Rollin’ by Bandito Design Co
I just want you to know: this print is awesome. That is all.
{ Monthly Archives }
July 2009
Yumiko Kayukawa
Ms. Kayukawa, you have my full attention this morning. Bringing me fever dreams of Manga chicks dipping their fingers into the blood of the world to play connect the dots with the constellations. This is the kind of artistic alchemy that just makes my mouth water. There’s also a great set of photos on Fecal Face from her show with Ben Tour at Josh Liner Gallery in NYC.
Dan Lydersen
Holy sonofabitch is this guy ever good. Dan Lydersen combines the styles and compositions of classical painters with the delights of pop surrealism. His colors are like a less light-crazy Ron English, if Ron was stuck in the Middle Ages with only a TV/VCR combo to keep him company. The first painting featured in Lydersen’s portfolio is a fucking ridiculous modern reimagining of a Bosch painting using only cult movies for Gallery 1988’s upcoming Crazy 4 Cult Show in LA. If you’re in the LA area, you have no choice but to go see that show. It’s a moral imperative. If you don’t know, now you know.
Videos
The internet is my mistress.
John Ryan Solis
Obsessed with ass, legs, and hair, the work of John Ryan Solis is like all those 80’s teen movies we know and love. Every other scene was some close-up of a girl drinking from a water fountain or something. Solis takes that aesthetic to a different place by mixing up the forms, overlapping, and just generally twisting things until they start to become something like a mescalin dream of pure lust. Jesus, maybe I’m reading too much into it. Could be this revelation only reveals things about me, and nothing about the art. What kind of weird demons am I dealing with this morning? Well, they say that real art should be revelatory. Or maybe I just made that up.
Leandro Castelao
A little more Charley Harper-ish than Secret Still homeboy 4eva Will Scobie, the work of Leandro Castelao is just as tasty as WS. In fact, if he and Will could form like Voltron and wreak havoc on the universe as one giant, line-art creating robot warrior, I’d be happy as can be. Will, you might want to look into that. I know you’ve got those mech skills, now you just need the spandex uniform. Castelao creates some beautiful, semi-abstract illustrations, more akin to a circuit diagram than anything else, and that appeals to the electrician in me. For all I know, the illustrations are actually instructions for building an Earth-vaporizing ray gun. That would look pretty sweet with the giant robot though.
Mike and Maaike Change the Road
Closing out design week (I’m off tomorrow) is what might be one of the finest pieces of design thinking I’ve ever witnessed. This time we dip into the world of Industrial Design with power designers Mike and Maaike who are behind some of the best designed products you use, including The Girl’s G1 Android phone. Core77 has a wonderful post detailing M&M’s process and ideas behind their Autonomobile project, which literally and completely redesigns not only the task of driving, but the idea. It’s not often that we get to see this kind of innovation so thoughtfully explained, and in a manner that is wholly feasible within the next 5 years. If I were a billionaire you can bet your sweet ass this would be what I would sink my billions into. As it stands, I’m poor, and I don’t think I would even qualify for an internship with Mike and Maaike. I’m gonna let them do the talking about this project, as they understand and explain it better than I ever could. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna cross the Bay and sit outside the M&M offices with a sad puppy look on my face and hope they let me just hang out with their ideas for a while.
Mikey Burton
Designer Mikey Burton rounds out design week with a solid portfolio of seriously unserious work. Great use of type, great use of color, and most of all a good eye for overall effect. I’m sorry to tell most of you in school for design degrees out there, but the latter talent is innate, not taught. You got it or you don’t. Mikey’s got it, and he’s making good use of it. Dude even did the identity for 20×200. I’ve got a couple of those cards attached to prints that I bought from 20×200, so I’ve now got work by some of my favorite artists, and one of my new favorite designers. Score.