers worn below the hips, conflicting attitudes, sex and violence, a return to childhood expressed in fashion and a taste for a certain type of car, and the relationship between men and women. The artist proffers his own definition of the permanent sense of violence felt by these young members of American society.

 

- Backslash Gallery

Hard 2 Death runs through May 28. From June 9 through July 23, the gallery will be exhibiting works by Astrid Kruse Jensen. Take a closer look at Hard 2 Death below.

[View with PicLens]

I’ve never met GreatEclectic, but I know him quite well. I’ve never felt more innately connected to someone with whom I’ve never shared conventional contact; but that is the beautiful mystery that is the Great Mister Daye. He conveys and connects with the world and the one individual alike, because he is his work; as with any masterpiece, that connection lives in the unconventional void – where authenticity cannot be barred by limitation, and catharsis cannot be marred by sterile sanity. He lives in his work – it is in that shared space where I feel, and it is in that shared experience where life is present.

As an anydenizen: Kendrick is a Southern boy, a neer-do-welLOL (<– ;o)), a halogenic hipster setting up art-camp in the Peachtree.

As an artist: GreatEclectic blends the most abstractly familiar elements of life – love, envy, wealth, wrath, perception, desire, greed, necessity, lust, identity, indulgence, ideals, ego, morals, said bankruptcy, and fears – with the rawest veneer of famous faces. His pieces are pastiches – whole in-and-of themselves but even more so in context of one another. Pop & Politics are alive and well-contented bedfellows in this world. The personal space stands as the pre-eminent public place of judgment. Shadows dance in rigid rhythmic formation with neon strobes. The entire world coalesces into a kaleidoscopic cultural landscape… where we are presented with our own selves from before the mass-mediated mirror of Pop life.

It is arduous. It is bright. It is delusional. It is hidden in prismatic view. It is seeing roses through Reagan-colored sunglasses. It is waking up to the first Pink Friday after Sunday mourning. It is the scene sweet-tooth before and beneath the staid urban decay. It is everything in one place, in distorted focus, for no other reason than for you to see it; because we’ve been blinded by the guided light, because we need to throw shade if only to stargaze again.

His art lives, loves, laughs, lauds, lambastes, legislates, and promulgates on behalf of true Pop. It unravels the American tapestry because we were wound too tightly; it dims the lights because they blind so brightly; it hearkens to the dawn though it heralds nightly; and all it takes is a liberated lid to refresh the mind and see what I see: if you want to see a sad boy shine – pay him; if you want to see a sad boy smile – pay attention.

‘Want To See A Sad Boy Smile? Pay Him’ opens April 14 from 8pm-12am at Studio 900 in Atlanta. Click here to purchase work from the show.

[View with PicLens]

1234►

Painter Stella Im Hultberg recently posted these images of the opening of her solo show Fragmented at London Miles Gallery in London. Take a closer look at images from the opening night below.

[View with PicLens]

If you didn’t know birds are dying. Fish are dying. The world is ending. When 2012 rolls around Terrence Payne‘s apocalypse is going to suck a little less than yours. The blank based artist brings his brand of dark humor and unrelenting imagery to Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis. On Saturday, April 16, the gallery will present My Apocolypse Will Be Better Than Yours, featuring new drawings from the artist whose latest body of work continues to push the assumptions of beauty and challenges his viewers to succumb to the reckless charms and irrational fears of his subjects.

[View with PicLens]

Opening Reception: Saturday April 16th,  7 PM to 9 PM
Exhibition Dates: April 7th – April 30th
Rosalux Gallery: 1224 2nd Ave NE, Minneapolis
Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday 4 – 8 PM, Saturday 2 – 6 PM or by appointment

I’m about 60 pieces in and I’m still sketching ideas for new ones. What am I working towards? My debut solo show entitled Want To A Sad Boy Smile? Pay Him. It doesn’t open until the end of next March. But there is still more work to be done. Check out the flyer below.

Erik Mark Sandberg plans to get pretty by showing the ugly side of consumer Stockholm syndrome. With his latest body of work set to debut later this month at Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York, The Los Angeles-based artist explores consumer culture, celebrity idolatry and the social dysfunction in the digital age that we all are doing our best to make sense of. In his usual vibrant style, Erik makes references to Hip-hop, Teen Vogue and juxtaposes these images with his interest in the family unit.

According to Erik, “My work investigates the psychological effects of trying to achieve smoke and mirror standards of beauty, standards that run in opposition to contemporary mass-consumed food advertising.” His bold color choices, while mainly intuitive decisions, also offer conceptual reinforcement. On the subject of palette, the artist says: “Fluorescents and neons have a very manufactured, artificial quality. They’re exotic, living outside of the normal spectrum.”

Erik Mark Sandberg’s upcoming solo exhibition “Get Pretty Now” opens Jan 22 at Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. The show runs through Feb 19.

[View with PicLens]

12►

Last month I finally got the chance to experience Miami’s artwalk in the Wynwood area for the first time. It was pretty dope; food trucks, tons of people, good weather, I could feel the possibilities. The photos I’m posting are from this show called “BE HUMBLE or GET HUMBLED.” I was definitely blown away by the presentation and the arrangement of the furniture in between the art and of course the free drinks.

Eric Jordan aka Ejordanill recently held his first solo art show at the Harlem fashion hotspot The Vault. The event featured some of Eric’s notable pieces and performances from Skyzoo, Tanya Morgan & STS. With drinks from Heineken the event was a smash. Watch the video below.