Mural @ FlyBird!

Behold! I have just added another Chicago shop to my already lengthy list of awesome.
Flybird, OakPark's coolest shop of five years, will soon suck my wallet dry with its "curious items for the happy home, body & mind" Curious indeed! With Julie West toys, Ragnar books, run-away clocks and instructional children's material involving peeing elephants (no joke!), how could I not go broke?
Anyhoo, Julia invited me to collaborate on a mural at her lovely store along with the OhNo!Doom Crew and Lana Crooks. "10in10" involved 10 artists/teams creating 10 paintings that make up the new FlyBird mural wall.

Lana and I collaborated on the piece below. Lana created the domesticated Octopus beast, and I created the viking-ish Tapir rider (complete with He-Man fur underoos!). It was a fun weekend at a store definitely worth checking out!






more photos posted here:
Mural Pics
/
artists involved included:
ON!D crew
SuperCorn
Paul Wear
Nerfect
Paranoid Girl
Shawnimal
Jim Arnoldt
Simon Gallo
Hot Funk

ARCADE revisited

So I finally decided to reach back into the recesses of gallery cache to catologue a "Get Knifed Together" collective show way back from my days in Pilsen Park! I love video games and gamer culture (especially platforms and anything featuring a Mega-buster or SpreadGun here or there) and I was really happy with how this show turned out. Lots of super-rad artistic Chicagoans, PBR, power-ups and 2 projectors. Trying to teach some of our generation-gap visitors how to play MarioPaint on the bigscreen remains a highlight. Anyway a blast from the past featuring megablasts from the 8-bit past. You can view the entirety of the show here: ARCADE pics




Below are some pieces from a collaborative installation I worked on with a very talented artist, Alex Willan, for this show and other incarnations:



"HeatMan" -Max Bare


"MetalMan" -Alex Willan



"FlashMan" -Max Bare



"BubbleMan" -Alex Willan

Tapirs at the Columbian Exposition

If you missed it, I had the chance to visit the White City last weekend and let me tell you, it's filled with burning tapirs!

"My Kind of Town" opened last Friday, Rotofugi's group show featuring Chicago's fantastic artists.

I chose to depict the epic tale of murder and deception set in Chicago's wondrous World's Fair of 1893, with characters portrayed by tapirs, what else?




It was a fun project where I could call reference/inspiration from the Devil in the White City book, the Weird Chicago blog, and Sufjan Steven why not? This also propels my work into an ongoing series of found-wood structures depicting simple narratives. It will probably star a variety of tapirs too. New updates and pieces will follow.

"My Kind of Town" continues on at Rotofugi gallery, 1955 W. Chicago, through Oct. 11. more info: www.rotofugi.com




This past weekend also saw the opening of "Trophy", the plushinator Lana Crooks' solo show at OhNo!Doom gallery.
In "Trophy", Lana diplays her most recent acquisitions in the mythical creature community. One such beast on display, was the "Squidgeon", a tentacled and feathery friend commonly found lurking above awaiting to release their inky payload upon the heads of urban commuters below. This specimen pictured here is preserved as he was found, loitering on a sewer wall.





The piece "Squidgeon" is a collab between Lana Crooks and Max Bare. Lana created the plush Squid elements and I sculpted the charming Pigeon head.
"Trophy" continues @ OhNo!Doom through Oct. 20th. Open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
more info: www.ohnodoom.com

Toys Toys Toys 2

More delicious toys in your fabulous faces!

#1! "Cave Bunny" custom Qee

Exhibit: "Into the Darkness" @ 1AM gallery / 1st Amendment (San Francisco)
www.1amsf.com
virtual opening




#2! "You F%#K with One of Us" custom Mutt
Exhibition: "The Mutt Show: Reloaded!" @ A.Okay Official (Chicago)
aokayofficial

Posters Posters Posters

Here are a couple posters for some wonderful events that have sadly come and gone. Boo hoo!

Below! Promotional poster for Chicago's favorite sketch comedy gentlemen:
Long Pork! for the two month run: "SODA"
it was hilarious. and involved grabboids. stay tuned for future hijinks: http://www.longporkcomedy.com
You also missed out on some wikkid T-shirts silk-screened with the design.





Flyer for the A.Okay Official Group show: "Nesting"
A brilliant group show involving an array of wonderful artists customizing Russian Dolls aka Matryoshkas.
curated by Max Bare and Lana Crooks
I did the pencils/inks. Color work by Lana Crooks

Toys Toys Toys

Below is a semi-slew of custom toys for shows early '09/late '08.
Enjoy!

Exhibit: "Humans Beware: IWG Custom Show"
@ RocketWorld, San Francisco 4.10.09
curated by Alex Dril

Toy: "She's Not Worth It" - I.W.G. Rhino w/ Vespa custom

Buy Stuff: http://blue77.bigcartel.com/products
Relive the Opening: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drilone/sets/72157616649997990/
http://www.rocketworld.org





Exhibit: "A.Okay Loves CTA 2009"
@ A.Okay Official, Chicago
http://www.aokayofficial.com
curated by Max Bare & Lana Crooks

Toy: "Caboozery" - Amtrak model train custom



Exhibit: "Calacus"
@ 54B Gallery Chicago
curated by Ian Bennett

Toy: "Skully" - painted skull mold (produced by Ian Bennett)

Comics Comics Comics

If you haven't picked up your free copy of Mystery Afoot Preview.. well then... I don't know what to tell you

...other than, Mystery Afoot is an exciting new collaborative comic series birthed from myself and the yuckster genius minds behind LowCarbComedy Zoran Gvojic and Dave Schneider. >credits include instant youtube classics "Mick Chandler: Unlicensed Child Psychologist", "Hate Soap" and "Saw 4,5,and 6" also the cult MTV pilots for "The Kusper Show" and "After these Messages"<



Mystery Afoot tells the tale of a Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster duo who happen to be the only mythological creatures that are real. Naturally they start up a detective agency to debunk other myths. Adventure and hijinks ensue.



You can download your very own 4 page 2008 Comic-Con preview at:
www.mysteryafoot.com

and await the first full issue due out this summer!