Princess One Point Five: Vous Je Vous

Rik Lee

Melbourne illustrator Rik Lee creates images as if they were a delicate easter egg. Faces, animals, bikes — they’re all rendered with the same light touch, with some interesting juxtapositions with the pastel smeared throughout, like make-up after a night on the town.

Jennifer Tyer’s Fight exhibition

An exhibition of artist Jennifer Tyer’s latest work has just kicked off at Melbourne’s Helen Gory Galerie. Titled ‘Fight’, the works were inspired by the idea that, in tournament fights, where opponents of the same level compete, the person who wins will generally be the one with the stronger spirit. In doing so, she introduces a very human element to the militant contests, capturing the unwavering concentration in the rivals’ faces, their clear focus on winning, as well as the spectacle of the matches. The exhibition runs until February 21. Read more

Suit Up at Melbourne’s QV

The Suit Up exhibition comprises a number of artworks from various Australian street, comic, and illustration artists, each of whom has applied their unique style to that ubiquitous — yet, rarely tapped — canvas, the playing card. The designs have been produced as giclee prints, signed and numbered by the artists, and are limited to 10 prints of each design. Real-size decks of cards have also been produced for sale. The Suit Up crew is a close-knit group of predominantly Melbourne-based artists who are passionate about Australia’s ‘low-brow’ art scene, which is more collaborative and less ego-driven than much of the the high-brow art world. The exhibition runs between February 13 and 25.

Fergus Brown’s Nerds In Love

We checked in with Sydney-based songwriter Fergus Brown to get the inside story on his wonderfully quirky and catchy pop song, Nerds In Love [below]: ‘It was was a fun song write. Some songs can be tortuous, but this was an imagined, tongue-in-cheek vignette of my life spent together with a certain girl I’d seen around. That’s all it was. At least, until a friend of mine blurted to this girl that I’d written a song about her. And he gave her a copy. We’re friends now. She’s a very talented, and successful, visual artist. She was flattered. Recently, I heard that another person thinks it was written about them. I’m looking forward to that awkward conversation sometime in the future’. Fergus Brown has just been announced as the support for American singer-songwriter, Martha Wainwright on all eleven shows of her Australian tour.

The All New Adventures Of Us

Sonic alchemy, lyrical mastery and melodies to melt even the coldest winter heart, anyone? I introduce you to my new favourite indie darlings: The All New Adventures of Us (alternatively nicknamed TANOU). With their offbeat blend of indie pop, this seven piece British outfit evoke elements of their most talented contemporaries such as Belle & Sebastian, Connor Oberst, Sigur Ros, Ben Folds, and even the fragile vocal sensibility of Elliot Smith. Read more

She & Him’s Volume One

She & Him are actress and closet singer-songwriter, Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, The Good Girl, The Assassination of Jesse James), and juggernaut producer, one-man band and folk troubadour, M.Ward. Read more