Barry McGee: The Oakland Museum of California

Barry McGee was commissioned to do an installation for The Oakland Museum of California. The wall-sized masterpiece is of what has become classic McGee: brightly colored, 3D geometric shapes & patterns, peppered with text & his 'Fong-tastic' characters...all perfectly puzzled together.

Recommended viewing: If you haven't already, check out some more Barry McGee in the Beautiful Losers DVD.

Poster Boy: The War of Art

Razor wielding Poster Boy is best known for his cut 'n paste mash-ups of corporate subway billboards, manipulating painfully boring brand slogans, text and images into sometimes grotesque, but always poignant pieces of street art. So much so that he's constantly under the watch of 'Johnny Law' and quite frequently a captive guest in their cinder block condos aka the clink.

Poster Boy: The War of Art is a newly released retrospective of works brought to you by Mark Batty Publisher...get yourself a copy or two.

Paul Tebbott: Graphic Artist

Meet Paul Tebbott. A graphic designer, slash, illustrator with a penchant for high contrast colors, minimalism and sharp lines. Paul's modernist graphics pay some serious homage to printwork of yesteryear.

MUCH LIKED ALBUM ART: DIRTY PROJECTORS 'BITTE ORCA'

I get all giddy when I see anaglyphic artwork (3D) and although the cover below isn't 3D in any way what so ever, the red-blue color-blocking still satiates that side of my brain that gets aroused by it.

Rob Carmichael of the Brooklyn based indie art & graphic design firm SEEN, is credited for the album artwork for experimental rockers Dirty Projectors' newest release, titled 'Bitte Orca'.

GEEZERs WERE FREESTYLIN' ON THEIR FIXIES +100 YEARs AGO

Sweet mother! When I was BMX freestylin' (with & without a fixed gear) 30+ years ago, we all swore that we invented this shit...and I know that this generation of gearheads swears up and down that they invented it, too, but this old geezer trumps us all by nearly 110 years. Proof is in the silent film stock, thanks to Mr Thomas Edison.

TONY FITZPATRICK: HOBO ART

Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick's Hobo Alphabet. This piece is titled 'The Red Rain' and translates to 'food, but not money can be found here'.

TILLES SINGER: SKATEBOARDANIMATION

Tilles Singer put together this lo-fi little stop-motion animation flick of a gang of skaters doing what they do best, making due with urban features. He used the basics: a ton of skate mags & jillions of digital pics. With the patience of a saint...cuts 'n pastes, fires up some sparklers & shoots. Strings it all together and voilà! Movie magic.

So, roll yourself over to Tilles' Vimeo and get a gander at some of his other work.

Skateboardanimation from Tilles Singer on Vimeo.

MUST SEE FILM: VISUAL ACOUSTICS/ THE MODERNISM OF JULIUS SHULMAN

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman is a must see documentary film by Eric Bricker.

"Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world s greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman captured the work of nearly every major modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images..."

SMASHING PUMKINS: LIVE AT METRO CHICAGO

HOLY CRAP! The Smashing Pumpkins have gotten it together enough to do one show, next Tuesday, July 27th at the Metro Chicago. You read right. Smashing Pumpkin. Live. In the flesh. One day only.

The Smashing Pumpkins are headlining a benefit gig for Madina Lake bassist, Matthew Leone, who was brutally beaten and hospitalized. Like many Americans, Matthew has zero health insurance and has accrued insane medical bills as a result.

All sales online ONLY right HERE

STRAWBERRY SWITCHBLADE x FUZZBOX x CATERWAUL

I'm showing my age and getting all nostalgic for some old female synthpop of the nineteen eighties and although these bands might seem like a big fat joke at this moment in time, they still held an important place in music history...no matter how small a place, a place non the less.

1st up: Straight outta Scotland, Strawberry Switchblade covering Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'. Please note* my tits prick like a schoolgirl when I hear The Sister's of Mercy wreaking havoc & covering this same title.

2nd: We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It aka Fuzzbox (shortened their name to for US releases) of Birmingham, England. Like many other 80s post-punk, psycho-fuzz bands (Dr And The Medics, Transvision Vamp, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, etc)...a Cyndi Lauper video gone bad, way bad, but hella fun!

3rd: Caterwaul. I know, I know. Caterwaul isn't electro synthpop...in anyway what so ever, but found heavy rotation on my playlist (cassette tapes) never the less...along with other really strong female vocal bands ofthe same era: Cocteau Twins, everything on 4AD Records, everything on Nettwerk Records (before the 90s screwed that label up), etc.

BOB PARTINGTON: BRIEFCASE GRAFFITI

NYC. Back in '03-'04. The Soho sidewalks, yes, sidewalks, were covered with "sniper-scope" stylized, stencil tags. I, like everybody else that paid attention to the stencils, just assumed that these were typical cut cardboard stencils that were hit with a can of D.O.T. (Dept of Transportation) yellow spray paint. Wrong. The stencils were anything but typical and they were the creations of one hell of a mad scientist...Bob Partington.

Among other things, Bob builds machines that create art. His sidewalk tagging machine was one such devise, cleverly hidden in the guts of a briefcase. How? When set down on any surface, a trigger at the base of the briefcase activates a solenoid device, which in turn releases Bob's tag. Totally stealth. Totally sweet.

Want to see more of the craziness that comes out of Bob's workshop? Well then, check out his site HERE

CECIL TOUCHON: A COLLAGING GENIUS

Cecil Touchon's collages make great sense of the abstract through the manipulation of typeface, old advertisements, geometric shapes & color...or lack there of.

Fusion Series #1872
Collage on Paper
12x9 inches

TROY LOVEGATES aka OTHER LIMITED EDITION BOOK RELEASE

Anteism Publications has released 30-limited edition, hardbound artist books by Canadian artist Troy Lovegates aka OTHER today, aptly titled Other: The Artwork of Troy Lovegates.

"Other: The Artwork of Troy Lovegates is a book of photographs showcasing the artist’s work and experiences along the way. From oil stick characters on the side of trains, wheat pasted posters, large scale murals and snapshot photographs..."

If you're on a budget, Anteism also offers a softbound edition of 900 copies for 13-bucks. Anteism stocks an awesome collection of other books & zines in their shop...get some!

THE ART INSTITUTE of CHICAGO presents HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

The Art Institute of Chicago will be exhibiting selected works (nearly 300 photographs, over 3 decades of works) of one of the most important photographers of all time, Henri Cartier-Bresson. The Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century exhibition runs from July 25th-October 3rd.

"Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) is one of the most original, accomplished, and influential figures in the history of photography. His celebrated work of the early 1930s helped to define the artistic potential of modern photography; a decade later, after surviving three years as a prisoner of war, Cartier-Bresson emerged from World War II determined to document a world in the midst of profound change. He did so in 1947 when he joined Robert Capa and others to found the Magnum photo agency, an organization that allowed photojournalists to reach broad audiences through such publications as Life and Paris Match, while still retaining independence and control over their work..."

Additional museum info & directions can be found HERE

DANGER MOUSE and SPARKLEHORSE feat DAVID LYNCH

Lord, fianlly! After many, many drawn out months of wading through record label BS, the Danger Mouse and late-great Mark 'Sparklehorse' Linkous collaborative project has finally hit the streets.

This de facto tribute album titled Dark Night Of The Soul pairs up Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse (who sadly, at age 46, put a bullet in his chest March 6th of this year). The duo had worked diligently with many indie greats and legends alike last year, to include: The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Black Francis (The Pixies), Iggy Pop, David Lynch, James Mercer (The Shins/Broken Bells), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt and David Lynch (yes, Director & Producer, David Lynch).

The 'fan' video below features the vocals of Mr David Lynch. Enjoy.