Archive for 2007
Hypercolourphagia
Between August and November of 2007, Jon showed “super saturated, frenzied prints” entitled Hypercolourphagia at ROJO®artspace in Barcelona. “The works teeter dangerously along the point of palatable joyfulness and sickly overload, questioning notions of consumption and the folly’s associated with over indulgence. Hand-drawn works are broken apart and deftly reassembled digitally, keeping sketchbook scrawl rawness tempered with a sugar encrusted pallet.”
Ice Cream Truck
This has got to be one of the coolest collabs/customizations I have ever seen. In 2007, Jon painted an ice cream truck for the “Own Your C” campaign.
“Own Your C” is a campaign that seeks to help teens make the connection that their choices define who they are and who they will become. The campaign recognizes making individual choices empowers youth to make educated decisions, including the choice to become or remain tobacco free.
C-Ride is a branded ice cream truck, featuring a backlit chrome “C” hood ornament, airbag suspension and custom rims, custom lighting and sound, and a freezer for distributing C popsicles. Equipped with a street team, the C-Ride extends the brand to rural and mountain communities in America, as well as serving as a distribution point for tobacco cessation materials.
Does it get any awesomer than that? More pics to answer that question… Read the rest of this entry »
Feel Good Project: Hong Kong and Taipei
In 2006 and 2007, Jon took part in the Feel Good Project in Taipei and Hong Kong, respectively, sponsored by Just Another Reason. The resulting images featured Jon’s characters drawn over photographs.
The Feel Good Project, driven by Just Another Reason (J.A.R )+ TAG, is a non-profit global project with solely charity purpose and to inspire every individual. They aim to raise funds for charity organizations in need for support. They deliver to the general public and like-minded a series of “visual refreshment” through live art, original art, animation/video works and live music contributed freely and kindly by global artists and musicians. They introduce interaction and so everyone is the part of Feel Good Project.
Launched in May 2005, J.A.R, the cutting-edge street artist hub, has been bringing the art & street art culture of different parts of the world to Asia Pacific. J.A.R now consists of five cores which are the world’s renowned UK artist group Scrawl Collective, the UK dark side graffiti Pure Evil, the L.A. animation and figurine talent Nanospore, the Singaporean independent street artist VSLTRSM and the Hong Kong emerging street artist Encrust Customs. The list is growing. J.A.R is indeed an art media seeking to connect unique and avant-garde artists into one meeting point and to twist your attitude by inducing and encouraging more art appreciation.
High Score and Pong Kong for I Am 8-Bit
Jon had two pieces (”High Score” and “Pong Kong”) in Gallery 1988’s 2007 I Am 8-Bit show. The giclee prints on canvas measured 8×11.5 inches and were signed and numbered in an edition of 5 each for $250. They may still be available here.
Burgermenos Qee Series
Jon’s Burgermenos set of a dozen egg-shaped Qee comprised the 2007 Magic of Color series for Toy2R. The 2.5-inch collectible plastic figures were sold blind-boxed and each contains one of 12 characters designed and doodled by Jon. (Some of the egg Qee have ears.) This was really the pinnacle of color for me; for the years preceding this series I meticulously collected black, green, clear and G.I.D. Qee only. Now I’m crazy for color and I’ve got the Gary Baseman egg Qee, etc.. There are 8 standard figures and 4 chase figures in the Burgermenos series. The standard figures are: Grimlock, Hemple, Jitter, Jonquil, Snowbert, Tootles, Zambo and Bazoo. The figures work with standard Qee stands that fit into their foot holes. Although they are no longer in production, they can usually be found on eBay or online at retailers like Future Plastik (from whom some of the following photos come).
Boosey Print
Jon did this 11.6×16.3″ litho print for Promax in London, 2007.
Adventures on Doodle-Safari Alternative Wallpaper
Jon has two designer “vynils,” which are adhesive wall drawings (aka stickers) out through Domestic in France. Entitled Adventures on Doodle Safari, the 120×100cm vinyls cost 74 €. Read more about vynil, an Alternative to Wallpaper in a PDF from Domestic here.
Run by Stéphane Arriubergé and Massimiliano Iorio, Domestic introduces collections of objects designed by designers, graphic artists and artists gathered around innovating and new concepts and themes. All these objects have the particularity of offering an area where the end user can intervene and be free in the creation process. In 2003, Domestic launched its first Wall Drawings collection and with it, invented what is now called wall stickers, a new standard in the world of design and interior decoration. A genuine alternative to wallpaper, Wall Drawings literally hands over to the end user who, invited to convert his interior into an area for expression, becomes the originator of his own decor.
Big Bang Exhibition
Jon did some educational doodles for the Big Bang Exhibit at London’s Science Museum in 2007. The show marked the building of the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful particle accelerator on earth. Check out lots more photos at Jon’s website here and a fun animated game to Hunt for Higgs here.
Darth Vader Helmet Custom
Jon customized a Darth Vader helmet for the 2007 Star Wars Celebration Europe exhibition held in London at Excel. Said Jon: “My concept was influenced by the short turnaround needed and the fact I had very little time due to other work commitments. It was along the lines of: Draw the hell over this helmet. So armed with a silver Sharpie, I scrawled and colored my way over the helmet, dropping in little Star Wars references as I went…. It was a really cool custom to be asked to do. I much enjoyed wearing the helmet around the house before I started work on it. Something I noticed was that whenever I put it on my breathing automatically became really deep and heavy… cuuuuhhh ooooh cuuuuhhh ooooh cuuuuhhh ooooh….” Read the rest of the interview here.
Glow Magazine
Jon did this Baby Sat in His Own Sick illustration for Canadian magazine, Glow.
Custom