Author Archives: rculture

BOARDPUSHER Monthly Design Contest

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The guys at boardpusher.com contacted me about their new design contests they’re putting on: Every month will involve a new theme and each winner will receive a $100 cash prize as well as their design printed on a skateboard deck. Each winner will also receive a spot in the new limited edition Third Thursday shop creating a ongoing catalog of winners and representation for those artist. Details can be found boardpusher.com/contest

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Featured Artist, Jake Kobrin

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I met Jake in NY last summer at Alex Grey’s visionary art intensive at the Omega Institute. It was his first year in the class, but without a doubt he was a shining star and caught my attention. I got a chance to ask him some questions about his work, check it.

How old are you, where are you from, and how long have you been painting?

 

Well… I’m not quite sure how long I’ve been around here or where exactly I come from, but I was born in San Francisco and the clock rates me in at 19 rotations around the sun. I believe I started to paint in either pre-school or elementary school, but may have dabbled with fingerpaint before then. I was about 12 when I learned what a light source was and that is when the journey truly began.

What made you look at art, and decide you wanted to spend serious amounts of energy and time working towards it?
I began to investigate art seriously as a career choice when I was about 13. In all honesty, art is something that I have always seen myself doing, with unwavering faith. It feels not like a choice but rather a calling or like some pre-determined thing of which I have no say over. It’s been my life for as long as I can remember. I can’t put a word to that which drives me to create and learn and practice but it’s apparently insatiable. It’s not a grim duty or a thing that I do begrudgingly. It’s just what I do.

Biggest influences in painting?

I have influences from visual artists all over the map. The visionary artists and fantastic realists, for example, including Zdzislaw Beksinski, Robert Venosa, Ernst Fuchs, Andrew Jones, and Amanda Sage have been a big influence on me. I also love a great deal of different artists throughout history such as Klimt, Odilon Redon, Velazquez, John Singer Sargent, Van Eyck, and many others. The Furtherrr guys have a damn nice understanding of how to organize visual complexity. I also look at a lot of illustrators such as James Jean, Aaron Horkey, and Harry Clarke. Odd Nerdrum is perhaps my favorite living painter.
As for the sheer intention of their work, besides the majority of the visionary artists, I find Alex Grey and William Blake to be extraordinarily inspiring. Both artists believe that making art is not just a superficial act of craft, but rather a spiritual practice. “William Blake held that the way to truth and higher consciousness was through the contemplation of art. He proposed that by immersing oneself in art, a person could experience it not just as an aesthetic but more akin to the meditative exercise a mystic performs in preparation for achieving a higher state of spiritual enlightenment.” Far out.
Besides other artists, I take a great deal of inspiration from the world around me. I’m absolutely baffled by the complexity of visual information that our brains interpret at any given moment. The thought of trying to replicate that in a painting terrifies me, frankly. But it’s also very inspiring. I often find myself referencing patterns from rugs, or clothing, or architectural designs that I see in my daily life. I find inspiration in a particularly interesting scattering of shadow on the wall next to a tree, or a stimulating conversation that pushes a concept in new directions that I may later toy with. 
I also have taken a great deal of inspiration from entheogens and mystical/transcendent states of consciousness, which have provided me a lot of visual fodder to play around with. I think the entheogens have altered my perception in a way that has profoundly effected my creative process, albiet on a mostly subconscious level. 
Is art a career or just for fun?
I would say that I am very seriously inclined towards making art my occupation and building a career (whatever that means) around it, but I think it is quite fun as well. Art fulfills many roles for me. It is a form of meditation, a vehicle for catharsis, a way of tapping into the collective unconscious and channeling energy from the universe; it is a hobby, an obsession, an occupation, an obligation, a never ending quest for knowledge, a craft to practice; it is a way of generating income, a way of sustaining my life; sometimes it’s just something to do for fun.

I notice you use digital programs in some of your work, do you like working this way, do you credit them less worthy of say, a hand painted piece?

I love working digitally because it is the medium I am most fluent and as such I can communicate my vision with the least amount of effort. I don’t like it because it strains my eyes, and the brightness of my computer monitor often gives me a headache.
As for whether or not I consider it less worthy than a piece using traditional media, absolutely not. It’s a very common misconception, but I produce digital paintings, not computer-generated imagery. The way I paint on the computer is not too different from the way I paint in acrylic or oil. I use a pen and tablet that allows me to apply strokes of color the same way I would with a paint brush and paint. The only difference is that instead of a physical paint brush and paint, it is simulated. People don’t know this, which is why often when I perform digital live painting, people come up to me and exclaim “I had no idea you could do this on a computer! You’re actually painting!” I think there’s a level of ignorance in the general public that makes people think that digital art means photo manipulation or computer generated imagery. This is not the case with my work.
I make art with basically every medium: oil, acrylic, digital, pen/ink, graphite, charcoal, etchings, watercolors, airbrush, etc, etc, etc… The medium should be secondary to the content.
Do you like to work in the day time or the night time?
Both, though the real work tends to get done after the sun has set.
Where do you see yourself going from here?
 
One thing is certain is that I will never stop producing artwork. I have certain dreams that I like to entertain, such as being a sort of psychedelic troubadour who travels the world to different festivals and entertains crowds of altered onlookers by painting portraits of beautiful women and visionary in-scapes in a live painting context. That’s the adventurous side of myself that sometimes rears it’s head. The other part of me wants to lock myself in a studio somewhere, where I’ll work obsessively on my artifacts, only to exit the studio when it’s time to deliver to a gallery or to grab some thai food. That’s the anti-social side.
I do have a good idea of where I want to take my work, technically, however. I want to try to push the complexity of my pieces. I want to see just how much information I can cram onto the surface. I also need to revisit the fundamentals and work to refine my painting technique. Right now I’m more interested in working traditionally than digitally. The reason is that it requires more labor and is usually more rewarding in the end. You also have an authentic art-object that it is imbued with the personal energy of the creator. Also I’ve got the visionary thing, the graphic design thing, the pen/ink illustration thing, and the oil painting thing. They all look very distinct from each other. I want to somehow try to hybridize my work so it encompasses everything I do.
The most important thing, though, is that I want to effect the world in a positive way. Just creating beautiful things may be enough, in this case, but I try to set my intentions towards helping people heal themselves and to grow through their reflections on my artwork. I have some friends, such as David Choong Lee, and Akira Beard, both astounding artists, who have deeply inspired me by being extraordinarily generous in donating their work and using it to help other people. Akira Beard is a saint. I talk a big game. It’d be better if I just painted.
If you had to pick one artist alive or dead to eat lunch with who would it be?
I would say Alex Grey, but fortunately I have eaten lunch with him! Otherwise, William Blake. It would be beautiful to hold conversation with him.
Any current or upcoming shows?
Not at the moment. Soon though… /optimism/
Thank you’s and shoutouts?
I’d like to give a shout out to my parents… because I’m sure they’ll be reading this. To everyone who has supported me, I love you all… And if you haven’t supported me, I love you anyway… And to those of you who do me the greatest services in my artistic progress by being unabashedly harsh and critically honest, I love you even more.
 For more from Jake, check out his facebook page, and deviant art profile.

Featured Artist, Psybe

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Realize proudly presents, Psybe, (Adam Carsons) an extraordinary visionary artist out of New Jersey. Be on the look out for Psybe in the highly anticipated ART ISSUE 2 of REALIZE, expected to drop before the new year. I got a chance to catch up with Psybe in this quick interview, Check it out!

How old are you, where are you from, and how long have you been painting?

I am 24 years old, I grew up and live in North Jersey in the shadow of Manhattan. I have been painting for three years now, but art has been my life since I could remember.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

I’d have to go with Giger, The Further Collective, and Kandinsky, as far as painting is concerned. I draw a lot of influence from sitting listening to music, my staples are Isis, Tool, and Bluetech. The world around me serves as a constant influx of creative resources and raw kinda stuff that my brain mutates in the weird little worlds and spaces my paintings explore. I also really dig retro-futurism, futurism, sci-fi films, and anything related to science, biology, networks, and space exploration.

Do you prefer walls or canvass?

It depends on the mood and space my head is in at the time. There are a lot of sketches and things I’ve done recently that I feel would be better suited for a large surface or wall for example, but I typically work on canvas. I do a lot of work about space and proportion and movement; the finite constrains of a specific surface area helps in dealing with the problems of space and placement.

What mediums do you generally work in?

Acrylic paint and acrylic based aerosol.

How much planning is involved in your work? or is just all out of your head on the fly?

Stuff starts as a very loose sketch on the canvas that dictates lines and proportions. I then go to town putting down spray paint and building textures, positive and negative spaces, and structures.

I’ve seen some pictures, of you painting LIVE? Do you like doing events like that, do you feel like you actually get any work done?

I love painting live. Immersing the art and myself into a creative environment with other performers is wonderful and challenging. Being in a setting of that nature forces me to deal with a tremendous amount of sensory input, and challenges my painting to push for new spaces and ideas. I don’t like rushing things with painting purely for the sake of “live art” so I put in a slow thoughtful session just like I would at home.

Any current or upcoming shows?

Yes, I’ll be painting with OTT and Phutureprimitive on December 27th at The Club at BB King’s in Manhattan.

All inquiries for prints or original art, go to psybevisual.blogspot.com.

Featured Artist, Nick Birmingham Rodgers

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I discovered Nick’s work hanging in FUZION gallery on State St, in downtown Santa Barbara. I was really intrigued by his almost mechanical-gundam styles, and his use of texture. Some pieces had layers upon layers, with floppy discs, and other electrical pieces embedded into them, very unique. A couple days later I got a chance to talk to him and ask him a few questions, he sent me a couple images from his phone, check it out!

REALIZE: How old are you, where you from, how long have you been painting?

NICK: I’m 23 I was born in Santa Barbara but I’ve been living most of my life in Ventura CA, I’ve always been a creative person since as far back as I can remember, I was the guy who would start to take notes in class and it’d end up turning into doodles on the paper

REALIZE: What’s your usual medium?

NICK: spraypaint is my weapon of choice, but I usually add paintmarker, and acrylic paint into my work, I have used airbrush a few times but not as often

REALIZE: Do you prefer walls or canvas?

NICK: good question, I usually work with canvas because I can babysit a project for a while if I need to, plus it’s a moble piece of art, like if someone were to own a canvas of mine and they moved they can take it with them whereas a wall they can’t and the new owner of the place might not appreciate my work as much as the last person and paint over it. That being said the look of a well done wall is unparalleled. I once did a 16′ x apx. 25′ wall and I remember almost tipping over on the ladder trying to do the top of the piece, but once it was finished it was by far the biggest piece I had ever done and I got alot of positive feedback!

REALIZE: Any current or upcoming shows?

NICK: my work is currently being held at Fuzion 1115 State St. Santa Barbara CA 93101 this is my first art show and they have been really good to me and have helped me get a lot of attention and recognition this far.

REALIZE: Is art a career or just for fun?

NICK: I would like to make a career out of it. As of right now I have a full time job and whenever I get a day off I like to get up have coffee and just paint and it is such an awesome way to spend the morning, I’d love to be able to do that every morning.

REALIZE: Shout outs or thank yous?

Nick: My girlfriend Bri, she is very supportive and has even helped me with some paintings in the past, my parents for supporting me ever since I was young, my friends and family for supporting me as well, God, Jesus, Peter and the others at Fuzion for giving me a place to display my work, George Lucas,  art teachers, and the guy who invented spraypaint. I tried to include everyone but if I left someone out I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ve influenced me in some way!

Nick’s work will be featured in the highly anticipated ART ISSUE 2 of REALIZE, dropping very soon. I have an idea we’ll be seeing more of him in the near future, Thanks again Nick, you’re on fire kid!