WE'RE SUPPORTING

I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to revel in New Jersey artist Heejin Roh’s impossibly subtle graphite drawings in person recently. Roh is a fresh out graduate of the SVA Illustration Master’s Program, which had it’s annual student show recently. Having been so impressed with Roh’s work at the show, I was pleased to discover that her images translate so nicely into a tiny jpeg on my computer screen. I only wish there were more!

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Milwaukee’s Neon Hunk make spastic, synth-and-drum madness that is likely to trigger seizures in the uninitiated. Their psychotic, candy-colored aesthetic — complete with terrifying masks and stuffed animals — gives no quarter to the faint of heart, but for those whose retinas and ear canals are sufficiently fortified with scar tissue, the duo’s glitched-out dance attack should provide ample cause to bounce around. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

New York-based Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu has been featured on Lost At E Minor several times over the past couple of years. I love the sense of drama her work conveys, the apparent colour clashes that somehow gel despite pre-existing rules about their compatibility. We checked in with her to see what she’s been up to of late: ‘I just came back from a week in Georgian Bay in Canada. No internet, no cell phone reception for a week. It was fantastic! Now I am getting ready for a group show at Visual Arts Gallery in New York that opens in September. I am creating two new 40” x 60” drawings. I’m also slowly refurbishing my website here and there’. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Over at Apartment Therapy, Cemusa has been cited as the design group responsible for the stylish glass street furniture popping up around New York City. Read more

Oh boy, this is fun. Omaha’s Tilly and the Wall are kitsch-cool-camp-vauderville meets pop-folk-flamenco, with a tap dancer for a drummer and some serious, serious charisma for a calling card.

WE'RE WEARING

As if this season’s dresses weren’t delightful enough, here’s another reason to liquidate some stock and ruin your credit rating. First Prada and James Jean, now the top end retailer, Nordstrom: the exploration of art by fashion is long overdue, but well worth the wait. The Nordstrom campaign brings together three great things: the Cuban illustrator Ruben Toledo, the fashion photographer Ruven Afanador and the elvin Jenny Sweeny. Just looking at it makes me want to wrap myself in Cavalli and paint my walls bone shell white.

WE'RE READING

We asked Ham and Pete, from New York band The Walkmen, to give us the rundown on the music that is inspiring them right now and they started off with a track from that elder statesmen of indie folk, Bonnie Prince Billy, Goin’ to Acapulco: ‘He did a remarkable job of putting a unique spin on a classic. It’s no small feat, and it’s a really impressive version’. Read more of The Walkmen’s Secret Playlist.