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:

"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.

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:

10x10 Project - New Print with Spudnik Press & Homeroom Chicago.

This is a 3-color screenprint I made for a project entitled, 10x10, put together by Spudnik Press and Homeroom Chicago.  10 artists based prints off of 10 selected music acts' songs - all from Chicago.  I made this based off of a song by my good friend Keith Helt's new project, "Sky Event."  The pre-order of this suite of prints and 10 recorded tracks is only a mere $20 until mid December and $30 afterwords.  Here is more info on the project (artists and music acts) and how you may order this awesome package.

Lithograph - "Workman's Comp"

 (click for larger version)
"Workman's Comp" is a lithograph printed by the awesome folks over at Anchor Graphics, 2010.  Although this is my first lithograph, I really only did the drawing on the stone and the rest was taken care of by Chris Flynn over at Anchor.  It is a (very) limited edition of 20 and is for sale through Anchor Graphics and myself.  It measures at 19.25" x 15" and is printed on an off-white paper.

Kevin Scalzo's "Sugar Booger" #2.

I did a "pin-up" drawing for Kevin Scalzo's new issue of "Sugar Booger" and it also features pin-ups by Eric Reynolds, Jacob Covey, Anna Klein, and Joshua Vrysen. To order your very own signed copy of Sugar Booger #2, go here.

"99 Cartoon Portraits" at Buenaventura Press!

Now for sale at the Buenaventura Press shop: "99 Cartoon Portraits" - the screenprint (previously mentioned) I did from the characters I drew for Ivan's Anthology of Graphic Fiction. You can see (and order!) the print here. Below is another pic of the print.

Ivan Brunetti's "An Anthology of Graphic Fiction"

(Click for Larger Version)

Now in some stores and soon to be in others - "An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories", edited by Ivan Brunetti and published by Yale University Press. You can order it here. I won't go into it too much here, simply because I don't want to attempt to write a full review of it, but the design and production are incredible and it's surely something I see as an essential book on comics (old and new). I just so happened to be able to be a part of it (and am very honored I could be) - I drew the illustrated table of contents of numerous cartoon characters. Here's a sample of some of 'em:

While I'm updating here, I may as well post a couple of random drawings I did a while back:

New Strip - for Oxford American Magazine.

(Click for larger version)

Here's a new strip I did for Oxford American Magazine, their Southern Music Issue. The title is in reference to Alien Sex Fiend, not Johnny Cash by the way. Anyway, they also feature comics by Patrick Dean and Martin Cendreda - pretty cool. Oh, and you can find the issue (with an accompanying CD with tracks by Sun Ra, Richard Hell, The 6ths, Sam Cooke, and others) at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Tower Records. Here's the cover:

The Gocco Set! ...And Save Gocco!

Finally, yes FINALLY, I have updated the Shop with "The Gocco Set" of prints for sale! (I also realized that there was a problem with my PayPal buttons on my site and these have been fixed.) The Gocco box set is designed by Ivan Brunetti and contains 17 prints (made exclusively using Riso's Print Gocco Printer) by 17 artists including:

Andrice Arp
Alana Bailey
Jonathan Bennett
Sean Bieri
Ivan Brunetti
Marc Crisafulli
Fredo
John Hankiewicz
Cole Johnson
David King
Ryoko Oguchi
Onsmith
Jesse Reklaw
Bryce Somerville
Rhonda Turnbough
Britton Walters
Lauren Weinstein

Ivan also recently mentioned to me that Riso, the manufacturer of the Print Gocco Printer, has decided to discontinue all things Gocco. BUT, there is already a group of Gocco enthusiasts ("Save Gocco") campaigning to find a new home for the products other than Riso. I personally hope that these products will still be offered somehow, because this automated screen-printer has been such a helpful tool in making mini-comics and small prints. If you're a fan of Gocco prints or the printer itself, PLEASE check out "Save Gocco" to see what you can do to help out.

"We All Die Alone" by Mark Newgarden...

Although I'll have to take a lint brush to the fuzzy cover of this book, I'm a bonafide proud owner of this collection of Mark Newgarden's comics (and man-oh-man, have I been waiting for this!). Edited by Dan Nadel (Ganzfeld) and designed by Helene Silverman, this book is a brilliant laff riot and is essential to any of you doing humorous work out there. How can you go wrong with 224 pages of big whoppin' noses? Here's some info on the book straight from Mark's site.

Cupco Artwork & Plush Dolls!

Luke from Cupco is not only a clever doll-maker (yeah, I think you can say that nowadays without it sounding too fruity) but an artist who also dabbles in Flash and offers short animations on his site. Go to his site and check out the plush dolls of your favorite cartoon characters like Fidel Castro, Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver (see below), Terrorists, Vikings, Werewolves, Pirates, and even a set of plushie Black Metal band members (from the darkest and SOFTEST regions of the nether realm)!!!

Print/Ceramics Sale at College of Dupage - John Hankiewicz News...

John Hankiewicz (of the comic, "Tepid") mentioned to me that he'll have some of his fantastic etchings at a print/ceramics sale show at The College of Dupage just outside of Chicago. If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by and check it out. Here's the info on the print/ceramics sale:

Date/Time: Wednesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 1, 10 am - 7:30 pm

Where: College of DuPage, Student Resource Center, Second Floor (by the Library)

Address: 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

John's prints seem to be getting better and better, as he's exploring new art styles and the use of color. Also, check out some of his sketches here. Below is one of his numerous etchings.