"Uncloudy Day" Benefit at Rabbit Hole

Group show, silent auction to benefit the production of the independent feature film "Uncloudy Day." Its at the Rabbit Hole Gallery this Friday, with the auction ending at 10:30. The video below, courtesy of Blake Myers, is from an early barn destroying venture to collect set building supplies for the film.

Bring it @ MINT

Every third Tuesday of the month (thats tomorrow), MINT hosts "Bring It", a chance to collaborate, hang out, find out what MINT is up to, drink some beer, draw people, draw on people, whatever you want. MINT Gallery is located at 684 B John Wesley Dobbs in Inman Park/4th Ward or something. This would also be a good time to take a look at the concert photography show that is currently up if you missed the opening. 7-11

Atlanta Celebrates Photography

With all of the photography shows going on around town, some part of ACP and some not, what are the best ones you've seen? I know I've seen a handful and my favorites have been Nubar Alexanian's photos in gallery 4 of The Contemporary and Raymond McCrea Jones' portraits of straight edge culture at Youngblood Gallery. I was also pretty impressed with the non-traditional photography at Beep Beep Gallery's toy camera group show. What else have people enjoyed?

As usual, you can see some overviews of a lot of the shows around town at Local Ephemera, including the Beep Beep show and all the exhibits at The Contemporary. You'll have to stop by Youngblood to see that one.

Some stuff...

Blood Car will soon be available on DVD. Check their myspace page for upcoming screenings and purchasing information.

You can thank Atlanta Creatives Project for leading me to this clip of The Black Lips on Conan from a couple of days ago.

Rock and Roll

One way or another you can rock out with some art this weekend. Saturday hosts Beep Beep Gallery's custom Guitar Hero controller show/concert and an opening of concert photography at the MINT Gallery.

Triptychs

The new show has gone up at San Francisco Coffee (N. Highland between Ponce and North) and its really cool polaroid portraits presented in triptych form, from local designer and polaroid enthusiast Lee Summers.

Defending Juxtapoz

I hear a lot about how the "Juxtapoz aesthetic" is too amalgamated, how "this graffiti, looks like this tattoo, looks like this painting, looks like this..." I hear the complaint that Juxtapoz has perpetuated these styles in a broader scene and is forcing a globalized aesthetic of lowbrow and pop-surrealism. First of all, I think a lot of people use these two terms (lowbrow and pop-surrealism) interchangeably and incorrectly. My understanding is that pop-surrealism is just as it states: an art form that draws upon popular culture while being expressed visually without regard to reason or other laws of reality. Lowbrow, I believe, is a broader descriptor, encompassing art that draws inspiration from outside of the fine art world. This includes tattoos, comic books, graffiti, and animation among other sources. Back to the point. As artists become influenced by more and more of these sources, and in turn influence other artists, the pool of influence becomes incestuous and murky. I will admit that a handful of Juxtapoz's "go to artists" may represent this trend. Sam Flores, Jeff Soto, Jeremy Fish, and Bigfoot are among the chief culprits, with their clean, cartoonish figures, always looking the same with their tentacle arms or giant hands. I think that people see these artists that Juxtapoz comes back to repeatedly and attributes their style to Juxtapoz, lowbrow, and pop-surrealism. I'd love to make a list of all of the artists that don't fall into this camp that the magazine features each month, but fortunately for me, Juxtapoz has, with its latest effort, condensed my defense into one amazing issue. Sure about a third of the artists covered are typical but the other half two thirds blew me away. Go buy the new issue and check out ridiculous art by Mear One, Gajin Fujita, Anthony Lister, Kenzo Minami, AJ Fosik, and even a page featuring locals Urban Medium.

Missed a couple...

A couple of photography shows slipped through the cracks. Both open tonight.

"Hardcore to Hip Hop" - 25 Years of Music Photography by Frank Mullen / Matteblack
Opening Thursday, October 4, 7pm-10pm, at the Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View

Openings this weekend...

New Street Gallery is opening its new show on Friday from 7-11. Its a solo exhibition of Ernesto Cuevas' paintings called "MyCODE MySPACE." You may remember him from the Pinata Show at Youngblood a while back.

"OUT of STEP: Faces of Straight Edge" opens at Youngblood Gallery on Saturday from 7-11 as usual. Portriats by Raymond McCrea Jones explore the many facets of straight edge culture. This is part of a project that will be availible in book form very soon. More info here.

Puppets

Have you heard all the hype surrounding the adult puppetry underground, but have yet to experience it? Me neither, but it sounds interesting. Here is your chance.

There will also be an art exhibit curated by MINT to coincide with the Puppetry.

Weekly Street Art: Broken Camera Edition

My camera is broken and I have been unable to document street art for a little while now. I'm planning on picking up a sweet new Nikon, but until then I will rely on the photography of others for my weekly street art posts. So if you see anything good shoot me an email. This photo of a wonderful BORN piece was taken by a friend of mine, Bobb Lovett, and is part of the Pullman Yard Flickr Group that he recently created. Check it out for some more graffiti and other cool photos all taken at this abandoned Kirkwood spot.

By the way, BORN, along with HENSE make up the next show at Beep Beep Gallery (October 27th) and Bobb Lovett will have photography in the Concert Photography show at MINT (October 13th).

My suggestions for Saturday...

First of all sleep in. There's a lot of stuff to do and you don't want to tire out before you see everything. Eat something healthy and drink plenty of water.

Now, the first stop of the evening should be MINT Gallery's "What's Your Twenty?" Get there early so you get first choice of art all priced at $20. I've seen some of the stuff, I promise you can find yourself of steal.

At this point, I'd head over to Foundation One Studios in Decatur. If you've never been there, get it together. Only once have I been disapointed by a show at F1 and I blame myself. Anyways, don't worry if you miss the opening on this, you'll have a few weeks to stop by and see the show before it dissapears. Focus on catching all the one night events such as...

Underdogs of Atlanta at Soapbox Studios.



Or, if you imagined yourself witnessing something a bit stranger yet possibly amazing, maybe this is the event for you.

Best in Atlanta?

Congratulations to everybody named in Creative Loafing's Best of Atlanta 2007! Some of my picks that won: Beep Beep Gallery, Foundation One Gallery, Eye Drum, Youngblood Gallery, Get This! Gallery, and ThoughtMarker.

Add me on myspace...

Do it. www.myspace.com/thoughtmarker

Friday Flyers

All of this stuff is happening this Friday. Stay tuned for more delicious events on Saturday.

Calls for artists!

"What's Your Twenty?" - MINT Gallery

MINT's "What's Your Twenty?" a non-curated show open to all Georgia artists, takes place Saturday, September 29th at the MINT Gallery in the Virginia Cotton Dock Lofts. The exhibition will be from 7-11 p.m.

Artists must hand deliver their work to MINT on Friday, September 28th between 7 and 9 p.m. or on Saturday, September 29th between 1 and 3 p.m. Artists may submit any number of pieces, none of which may exceed 8"x 11" in size. All of the pieces must be priced at $20. Artists can price their work individually or as a series to be sold as a set. Sets can be priced at the equivalent of $20 per individual piece (e.g. a 4 piece set can be priced at $80). Artists must agree to donate 25% of the selling price to MINT. All artwork will be accepted until wall space is full. Unsold artwork may be picked up on Sunday, September 30th between 3 and 6 p.m. The required application/release form is available at the drop off or you can request one via email at mint@mintgallery.org.

"Guitar Hero Custom Guitar Art Show/ Concert/ Tournament" - Beep Beep Gallery/ Lenny's Bar

We are currently seeking custom painted Guitar Hero Controllers for a art show/tournament/concert October 13th at Lenny's Bar in Atlanta. The only requirement is that your guitar be personalized beyond that little sticker packet that comes with it. Email james@beepbeepgallery for more info.


"Monster Wars" - MINT/ Apache Cafe

Choose a partner. Choose a Monster, and prepare yourself for this halloween's super art sensation...MONSTER WARS! you to can participate. pick a friend (or enemy) to help you create the battle of the year, and send an email to .... themobian@gmail.com...
to reserve your spot.
and to get more information.
costume contest.
live drawing.
and more.
hosted by Apache Cafe.

Plastic Makes Perfect

Rumor has it that some sort of film screening will coincide with this opening and take place out back of Beep Beep Gallery. I don't know when exactly, nor do I know what. But if I find out, you dear readers, will be the second to know.

Atlanta Creatives Project

The Atlanta Creatives Project is ongoing documentation of the artists and bands that make up Atlanta. They've kicked off the project with some sweet photos of Dosa Kim along with an interview.

Bring It

Every third Tuesday of the month, MINT Gallery opens its doors for people to stop by and share ideas, collaborate on art, or just hang out. The name says it all. "Bring It" Bring your art supplies, bring your ideas, bring some beer. Stop by tomorrow evening between 7-11. MINT Gallery is located here.

What happened to Andre?

My friend's little brother Andre is playing a cd release show Saturday night at the 11:11 Teahouse on Edgewood. I checked out his myspace page and was pleasantly surprised by the confidence in his voice and the intricacy of his folksy ballads.