{ Pete Fowler }

I LOVE Pete Fowler's creation! MONSTERS...... :)

Check out latest interview of Pete Fowler by Juxtapoz Magazine!

{ Twist }

Not long ago, I wrote an entry on an amazing street art I saw while in Tokyo. Little do I know about the artist, or you can said I had totally no idea who's the talent behind the outstanding store.

Till....

Recently while attending Singapore Design Film Fest, I caught a show called Beautiful Losers. Bingo! I saw the artist! Barry Mcgee is his name. Ignorant me, totally got no idea the artist behind the unique store is actually one of the top American street artist around.

Well...to me everyday is a learning day :)

Barry Mcgee self-portrait

Artist at work

Barry Mcgee, better known as Twist (Twister, Twisty, Twisto) or Ray Fong, was born on 1966 in San Francisco, California. He is a painter and graffiti artist who graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991 majoring in painting and printmaking.

His work draws heavily from a pessimistic view of the urban experience, which he describes as, "urban ills, overstimulations, frustrations, addictions & trying to maintain a level head under the constant bombardment of advertising".

McGee's paintings are very iconic, with central figures dominating abstracted backgrounds of drips, patterns and color fields. He has also painted portraits of street characters on their own empty bottles of liquor, painted flattened spray cans picked up at train yards and painted wrecked vehicles for art shows.

He popularized use of paint drips in urban-influenced graphic design, as well as the gallery display technique of clustering paintings.

For more reads on Barry Mcgee, click here & here.

{ Beautiful Losers }

A week ago, I watched DesignFilmFest's Beautiful Losers. The documentary featuring some of the top American street artists. I must said I felt very much inspired after the show.

Beautiful Losers takes us into the world of street art. To many, graffiti are nuisance and ugly, even consider a form of vandalism. But to some of us, it's a form of expression.... Little do I know about the scene of street art, the movie brings me closer into their world and their thoughts behind the artists' creations.

Taken from official site:

Beautiful Losers celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation .

In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.

Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.

Featuring artists:

Stunned. Amazed. Inspired.

Words of an artist are sometimes very hard to understand, sometimes bizarre sounding. Weirdo is what the norm would call them but if you really get the chance to understand. They are a bunch of people who don't want to be the norm. Who have a voice of their own. Who are not afraid to show they are different. To that, I salute to the artists out there and all those who are struggling to make a name.