as it happens...

Monday, 3 October 2011

DOWN IN THE DUMPS

 so.... see no evil - saw a commission for me...
this is what i produced...

DOWN IN THE DUMPS


the painting done at se no evil was of a young orangutang with her lips out smacking the attitude out of the show with some lipstick in hand...susie the lady i did the commission for loved it sooo much she wanted me to do something for her company...natracare....here is a link...
natracare make organic naturally biodegradable tampons...yup not the normal sort of company id imagine wanting me painting for them but i guess it has worked out...


there was no specific breif, just do what ever i wanted really but i knew she loved the orangutang and i wanted to recreate another angle with the makeup....


i have managed to find a whole heap of really cool orangutang photos too so it kinda seemed to make sense to do another one..this one is a lot older and i loved her slightly saddened look...


it was really important for me in this image to get as much makeup on the face as possible a bit like a clown, for two reasons to establish her femininity and also to ensure the lipstick was not just really red lips...especially as i wasn't doing the hand and lipstick tube this time...


really pleased with how the tag layering worked on this paint 



something new for me here...susie wanted a landfill in the background at first i was baffled as to how to achieve this as a landfill is just mushed greys and random muffled colour...no point of reference except for a digger...thank god for the digger....


i layered up colour splats then mushed it in with greys whites and dusted the shit out of it eventually this appeared along with the enlarged bin bags i got a result....phewwwww...actually i kinda liked it in the end....a shit hole for you...haha

this painting will be going on little road trips at event marketing that the company does from now on...she should get out at least three times a year i guess....niceeeeee...






Saturday, 1 October 2011

NEW ERA INTRODUCING - PRESERVATION

NEW ERA INTRODUCING - LOUIS MASAI MICHEL amongst about another 120 odd artists including my empress LINDA ZINA ASLAKSEN.....

THE SCULPTURE IS CALLED....PRESERVATION....

. PRESERVE OUR CULTURE
. PRESERVE OUR ANIMAL KINGDOM
. PRESERVE NATURE
. PRESERVE HIPHOP
. PRESERVE CREATION

A BIT ABOUT THE PROJECT CAN BE FOUND BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK....
http://neweraintroducing.com/


BUT IN SHORT THE NEW ERA GUYS HAVE RELEASED A COMP WERE BY ARTISTS  ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO CHANGE THE HAT THE BEST ONES FROM 7 COUNTRIES WERE SELECTED, WE RECEIVED OUR BLANK CANVAS HAT TO DEVELOP...TWO WEEKS LATER WE POSTED EM BACK TO BE JUDGED THE BEST 70 GO GLOBAL, ON A TOURING EXHIBITION, CURATED BY LOTS OF AMAZING PEOPLE IN THE REPRESENTATIVE COUNTRIES, THEN THEY CHOOSE ONE , THATS RIGHT ONE HAT, TO BE THE WINNER AND THEY GET 10K...UMMM YES PLEASE NEW ERA... ILL TAKE THAHT OPPORTUNITY, LIKE DUCK TO WATER....THIS IS WHAT I MADE...



                                                       THE TOOLS, THE TOOLS


NEWSPAPERS FROM THE LONDON TRAINS COME IN VERY HANDY, ALTHOUGH U DO LOOK LIKE A HOBO PULLING EM OUT OF BINS...O WELL..IN THE NAME OF ART...


THIS FABRIC PATTERN IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE AFRICAN PRINTS AND I HAVE HAD SOME OF THIS FABRIC FOR THE LAST 10 ODD YEARS...INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH NEARLY ALL AFRICAN PRINT IS MADE IN HOLLAND EVEN WHEN U GO TO AFRICA AND BUY IN THE MARKETS, IT USUALLY SAYS PRINTED IN HOLLAND...


FOR ME IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE A PATTERN THAT RELATED TO THE HATS AUDIENCE...WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE A TYPECASTING FOOL, ALOT OF PEOPLES WEARING NEW ERA ARE INFLUENCED BY HIPHOP CULTURE AND THAT TENDS TO BE ABLOT OF AFRO CULTURE, OF COURSE ITS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY ALL HIPHOP ELEMENTS AND NOW IS AS MULTI ASSETED AS QUALITY STREET, BUT WHEN I THINK OF NEW ERA I STILL SEE DIZEE RASCAL..MAYBEY ITS JUST ME... SO I WANTED THE AFROCENTRIC CULTURE TO B THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET TO MY CREATION....AND AFRICAN PATTERNS ARE AMAZING SHAPES AND COLOURS...




PAINTING THAT HAT WAS SO THERAPEUTIC. MIGHT JUST HAVE BEEN THE FINALL BIT OF SUNSHINE WE EXPERIENCING COMING IN HROUGH THE WINDOW, BUT YEAH IT WAS ALOT OF FUN...




CUTTING INTO THE HAT WAS A LITTLE DAUNTING, COS I KNEW IF I FUCT IT NOW THAT WAS IT BUT I MANAGED TO FIGURE IT OUT TO FIT THE EARS AND SLID EM IN FILLING IN THE HOLES WTH NO NAILS GLUE AND PAPER...



SO WHY A SPRINGBOK...COS I THINK THEY COOL ANIMALS... I LOVE THEIR HUGE EARS... I LOVE HOW THEY ARE THE CENTRE TO THE SURVIVAL OF A LOT OF AFRICAS BIG GAME CATS, WITHOUT THE GRAZERS IN THE WORLD THE MEAT EATERS WOULD BE GONE...THIS IN SOME WAYS IS MY WAY OF GIVING THANKS TO THEIR ABUNDANCE...DURING THE BUILD THE SHAPE OF THE FACE WENT FROM LIZARD TO CROC TO DONKEY TO HORSE BACK TO LIZRD TO DRAGON, FINALLY I FOUND MY SPRINGBOK WELL I THINK HE LOOKS LIKE ONE ANYWAY....


TO MAKE THE EYE LASHES I USED A DUSTPAN AND BRUSHES BRISTLES...CURLED EM WITH A BLADE AND PATIENTLY STUCK EACH ONE IN.....



IN THE ORIGINAL DRAWING THE SPRINGBOK IS SUCKING ON A TOOTHPICK. LIKE HOW JAZZ CATS, HIPHOPSTERS, GANGSTERS AND ALIKE DO.  THESE GUYS ALWAYS ARE CHEWING ON TWIGS AND GRASS SO IT SEEMED FITTING FOR THE ILLUSTRATION...SO FOR THE SCULPTURE I WAS RUNNING AROUND LOOKING FOR A BBQ STICK TO IMITATE A LARGE TOOTHPICK, COULD I FIND ONE IN THE HOUSE HELL NO...I HAD A LIGHTNING STRIKE MOMENT AND SNAPPED A PENCIL...AS AN END RESULT, IT WAS THE BEST DECISION OF THE DAY...


SO THIS IS A CLOSE UP OF THE STAND WITH THE NAME TAG, ADORNED WITH MY STAMP LOGO.  THE OTHER MAIN FACTOR THAT I WANTED THIS SCULPTURE TO ACHIEVE WAS MUCH IN SAME AS THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION...ITS ABOUT A LOVE AND HATE FOR TAXIDERMY...I HATE THE FACT THAT THIS A MURDERED ANIMAL, BUT I CANT HELP BUT LOVE THE FACT THAT SOMEONE HAS FIGURED OUT HOW TO PRESERVE THIS WHAT SHOULD HAVE ROTED ORGANISM, I LOVE THE INTRICATE DETAILS AND THE WAY TAXIDERMY IS PRESENTED....I HATE THE PEOPLE THAT COLLECT THE TAXIDERMY AND THE WAY IT IS USED AS AWAY OF SAYING IM HUMAN IM THE MOST IMPORTANT LIVING CREATURE.  SO I USE TAXIDERMY IN MY WORK AS A WAY TO SAY WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS WE ARE...WE COULD HAVE MADE THE SAME THING WITHOUT KILING THE ANIMAL IN THE FIRST PLACE... I ADD ALL THE ADORNING S AS WITH MY OTHER WORK TO DOCUMENT ALL THE FUNNNY THINGS WE AS HUMANS SEE AS RELEVANT TO OUR PRESENCE...HATS, FABRICS, PENCILS, ETC....


SO BELOW IS THE FILM I MADE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT I HAVE LEFT NO MUSIC ON THE FILM PURPOSELY SO THAT U CAN LISTEN TO WHAT EVER MUSIC U HAVE ON YOUR COMPUTER ALREADY...I LIKE LISTENING TO 340ML OR 
7FT SOUNDSYSTEM WHILST PLAYING IT.... BOTH ARE FROM SOUTH AFRICA...



THE END.......ONE LOVE

Sunday, 11 September 2011

INSIDEOUT AND VICEVERSA


this is a link to the show film... ill post the actual film at another date..if i can figure it out that is...



InsideOut and Vice Versa

            London West Bank, left-side London’s freshest gallery is already turning heads and tails amongst Notting Hill and beyond.
            Dedicated to launch new talent, as well as keep the established in the paint they have grown accustomed to, directors Tommy Blaquiere and Paul Saunders have, since April, used this unique space to show what lowbrow/subculture/outsider/what are you doing to my lovely wall? art can say and be.
            This August saw artist Louis “Masai” Michel curating, with consultancy from Simon Watt, an exhibition that unites street/graffiti artists, professional illustrators, a graphic designer, one artificist, two waifs and several painters in a pear tree.
            Having spent six years dragging Europe’s finest to the hinterland of Cornwall, and creating plenty in between, Louis decided enough was enough. Moving to London eighteen months ago he has dedicated himself to corralling a group of artists. Ranging from he’s just back from another sell-out solo show in Europe to you might not have heard of her yet but...
            The exhibition documented the rise of outsider art and graffiti to the gallery, the thrust of fine art and illustration into the streets, and the exploration of where the two cohere. Styles, mediums, concepts, continents, 12 countries, 30 artists, 11th August, lots of people, a few drinks, a private view,  InsideOut and Vice Versa.

                                            

   A review and more pictures can be found here 






the price list....some has sold so email for info...louis.lou.i@hotmail.com


A MASSIVE THANKYOU TO PETER PAINTER FOR THESE AMAZING CAPTURES OF THE PEOPLE AT THE SHOW AND THE ARTWORK ON THE WALLS....CHECK HIS FLICKR HERE....http://www.flickr.com/photos/54740273@N06/