Friends of the Endless Journey
a doodler's group show: Peter Thompson, Luke Ramsey, Justin Williams, Ekta, A.J. Purdy, Andy Rementer, Owen Plummer and Jason Hsu
Opens February 2nd, 6-9pm
Closes February 28th.
Grass Hut
811 eastern Burnside
Portland, OR 97214
503-445-9924
Dear Art Luverz,
Grass Hut is hosting an epic show in February, Friends of the Endless Journey. I know how you think most modern painters and illustrators have turned into one trick ponies over-using the same techniques; the crystal pattern, the fish scale pattern, the shiny diamond eyes, rainbows with dripping clouds, and so on and so on. And so what? Let's just step back for a second though and really look at what's happening here. It's a movement. It's a world wide underground art movement. Some folks are copy cats, while others are the originals.
You can easily spot the originals because they are the folks who are collaborating and exploring this new territory together, oh and they are Canadian usually. I noticed this movement first with Mark Bell's work. He's the Canadian who took comic book psychedelia far beyond Robert Crumb, he took it to the abstract and galleries are devouring his work right now. Bell Collaborated with Peter Thompson on a print project titled the Hobbit. Thompson rides a comic doodle style that's free, fun and under no pressure to perform or impress the viewer with fancy tricks, so his work is easy to relate to. These guys are originals in the movement.
Influenced my big time Canadian collaborators like Thompson and Bell, Luke Ramsey and Angela Conley started Islands Fold. Islands Fold is an independent publisher and artist residency. Ramsey and Conley invite folks to their home on Pender Island B.C. (in Canada) to collaborate, promote health and well being and produce unique art. All the artists in Grass Hut's February show have worked with Islands Fold.
Over the years Islands Fold has nurtured an active community of doodle collaborations and picture zine publishing. In fact, one of the tangible outcomes of this movement are the new levels of communication reached with these zines. When you get a hold of one, you understand that they belong on a coffee table because they are classic, they never get old. Much like mediation you can flip through and get lost in the line work and forget about the world. Yeah, the line work is simi-psychedelic like a noodle on LSD, but the more you look at the work the more you make connection and understand that the artists are clearly communicating crazy ideas to you.
A. J. Purdy and Andy Rementer have forged a long lasting partnership drawing and collaborating on art, zines and comics. While doing so their aim is to pimp slap pretentiousness in the face then give it a brightly colored neon band aid so it can heal in style. They’ve frequently exhibited together, and are currently enrolled at the communication research center Fabrica in Italy. Through Purdy and Rementer we can see how this new art movement is only gaining momentum.
Although you can find zines, prints and paintings from these artists online, seeing the work in person is a richer experience. The work is personal, often tiny and it's sincerity warms the heart.
Come to Grass Hut in February and witness the work in progress.
Artists Biographies
Luke Ramsey is currently working on the "mebemewebe"
collaborative drawing project. His first solo show "
the be kind be cause" was at Space 1026 in
Philadelphia, 2005. Luke has exhibited in Rochester,
LA, Tokyo, Taipei, Montreal, Vancouver and Seattle.
His partner Angela and himself have created an artist
residency on Pender Island, B.C, Canada. They are
called " Islands Fold" and they publish books and art
zines.
Luke loves to listen to Bob Dylan while drinking
coffee and reading comics. He likes to draw too.
http://islandsfold.com
A.J. Purdy enjoys the snug fit of a euro trash speedo on the beach when he’s not busy drawing or watching You Tube. He grew up in the remote land of Delaware, and later in his life traveled a half an hour to Pennsylvania where he lived and earned his BFA in Graphic Design at
the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His influences are his creative friends, the artists of Space 1026, plus good art in general. While making artwork and zines don’t particularly pay well he still enjoys this act of creation. Currently he is play working in Italy and feels regular excise and good coffee are the staples of productive and satisfactory living.
http://graphdrome.com/
Andy Rementer grew up in southern New Jersey, USA, in a quiet town once free of wal-marts and strip-malls. In 2004 he received his bachelors degree in graphic design from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Before arriving at Fabrica in May of 2005, he did graphic and web design at various agencies in New York City. Outside of his nine-to-five gig, Andy enjoys drawing in his sketchbook and making comics. He's currently the author of the weekly cartoon 'Techno Tuesday', which appears online and in print. Andy currently is living, working and not exercising in Treviso, Italy.
http://www.andyrementer.com
Justin B. Williams was born on 5/5/85 in California
but grew up in Tokyo, Japan. He's also lived in Hong
Kong, Yokohama, Singapore, Vancouver BC, and Portland
Oregon. He likes to roam around when he can and he
divides his time between Chicago and Montreal.
He was recently awarded a Presidential Scholarship by
The Art Institute Of Chicago and has shown art in
small galleries and bookstores in Vancouver BC, San
Francisco, Portland Oregon, New York, Los Angeles,
Montreal and some other places. He likes sleeping and
eating potato chips.
Name: Ekta
Age: 28
Country: Sweden.
Occupation; Artist and Co creative mind behind the ORO gallery in Gothenburg Sweden.
General: I've always drawn & painted, started to spend more time doing it in 97/98 when I tweaked my ancle real bad which stopped me from skateboarding. Spent 8 years in London where I worked and studied to get a BA in Illustration. After 2 years of working in various different animation studios and doing freelance Illustration work I got seriously bored and decided to focus 100% on my own artwork and give up commercial work completly. that's when I decided to move back to Sweden & start the ORO gallery with 5 other artists / designers.
Influences: for the past 2 years my main source of inspiration has come from people I've collaborated with. I love collab doodling or painting with other people. other than that, the dada spirit is close to heart, and I get a lot of ideas from reading & listening to music.
Peter Thompson
His work speaks for himself.
GRASS HUT GALLERY PRESENTS THE RELEASE OF BEASTS!
