Art

Stations of the Elevated (1981) restored trailer


This looks incredible – a restored print of a little-known documentary of old early 80’s NYC. ‘Stations of the Elevated’ (1981) Directed by Manfred Kirchheimer.

“The first ever filmed document of graffiti, Manfred Kirchheimer’s richly chromatic 16mm tone poem sets images of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to a soundtrack that interweaves ambient city noises with the gutbucket gospel sound of jazz titan Charles Mingus. Long regarded by cinephiles and hip-hop heads as an obscure cult masterpiece since it premiered at the 1981 New York Film Festival, Stations of the Elevated is a celebration of a quintessentially urban art form—at a time when it was largely dismissed as vandalism. With lyrical shots of tagged trains, desolate rail yards, and other details of the urban landscape, it remains a priceless portrait of a bygone era of New York City culture. World premiere of a new restoration”
Released by Artists Public Domain/Cinema Conservancy

World Premiere New Restoration Friday, June 27 BAM Harvey Theater for BAM Cinemafest 2014
Tickets: HERE More information on Artists Public Domain

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Big Mother – Raymond Lemstra

I bought this the other month because I liked the art, it’s a very quick ‘read’ being that there’s no text and it’s more of a portfolio / sketch book with no context to the images inside. I know nothing about the artist , Raymond Lemstra, but I like his level of detail and the way he flits between different styles.

His voodoo / totem pole / robotic faces are my favourites for their clean lines and 3D appearance. You can find his site here and the book is available from Nobrow Press and other good comic shops.

No doubt they will have a stall at ELCAF – the East London Comics & Arts Festival – in a couple of weeks, their books are always interesting with great art and different formats.

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Bolland references Bolland (and McMahon)

The Judge Dredd Megazine issue 350 sees Brian Bolland revisit his classic 2000ad Presents cover of old (which is nearly 30 years ago now) with a new version, updating friends and foes alike. This is a fanboy’s wet dream with all sorts of references and characters that Bolland has never drawn before.

Note that Judge Hershey (top left, black bob haircut) is virtually identical to the original version. Whilst Judge Anderson, (bottom left, blonde) who was smirking at Hershey’s straight-faced-ness in the original is now giving a ‘don’t even think it’ kind of look to the other blonde, bottom right (this character’s name actually escapes me).

He’s also had a go at realising Mike McMahon‘s Howler character but it really only comes off like a 2D cardboard cut out against his 3D figures. I’m hoping it’s a wraparound cover too, what with Judge Fire‘s shoulder pad just in shot half way up the left hand side. Both scans taken from Comics Alliance.

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RIP HR Giger 1940-2014

Very sad to hear that the great Swiss surrealist painter and designer HR Giger has passed away. Few people have a unique vision but I think it’s safe to say that he was one of those few and has influenced generations with his mechanic/organic images.

MUSEUM, ALIEN, EROEFFNUNG, AUSSTELLUNG, SCHLOSS

His work is not easily forgotten once seen and he created one of the great movie monsters of our time in the Alien. The album cover was also a natural canvas for his work with the public exposed to him via Emerson, Lake & Palmer‘s ‘Brain Salad Surgery’ LP well before Alien. His work for Debbie Harry and The Dead Kennedys saw much controversy with the latter being banned and famously brought to court with Jello Biafra defending the artist’s vision.

I remember seeing his large format Necronomicon and Biomechanics books in shops in the 80’s and wanting them so badly but they were way out of my price range at the time. I was lucky enough to visit the tiny town of Château St. Germain in Gruyères, Switzerland one time though to see many of his originals in the Giger Museum – highly recommended. Sadly missed but never forgotten.

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Hellboy In Hell 6 – out this Wednesday

I could just look at Mike Mignola‘s art forever and never get bored. This is out on Wednesday – he’s averaging one issue every 6 months now. If you like your Hellboy universe a bit more regular then I recommend the B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth series which is monthly and has just gone into full gear after treading water for a good 18 months.

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Kid Acne ‘The Return’ exhibition Galo Art Gallery, Turin

Kid Acne‘s ‘The Return’ solo exhibition just opened last weekend in Turin, Italy. Here are some photos from the opening and a film of him at work. The show runs until July 5th and is held at the Galo Art Gallery.

The entire exhibition focuses on his Stabby Women characters – adding new paintings, illustrations and prints to the ongoing body of work, which continues to explore the travels, rituals and mythology of these enigmatic female warriors.

KID ACNE from Tom Sykes on Vimeo.

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Sabotage comic and the ‘3-Way Mix’ hits 100k plays

Sadly on Sunday it was two years since MCA passed away and there was a weekend long celebration in Brooklyn to remember the man and the music he made with the Beasties. With another, happier, anniversary also approaching – 25 years since the release of ‘Paul’s Boutique’ – there is a fair bit of Beastie-related activity on the horizon.

Above and below you can see a comic created by Derek Langille illustrating the song ‘Sabotage’ – this was done nearly two years ago now and takes a similar old school comic style to Ed Piskor‘s excellent on-going ‘Hip Hop Family Tree‘.



A couple of fans in Italy (SM&A Prod.) are preparing a ‘visual companion’ to the album, to debut online on July 25th (see new trailer above) and Filter magazine are running a special on it in an upcoming issue.

The 3-Way Mix should be getting a feature somewhere in that issue and I was interviewed recently for an updated version of Dan LeRoy‘s 33 1/3 book about the making of the album.

Also over the weekend the deconstructed mix of the album that I made with DJ Cheeba and DJ Moneyshot finally hit 100,000 plays on Soundcloud – this is a big milestone for us so thanks to all for listening.

Posted in Art, Comics, DJ Food, Mixes/Solid Steel, Solid Steel. | 3 Comments |

Kevin O’Neill ‘Twisted Times’ original art

Check out this original Kevin O’Neill painting from the cover of the ‘Twisted Times’ collection – short Future Shock stories by Alan Moore from his old 2000ad days. This is on sale now from Artdroids if you have the hefty £6k that Rufus wants for it and underneath is the original book cover it was used for. “if I was a rich man, la la la la la etc”…

Posted in 2000ad, Art, Comics, Originals. | 2 Comments |

Another round of record sleeves by comic artists

As with last year’s Free Comic Book Day I’ve put together another collection of record sleeves that use artists from or reference comics in some way.  Above is a Boo-Yaa Tribe 12″ which I THINK is drawn by Bob Camp who also did the Bambaataa ‘Renegades of Funk’ and Newcleus sleeves from the previous post. The only credit is ‘designed by Island Art’ on the back and the German 12″ says ‘illustration: Marvel Comics’ (!) This version features two remixes by Coldcut incidentally.

A classic back and front sleeve by (*update!) Dave Little for Bomb The Bass‘ first LP – the connection started when BTB adapted Dave Gibbons‘ Watchman smiley face with blood splat on their first 12″ cover for ‘Beat Dis’ – thus helping bring the smiley into the then current Acid House craze as its motif. Dave Little – as Steve Cook helpfully pointed out below in the comments – was Rhythm King‘s in-house designer, responsible for S’Express, Renegade Soundwave and more.

Next up – the master – Moebius, drawing Hendrix, as he would do several times in his career but this is the only album cover I know of. This is a ‘twofer’, two albums in one package for the French market on the Barclay label with a gorgeous gatefold. I love the way Hendrix is on the back instead of the front.


More Moebius, I’ve posted this before but it’s so good I’m going to do it again.


Staying with the French artists here’s Philippe Druillet with another Hendrix gatefold and another similar record that I can’t identify the artist on – both released on Barclay. Anyone know the second artist? Update: several people have pointed the finger at Richard Corben on this one and I can see the similarity for sure plus it would fit in with the series of artists featured in Metal Hurlant at the time.



This is the back cover of an Impulse Jazz compilation with a weird contraption by lesser-known Underground Comix artist Dave Sheridan (RIP) – odd to see this on a jazz record but then again Robert Crumb was no stranger to the genre.

Last but not least we have Jim Fitzpatrick who did many sleeves for Thin Lizzy in the 70’s through to the early 80’s. Not really a comic artist as such, more in the Celtic Fantasy range as an illustrator but you can see the comic book influence in his style with the psychedelic lettering on the early releases looking like Robert Williams‘ work or even Hawkwind-era Barney Bubbles.
Love this die-cut cover showing through the inside sleeve.

This Greatest Hits release was advertised with a comic strip-like page in an issue of Sounds, riffing off a cowboy theme. Not quite sure if this is Jim Fitzpatrick as the line work is a bit spikier and Steve Cook again pointed out that it could be Martin Asbury – probably best known for drawing Garth and the style certainly looks similar.

Posted in Art, Comics, Found in Sounds, Records. | 14 Comments |

Hellboy 20th art show @ the Hero Complex Gallery

Seeing as it’s Free Comic Book Day tomorrow I’ll be posting a little more than usual about related events over the coming week. Another exhibition that just opened is this celebration of 20 Years of Hellboy by artists both professional and amateur.
It’s on at the Hero Complex Gallery in LA from today and you can see more examples of art here plus everything goes up for sale tomorrow .



Posted in Art, Comics, Event. | No Comments |

Comics Unmasked opens today at the British Library, Ldn


This just opened in London at the British Library, I’m going Monday, can’t wait!

Featuring such iconic names as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe), this exhibition traces the British comics tradition back through classic 1970s titles including 2000AD, Action and Misty to 19th-century illustrated reports of Jack the Ripper and beyond.

“Can’t recommend British Library’s Comics Unmasked exhibition enough! Unexpected & rare exhibits, wonderfully presented.” – Dave Gibbons (Watchman and many more)
Parental guidance is advised for visitors under 16 years of age due to the explicit nature of some of the exhibits on display, the exhibition runs until August. For more info and updated content visit the Library’s Comics Unmasked page.

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