Studygroup Magazine no. 2

I have 2 pages in the new Study Group Magazine entitled, "Whistle While You Work ...Or Think of Death."  This is a great art/comics publication edited by Zack Soto and includes several other talented artists.  Check out the online preview and order here.  Below is a sample page of mine.

 

"Between The Valleys of The Spoils" Triptych in Art In Print Magazine



The lithograph triptych that I made collaboratively with Paul Nudd at Anchor Graphics is reviewed in the March/April 2013 issue of Art in Print magazine.

"Afterimage" Exhibits at DePaul, Columbia and RBSC: SAIC.

In conjunction with the "Afterimage" exhibit at DePaul Art Museum, I am exhibiting my collection of toys, ephemera, and other odds n' ends at the Roger Brown Study Collection.  Below are photos from this exhibit. (More info below.)

 

It's a huge honor to install my collection at the former home and studio of Chicago Imagist, Roger Brown.  An extra bit of greatness, is that the shelves that my collection sits on once belonged to Ray Yoshida.  Along with fellow artists, Edra Soto and Carl Baratta, we installed our collections exhibiting a distinct connection with Brown's and with the nature of organic collecting and art practice/influence.  This has been a wonderful experience and I hope that more folks can come to experience all the collections there.  Our installations will be up till November 18th.  

Also, another satellite exhibit at the Columbia College Center for Book & Paper Arts is showing some collaborative prints I made with Paul Nudd as well as work from the fellow artists mentioned above, Lilli Carre, and Eric Lebofsky.  Below is an image of one of the print suites exhibited, entitled "Head Heaps" (Onsmith + Nudd, 2009):

I also have some of my minicomics exhibited at the Joan Flasch Artists' Books Collection at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago.  If you're in Chicago, please check out one or all of these fantastic exhibits.

The Folio Club no. 5 - Cover Illo and More

Here is the wrap-around cover I drew for The Folio Club #5 published and edited by Robert Pranzatelli.  I also have some sketchbook selections published in this issue (see below).  It also features new work from Lilli Carré. 

COMIC ART BATTLE - This Sunday!

I will be a participating comics warrior this Sunday (4/8) for the Comic Art Battle at The Hideout.  It's a fundraiser for CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) happening June 16th & 17th.  Come on out if you can.  (Poster by Ezra Clayton Daniels.)  Here's the lowdown:

COMICS ART BATTLE at the Hideout Easter Sunday 2012
Benefit for the first Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE)
Door at 7
$5 Donation

Refereed by Ezra Claytan Daniels

In the Ring:
Aaron Renier
Jo Dery
Brooks Golden
Susan Sarandon
David Alvarado
Krystal DiFronzo
Joe Tallarico
Onsmith
Jeremy Pettis

Followed by a musical DJ set from Fatty Jubbo

"Afterimage" Micro-Exhibit at Roger Brown Study Collection.

September 13 - November 18th 2012

I am to curate my collection of toys, vintage junk, ephemera, and a few pieces of artwork at the amazing Roger Brown Study Collection.  This is in tandem with the post-Chicago Imagism exhibit at the DePaul Art Museum entitled, "Afterimage."  Two other artists, Edra Soto and Carl Baratta, will also bring in their own collections.  Mark your calendars.

In addition to me using the RBSC as a storage center for a month, some of the collaborative prints and drawings I created with Paul Nudd will be featured at the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College (again, in tandem with the "Afterimage" show for the dates above).  More about this exhibit may be found here.

"Poxus Necropus"

These are the first 3 panels for my contribution to Paul Nudd's "Corpus Corpus 4: Pox, Poxus Necropus."  It's an 8 panel comic strip in B&W.  Look for it very soon.

Puck Comic Party.

Cover to Puck Comic Party.

One of my panels with lettering I did in Italian.

Puck Comic Party is a comics jam anthology from Italy including over 170 cartoonists from all over the world.  I am honored to follow Rick Altergott and in turn be followed by Chris Cilla.  It's quite an ambitious project including some of comics' heavy-hitters such as Marc Bell, Tony Millionaire, Al Jaffee, Jay Lynch, Bill Griffith, and SO MANY more.

Recent Doodles.

Last one here has some doodlin' and penwork by the awesomely talented Sanya Glisic.  I recently made a collaborative comic/transformation sequence with her for Lumpen Magazine.  You can see a preview of it on her blog.

New Exhibitions - "Blaque Lyte" & Keith Herzik Retrospective

"Blaque Lyte" - Curated by Chris Kerr and Paul Nudd

Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago

Opening reception: Saturday, October 29, 5-8 pm

Black lights have been used to serve a variety of purposes since the scientist William Byler invented it in 1935 to enhance detection methods from air travel radars to x-ray. From college dorm rooms that create otherworldly spaces to forensic teams uncovering bodily fluids at a crime scene. Drawing from the tendency of their own art work to explore the contradictions within the weird and gross, Paul Nudd and Chris Kerr asked over thirty artists from Chicago and around the world to experiment with different forms and materials to update and immerse viewers in the profound inverse world generated by black-lights.
Along with the thirty artists installed in gallery 2, Gallery 5 will included a retrospective look at screen printer Keith Herzik entitled "There Are Still Lofty Dreams, Meager Desires and Still Silliness." The curators note that Herzik “ignores and willfully defies most of the recognizable hallmarks of screen printing,” he is trying to push the medium and its materials to their limit. Early in his career Herzik studied with cartoonist Peter Saul in Austin and has since created numerous punk-rock posters and is a prolific publisher of handmade artists’ books, zines and other publications.

Exhibiting Artists:
Benton Moss, Thomas Mazzarella, David Shrigley, DeeDee Scacci, Keith Herzik, Nick Black, Mike Andrews, Lilli Carre, Giselind Von Wurmb, Evah Fan, Seth Scriver, Leif Goldberg, Marie Rosen, Eric Lebofsky, Paintallica, Andy Burkholder, Mariano Chavez, Edie Fake, Onsmith, Ben Stone, Sanya Glisic, Kristen Romaniszak, Laurent Impeduglia, Geoffrey Todd Smith, Brandon Heuser, Joakim Ojanen, Hanna Andersson, Anya Davidson, Nicole Northway, Max Morris

I created a series of drawings called, "Faxed Escape Route" which included faxed spam cruise package offers collected from various office jobs I've had.  Below is an example of the type of drawings I did:

 Newcity Review

Chicago Weekly Review
Blaque Lyte facebook page

Nudd and Kerr also printed a suite of prints to accompany the show which includes: 

Sanya Glisic, Andy Burkholder, Onsmith, Seth Scriver, Hanna Andersson, Joakim Ojanen, Lillie Carre, Edie Fake and liner notes by Paul Nudd. Extremely limited edition of 44 (9 multi color prints per edition). All prints are 11x15 inches and are printed on blacklight sensitive Mr. French paper with fluorescent inks. Available at the opening this Saturday or through Chris Kerr. 

Here's the printed liner notes by Paul Nudd:

New Print - "One of many Mothers of Hate"

"One of many Mothers of Hate" - 11"x17" 2-color screenprint made for the "Hatebreeders" print exchange put together by Curtis Readel.  The title of the exchange is based off of a Misfits song.  Here is a link to the previous exchange based off another Misfits song.

Inkstuds Interview and Some Sketches.

 Above are the early sketches I made for the cover of Black Eye no.1.  There's only a small section of writing related to the sketches and the rest is just brain droppings.  I'm posting this sketch because I was recently interviewed on the Inkstuds show along with Black Eye's editor, Ryan Standfest and contributing author Jeet Heer.  This page works pretty well alongside my contribution to the interview in that some of it makes sense, most of it doesn't.  Listen to it here.

This is another page from my sketchbook.  I used the female figures in a series of drawings called "Four Women in Transition" that was featured in the new Folio Club issue.  Maybe I'll post these drawings sometime.  They're not my usual fair.  That's it for now.  I'll try to update more frequently.

Reminder: Black Eye Signing at Quimby's.

Flyer by Paul Nudd.  If you're in or around Chicago on Friday evening, please stop by.

Upcoming Events!

 

I'm part of a group show in Detroit to accompany the release of the Black Eye anthology.  Here's the info from the curator, Ryan Standfest's site.  The opening is June 5th.

 I will be on a panel discussion at the Printer's Row Lit Fest with Ivan Brunetti and Elio.  It's scheduled for Sunday, June 5th at 2pm.  If you're in Chicago, please stop by if you can.  We'll be discussing comics, obviously.  (Click graphic for more info)  Speaking of Ivan Brunetti, the Chicago Tribune ran a feature on him and quoted me.

 

Signing for the Black Eye anthology is set for Friday, June 24th!  I'll be there with Ivan Brunetti, Lilli Carré, Paul Hornschemeier and Paul Nudd.

 This is the illustration I did for the Harold Washington Literary Award reception dinner.

"Black Eye no. 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension"

I'm very proud to announce the release of the dark humor comics & graphics anthology, "Black Eye" edited by Ryan Standfest and published by his Rotland Press + Comic Works.  The cover above was drawn by Paul Nudd and myself using watercolor, ink, and graphite on stained paper.

The book includes work by over 41 artists and writers from all over the world including Ivan Brunetti, Lilli Carré, Stephane Blanquet, Al Columbia, Paul Nudd and many others working the in the dark humor arts.  Please visit the Rotland site for a line up of contributors and ordering info.

I also contributed a two page spread of one-panel gags entitled, "Blood Clots."  Above is one of them.  The rest are much, much worse.

In addition to the cover, Paul Nudd and I also made a collaborative letterpress print for Black Eye.  It was printed by the great folks at Rohner Letterpress here in Chicago.  This is also for sale at Ryan Standfest's site.  More info and photos of Paul Nudd and I editioning the print can be found here.

"Not Armor but a Cage"

These drawings were published in Robert Pranzatelli's "The Folio Club" number 3, Fall 2010.  I called the series, "Not Armor but a Cage." 

Small Press and Comics Symposium of Chicago

I will be speaking on a comics panel with Aaron Renier, Corrine Mucha, and Chris Ware on March 24th at the School of the Art Institute.  All the necessary info is included on the wonderfully designed poster above made by Lilli Carré.  Here too, is the website for the event.  New City has already wrote up something about it here.

New Print and New Exhibit - Opening this Friday!

"Invocation of Abundance" - a 2-color screenprint at 18"x24".  Made especially for the exhibit, "Power In Numbers" curated by the Chicago Art Department.  Opens this Friday, March 11th in Pilsen at 1837 South Halsted, 7pm-10pm.  This is an international exhibit of prints with over 40 artists participating.  The prints will be on sale during the opening and for the duration of the show (until March 25th).  If you can't make it to the show and are interested in purchasing one of mine, let me know.

For more info, click the graphic below: