Some Works

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The YPF Book Launch 3: ELECTRIC HURRICANE



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ELECTRIC HURRICANE: YPF Art Show and Artist Book Launch

The YPF, a Montreal based art collective, will be launching their new artist book at the General 54 (54 St. Viateur Street West, Montreal, QC) on Thursday March 13th, 2008 starting at 7PM. To commemorate the launch of the book, the YPF will be exhibiting a new series of works entitled "Electric Hurricane".

Beverages and snacks will be offered along side the rockin' musical workings of YPF DJ's. Show will run from March 11th until April 20th. More information follows.

YPF ARTIST BOOK III

This will be the YPF's third, multi-edition, hand-made artist book. It is a 150 edition publication, featuring the unique contributions including silkscreen prints, hand drawings, wood cuts, photographs and lovely tidbits. Each book contains original work from each of the individual artists of the YPF. Contributing YPF artists include James Braithwate, Emily Birnbaum, Dessa Harhay, Aaron McConomy, Jen Storey, James Kerr, Amy Wong, Krissy Longtin, Neil Doshi, Milena Rogilic, Tyson Bodnarchuk, Freddy Casia, Adam Gorley, and Danijela Pruginic. This year we have invited super-special guest artists Amber Albrecht and Shawn Keruneru to participate.

Previous YPF artist book have been featured at places such as Printed Matter (Toronto, ON), The Drake Hotel (Toronto, ON), Local 23 (Montreal, QC), Headquarters Gallery (Montreal, QC).

ELECTRIC HURRICANE

The art works in this show exemplify the collaborative efforts of the YPF. Despite the fact that we are all artists existing in different parts of the world, we come together to produce a series of 2'x2' wooden canvases all layered with different artists' contributions. A canvas starts as a raw wood surface, to which the first artist will apply some form of creative treatment. The work, however, is not yet done. It is then passed to another artist to add another layer of creative projection inspired by, and incorporating the last. The canvases are passed around until they are deemed completed. Every canvas is photographed at each stage of production, in order to illustrate the contributions of each artist, and the process towards the final products. Thusly, the ultimate artwork is viewed, not only as a piece in itself, but with the history of it's making, and the chronology of it's makers.

THE YPF

Founded in September 2003, the YPF are 15 determined artists who have learned that they can get a lot more accomplished in a group than alone and have therefore taken it upon themselves to create a forum where they can explore and develop their respective metiers while enjoying the support and encouragement provided by a creative community. Moreover, they are able to take advantage of one anotherʼs strengths, learn from one anotherʼs diverse skills and interests, and perhaps most importantly, they can effectively organize and promote themselves and their work.

Based in Montreal, where they have been prolific during their life as a collective, showing locally and abroad in places such as The Drake Hotel (Toronto, ON), All Tomorrow's Parties (Long Beach, CA), Jeff Electric Gallery (Silver Lake, CA), The Open Gallery (Long Beach, CA), The Glass House (Pomona, CA), Osheaga Festival at Parc Jean Drapeau (Montreal, QC), Centre Fractal in association with Muse d'art contemporain de Montréal (Montreal, QC), and Studio Jenia of the Belgo Building (Montreal, QC).

Members include:
James Braithwate, Emily Birnbaum, Dessa Harhay, Aaron McConomy, Jen Storey, James Kerr, Amy Wong, Krissy Longtin, Neil Doshi, Milena Rogilic, Adam Gorley, Danijela Pruginic, Eric Shinn, Freddy Casia, and Tyson Bodnarchuk.

for more info, check out www.theypf.com

Thursday, January 24, 2008

To the Oscars... And step on it!

Well indeed as depicted in the accompanying image, a flaccid victory for our very own James Braithwaite --half of the brain power behind Pony of Prey.

You might have heard of an animated short called "I Met The Walrus", in which a young Jerry Levitan sneaks an interview with John Lennon while visiting Toronto in 1969. Well the recording was unearthed and brought to the table of a one Mr. Josh Raskin. The project entailed a visual treatment to this audio recording, and so young Josh got to work assembling his dream team of co-conspirators. Alex Kurina was in charge of the vector graphics and our own sweet prince James Braithwaite skillfully navigated the frame by frame illustrations, while Josh took the seat as the director and lead animator.

Now what's the big hubbub about this animated short? Well the people over at the Academy Awards would probably say something like "If your eye's had an appetite, you'd be crying gravy after viewing this stunningly symbolic visual representation of that interview recorded with John Lennon in 1969." In fact they most likely said something to that effect because "I Met The Walrus" is officially nominated for an Academy award!

Please allow yourself to view this as soon as you have a chance, I promise you will be shocked and awed by the axis of emotion that this animated short will bring.

The Academy Awards for 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.