Here you'll find art by James Mathurin (the clue's really in the name). I've got everything you're looking for, if what you're looking for includes comic book art, sci-fi art, superheroes, robots, giant beetles, art nouveau and more.
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As you can see, I will be part of this show, Fantasy and Imagination. If you're in Sydney in the week leading up to Christmas, you should come along. I'm really excited about the exhibition: I'm really happy with the pieces I've made for it, and the other artists in the show will all also have something interesting to show.
Have a look at the information and flyer below, and hopefully I'll see you there in December.
Indulge in a spectacle of fantastic vision and explore the limits of
imagination in this upcoming group exhibition, The Art of Fantasy and
Imagination. The artists display a wide range of media and style, so
come peer into their minds and see these creatures and concepts spring
to life.
December 17-24 Gallery Opening: December 17 at 6:00 PM The Shop Gallery 112 Glebe Point Road, Glebetheshopgalleryglebe.com
Keeping
with my idea of otherworldly refugees settling into everyday life, this is the pencil and ink work for an amateur team from Croydon (either Croydon near London, or Croydon in Sydney - my Anglo-Australian neutrality remains intact). The original art and the finished digital art will be exhibited
with The Builders, and The Office.
Like I wrote before, I even came up with a story that links these pictures:
It's
been just 18 months since the first of the refugees arrived through the
portals. In cities all over the world, people have started to grow
accustomed to having neighbours and, increasingly, workmates who would
have been the stuff of myths 2 years ago.
While
most refugees are reluctant to talk about their experiences, there are
rumours circling of harsh and brutal feudal societies, with appalling
living conditions. No wonder, many say, that they have been so quick to
train and enter the modern workforce, and, where possible, assimilate
into 21st century culture.
Of course, even extra-dimensional refugees need time off, and a Sunday league football team is the perfect way to socialise with their neighbours.
Keeping with my idea of otherworldly refugees settling into everyday life, here are a couple of office colleagues having a chat. This will be exhibited with The Builders, and at least one other piece in the series.
Like I wrote 2 weeks ago, I even came up with a story that links these pictures:
It's
been just 18 months since the first of the refugees arrived through the
portals. In cities all over the world, people have started to grow
accustomed to having neighbours and, increasingly, workmates who would
have been the stuff of myths 2 years ago.
While
most refugees are reluctant to talk about their experiences, there are
rumours circling of harsh and brutal feudal societies, with appalling
living conditions. No wonder, many say, that they have been so quick to
train and enter the modern workforce, and, where possible, assimilate
into 21st century culture.
I did a couple of versions of the colours, but in the end, I decided to match it up with a third version of The Builders.
I went back to The Builders from last week, and did some work on the colouring, based on some feedback I got.
Also, here are some research sketches I've been making for the next couple of pictures. I've been using African masks and statues for ideas, and some of these are from the Bena Luluwa in Zaire, a Kasangu mask, from the Sola Mpasis of Zaire, a Ndimo mask, from the Makonde of South Tanzania, and a grimacing mask from Tunisia.
Most of the fantasy stuff I've enjoyed has been in a contemporary setting (China Mieville, Geoffrey Thorne, Neil Gaimen, and Garth Ennis' Preacher are the ones that come to mind), so I wanted to do some pieces that put fantasy figures into everyday settings. This is why my research sketches from the last few weeks have bounced from builders on a tea break to flaming skulls and people with fish heads. So what's the backstory?
It's been just 18 months since the first of the refugees arrived through the portals. In cities all over the world, people have started to grow accustomed to having neighbours and, increasingly, workmates who would have been the stuff of myths 2 years ago.
While most refugees are reluctant to talk about their experiences, there are rumours circling of harsh and brutal feudal societies, with appalling living conditions. No wonder, many say, that they have been so quick to train and enter the modern workforce, and, where possible, assimilate into 21st century culture.
These are more preparatory sketches to go with the builders and faces I was drawing a while back. I'm quite fond of my fishhead guys, but I'm looking forward to using all of these, including the office scene.
This Saturday The Winners of ArtSHINE's Draw ME A Calendar competition will be announced. With your help, Nina and / or The Couple will be among them! This is democracy in action, people!
This is my second piece for the ArtSHINE 'Draw Me A Calendar' competition, and the final version based on the sketches of the Victorian couple I posted last week.
I just want to say, I drew this before the new series of Doctor Who premiered, so any resemblance between the chair in the picture and certain pepper-pot shaped aliens is... well, it's not coicidental, is it? I've been a massive Whovian since I was a kid, so, yes I quite happily admit to being inspired by Terry Nation's designs.
Also, as well as winners chosen to go into ArtSHINE’s 2016 calendar, there
are 2 People’s Choice awards.
You can vote for me online by going to ArtSHINE’s facebook page and sending them a message saying your People’s Choice is either:
I like the sheer stiffness and awkwardness of Victorian photos. It actually sums up the inhumanity that seemed to characterise that period. They're actually quite a contrast to the expressive, flowing Art Nouveau images, but I've enjoyed using them to make my Steampunk / robot / Art Nouveau pieces.
These are some sketches I did for a piece I've been working on. I really like how some of them came out, and frankly, I just love Nina Simone. I find it hard to imagine how you couldn't.
Here's the original images, and hell, a Nina Simone video for you (better than the original, IMO)!
These are sketches for something new I'll be working on, that should be in my next exhibition. There is a connection, or at least, I am intending to make one.
I took a while away from The Lady to work on some other stuff, like Art On Board, but now I've had the chance to go back and work on it and add some colour.
I'm glad I got her finished because I've got a few things coming up to work on, and it's always nice to have a finished piece under your belt, rather than hanging over your head (I win at mixed metaphors).
This is something new I'm trying after a suggestion a friend made. I want to keep this an art blog, but sometimes there's stuff I want to talk about, so here's some art I did specifically so that I could talk about something I wanted to.
Tkay Maidza's someone I've learned about recently, who seems like a musician tailor-made for me. A singer / songwriter / rapper from here in Oz, with a distinctive style and flow, plus a penchant for cool anime-inspired music videos? Result.
So here's my response to her whole hip-hop afrofuturist thing she's got going on. I was especially inspired by her latest video, M.O.B., which I've stuck below. It's a great song even without the video, but with all this anime sci-fi space stuff going on, It's something else.
I'm going to be really interested if this is something that sparks a subgenre of Aussie hip hop. I love that Maidza's sound incorporates plenty of Electronic Dance Music, as that is something that represents a big part of Australia's music scene. I know Flume has done pretty well, and big EDM festivals like DEFQON show that it's a big deal here.
I love hip-hop first and foremost, but I think a country or region needs to find its distinctive voice for hip-hop to thrive. The UK had great rappers the whole time I was growing up, people like Roots Manuva, Ty, Estelle (nowadays maybe better know as Garnet on Steven Universe) and Blak Twang, but it was only when the UK hip-hop scene incorporated home-grown styles, like Grime and Dubstep, that it really took hold and started to break through like it has in the last decade with people like Tinie Tempah and of course Dizzee Rascal.
It was the same when hip-hop started to leave it's New York birthing ground: The West Coast took a while to really break out with NWA and Ice Cube, and really defined itself with G-Funk; The South needed acts like Outkast and Lil' Jon and the Crunk scene.
I loved watching these voices be found, and I'm excited to see if what Maidza's found is her voice, or the voice of something bigger. Either way, there's great music being created, so I'm happy to wait and see.
The original photo I based my picture off, from Sodwee.
This is a bit of an experiment. Tammy suggested that it'd be cool to add a sense of narrative to my street-art superheroes, so I've been giving it some thought. After coming up with the background for Assault on Alton Lane, I thought it should be reported on by the media.
ArtSHINE continue to support my work really well, and also just generally be an excellent gallery. They have made me one of their new artists, which means that any time you want, you can go in and see samples of my work and some of the products I've put them on.
Oh, and you can also get a great cup of coffee, lunch, and enjoy whatever exhibition they've got running, I mean, obviously, you're already really excited to hear about my stuff, but maybe you have to drag along someone who's not interested in, well, me, so there's all that as well. They will thank you.
It's open to the public, and this is me officially inviting anyone who reads this to come. See you there!
Even if you can't make it, you can vote for your favourite piece for the People's Choice award. Now, my piece is number 7, so it's great if you vote for that, but there are also a bunch of other good pieces that you might like more, and you can see those on ArtSHINE's Facebook page, and pick a piece and vote for its corresponding number. You can win a $50 voucher too!
To vote, email them on gallery@artshine.com.au , copy and paste the text below into the message, and fill in the details. As I said, my piece is 'Art on Board #7'.
I've finished off the piece I've been doing for ArtSHINE's Art On Board show. I had to come up with a title for it, which led to researching the original painting I based it off.
Like I mentioned previously, based on Sarah Bernhardt by Paul Emile Berthon. It turns out Sarah Bernhardt was an incredibly famous actress of the time, both in theatre and early movies. She was also an artist and writer, and generally lived a pretty interesting life. I'd like to be able to pretend I knew all this, and that it was another Berthon piece before I started work on it, but, nah, it was just a piece of serendipity. Still, after the research, I ended up with 'Profile Pic of Sarah Bernhardt' as a title. I wonder if Berthon or Bernhardt would have liked it...
This piece and pieces by 99 other Sydney artists will be on exhibition and on sale at ArtSHINE from Wednesday 8th July 2015 to Friday 31st July 2015.
