The incredible digital art of Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson is one of those guys who have raw talent. He excels on digital photography and produces outstanding results. And you know what? He has not have any formal training in photography or studio art — or even classroom instruction in Adobe Photoshop

Erik Johansson is keen on surreal landscapes and often depicts characters trapped in their surroundings in some temporal break down.

We have included below the Cut & Fold (2012) piece as well as a very interesting video that will show you how Erik Johansson got to the end result.

Here is what the digital artist says about the work: “Inspired by the cut-along border of a magazine coupon, I wondered what a landscape would look like if it were peeled back along a road’s dotted line like a coupon.

Cut & Fold by Erik Johansson

Cut & Fold – Behind The Scenes from Erik Johansson on Vimeo.

Here are other works from Erik Johansson

Downside of the Upside (2009)
Downside of the Upside (2009)
Go Your Own Road (2008)
Go Your Own Road (2008):

Hang-Ten at Hang Up Pictures gallery – Mark Powell live drawing session

Hang-Ten at HangUp Pictures gallery | Art-Pie

If a hot summer was not enough to enjoy London this summer, Hang Up Pictures gallery in Stoke Newington is throwing a ten week festival of art and entertainment. And if you know and like Mark Powell work, read on…

Nice.

To celebrate our tenth anniversary, this summer, we will be launching Hang-Ten; a ten week festival of art and entertainment. This includes a multimedia group exhibition, exclusive limited releases, a packed events calendar of talks and workshops, and of course, one huge party with free giveaways, music, food and drinks.

HangUp Pictures

Long story short, 10 years, 10 artists, 10 weeks, One huge party.

The next event taking place is Mark Powell Live Drawing Session | Sat 21 July, 12 – 4pm and you would not want to miss that, especially if you are a fan, as he is, of Mark Powell Bic Biro drawings.

Mark Powell will draw live at Hang-Up gallery on 21 July for what is set to be a fantastic afternoon. We also hear that there will be an exclusive limited edition print available at 50% off for the first 20 people through the door…

Mark Powell | Art-Pie

Hang-Ten is on at Hang-Up Gallery, 81 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 8AD from 23 June to 2 Sept 2018

The Fiesta Resistance: mixed medias at its best

I may have never heard about this exhibition if Twitter did not exist so let me thank you Twitter first, some do not get you little Twitter tool, ART-PIE heart you little Twitter tool.

A swift click on that link from that tweet I got and am now onto the Picture On Walls website or POW. ‘I Like the left menu navigation items’ I instantly thought. ‘I like the sketchy look of them’ my second thought was. A quick scroll down to the bottom of the website and I got it right away: loads and loads of creativity, imagination, art wonders on here and ART-PIE was right, The Fiesta resistance exhibition did not disappoint.

Unique, fresh, rich, interesting, exciting, different, colorful, busy … the list could go on and on and be made of thousands of words here as what I was seeing was actually made of thousands of things on top of each other but all smiling at me as I was stepping into POW. As always, ART-PIE did not know where to start and unless more ‘classic’ galleries (like the Whitechapel Gallery which ART-PIE had just been to earlier that day) that room I had just stepped into did not help to lead you that way or the other so I went straight ahead, I went for what looked like a shed with tall stools in front. Yes, that place looks like a theater or a movie set! Continue reading The Fiesta Resistance: mixed medias at its best

Otto Schade at Frameless gallery

Otto Schade - Frameless gallery | Art-PieIt was lunch time and I was again walking towards the place that would put an end to the hunger I had been victim off all morning.

I then once again walked past the Frameless gallery in Farringdon which I had never bothered to visit until today.

I certainly knew about it but either the thought of a mighty sandwich (I work really nearby) or a recurrent weak interest in what I could glance at, had always been dragging me away from it. Not today. Otto Schade’s show – Street art Olympics, was on.

It really adds a dimension to any show when the artist paints something onto the front of the building where his/her show is held at and Otto Schade just did that.

The one who knows Otto Schade’s works will recognise this familiar face – see picture.  (more pictures after the fold)

There is a clear Olympics theme for the pieces on canvases that can be seen in the first part of the show (upstairs that is – it is worth to point out that I was not aware of the downstairs bit of the gallery which adds so much to the whole space and make it one of the best venues I have been in recent months).

Next to those, sit a series of more traditional prints.

Otto Schade - frameless gallery | Art-PieThe earthy colors scheme used for the Olympics themed pieces which are all on a black background gives them a very warm feel whilst the black – red – white scheme used for the prints does the opposite and seems to freeze the image.

Head downstairs and find a variety of other pieces from Otto Schade from portraits of the Queen Elizabeth to the representation of a panda which seems to have found a ball to play with. It was hard to find an obvious link with the Olympics here – let me point out that the show is called “Street art Olympics”.

And there I saw it, I saw the piece I want to own: a make over of the Queen of Diamonds playing card by Otto Schade. The colors work so well, the intensity of this piece obtained by hiding the face of the character is intense and seductive.

Would you agree?

“Street art Olympics” by Otto Schade rund until the 12th August
Frameless gallery | 20 Clerkenwell green | EC1R ODP | London
Opening Hours: 11am – 7pm Monday to Saturday

Otto Schade - frameless gallery | Art-Pie

Otto Schade - frameless gallery | Art-Pie

Otto Schade - Frameless gallery | Art-Pie Otto Schade - Frameless gallery | Art-Pie

Leak street tunnel: a giant canvas for street artists

One of the if not the only and definitely most known authorised graffiti area in London is living up to the expectations. Artist, loads of them showed love here and keep doing so like the only guy I met that morning who was dropping up what looked like a piece that is worth coming back very soon to check out.

Below are just a few shots of that morning, click here to see the gallery I especially put together for it. Continue reading Leak street tunnel: a giant canvas for street artists

Black Duke Art

A LATVIAN artist, who’s work can be found in a number of European locations, has been revealed as the person responsible for the two giant pirate murals that have recently appeared on an iconic landmark, on the North Wales Coastline.

The two pirate-like characters seemed to appear overnight, earlier this month, on the side of The Fun Ship, formally The Duke Of Lancaster, which has become a well-known landmark in Llanerch-y-Mor, near Mostyn. It has now been confirmed that they are the work of KIWIE, a street artist from Latvia.

The artwork appears to be orchestrated by a group calling themselves Dudug, who have set up a website reporting on the works. Shortly after the murals appeared on the 17th August, a You Tube video was posted on their site.

The video depicts the work being done illegally at night; however a new video has since been added to the website, revealing the original version to be a spoof. The intricate artworks did in fact take a number of days to complete, and was done under the watchful supervision of site security, which remains 24 x 7 at The Duke.

The painted characters, also known by the term KIWIES, are each 9 metres in height making them the biggest works ever created by the artist. They also include some key details about the Duke’s history in their design – with the year the ship was built (1956) on the blue pirate’s ear, and the year the ship was docked in Llanerch-y-Mor (10th Aug 1979) on its stomach.

Members of the Duke of Lancaster Appreciation Society (DOLAS) have been so far unable to shed any light on the appearance of the artwork but it appears none of them had any idea the cruise liner was going to be targeted by the street artist. It can also be confirmed that DOLAS and DUDUG operate completely separate from one another.

BLACK DUKE from KIWIE on Vimeo.

www.dudug.co.uk

www.dukeoflancaster.net

www.kiwie.com

LUDO at Starkart gallery – La Belle Vie

We arrived in Zurich to find that the centre of town, near where we are staying is insanely upper class. Ferrari’s and Bentleys cruising the streets typically driven by what looked like teenage boys and the main streets lined with cafe’s filled with people wearing Gucci sunglasses laughing and sipping their cocktails.

It was not something that we were expecting and thought that it was extremely superficial, until we ventured of the beaten track in search of Starkart gallery that was hosting the LUDO solo show.

The neighbourhood that Starkart is located in is very culturally diverse and much more down to earth.

Starkart is one of the most understated spaces we have come across, set inside an old residence turned commercial space that gives no impression of what is happening behind the scenes.

The Ludo show is set over multiple rooms on two levels, it is a minimalistic show, with the works widely spread out to make use of the vast space provided.

The ground floor displays originals from his “nature’s revenge” series and the basement features two video installations of his work processes, from creation to installation on the street.

It really felt like urban exploration venturing into this show, moving from room to room, some brightly lit and others very dark with the sound of what seemed like a old French record echoing from the basement.

Check out the full set of Ludo pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chasingghosts/sets/72157626390493355/

STREET ART