Art news

Under the moniker of Little Gonzales, Sydney-based hoodlum Dan Gray delivers a bunch of delightful illustrations to music makers like The Boat People and The Seabellies, as well as ordinary Joes like you and me. As a freelancing artist, the self-taught illustrator has dipped his hand in just about every bucket (including that of the rad art collective Gloop), or whatever the hell that saying is.

Costan Rican artist Alejandra Diaz’s latest exhibition of whimsical watercolours, The Lion & the Lamb, envisages a brave new world where video games are about how many people you can kiss. Where money is only used to play monopoly; where there are no zoos or prisons, and a leader can walk the streets unguarded.

Pocket rocket party girl Diaz has called Melbourne home for three years now, and we’re benefitting from her multifarious talents. She has a clutch of internationally recognised art and design prizes in her purse; most recently Adobe’s Online Design Festival prize 2009.

Get thee to St Kilda’s Wabi Sabi Garden – where, a la Diaz - we’ll choose dignity over greed, love over lust, truth over media hype. Where you don't love your neighbour as yourself, because there is no neighbour and there is no self. On from December 10-30 2009.

Dear Reader. I might as well admit this before you delve and dig and furry, only to discover the fact triumphantly for yourself (assuming you have a lot of time and exceptional furrowing skills). The blog I intend to unashamedly shout the praises of is the brainchild of none other than my very own little brother. That’s right – call it favouritism, hell, call it nepotism, but the thing is too good to keep quiet. Faking Handmade is the virgin blog of the young graphic design student, and the entire feel of it captures that self congratulatory brand of sarcasm that so typifies the university undergrad (he describes himself as a 'hip' and 'with-it' youth). Riddled with all things French - blogging genius Sacha Dumain and his companion Adeline Rapon, with their softly-focused, dreamy photography are favourites - as well as an obsession with typography, Herman Miller chairs and Akina illustrations, it’s a clean, crisp read that’s perfect for your daily design fix. What’s more, it showcases thick lined, hand drawn images completed on sunny afternoons in city cafes, carefully attached to a clipboard and painstakingly photographed at the perfect distance against the grainy cream paint of his bedroom wall. Nothing sets my heart beating like some raw art with a bit of omph, and if you’ve got a set of functioning eyeballs, you’re probably the same.

Tania Wursig is a Sydney artist, best known for her flamboyant palette and exploration of the sensual. Tania's paintings are a celebration of the feminine and About Face - inspired by the life of Marie Antionette, is her latest exhibition showing now at the Gallery Aloft in Balmain.

http://www.taniawursig.com/

Canberra is bustling with local designers and craftspeople who are creating some unique and beautiful work! Held at the Yarralumla Woolshed this weekend, the Handmade markets bring together all these fantastic creations under the one roof. Favourite designers to keep an eye on are Chinchilla Creations, Aunty Cookie, Tango & James, Schmooks and Lindsay and Edmunds scrumptious chocolate treats!

The market pretty much offers everything from books, (acclaimed Australian author Anthony Hill has his own stall set up) clothing for adults and children, decorated cards and handmade prints, uniquely designed jewellery, home ware items etc! And with Christmas just around the corner, the Handmade Markets is perfect for picking up that something special.

The heritage listed Yarralumla Woolshed provides a fantastic location for the markets, with its rustic feel and surrounding paddocks. We expect to see some live music and the opportunity to have dinner and a glass of wine on the Friday night for the Boutique Twilight market. Plus the Handmade Markets is setting up a Christmas tree for people to donate gift that will go towards sufferers of Motor Neurone Disease.



The markets have developed a pretty strong following, so be sure to get in early!

Check their website for more details on the event and local designers involved:
http://www.handmademarket.com.au/

Check out this month's Guest Illustrator Sara Blake. She’s a 25 year old designer based in New York. An interactive art director by day and illustrator by night. We were fortunate enough to use some of her illos this month which fitted in just perfectly with the rest of the magazine’s content and imagery. Loving the colour combinations and typography she did for us. Check out her work at www.hellozso.com

Burning out his love letters, tearing every single picture of her in pieces wishing her dead, how unoriginal and bland. When Olinka Vistica, a Croatian artist, broke up with her boyfriend fellow artist and joint curator, Drazen Grubisic, they created together the Museum of Broken relationships, collecting from split couples cherished items of a time when they were living what ended up to be a temporary "happily-ever-after" fairytale. For two years now, this concept has been a touring exhibition, displaying various sweet nothings, adding new ones in every city it went on. It seems people can develop a sense of over-creativity when it comes to failed relationships and the most unexpected and/or uncanny things can be a reminder of loving days gone by. There is a wooden leg from a Balkan war veteran who fell in love with a nurse in a field hospital. " The prosthetic had a longer life-span than the relationship" the donor has written next to the exhibit.