Lost AT E Minor

Cheeks Bakery, Brooklyn

Disregard the buzz that surrounds those other cupcake shops in New York City. Cheeks Bakery in Williamsburg houses the best cupcakes that I’ve eaten. The clean and understated decor extends to the menu, where being fancy doesn’t rule on the cupcake shelves. Cheeks offers, simply, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla or chocolate cream. But if you do want more, Cheeks has that as well, a limited selection of pies and cakes.

A Cultural Guide to New York: Barcade

We asked some of New York’s more creative residents where they like to hang out in the city, and got a mixed bag of responses back. We’ll be running their insider tips over the next few weeks. This is illustrator Marcos Chin on his favorite arcade bar, aptly named … wait for it … Barcade: ‘Barcade is a time-warp into the 1980s when going to the arcade was the major past time for many of my friends and I. Lined throughout the space are a series of classic 25 cent video arcade games, like Q-bert, Donkey Kong, Arkanoid and Tetris. There’s also a pool table near the back of the space, and a terrific selection of beers to choose from. And yes, you can drink-and-play. It’s located near the Lorimer stop on the L train, at 388 Union Avenue, in Williamsburg’. Read more

Kali Ciesemier

Recent MICA illustration graduate, Kali Ciesemier posseses a particularly bold and versatile sensibility. She is clearly having a blast experimenting with different styles which ought to appeal to a wide range of clients. I particularly enjoy her poster section where she explores everything from textured pen and ink, to clean digital lines - all to extraordinary results. Having already illustrated projects from theater sets, to posters, to editorial, Ciesemier has hit the ground running having only graduated this May. With her wide range, it will be exciting to see how defines her work in the successful years ahead.

Ville Savimaa

Wow, here’s some work that just made my Friday all the sweeter. Finnish artist Ville Savimaa creates the most clean, beautiful, and bizarre images, filled with chunky, abstract characters and creatures, as if viewed through an old fashioned grainy, black and white lens. It feels a lot like the trippiest noir film you never saw. Even when colour occasionally comes into the mix, Savimaa manages to gracefully maintain that sculptural sensibility, leaving the viewer feeling as suspended as the characters themselves. Read more

Helen Verhoeven

As I was admiring the lovely painting of Dutch artist Helen Verhoeven, I began to notice some strange things popping up. As I continued to look, the bizarre overall nature of her work really began to dawn on me. Looking at these early in the morning while waiting for that first pot of coffee to brew, Verhoeven’s paintings leave me wondering if I’ve really woken up from my dreams yet. They are like stepping into some uncanny dream world with all their loose, colorful brushstrokes and vague figures standing about. Read more

Michaelene Walsh

I’ve never been one to go nuts over ceramics. However, Louisianna artist Michaelene Walsh may have changed that in a big way. What’s not to love about a ceramic popsicle collection, ceramic representations of classic vintage toys, or her amazingly whimsical mugs? As easily as these objects might have been created out of any other sculptural medium, the clay, with it’s irregularity and beautiful textured glazes, brings a tangible sense of life and character to these objects, which is what makes them special.