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Chet Zar at Strychnin Gallery, London.

I seem to recall attending another Strychnin Gallery opening previously on Friday the 13th. However on this occassion I was there to see Chet Zar’s exhibition “Ugly American”. Arriving early I had a chance to take in all of the exhibition and meet a few people, including the artist himself.

I found Chet to be a very warm, open and friendly soul. He’s nothing like his paintings. As he puts it, his intent with his paintings is to reflect back the ugliness he sees around himself in Los Angeles. He’s worked extensively in the movie industry. He had found it rewarding, but now is very happy to progressing to a life as a full time painter, as he did not enjoy the ugly side of Hollywood. This I surmize has given him endless inspiration for his artwork.

I whipped out a copy of Metamorphosis for him to sign for Jon Beinart and myself. My bag went home a little heavier as I also purchased a catalogue of Chet’s artwork. There was also a hard bound limited edition, but this was a little beyond my budget for the moment.

Laurie Lipton who will also be exhibiting with Strychnin Gallery again in Berlin, also attended the opening. So it was a very social evening talking to the artists, other guests, Yasha Young (the gallery owner) and her lovely staff.

Some of Chet's paintings at the Strychnin exhibition.

Chet’s artwork glowed, although the themes were monsters. He indicated that the colour theme was different to what he usually works with. He went on to explain that he was inspired by a dream with incredibly luminescent colours. It is always interesting seeing the real personality of a painting. The layering, brush strokes, technique, all of the things that are lost in four colour process printing or a digital image on a website. The image is always flattened. It was therefore a real joy to see the detail and masterful layering of Chet’s original artwork.

The night lengthened with the conversations, and eventually closing time arrived. Having already been engaged in a number of stimulating conversations, Chet, his friends, myself and mine, all trooped off to a local bar in the Truman Brewery around the corner. This lasted for one drink, until a bright spark pointed out that there were lonely beers waiting for us back at the gallery.

With a less distracting atmosphere, we settled on the gallery floor until the early hours of the morning for further existential and philosophical discussions.

We all eventually parted ways, leaving Chet to bed down in the guest room at the gallery, and ourselves to seek our repose. Did we all dream of monsters that night, or of the comrade in paint?

You can see Chet’s works for yourself at Strychnin Gallery London, 65 Hanbury Street, London E1 5J, UK.

Photos by Iris Bitter of Strychnin Gallery.

My good friend Peter Gric has
released a catalogue of 55 paintings from 1990 to 2008. I was very honoured that he sent me a copy of his catalogue. We had been discussing Print on Demand (POD) as an option for getting our artwork in to print.

While the catalogue is not an offset print coffee table book, I find it good, as did other artists, Brigid Marlin and Laurie Lipton. I think Peter's bold move has been a source of inspiration for others.

I have an earlier catalogue from Peter and I am very pleased to have this latest one in my collection as it shows the range of themes he has worked with up until now.

The catalogue
format is 21 × 29cm, paperback, with 68 digitally printed pages. The
Catalogue can be ordered via the Lulu Marketplace and costs €20.

Somewhere between imagination and Berlin lies a special place called Zozoville. The doorway to this land of oddball under the bed monsters, devils and dysfunctionally cute can be found at Mainzer Strasse 12, Friedrichshain, Berlin. The only characters that you will find within approaching any possible sense of normality are Johan Potma and Mateo.

Some years ago when I was hawking my artistic wares on the Boxhagnerplatz flea market, myself and other artist friends found an abandoned American artist in a cardboard box on the market with his brushes and colours. Taking pity on the poor starving creature, we took him home to our corner of the market where we fed and watered him with our artistic comrade and the occasional coffee or morsel of food.

So it came to pass that Mateo was in our midst every Sunday. At some point later like a rabbit out of hat came Johan. We were not sure where he came from, but we were almost certain he was one of Mateo's magic tricks.

Thus began the creative partnership that was to evolve into the multi-eyed organism called Zozoville. Housed in a tiny shop front on the streets of urban cool that are Friedrichshain, this industrious pair founded their creative factory.

The Zozoville window is like some aliens come to earth and hiding behind a thin veneer of normality, but with an odd suspicious appendage popping out film. The sort of shop where you take a strange cute pet home, but not realising it is some ravenous beast from another world whose soul intent is to eat your geraniums. 

Johan and Mateo's endevours grow from strength to strength and people are starting to notice. In the past year they've had a run of media coverage, culminating with several TV interviews.

As I write this they are currently exhibiting their artwork in Paris. Their artwork is taking them to the corners of the unsuspecting world.

Zozoville.com

All great adventures involve something not going to plan, and so it was on the very first day as I set out for the IFAA exhibition in Japan. After not sleeping for two days to complete all of my work and tasks before I departed to the other side of the globe, I found myself standing in a queue for two hours after my flight was cancelled due to strong crosswinds at the London City Airport. To complicate the situation further, I was meant to be meeting with Anja Brinkmann and Luigi La Speranza at the Frankfurt airport for our connecting flight to Japan. So it came to pass that they had to fly without me and I then came later via roundabout journey through various airports.

After long and uncomfortable flights I finally arrived at Kansai Airport some twelve hours after Luigi and Anja had been collected by Shoji Tanaka and Satoshi Sakamoto. I was very grateful that they both made the complicated journey back into Osaka to fetch me from the airport also. This was not an easy task given the chaotic network of roads that snake through Osaka and the navigation computer that was giving wrong directions.

Late that Saturday night I was finally united with Anja and Luigi. I was also finally united with a bed in which I could lie horizontal and sleep comfortably.

The day draws near when I fly to Japan with Luigi La Speranza and Anja Brinkmann, where Luigi and I will be participating in the International Fantastic Art Association annual group exhibition. I feel honoured that the director Shoji Tanaka has extended this wonderful invitation to us. I have previously written about Shoji and the IFAA, and how I came to know them.

I am excited to be visiting Japan, and more so Kyoto where one can still find much of the old Japan that no longer exists. I am also excited to be meeting the other artists and seeing their artwork. A tiny image on a web page does not compare to the real thing.

Likewise, meeting cyber friends and contacts is an interesting experience. I am looking forward to meeting Satoshi Sakamoto who I "met" on MySpace. It is good to meet the human face behind the digital text and images.

I will be updating the blog with further news about my travels to Japan, and about the exhibition. Make sure you come back and read about it.

Details of the exhibition follow:

International Fantastic Art Association
Fantastic Art Show-Kyoto-2008
Exhbition 1th April to 6th April

DOHJIDAI GALLERY

F1 1928 bldg. Gokomachi Sanjo Nakagyo-ku Kyoto Japan

Participating Artists:

• Miyuki Aihara
• Katsumi Asano
• Shinji Asano
• Kyoko Baba
• Yasuko Fuchioka
• Yasuo Hagiwara
• Akiko Ijichi
• Koichi Iyoda
• Shu Iseki
• Kashima
• Kuniaki Katsu
• Kazuaki Kita
• Kaoru Koga
• Tetsuo Koyama
• Satomi Kuwahara
• Yoshiko Maezawa
• Midorineko
• Chinatsu Miyake
• Taeko Mori
• Mitsuru Nagashima
• Akiko Oikawa
• Hitomi Okubo
• Shigeo Otake
• Kyoko Ote
• Akiko Sakagami
• Satoshi Sakamoto
• Kyoko Sato
• Leo Sawaki
• Tomoko Segawa
• Yuko Shiizaki
• Takashi Sotohara
• Hazuki Suketake
• Hayato Suzuki
• Minae Takada
• Mitsuo Takeda
• Shoji Tanaka
• Itsuki Tatsukikawa
• Hiroko Yamaji
• Sayaka Wakabayashi

Special Guests:

• Leo Plaw
• Luigi La Speranza

I recently visited Japanese artist Shinji Himeno in Berlin. It was a great surprise to discover him there after I had lived there for three years, never knowing he existed. I wonder who else is hidden there.

Myself, my girlfriend Anja (http://anja-brinkmann.net) and Micha Krebs (colory.de) all went to visit him and were amazed by his superb work!

His works often have figures whose heads are covered with a cloth, and many then have hovering masks. When we asked him if there was a meaning to this, he simply replied yes, but never elaborated further.

What I like about his work is that while he is obviously trained in classical Western painting technique, the influence of his homeland is evident in his work. This immediately sets him apart from others that have trained the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.

He started his studies at the same university that Peter Gric and Luigi La Speranza were finishing at and it is through them that I've come into contact with him. He studied from 1993 - 1997 under Arik Brauer at the Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna. While Fuchs is certainly famous, Brauer has trained many of the outstanding artists of the current generation of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.

Shinji most certainly falls into the category of outstanding artist, with his fine technique and orgiginal themes and content. His works are usually rather large, which I find a pleasure because it allows the artist to indulge in more detail. But this does make for slightly crowded conditions in his home studio.

We spent several hours talking, drinking tee and eating freshly backed cake. I of course brought his attention to beinart.org, and I am very pleased to say that he agreed to have a profile and gallery on the website. We naturally also spoke about Shoji Tanka the forthcoming IFAA exhibition in Kyoto.

After having a very enjoyable time, we all had to part ways because of other commitments that day. I certainly look forward to staying in contact with Shinji and seeing his new creations.

His website: shinjihimeno.com

The world is a small place, certainly for me. How I came into contact with Shoji Tanka and his International Fantastic Art Association is one of those twists of fate, six degrees, or what ever you please.

In 2002 I was contacted by the graphic designer Laetitia Hoffman. Before the days of professional networking websites such LinkedIn or Xing, she like many of use were searching the internet for other people that she could freelance for. Unfortunately at the time, I myself was looking for projects and so could not help her. Time moves on some five years later and I recieve an email, again from Latetita. Not having any contact with her since our brief exchange of emails, I had to dig through my archived emails to verify who she was. It was a surprise to hear from her again after so long, but more surprising was the story she had to tell.

Laetitia related to me that she was recently in Japan studying woodblock printing. While attending the course, she met the Japanese artist, Shoji Tanaka. In the course of getting to know each other she was showing him her website and they happened to visit one the links she has, which led them to me. I am very grateful to Laetita that she keep the link to my website, because Shoji indicated to her that he would like to contact me. Thus began a few months exchanges of emails with Laetita translating between Shoji and myself.

Shoji is the director of the International Fantastic Art Association. His group is dedicated to creating opportunities for Japanese fantastic artists and ultimately bringing them to the wider world. To date he has organize two exhibitions and printed accompanying catalogs for the IFAA.

It was while looking at some of the images from the last exhibition on the IFAA website, I saw some artwork that looked very familiar. Sure enough upon further investigation, it was the artwork of my friend Luigi La Speranza. Again the degrees of separation lessened, as I recalled Luigi had previously made mention of a Japanese exhibition. Now, suddenly, I knew exactly what he was referring to.

Through Laetitia's wonderful assistance interpretting or communications, she informed me that Shoji was again planning an exhibition for 2008, and that for this exhibition he would invite two foreign artists to exhibit and attend. One of them being Luigi and the other, myself. How surprised I was when I learnt of this. Laetitia also informed me that Shoji would be traveling to Europe later in the year, and that he would like to meet me.

And so it came to pass that Shoji and his wife Seiko came to visit me along with a translator. I had understood that some Japanese could be very formal, and so I phone my friends Peter and Leanne who had lived in Japan for a year for advice on etiquette. This proved unnecessary as they stepped from the car it was all smiles and handshakes. With the translator communicating for us, I had my first inkling of just how lost I might be when in Japan, not being able to speak the language or read the writing.

Shoji stayed for a few hours, and we discussed the exhibition, much about Fantastic art and artists, and what other opportunities there were for us all. We both agreed that there should be more co-operation between the various Fantastic groups around the world, and that we would do what we could to help that. We also discussed the possibility of future world Fantastic exhibition and how this might begin.

I learnt that in Japan, just as in other countries, we artists are similar, being closeted away in our studios and having little contact with others. However there are a growing number of us who are turning to the internet to connect and organize, such as that happened with us.

Finally after taking a some photos in the studio, they all left to continue their journey, and leaving me to contemplate mine next year to Japan.

The future is very exciting.

Katie Noonan, old friend of mine from my home town Brisbane, is soon to be releasing her new album, "Skin". It's been truly wonderful to watch her career grow. And her voice…

My good friend Steven Bowerman has recenly had some great opportunities come his way. I've writen an article for beinart.org about how he came to be now working on the movie production "Nim's Island ".

My good friends, Luigi La Speranza , Amanda Sage and Peter Gric are exhibiting with Wessi currently at Galerie 10, Vienna, Austria.

From what I've heard from Amanda and Michael Scheer, the gallery director, the show was hit wit the visitors, and people are very excited to see work from new artists exhibited there. The artists themselves are also very excited to be exhibiting in Vienna's premier Fantastic Gallery.

Amanda wrote an indepth report for the beinart.org blog.