Wish list

Photo by Bjorn Wallander, from "Country Living" magazine.

These hot days....trying to draw on paper with sweaty hands....it's been the perfect time to pull out the Neko Case records and sing while working! And then I found this on the intertron....from Neko's own house in Vermont, the Flow Tante Wera Wingchair by AK-LH, a French design company. VERY limited edition (supposedly only 7 in production!!), all signed and numbered. Abode NYC has them...I wish I had one. The circulatory system never looked so comfy.

Arkiv "The Aftermath" show @ TAG

Arkiv "Marvellous Dream (The Fallen Empire)", acrylic and ink on canvas, 2012

Indonesian artist Arkiv Vilmansa has new works on display at TAG in Los Angeles in a show titled "The Aftermath: A Journey to Wounderland". The former architecture graduate favours working in a style bound by sweeping calligraphic line work reminiscent of hotrod pinstriping, combined with fields of saturated colour. Within the paintings are his own dreamlike characters, imagined "species" of animals that inhabit the new ecosystem that might evolve from the aftermath of global warming. In "Wounderland" these cartoon-like animals display their plumage and fur in intense gradations of colour - in fact, they positively vibrate off the canvas. But all are offset by a new depth in Arkiv's work, a dark background insinuating the bleakness of environmental disaster.

Alongside the paintings at "The Aftermath" are Arkiv's figurines, limited edition prints, shirts, custom VANS shoes, skateboards, and a really neat tote bag, available for sale at the gallery (some stuff is on the website too.)

Arkiv "Midnight Massacre (Spirituality Unfolds)", acrylic on canvas, 2012.

Arkiv "Luminarium (Turquoise, Yellow, Magenta)", acrylic and ink on canvas, 2012.

Acrylic paintings clockwise from left "Luminaire (Magenta)", "Conformity", "Force of Nature", "Black Flys (The Edge of the Deep Green Sea", "Rise of the Pigeon (Gravity Keeper)", 2012. In the window is "Libertine", fiberglass sculpture.

Acrylic paintings from left "Midnight Massacre", "Automata (Battle for the Sun)", "Genomonic Paw", "Cast a Ribbon", 2012.

Arkiv designed VANS prototypes with other goodies.

Arkiv's "Sumo" vinyl figurine in the foreground with "Empire Strikes Back (A Certain Romance)", acrylic and ink on canvas, 2012.

"Cast a Ribbon", detail.

"Genomonic Paw", detail.

Arkiv will continue to show throughout Asia for the rest of the year, but next year will hold his first European show in Paris at Seven Gallery. Follow him through his website, www.arkivart.com

Lughnasadh inspiration

This month's full moon fell on Lughnasadh, and while looking for artwork to inspire I discovered Jacek Yerka, a contemporary surrealist from Poland. Working in acrylics, he paints these fantastical compositions full of mystery, also with an incredible eye for detail. His landscape settings draw on his life in the Polish countryside, and they are heavy in dreamlike atmosphere, while his topsy-turvy representations of interior spaces display a reverence for the everyday objects that occupy our lives.

Jacek Yerka, "Amok Harvest"

Jacek Yerka, "Bathyscaphe"

Jacek Yerka, "Brontosaurus Civitas"

Jacek Yerka, "Cloubreaker"

It's worth looking at Yerka's website to appreciate how accomplished he is as an artist. Plus his own explanation of his working process shows a great sense of humour. Limited edition prints of his paintings are also available through the site.