Artists

Roman Klonek:
Roman Klonek, born in Kattowitz/Poland, has a soft spot for old fashioned cartoons, especially of East European style. In the 1990s he studied
Graphic Arts in Duesseldorf and discovered his passion for woodcut printing. Since meanwhile 10 years, he creates unique posters with a wide
range of whimsical creatures, mostly half animal/half human, preferably in awkward situations. His work is best described by a fresh, bizarre
balancing act between propaganda, folklore and pop.

Sweet Toof:

Of all the parts of our body, teeth, crammed into the mouth cave, are a constant reminder that we are merely flesh hanging out to dry on an elaborate chain of bone linkages. The pulpy ripped swollen scarlet and pink flesh that we call the gums, barely tolerate their border-line function as a visual testament to life and death. The mouth itself is in constant crisis. It is the place where stuttering words come forth, where words are taken back, where ‘sweet’ foods begin their rot. Francis Bacon understood that the mouth is at once entrance and exodus. When we scream we also breathe. In order to exhale we must inhale. For Sweet Toof this sway between horror and acceptance is an important part of his work.

Sweet Toof’s painting starts with and evolves out of his street art; whether as a solo graffiti artist or in collaboration with others. Typical tags, throw-ups, and more elaborate pieces become a whole language which informs his studio works. Like the streets of 1980’s New York, London’s streets today are being reclaimed by an ever increasing army of street artists of which Sweet Toof is one of the most prolific and artful. Out there, under the swirl of lamplights, billboards and urban detritus, ‘bubble-Gums’ and pearly-Teeth’ push themselves up through the pavement cracks and concrete facades like anarchic plants refusing the flimsy, rootless, cheap order of modern life.

If the sixteenth century Northern European tradition of painting Vanitas was there to remind us of the transience and the hopeless vanity of life, then Sweet Toof’s skulls and teeth continue that tradition but add in a more Mexican viewpoint where if one accepts death then one can also honour and celebrate it and use it as part of the life blood trip. Or in Sweet Toof’s words: ‘To get ones teeth into things, before it’s too late.’

-Olly Beck

Jon Burgerman

Jim Avignon:
Cartoon poet, speed painter and performance genius, regards himself as a modern storyteller. His illustrations express the complex relationships of our times by the simples of means. Loving, personal, direct, playful, perfectly observant and for weird, Avignon crafts a visual critique of society, exposing everyday absurdities from business to love with an apt, sympathetic bite.
www.jimavignon.com

jim avignon

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ROA:
ROA began pulling animals out of the depths of the industrial world in his hometown of Ghent, Belgium, where he explored the area around his home and was inspired by the life that lurked in its lonely smokestacks. His resulting work snarls at you from wherever it prowls, awaking a visceral reaction that comes from seeing something familiar yet unknown, an uncanny portrayal of the animals within and around ourselves that our contemporary lifestyles have made null. Since his Belgium beginnings, ROA’s work has hit the ground running like the animals he depicts, scattering on four legs all over major cities, showing up on the walls of galleries and abandoned factories alike. ROA's work has been exhibited in London, Berlin, Warsaw, Brooklyn, Amsterdam, and Paris and this show will mark his first solo show on the west coast of the States.

Jon Burgerman:
Makes vibrant, neo primitive scrawls of shapes and colour. He’s pushed his monster-like characters into compositions where cartoon-like forms are crammed on top of each until they create a screaming mass of energy. Intensely prolific, he has pushed the character obsession of the late 90s into a far more interesting and strong direction. Think Walt Disney at an Incan monument on mescaline.”
-Francesca Gavin, author of Street Renegades, Visual Arts Editor Dazed & Confused
www.jonburgerman.com

Jon Burgerman

Skewville has been making great advancements in the experimentation of street stamping technology along with revamping city materials to communicate phrases like “FRESH” and “FAME GAME”. Yet, most know is Skewville’s Sneaker mission, WHEN DOGS FLY, since 1999 they have been manufacturing fake wooden sneakers, which can be found tossed over thousands of power lines in your neighborhood and all over the world.
www.skewville.org

Pufferella has been making Fabric creations since 2002 and has been involved with the Skewville missions even longer. Her work deals mainly with sexual relations and the afterthoughts. She is the woman behind the creation of Orchard Street Art Gallery in NYC and Factory Fresh Art Gallery.
www.pufferella.com

Jeremiah Maddock's latest body of work is an example of his ever-expanding visual narrative. Having recently relocated to Brooklyn, NY from the rural Washington woodlands, Maddock found himself among the emerging creators of the New York art scene. His works are an attempt to create the purest expression of existence, totally free from external conditioning and undefiled by compromise. His language is a crystal-clear spring flowing with Machiavellian-like "musical hieroglyphics." At times disconcerting, his works possess a certain candor and delve into the perception of the supernatural.