…the neon hub blog…

NEON always knew our friend Taffy was a handsome chap, and if we ever forgot he would never be too far away to remind/tell us. So we were naturally very proud when he graced the cover of Design Week, despite being covered in dripping paint he’s under there somewhere.

Taffy features in Boo Ritson’s latest paint orgy Back-Roads Journey, a two-site show about a fictional road-trip across America. Part 1 is titled The Diner and showing at the Alan Cristea Gallery, here Boo introduces the characters in a small town diner. Part 2 features our painted face chum at The Gas Station and follows two characters from the diners as their lives cross along the road. This is showing at the Poppy Sebire Gallery.

Boo Ritson paints the subject, literally, the results photographed while the paint is still wet. There is a window for this of 20 minutes before the household emulsion dries and Taffy is forever a trucker in a Hawaiian shirt.

The results are vivid and it is such an unusual technique you want to stick your nose up close to the pictures and touch to see if it is actually wet.

Both exhibitions close on November 21st and it is pleasant ten minutes Mayfair meander from Alan Cristea to Poppy Sebire to catch both Part 1 and Part 2. If all this glossy Americana gets you in the mood for Yankie fare Goodmans and Automat are local.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

One of NEON’s favourite magazines – Amelia’s Magazine – is collaborating on new project with PLATFORM, an organisation that combines art with activism, research and campaigning.

Amelia’s Magazine is going to re-envision RBS as a bastion of sustainability – the Royal Bank of Sustainability in fact. And it will be down to you to create the artwork.

They are asking for you to submit either a logo or a poster (or both) that will suggest a swing in the direction of all things sustainable in the most imaginative way possible.

Around ten of the best artworks will be shown for a week at the prestigious Arnolfi gallery in Bristol, culminating with a public judging and prize giving.

After the event PLATFORM will profile the winners on their website with links to the winners site and prior to the actual event the best entries will be posted on Amelia’s Magazine.

Interested? For more details and a full brief take a look here.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Following the success of the last two 501® Jeans Live Unbuttoned art installations, Levi’s and VICE have come together to find the UK’s most talented painters, illustrators, designers, sculptors, artists, whatever to have their work displayed on HUGE sites throughout London.

There are absolutely no guidelines for this project, other than that your work should try and capture the essence of what it means to “Live Unbuttoned” – living un-restrained and celebrating self-expression and creative freedom. This may involve freedom, creative expression, full-frontal nudity or however else you interpret the project. Basically, this is an offer to have your work displayed in the capital on a huge scale, no strings attached.

If you are selected from the teeming hordes of hopefuls to have your work featured as part of the Live Unbutton campaign, your work will be blown up to HUGE proportions, and displayed in Camden (The Lock Tavern), Shoreditch (Village Underground) and Soho (The Breakfast Club).

The winner will work with the project mentor, Ben Freeman, a regular Vice contributor and general expert on design, graphics, photography and the publisher of all round amazing magazine FUN, to translate their work from small scale, to ‘size of a large building scale’. Once up, your work will remain on show for one month (21st September – 21st October).

Your work need not be in any fixed medium or format, be it oil painting, papier-mâché, carved granite – whatever, we want to see it. All entries simply need to reflect the essence of the 501 jeans Live Unbuttoned campaign.

The competition opens on the 3rd of August and closes on the 1st of September.

For further information on the competition or to submit your entry please visit www.viceland.com/liveunbuttoned

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Liu Bolin is a 36 year old artist from Beijing who is making quite a name for himself recently by painting himself into backgrounds to become invisible…well almost. He has described his work as a statement about his place in society as he sees himself an outsider with his previous artistic efforts not being valued in China.

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Here’s a video snapshot of Banksy’s exhibition which is now open until the 31st August and is FREE to attend. Looks like an amazing exhibition if you can get down to Bristol…

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

We have become addicted to watching Marilyn Minter’s 60 second taster about her video project Green Pink Caviar. Minters introduces her full eight minute HD video as “a lush and sensual voyeuristic hallucination”. Like her piece Twins (2006) – these pop images are driven by her fascination with the body and glamour, but scream of something very dark going on behind the gloss.
If you are in New York before the end of the month a five minute version of the film will be on view at MTV’s Times Square bilboard as part of a three person video exhibition curated by Minter for Creative Time. The scale would work tremendously well, we’re currently contemplating a huge screen for the office ceiling …..

Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post