Ben’s obsessive-compulsive artistic relationship with skulls and bones is clearly a consequence of being born with super human illustration skills and x-ray vision.

His latest series of candy coloured portraits split Kurt Cobain, James Dean, Sid Vicious, Jimmy Hendrix, Buddy Holly and music’s most recent victim, Amy Winehouse, quite literally, in half. The Andy Warhol inspired comical renders, are part morbid tongue in cheek (or skull) and part eternal depictions (flesh). Die Young salutes popular idols with untimely deaths. As Ben puts it…”the celebrity life-style that we seem to aspire to, had killed them all by the age of 27″

An illustrator for over twenty years, Ben Brown is a regular contributor of comics for editorial, including the notorious surfing publication ‘Stab’. He has designed extensive clothing graphics for brands such as Mambo, Insight, Globe, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Ocean & Earth, Nice Produce and Supply, and he has designed music and festival posters for the likes of Nirvana, Frenzal Rhomb, Silverchair, Fat Boy Slim, The Hoodoo Gurus, Big Day Out, Good Vibrations Festival, Homebake and The Falls Festival.

Die Young opens on the 9th of December from 6pm to 10pm and is on exhibition until the 24th December 2011 at The National Grid Gallery, 24 Chard Rd, Brookvale.

East West came to fruition one balmy summer evening in late 2010 when some light drunken banter between two like minded friends, (one from Yallingup, WA, and the other from Narrabeen, NSW), developed into a fully fledged group exhibition of artists from opposite sides of Australia.

Art loving east coaster, Bryan Dalli, and west coast creative all rounder, Luke Thomas, have culminated their artistic networks to curate an exhibition of nine artists from the west coast of Australia, and nine artists from the east coast of Australia.

“Louie and I saw a gap in art show space. There were no stand out events that brought together talent from such polar opposites, we felt the need to set the benchmark and bridge the gap” BD.

The exhibition showcases the assorted talents and artistic techniques of emerging to established artists, normally separated by geography, in a communal space. Each of the 18 artists were hand picked to compliment the groups dynamics, and to bring their own unique style and flavour to the event.

“We set out to select a broad mix of skills and artistic genres, so we pulled together friends and colleagues from different backgrounds and compiled a pretty hard hitting line up. The show has stencils and graffiti, juxtaposed with low brow art, and epic garage pieces.” LT.

There will be a live airbrushing display on the opening night with the final product being sold by silent auction. The 2011 East West event debuts in Sydney (11/11/11), with the show set to start touring coast to coast next year.

Artists involved include:

WEST COAST ARTISTS:
IAN MUTCH (KINGBROWN), JEN THOMAS, HOLDFAST TATTOO STUDIOS ARTISTS, PHIL SMART, SUZI Q,  LAUREN FENLON, RYAN YOUNG, NATHAN B, SAIRA KWOL

EAST COAST ARTISTS:
CASPIAN DE LOOZE, BEC CROCKETT, EMILY REID, LAURE IVES, NICK BAZAROW, PATRICK INDO, RAD DAN, SAM CLARK, DESMOND SWEENEY (LIVE AIRBRUSHING)

East West opens at 6.30pm on Friday the 11th of November at The National Grid Gallery, 24 Chard Rd Brookvale, and is on exhibition until the 2nd of December.

OPENING NIGHT FRIDAY 14TH OCTOBER 2011 @ 6:30PM

‘Surf City’ is an exhibition of collaborations by artist Luke Taaffe and photographer Ryan Heywood. Navigating omnipotent seascapes and psychedelic surf iconography of the 80′s and 90′s, the distinct styles of each artist merge into powerful graphic scenery. With a mutual respect for surf culture and the ocean itself, Luke and Ryan combine Megaloden shark jaws, lone boats, vast seas and pyrotechnical patternations, into isolated, pervasive and somewhat sinister environments describing a darker side of the surfer’s experience. Luke’s painterly, graphic and vibrant approach perfectly juxtaposes Ryan’s faded and desaturated sea photography, printed directly onto wood. Grandiose in scale, the pieces command attention and immersion. This show pays homage to urban myths and the more emotive aspects of a surf culture left behind in the wake of it’s commercial success.
‘Surf City’ opens on Friday the 14th of October and is on exhibition until the 2nd of November 2011.

Opening at The National Grid Gallery on Saturday 4 June, over 50 artists from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are contributing to this years exhibition.

“The exhibition & auction over the past few years has been a showcase of Australian & Global talent. It’s also enabled people to get their art collecting paws on some affordable original artworks by some of the finest artists in the land”, Mr Barrett said.

Some of the contributing artists include: Bridge, Deb, E.L.K, Ben Frost, Phibs, SMC[3], Apeseven and Vars.
The total list of artists contributing to Sidewayz 2011 can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=222980251061247

The event is partnered with Balmoral Boards season opener party, fun )

There will be a bonus live performance from  rock ‘n’ roll demons Hong Kong,
who have been burning up various floors around town in recent times with
their melodic skuzzball wall of sound.

Opening Night: Friday 10th December 6-9pm.
Come and join us for a Christmas drink! We have loads of new goodies in the shop too, along with all the latest Art Books and Mags.

Exhibition is open from 11th December to 24th January.

24 Chard road, Brookvale. NSW 2100 Tel: (02) 9905 9332

Show opens Friday 5th November 2010 from 6pm – 10pm

Exhibition is on from the 6th November to 3rd December 2010
We are open Monday – Friday 9-5 and Saturdays 12-3.

An eclectic group exhibition featuring artists that are all unique creatures themselves.

Featuring :: CASPIAN DE LOOZE, LUKE MORRELL, SAM CLARK, TEZ,
CAMILLA ZAVATTARO, CLAIRE REID, APESEVEN.
Guest Appearance by BIGFOOT & JASON MALONEY brought to you by Hurley

FRIDAY 24th SEPTEMBER 6-10pm

show runs from Sept 25th-Oct 23rd
Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Saturdays 12pm-3pm

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154958014530715

CAMILLA ZAVATTARO
Camilla Zavattaro alias Milly Loveknuckles…
From when I was very little, I remember watching my grandfather painting oils on the veranda, he immigrated from france after WW2 and had brought with him the skills of oil painting handed to him by his father…I was inspired early… As for tattooing – I started in the bars of London 1997 getting lessons in needle making on a wooden keg, wed set up and start beers at 10 in the morning… My art career moved to an apartment in Airlie beach, skate rats sleeping on couches, tattooing consisted of ratbones, toy machine and zero logos… My 10 year tattoo career began in 2000, in the ghetto of tattoo studios, my boss was a drug dealer who learned his skills in jail, I can still smell that bitter scent of white-ox wafting gently to the sounds of our machines… bless him…steel ramps…the desire for more creativity drew me to brisbane where i was honored to work with some of Australia’s most influential people in the tattoo and art world…i now reside in a cute little surfing town, with my son where the nights are balmy and whales float by… I like the sounds of water and brushes on archers… the smell of blood…
and my new found energy for turpentine and canvas…

CASPIAN DELOOZE
Caspian has been an art junkie from a very early age.
Drawing inspiration at first from comic books, then developing an interest in classic illustration and painting and then moving back to comic books again caspian has honed his style and in doing so has been commissioned by some of the worlds biggest recording artists to do personalised pictures for them.
Touring artists recently like P!NK, Green Day and  Kesha have received work from him and Metallica will be getting some pieces off him in November.
His work is truly ecclectic and original and we are very excited that he is exhibiting with us again.

TEZ
TEZ works with an array of mediums including painting, sculpture, ceramics, screen printing and vector illustration, often incorporating recycled materials and found objects into his work. His art often humorous on the surface, usually consists of underlying satirical and cynical messages. This is evident in his recent social commentary works,  describing them as “observational reactions to the world we have created, questioning the role in which we play and the current social and moral issues we face”.  TEZ unveiled his debut solo exhibition “Sure Ain’t Sushi” at Sydney’s China Heights gallery in late 2009.

APESEVEN
George Hambov aka Apeseven grew up in the 1980′s Sydney skateboard scene . Spending most of his time exploring industrial areas , listening to hip hop,  he grew up on a healthy dose of anime , skateboard art and graffiti. Apeseven predominantly approaches work with a street art perspective, utilising stencil, freehand aerosol and traditional brush techniques. Works primarily incorporate mixed media, acrylics, aerosol, inks, found paper and objects.

LUKE MORRELL
Luke is the art director for Volcom Australia.
He is is very accomplished among many artistic disciplines but last time he exhibited at the grid he preferred lead pencil and coloured pencil.
Very detailed and classically composed Lukes works are always sort after and are a classy inclusion to Creatures.

JASON MALONEY
Jason Maloney graduated with a Bachelor of Fine arts in Painting and Drawing from California State University, Fullerton, but his connection with art began long before he received his diploma. As early as five years old, Jason began drawing and continued throughout his youth. Inspiration came from his fascination with 80′s skateboard graphics, Friday the 13th- type of horror movies, and heavy metal groups like Iron Maiden. He eventually landed a job with Disney as a scenic artist, working on projects like remodeling the Haunted Mansion into Tim Burton’s ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’. Now Maloney’s art can be seen in gallery exhibits and public murals in cities like Los Angeles, Orange County, Rome, Jersey City, and the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. He has also designed for companies like Nike, Hurley, Quiksilver, and Grind King. Maloney says his art, created with everything from Krylon to pencils, is his interpretation of the world around him. He has said he wants to always remain teachable and to help other artists, especially younger ones who are just starting out.

BIGFOOT
Bigfoot, a San Francisco Art Institute dropout, hails from New Jersey (“the armpit of America”) a pro skater for Rasa Libre. Bigfoot the painter depicts his alter ego as an oversize woodland creature zapping bulldozers with lightning bolts, meditating in the forest, and sometimes terrorizing the viewer with menacing growls and grabbing paws. He’s the ultimate tree hugger, but he’s not a hippie. The work seems repetitive in a Rain Man-esque way, but if you look closely, you see there is a secret language being developed and a story building. The art of “getting up” is not lost on the endearingly shy, KISS-crazed artist, however; the demand for his gallery work has kept him out of the streets since July 2004.

CASPIAN DE LOOZE, LUKE MORRELL, SAM CLARK, TEZ, CAMILLA ZAVATTARO, CLAIRE REID, APESEVEN.
Guest Appearance by BIGFOOT & JASON MALONEY

Opens FRIDAY 24th SEPTEMBER 6-10pm

The exhibition runs from Sept 25th-Oct 23rd
Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Saturdays 12pm-3pm

Opening Night: Friday 18th June 2010 from 6-10pm
The National Grid Gallery. 24 Chard Road, Brookvale NSW 2100.

Exhibition is open from 19th June until 23rd July 2010.
Opening Hours Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm :: Saturday 12pm – 3pm

The exhibition is a celebration female artistic talent from around the world.
Each artist has been requested to produce an original piece specifically for this event.
None of the work will have been seen anywhere before.
The band ‘KissKiss n Tell’ will also be performing LIVE on the night.

Featuring:
KAREENA ZEREFOS :: EMMA SHELDRAKE :: KELLY THOMPSON :: ANDREA INNOCENT
BRIDGE STEHLI :: MIMI YOON :: LARA ALLPORT :: CARLY CASEY :: RACHEL WELLS
SHANNON CREES :: BEC WINNEL :: CLAIRE REID :: BEC CROCKETT :: MADDI BOYD
REBECCAH DENT :: MIA TANINAKA :: KAITLIN BECKETT :: JAIMEE PAUL
:: ROZANNA JOHNSON :: KRISTY MILLIKEN :: KATHERINE BARRETT :: RUTH CADIOLI