Elizabeth McGrath
Elizabeth McGrath’s art is like something out of An American Werewolf in London or a Tim Burton production. Part-gothic, part-whimsical, Elizabeth draws inspiration from roadside attractions, decaying cities, nature, fashion, architecture, interior design, churches of all kinds, movies, good magazines, folklore, music, literature and poetry. Since her first paid job at the age of eight – tying black ribbons round flower vases for her aunt’s Irish style pub restaurant – Elizabeth joined a band, started a fanzine, and then accidentally fell into making art. ‘Our band was asked to play an art show and party for the magazine Juxtapoz’, she says. ‘When the promoter came to drop off posters, he saw a painting I was working on and invited me to hang it in the show. The piece sold to a gallerist who then included me in several of his group shows and I was later asked to do a solo show at the La Luz de Jesus gallery’. She is currently keeping busy working on a number of projects including an upcoming show (The Incurable Disorder) scheduled to launch this December at the Billy Shire fine arts gallery; a recording with her band Miss Derringer; book projects; toy projects; and a clothing line. With so many things going on, just where does she get her ideas from? ‘I build a cocoon of images in a corner of my studio, and when I can’t think of what to do next I crawl in and it gives me super powers!’
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Also by KAREN LEONG
After winning the i-D Styling and Maria Luisa awards at 2007’s International Talent Support (a.k.a. ITS) – an annual event in Trieste supporting young fashion designers and photographers – a shell-shocked Justin Smith threw himself into celebrations. Smith, born in 1978, is the millinery world’s new rising star. His MA show at London’s Royal College of Art was extremely well received. ‘The concept for my show was based all around the performative hat’, he says. ‘I started with the models, found out what they performed with and worked back from there. For example, the burlesque fan dancer wore the fans on her head as part of the hat, and took them off and performed on the catwalk with them. So the main themes were the performative hat inspired by circus, performance and an East End Victorian funeral’. Read more
‘I overdosed on art, psycho-analytic theory and philosophy, and that clogged up my creativity’, says London-based Gordon Cheung of his artistic state in 2001 after graduating from the Royal College of Art. A six-week residency in Pakistan in 2003 changed all that. ‘The combination of being away, seeing some amazingly kitsch decorated trucks, and meeting some very interesting artists, had a huge impact on me’, he says. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
chu said | 30 August, 2007
NICE!
Crazy_Cat_Lady said | 28 May, 2008
this is pretty sweet. You don’t see this kind of work much. Simply B-E-A-U-TIFUL
HAVE YOUR SAY
The fifth issue of our favourite Canadian mag, SNAP!, has just hit the streets and it’s literally bursting with all their creative discoveries from downtown Montreal. Read more
Recently formed hip-hop duo, Rootbeer (Pigeon John and Flynn Adam), have just dropped a super fresh piece of audio pie right in your kitchen. Influenced by artists such as MGMT, N.E.R.D and A Tribe Called Quest, Rootbeer offer up an edgy and unfeigned lyrical style. Turn up their debut release, The Pink Limousine EP, to eleven. You’ll find it impossible not to make shapes.
It’s been a while since we last checked in with one of our favourite illustrators, New York based Tomer Hanuka. His work is like the first rays of morning light on the fifth day of a week long vacation — easy on the eye but brimming with nervous anticipation.
Located just off of the J train on the Marcy stop is Marlowe & Sons at 81 Broadway. Whatever the night of the week, this place seems to always be packed. Dimly lit, and intimately laid out, Marlowe & Sons offers a low-key vibe, with a great selections of cheeses and meats, as well as a limited dinner selection. It’s a great place to head to when all you want is to unwind from the frenzy of Manhattan. Consider this your first tasty rest stop in Brooklyn.
Oh man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to sing like Neil Finn. His voice rasps with all the sincerity and integrity of a thousand heartfelt melodies. Heck, I’d probably trade my prized collection of Archie comics for just the chorus on this song. Driving Me Mad? You betcha(dupa). This man is a treasure. Bow low indeed.
Instead of spending another Saturday afternoon looking though an already plumaged St Vinnies or Beacon’s Closet before buying something you’ll never wear for $5, check out Mooka Kinney. Read more
Knuckleheads is a pretty fun little side scrolling game where you’re a pair of Mexican-wrestler-looking things attached to each other by a chain. You swing each other around to move and hit floaty capsule things for points, and you can change the length of the chain to get over various obstacles, but watch out for the bats.
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With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Wolfmother. Rock n roll. Mystical lyrics. Heavy riffs. They have a new album out, Cosmic Egg, and we have five copies to giveaway, along with their debut album. To enter, tell us your favorite Wolfmother song and the city you live in. Yo! Two fingered salute. Read more
For visual people who rely on shapes and imagination, this eye test t-shirt by Hong Kong-based studio, WEME, is a perfect conversation starter. It’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$30. Read more
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natalie said | 21 August, 2007
PERFECTO