my love for you is a stampede of horses.

Alex Lukas at Glowlab

Just a quick note -
Boy wonder, Alex Lukas is showing some of his newest work at Glowlab in NYC. The show will be up until December 6th. If you're in the area, go.

 

Michelle Hailey

I was charmed by Michelle Hailey's work. Her paintings have certain nostalgia that avoids flaky sentimentality. When I look at her interiors or still-lifes I begin to feel like I'm the figure in the piece. For me, they have an enigmatic "this is what I did and this is what I will be doing" quality that makes me feel warm.

Michelle is in a group show in Bushwick that opens Saturday, November 7th at 1717 Troutman Street. Catch it please!

COMBO

I'm not sure how popular this animation is by now, but it just really needed to get posted. Enjoy.

via Wooster Collective

Marc Bell

Mark your calendars you guys. On November 10th Marc Bell's newest book, Hot Potatoe: Fine Ahtwerks: 2001-2008 hits stores. It's published by Drawn & Quarterly and I have zero doubt that it will be both dizzying and magical. If you're in the NYC area on October 15th, head over to the launch reception at Adam Baumgold. After that, he'll be doing a book tour. Are you as excited as I am?

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. For $10 Marc will personally re-up your lame Facebook photo into a magnificent work of art. Unless you want your head inverted, that's extra.

Erin M. Riley

I think when you spend so much time combing through sites, looking for work to write posts about, you begin to forget how important medium is to a person's body of work. Erin Riley's hand-woven tapestries are great examples of how a piece's physical "stuff" can be pivotal in telling it's story. Although, to be honest, I've haven't seen Erin's tapestries in person, but her work bears a quirkiness and palpable quality that shines through print and pixels.

Erin currently works out of Philadelphia.  Lately, she's been working from cellphone video stills of traffic accidents. This may be a personal sentiment, but when paired with her warmer, more domestic "snap-shot" work, I think it really encapsulates the whole gamut of feelings associated with memory and growing up - a strong message of warmth and distance. Anyway, Erin tells me she hasn't got anything lined up show-wise for the immediate future, but we'll be keeping an eye out for her. You should too, pleasethanks.

New Work: André Ethier

I first posted about André Ethier back in February. Then, about a month ago a friend sent me the above music video for his song Don't Let This Mean Old World Swallow You. It got me thinking again about his brushy, stonerific oil paintings and how they forcibly send me down memory lane every time. (basement D&D, Jim Henson films, Rien Poortvliet illustrations, sci-fi/fantasy novel covers - you guys read A Wrinkle in Time, right?)

Anyway, Derek Eller Gallery has posted some new work of his. It's a bit darker, a bit gooier, but still carries that punch.

EKTA

 

I stumbled upon the work of EKTA during one of my why-am-I-still-awake internet surfathons. I was instantly drawn in by his rich and decisive color usage, and later, wowed by his straight up sprawling body of work. For the past nine years, EKTA has been based out of Gothenburg, Sweden, primarily focused on street art. He also helps run a nonprofit gallery/studio in Gothenburg called ORO, which is where you can find his studio. What I really love about his work is that even though its subject matter keeps pretty loud and surreal, the pieces maintain an understated quality, eschewing the swagger that's so often deep-seated in things "street".

In November, EKTA will have his next formal exhibition at The Don Gallery in Milan with London-based artist, Dave the Chimp. If you can't afford the ticket, his work can also be admired in a number of publications including: Street Sketchbook, Playground Sweden, and others.

 

Chris Ballantyne

I first saw Chris Ballantyne's work when he had a solo show at Steven Zevitas earlier this year. His paintings are clean, so clean in fact, I wasn't so sure I liked it at first. Chris' work retains a crystal-clear voice, while avoiding heavy handedness - something all artists risk when we work minimally. What really stands out to me is the work's almost ambivilent attitude towards apocalypse. (See: Alex Lukas)

Chris currently works out of Brooklyn. It looks like he's got quite a few things brewing, so I won't list them here. All of that can be found on his website.

Dan McCarthy

Dan McCarthy is well known in the Boston area. Half for his drumming in The Helms and half for his super poetic drawings, prints and paintings. I wish I had posted his work earlier. Right now there's a show of his work at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco. It's up until April 25th. Sorry about the late notice, guys. In any case, you should check him out. He's got a sweet print-of-the-month club.

 

Dana Clancy.

Hey all, I want to start by stating how much of a pleasure it is to be writing for Stampede again.  I've got a whole lot of artists I'm eager to post about.  I figured I'd start with the woman who taught me how to draw like a pro.  Dana Clancy teaches painting and drawing at Boston University's College of Fine Arts.  She's really smart in the way she plays with representation, incorporating visual elements that can change the role of both the subject and the viewer.

If you're in Boston check out her new solo exhibit at Laconia Gallery, Sight Plan.  It's up until April 25th.

thanks

Oof.  Well guys, it's time for me to pass the bloggy-torch to Will Bryant.  It's been a huge pleasure to share all of these things with you.  Meighan runs a tight ship, and it's really been an honor to be a part of it.  In closing, I'd like to post a stream of a few of my personal Flickr favorites.  Enjoy, and take care.

 

xo

cody hoyt

I met Cody Hoyt back in art school.  I've always been a bit jealous of his level of energy and fearlessness.  Each drawing and print feels as if it's about to explode off the paper.  Cody works out of LA.  He's also one of the two monsters responsible for the incredible artzine, Apenest.  He's definitely a dude to keep an eye out for.

 

casey jex smith

Casey Jex Smith's work is a refreshingly eclectic mix, filled with references to religion, art history and the new age.  His drawings and paintings are delightfully playful--snarky at times. 

Casey has got some work in the show Regime Change, at the Swarm Gallery in Oakland in April.  He's also got a solo show at NYC's LaViolaBank Gallery in June.

ricky allman

Ricky Allman makes some real solid architectural landscapes.  Ricky's work has a beautiful dissonant quality, where scale, time and environment are perpetually blurred.  It's tough to put my finger on it, but there's something tremendously alienating about this work.  I really enjoy that quality.

Also, Ricky has some work in this beautiful book, published by Front 40 Press, titled Signs of the Apocalypse/Rapture.