Polina Zioga

Sarajo Frieden

The artwork of Los Angeles-based Sarajo Frieden literally explodes out of the canvas, this challenging, confronting, colourful burst of shapes and textures, at once disjointed yet somehow perfectly in place. She says of her work: ‘The cacophony of hand-painted signs in a variety of languages serves as both inspiration and daily reminder that the ordinary is often extraordinary and nothing is what it seems. A host of disparate vocabularies from the worlds of fine, folk and decorative art, including Persian miniatures, Shaker trance drawings, Japanese ukiyo-e, and my Hungarian great aunt’s embroidery, can be found wandering through my images. I try to give form to the human experience as I see it’. Read more

Laurie Hogin

Laurie Hogin takes a classical approach to painting mutant critters that snarl and menace through their cute, day-glo fur. If Victorian artists got in a time machine to the ’80s, watched Gremlins, bought some Hypercolor jam shorts, and went back to their home era, they might have generated images like these. Read more

Jason Redwood

Pasadena, California artist, Jason Redwood, creates luminous, thickly textured artwork and illustrations that practically leap off the page with their bright colours and three dimensional layering. Read more

Artfarm, where all tattooed pigs live

I wonder if these piggies understand what is going on? They’re a part of Artfarm, a collective of swine and tattoo ink. The Belgian artist Wim Delvoye worked with The Foundation Cartier on this recent project. Hmmm, it seems more like Artharm. Or should that be Artham? Read more

Say Hello To My Little Friends

Finding inspiration from his childhood doodles, artist Loren Kreiss brings his new solo show Say Hello to My Little Friends to New York’s Fuller Building on May 28. I not only want to say Hello, I want to meet these evolved beasts. I treasure the moment when I see the direct relationship between artist and art work and recognize the defining moment when the artist let’s the pieces go to create a life of their own. The sense of humor behind Kriess’ work is such clever wit: each name is an ode to pop culture and playful minion-making. Selfishly, I am partial to The Allegra Twins, as this is my middle name, and smirk in the knowledge that these jovial gals are up to no good.

Chunk streetwear

In 2007, a group of New York boys brought bike polo over to London’s Brick Lane and it’s been taking a life of its own ever since. Historically, this hardcourt sport began in 1891 and even got a start at the 1908 Olympics. As it re-emerges onto the scene, Chunk, a London-based street wear label drives the sport forward with their line of wear, as well as sponsoring the 2009 European Bike Polo Championship, and the London based team, BRBPC. History meets innovation, preppy meets urban. Read more