Crazy 4 Kate Kelton's Cult Culture

Kate Kelton pointing to her work at Gallery 1988’s Crazy 4 Cult pop-up show.

Gallery1988 is an LA-based pop culture art gallery. On Thursday, I attended the opening of their very first New York show, Crazy 4 Cult, and the line was around the block of their Meatpacking district pop-up. Fans actually arrived in the morning to hold their place in line. Fortunately, participating artist / actress Kate Kelton was there to let me in, saving me hours of waiting in line.

To get a feel for the culture here, Kate is among the 200 artists in the show. She is known from her prolific appearances in Tic Tac ads over the past decade, and as one of the twins from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, but that will change starting Thursday and Friday, August 16 & 17, when the IFC series Bullet in the Face premieres. In the show, she plays, “a pretty fabulous femme fatale,” alongside co-stars Eddie Izzard and Eric Roberts in what is being billed as “the most violent sitcom ever.”

Kate’s work in the Gallery1988 show—like the rest of the art—references cult film. I managed a short exchange with gallery co-owner Jason Karp to learn how he creates so much interest in his openings.

Click to read more ...

ART: Brandalism: Reclaiming the UK Visual Landscape

(Artist - Bill Posters (UK) // Site specific install, Primary School, Manchester. Image via Brandalism.org.uk.)

“Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It’s yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.” 

- Paraphrase by Banksy of graphic designer/writer Sean Tejaratchi in Crap Hound no. 6, July 1999. 

This well-known quote neatly sums up the philosophy behind The Brandalism Project, a group of UK artists who have launched what they are calling, “the world’s first international, collaborative subvertising project.”

“We are tired of being shouted at by adverts on every street corner,” Brandalism state on their website, “so we decided to get together with some friends from around the world and start to take them back, one billboard at a time.” 

In the run up to the London Olympics, 25 Brandalism artists assailed over 30 billboards and other advertisements in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, and London and used them as canvases to create original art. Some Brandalists modify the text or visual elements of a billboard in order to turn its commercial message on its ear, as in “Health Warning” (Levenshulme, Manchester) by artist Shift//Delete; others simply paper over the advertisements or install their work on blank billboards.

Click to read more ...

DESIGN: Debbie Millman's 'Look Both Ways' at Chicago Design Museum

(Image via Chicago Design Museum)

Debbie Millman—author, designer, AIGA President Emeritus, President of the design devision at Sterling Brands, host of the Design Matters podcast, Chair of the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts, and past featured stated artist—will show her work, Look Both Ways, at the Chicago Design Museum, June 1-30.

Click to read more ...

VIDEO: The RAARR Exhibit Brings Kids Into the Creative Process

Raarr (pronounced RAAARRGHHH!) is an exhibition of collaborative zoological drawings. But the beauty of the concept is that the illustrations are started by adults, and finished by school kids.

22 illustrators were commissioned to draw a reptile, bird, mammal, amphibian, fish, or insect—without completing the head or face. The kids add the heads, and colors, and anything else they like.

We all know who learns the most when working creatively with children. All agencies should have some kids available for feedback. The results are on view at The Book Club in London, and given their calendar or events, we wish they would expand to New York City.

SITE OF THE DAY: "Brown Paper Bag" Showcases Art on Paper

“Brown Paper Bag” is a daily art blog with a focus on works created on paper, including fine art, illustration, and design. According to curator Sara E. Barnes’ notes on the site, the name was chosen because, “The brown paper bag is a great equal­izer. You can draw on it (makes a great neu­tral base), jot down notes, con­ceal your malt liquor, and mask that hideous zit on your nose.” The site boasts a deep well of intriguing work worth adding to your list of frequented sites.