I took a couple of weeks off following the solo show at DeLeon White. The Secret Museum of Mankind was a huge success and I want to thank everyone who came out to see it and say hi, both on opening night and throughout its duration. The gallery will have the work in their permanent collection from now on and are releasing a book of their entire stockpile in the new year. Stockpile is kind of a gross word, but it’s late and I can’t think of another word for collection. It’s been a relaxing five weeks since the show. I’ve been eating a lot of candy and sleeping every night and going to the movies (more this month than I have in the last two years combined, which still only adds up to two or three movies). I figure that two more weeks of spoiling myself is plenty and plan to start working on the next show November 30th. The second solo show will be finished spring of 2011.
Speaking of shows, I had work in a group show at the TA2 Sound + Music studios last Thursday. They do a lot of really fantastic work, ranging from animation, commercials and websites to recording, radio spots and art exhibitions. They did a great job with the show and everyone should check out their reels at:
This week I will finish carving a block for a book of original woodcuts being published by my friends at Free North Press. They imported the paper from France and are very very excited to use it. It will be a 5″ x 7″ book, containing one image from each artist that they’ve invited. I haven’t carved a relief block in ages, so I’m excited and terrified to see how it’ll turn out. Mainly terrified though, because 90% of my carving memories consist of slicing through my hands bone-deep with gouging tools on an hourly basis. If you see me with bandaids covering my hands, please play along when I say that I’ve been handling cobras all day.
This week I will also finish a drawing that will be in a group show at Show&Tell gallery in Toronto. It opens December 12th and I can’t wait to see the other work that will be exhibited. Simon opened the gallery last summer and has had a steady stream of really good shows ever since, as well as a very impressive roster of artists, whom I’m flattered to show work alongside. They have also opened a pop-up print shop which is only open for as long as the prints are available, so jump on it before they’re all sold out.
Client work has been building up quickly through The Artist Group. I still can’t really talk about it yet, but it looks very good and I’m excited to see how far we can push it. They threw a really good launch of images at Ami, featuring a couple of the represented illustrators. Ami is a nice place. It was like being in an Aspen ski lodge. They make delicious boozy apple drinks, which I apparently am a sucker for. They also have things like fancy stones on the tables for resting chopsticks and complimentary bowls of greenbeans which you’re apparently not supposed to eat whole. My friend Shaun and I didn’t know any of this and made fools of ourselves all night. Then we realized that all of the waitresses thought we were an item, being clumsy and awkward, the way people tend to be on a first date or something. I also have a interview in an upcoming issue of Cheek Magazine, which is published by The Artist Group. I’ll post the link when it is released.
I met with my friend Amanda Nedham last week and we worked out some collaborative ideas. Amanda’s show opened the day after mine did, at Le Gallery, and we didn’t have time to finish the collab drawings that we had initially planned to do for either show since we both ended up working well into the 11th hour. We still have details to work out, but we’re putting together fifty 8″ x 10″ limited edition wooden boxes, each containing 10 prints. Four from her, four from me, and two collaborative images. It will be ready for purchase in early 2010, but a small 1st run might be done in time for the holidays. We also saw our friend Adrian Dilena, who is a fantastic painter. Adrian and his girlfriend Amanda Sissons run an online talk-show called Late Night in the Bedroom, and they held the premiere screening of the fourth installment on Halloween. They interviewed me for one of the segments. Even though I’m convinced that I rambled and stuttered and inadvertently flashed a lot of gang signs, they assure me that it isn’t bad and is worth checking out. That last part is probably true because the show is really well produced and I hope it runs for a long time.
It’s getting pretty late and I’m about to stop making sense soon. Also, Married…With Children is playing in the background, making concentrating on anything else impossible. I stenciled some hand drawn text at DeLeon White last Thursday morning for the “Wham City & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Canada]” show that evening. Also, the mascot from my solo show is going to be in a music video soon.
Next update will reveal everything this one is hiding.
Alex Coleurs in DeLeon White's back room
Setting up the show
West wall of DeLeon White
South wall of DeLeon White
East wall of DeLeon White. Photo by Dan Chan
East pole of DeLeon White
The Secret Museum of Mankind - 40 x 60
The King of Trees. The Heir of Trees. Photo by Dan chan
ENERGIZE.
Best buds
The downside of last-minute digital price lists. Whoever changed the prices for pieces 25 and 26 should worry about having their face broken
DeLeon White wins the medal for most creative spelling of my name
Making buttons with Emma
Manifesto's Toronto Artmap. My piece is the white one, far left
Print at Marben for The Artist Group's weekly illustration event
Adrian and Amanda being cool and tough
Batman picking up girls
Thursday October 8, 2009.
DeLeon White Gallery.
1139 College Street.
7-11pm.
I’ll post some juicy stuff asap; just want to finish framing and hanging and setting up first.
I uploaded a small sample portfolio to pilot5.com
It includes a bit of client work, personal work and a couple of pieces that will be in the upcoming show. Check it out:
This is a bit overdue, I’ve been holed up for the past few weeks finishing some pieces and starting some new ones. I bought a really nice chair too, which makes sitting for long periods of time more bearable and taking breaks less forgivable, so I’ll jam a lot of little things in this entry. Before I forget, my website is up for renewal by October 18th, but for some reason Mediatemple locked me out of my email account 2 months early. So if anyone has sent me an email to nik@pilot5.com, don’t feel hurt if I don’t reply for a while. I just can’t afford to renew the site right this second, but send any info to nik.pilot5@gmail.com if you need to. If it makes anyone feel better, I’m a bit scared of how much junk mail will be waiting for me (it doesn’t sound horrible, but that account is really shitty and doesn’t have any junk filters. I don’t want friggin Heremes scarves or Franck Muller watches or Acai berry boner pills, damn). Also, I will upload a sample portfolio to pilot5.com this week, I just haven’t been online too much lately.
With that said, Moniker Designs in Montreal has included one of my paintings in their Summer/Fall 09 t-shirt line. It’s the piece of the 2 sloths holding hands after fighting with each other (the current splash page on pilot5.com). It’s a limited run of 30 shirts and they’re availabe for sale in their online store:
They did a really good job and were nice enough to send me a few samples. I’ll post photos of all this stuff below.
Last Sunday, The Pilot Project launched issue 5 of their pocket book at Mercer Union in Toronto. It’s a literary book of short stories and poetry that is now being published bi-annually I think. Lee and Reuben are really good guys and anyone that is interested in contributing work to the next book should get in touch with them, because they are always really eager to work with new artists. I don’t know if that made sense, but basically each writer is paired up with an artist who illustrates a cover page and an insert for their story, as well as a portrait of the writer. The Pilot Project also publishes small portfolios of artists that they like, as well as a mail-art project that they send out with subscriptions, where they include 4×6 inch lithographs and screenprints of work that they’ve published.
Pilot Project
Pilot Project mail-art
I was commissioned by Circa nightclub to put together an 8×80 foot digital wrap for their main hallway, which should be finished sometime in the fall. It’s kind of sweet because my work will be the first thing that girls in miniskirts see once they’ve been admitted into the venue and are skipping down the hall, holding hands and stuff (which is pretty much the reason that I draw at all). I’ve been working on some more client stuff as well, but I can’t really talk about it right now (because of contract obligations, but mainly because the thought of all the loose ends that still need to be tied up makes me want to smoke even more. I’m already up to 2 cigarettes per break, 10-12 breaks a day).
I’ve been finishing up a few larger sculpture-faces that will be ready in time for the show. Well, they’re actually just die-cut pieces of MDF painted superflat with ink and acrylic. It’s been going well and they have made me realize that I like transcribing elements of the drawings into 3D, and also that I hate white paint. It’s transparent. I don’t get it. That shit never covers anything properly.
Amanda Nedham and I will be working on a collaborative drawing for my show, as well as one for hers in October. Her work is great and can be seen in the current group show at Le Gallery. Nick Di Genova’s butterfly drawing is also in this show and it has to be seen to be believed. Also, my show has been pushed back a bit, as I’m sure some people have noticed (or listenend to me moan about). It was originally going to open in June, then July, then September, and now the date is set for early October. Hopefully there are no more delays with booking and it opens while the grass is still visible.
I’ll be doing a piece for Manifesto’s upcoming show in the fall as well. They threw a really good show at the Burroughes Building last September and it seems like this one will be even bigger and better. Steve Ferrara and Devon Ostrom (and the 300+ Manifesto volunteers) have been busting their butts and everyone should buy them a beer on opening night. There are some really good artists on board, including Adam Hilborn who had a show at the Barbershop Gallery last month. He draws pipes really well.
Tim McCready finished putting together all 250 copies of the Dreamachzine (which is more of a treasure trove of stories and illustrations than just another zine). I’m not exactly sure how many contributors it showcases, but I think it’s at least 100. He invited people to submit stories of recurring dreams they have had, and then found artists to illustrate them. I didn’t get around to grabbing a copy from Tim yet, but I heard it looks amazing, so here’s a link to some small promo pics:
Dreamachzine Cover
Dreamachzine Contents 1
Dreamachzine Contents 2
I met with Daniel Barber this past week to start mock-ups of a short animation we’re working on together. It is an animation of a sculpture that will be in the show, and it will be shown alongside it. We did some motion tests and some renderings yesterday, and they look really really good. I feel like Gepetto, seeing my child come to live and dance before my eyes. We made him dance quite a bit. He’s really good at doing the Harlem shuffle here. I also met with my friend Julian, who’s in a band called Olympian. They’re incredibly good and will be playing a 2-man instrumental set at the show. It’s really good stuff. Just bass and drums. Not drum and bass.
Also, if anyone knows where I could pick up pre-made wooden cones and cylinders, let me know because it would save me a lot of running around. Making them from scratch would be simple, but I don’t have access to a lathe and the idea of walking back into my middle school and using theirs makes my palms cold and clammy.
Naptime.
The Moniker Designs team - Photo by Don Hutton
Friends showing love
Pilot Book #5 Illustration
Showing some prints at the Pilot Book Launch
Daniel and I designing a wooden robot
Formal interview with Jules
Julian's Fridge
Mariel working on the mascot. It's going to be big. This is just one toe.
I found an album cover that I drew in a jukebox. It's either a good thing or my drawing is in purgatory forever.
I graduated. My mom took this photo. It's perfect.
Sorry for the long delay, it took the encouragement of my friend Lola (she called me a dink) to post a new entry.
I was offline for a couple of months. The internet provider decided to shut off my access because they claimed that I had a virus on my computer. Their suggestion was to wipe out my entire hard drive and call them back when that was done. I’m back online finally. A loud Serbian accent goes a long way with customer service at 8am. Either way I’ll try and update this page more often, but I have just over 2 months to finish the solo show and there’s still plenty to do.
The show is coming along slowly but surely. I’ll post some studio shots as they pile up. I don’t want to post many photos of the actual work because it’s still a bit of a secret. 2 more months of waiting won’t hurt (although, message me and we’ll work something out if it WILL hurt). I bought a giant hydraulic drafting table, which means that there isn’t enough room for me to maneuver to my bed anymore. However, people that know me will be glad to hear that I bought new cushions for my napping-couch and I’m not being stabbed by the nails that were sticking out of the bamboo anymore. It’s awesome and really relaxing (and clean)…like a new toothbrush, which I also bought. Ok, the show. My friend Mariel from Freedom Clothing works at a mascot warehouse and is building me my very own mascot for the show. It’s based on one of the paintings and looks awesome so far. Mariel is also pretty awesome. I’ll post some progress photos of it next time. I don’t remember where I left my camera right now. Along with the standard merch (shirts, prints, books, etc), I am going to be working on a collaborative limited edition t-shirt with Justin from WKY which will also be for sale at the opening. He does great work and is a really nice guy. I don’t want to give too many more details (or shoot off at the mouth) because a few other things aren’t set in stone and need to be taken care of first. I’ve been smoking a lot more these last few weeks, if that gives you a better idea.
I had 5 small pieces in a show at Canteen in Ottawa, as well as an 8×10inch print at the Minnow & Bass Gallery sometime since the last post. My friends Andrea Raymond and Hazel Eckert curated the second show. Andrea made a fantastic needlepoint of Tupac, in case someone can’t think of a birthday gift for me. I couldn’t make it to either reception but I heard great things from the other artists involved.
I was contacted by Toronto band Braxton Clover to draw an album cover, which can be seen below. Also I just got word from my friend Eddie Yuen.Label that issue #2 of The1&Only is hot off the presses in Hong Kong. The1&Only is a biannual book that Eddie puts together. He invites a few illustrators to draw interpretations of the theme (this time the theme was “play”), then distributes it for free worldwide. Eddie is sending me 100 free copies of the book, which will be given away to the first 100 people at my show. He’s also responsible for scoring me a group show and a spread in MILK Mag in Japan, which means that he probably has rights to 15% of my drawing hand or something. Check him out: http://the1nonly.weebly.com/
My website will be up and running (in some form) soon. I can’t imagine that the entire re-design will be done before September, but some sort of sample portfolio will be uploaded by mid-July.
Hopefully this isn’t a terrible entry. I’ve been up all night spraying a drawing with sealer and matte finish and it’s getting tough to concentrate. Staring has become easier though. I know that I’ve left out a lot, but it’ll come back to me in the next entry. I need a vitamin water (LeBron James knows best).
Progress on the portrait drawing (Photo by Dan Chan/Patrick Gray)
Wall at Minnow & Bass Gallery
Braxton Clover album cover
Four different covers for The1&Only #2
Spread in MILK Mag
Andrea Raymond's Tupac needlepoint
NIK GOLD beer from Serbia.
I finally got around to setting this thing up. I’ll be updating it every couple of weeks with client work and photos/published work while my website is being re-designed. My solo show will be in late July, which means that the updates won’t be as frequent, but I’ll try and post interesting things once in a while.
I’m still recovering from a one-night-only show that I had some work in and I’m pretty fried right now (mainly from setting up at 6, drinking and talking until 11:30, then taking everything down and going home at 12), which is probably why this post doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’ll make up for it in the next update, with drawings and pictures and stories.
Here’s the link to the show: http://www.thelifeoftheparty.ca
