Hasta La Ideas

Coffin shaped skateboards from an artist-run company living to skate and die

Inspired by the gritty streets of NYC and the raw style borne from them, Corpse Corps Boards makes coffin-shaped skateboards fit for the cutthroat mentality of East Coast skating. Founders and lifelong skateboarders Drew McKenzie and Jordan Walczak understand the need to make a product strong enough to hold up to the daily abuse of skateboarding. From its humble beginnings as a DIY art project in McKenzie’s Manhattan apartment, Corpse Corps Boards has evolved into a full-fledged skateboard company now making two sizes of decks and a small run of high-quality softgoods.

Not just another cruiser board, these shred-sleds are meant to be skated—case in point, the images of McKenzie killing it. Available in two sizes—9″ and 10″—with the perfect amount of concave, each deck is made with pure hard rock American maple. The standard 9″ deck is produced on the East Coast with wood sourced from the same legendary distributor that supplied Blockhead Skateboards and JFA in the mid-’80s and early ’90s. These 7-ply hand-screen-printed decks retain the general dimensions of a standard skateboard—31.5″ from nose to tail for plenty of pop.

In an effort to establish an artists’ network of sorts, Corpse Corps Boards’ 10″ decks are created in collaboration with local artists, graffiti writers, punk band members and all-around creative types who run the same seedy streets. Each board is cut, shaped and painted by hand in Brooklyn. Like all Corpse Corps Boards these individually-crafted decks are meant to be shredded, designed to the same length and concave as the 9″ board. In order to preserve the one-of-a-kind artwork, even after a good thrashing, each deck is coated in polyurethane.

To celebrate the official launch of Corpse Corps Boards the minds behind the company are curating a group exhibition featuring hand-painted decks by some of NYC’s most influential artists. “Open Casket” opens Friday 28 October with a party at Lower East Side’s Coat of Arms, showcasing original works from the likes of Nicholas Gazin, Greg Mishka, Bill Connors (top left) and many more.

“Open Casket” runs through 7 November 2011 and all custom-painted decks will be auctioned off after the opening party tomorrow night. Standard 9″ decks sell for $55 while the hand-painted 10″ decks go for $88—not bad for an original work of art. To purchase head to Corpse Corps Boards’ online store.

NYC artist Bruno Levy introduces street art to Nepal

Boasting a variety of talent across multiple mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, music and video, Bruno Levy‘s work has been exhibited in some of the America’s most influential museums, from the Guggenheim to the SFMOMA. The Paris-born, NYC-based artist—newly fascinated by cross-cultural differences—recently spent five months living and working in Kathmandu, Nepal in an effort to bring beauty to a stark landscape foreign to Western influence.

Upon encountering a culture in flux, besieged by communist propaganda and forced cultural views, Levy was compelled to begin painting his own pieces in the Nepalese capital this summer. For what he dubbed the “Bigfoot Project,” the artist took to the streets, using high-profile city walls as a canvas to inspire the locals rather than to interject his own foreign views. Included in his efforts were painted murals and an experimental sculpture that seemed to capture the city’s curious spirit. We caught up with Levy to pick his brain about the project, from inspiration to execution.

Why Nepal?

Kathmandu is a city in transition, modernizing rapidly, trying to catch up with the rest of the world. It’s somewhat raw, dirty and open. The concept of public space there is different than in the West. Although Nepal has a rich and amazing culture of craftsmanship, the concept of creative art is still very new. So I wanted to share some urban culture in an effort to make Kathmandu a bit more beautiful and inspire other people to express themselves.

Is Nepal generally free of un-commissioned street art?

This is very new. Graffiti does not exist. So it’s not legal or illegal, making it a perfect place to just play. There were a handful of tags in more hidden parts of town and Space Invader visited Nepal and left his mark, but for the most part it was out of the general public’s eye.

What inspired the “Bigfoot Project” name?

The Bigfoot is really elusive, abominable snowman. So I just started painting feet all around the city, BIG FEET. Also in Hinduism feet have a certain stigma. Feet are dirty or impure, yet the feet of gods or gurus are special.

How did the Nepalese people respond to the art?

The first reaction was curiosity: “why are you doing this and what does it mean?'” Most people have never seen anything like this and cannot understand why someone would paint a wall for free or for fun. Once people realized that there was no political agenda, they reacted with complete enthusiasm and support. They helped paint, an old man blessed me for cleaning the walls and the statue was even given offerings and worshipped. Newspapers and magazines wrote some stories. Soon local kids started forming groups and painting.

Describe the Bigfoot Project’s transition from street paintings to sculpture.

The paintings are part of the bigger project to share street art culture through all possible mediums. When that started picking up, and locals kids started painting, I thought it was important to introduce a new medium for a new way of public expression. The sculpture took a little over a month of 10-hour days. I had not made papier-mâché since kindergarden, so there was definitely a learning curve.

What were you trying to say with the larger street paintings?

The character with the money coming out of his head or “dreaming of dollars” was painted on the oldest government college’s wall. It was a statement about the corrupt politicians in Nepal and the future of the students. The mural of the character plugged to the TV was painted across the passport agency, where around 200 Nepalis a day wait for their passports, with idealistic visions of moving and working abroad. I wanted to make a statement about the impact of television and media. Most paintings have stories, but my main drive was to make the walls more beautiful rather then impose my foreign views and to explore some concepts of repetition that are so prevalent in urban art.

Rinat Voligamsi reimagines found photographs of Russian military life

Drawing on his experience in the Red Army,
Rinat Voligamsi paints from photographs of early Russian military life to reinterpret the bleak conditions in his current show “The Conditions of Winter.” The exhibition opens today at London’s Erarta Gallery, an outpost of the largest non-governmental contemporary art museum in Russia, exploring themes of humanity in the face of power and authority.

Though he paints with nearly mathematical precision, Voligamsi is no photorealist. Deft surrealist alterations range from tiny, exquisite details—burning cigarette embers create the Great Bear constellation—to major transformations, like figures that are cut in half, duplicated or inverted.

By manipulating the photographs while staying true to the look and feel of the originals, the resulting distorted scenes seamlessly merge the documentary reality with the artist’s vision, blending fact and fiction to make powerful statements.

Voligamsi’s altered figures seemingly come to life, suggesting the absurdities of living under tyranny as well as the potential for resistance to spin powerful metaphors about what happens to people under state supression.

The Conditions of Winter runs through 19 November 2011.

Erarta Galleries London
8 Berkeley Street
London W1J 8DN

London’s expert craftsman releases limited-edition globes with exquisite hand-painted detailing

A young operation, Peter Bellerby’s globe-making concern resurrects an ancient art form. During our studio visit early last year in London’s Stoke Newington neighborhood, Bellerby intimated he’s one of those perfectionist types. If he’s not satisfied with what’s on offer, he sets out to do it himself. Such is the story behind Bellerby Globes. When the designer couldn’t find a high-quality orb for his father’s 80th birthday, he simply made his own, catching the eye of Cool Hunting and the luxury lifestyle media.

This month, Bellerby unveils the limited-edition Desk Globe, a smaller, nine-inch version of his handcrafted Plaster of Paris masterpieces. The desk model weighs 2.5 kilos (5.5 pounds), and uses a contemporary scheme with a matte finish on blue oceans and yellow ochre continents. Bellerby, who confided he’s loathe to part with a piece he feels is less than perfect, says he’s pleased with the result. “The prototype is sitting on my desk and I think everyone thinks I’m going a little crazy as I sit here spinning it constantly,” he writes.

There are three bases available: the standard model, with a stand hewn from American black walnut (£590 or $920); the 1951, made using a 12-foot piece of Japanese oak sourced from a closing London lumber yard; and the W Edition, featuring a base crafted from the inner trunks of walnut trees used for luxury automobile veneers in the 1960s. The globes are being released in a limited run of 250 and only 10 to 15 each of the 1951 and W Edition styles (each £990 or $1,536) will be made. All models ship in a flight case and delivery cost is included for the 1951 and W Edition globes.

To see what’s got Bellerby so transfixed, there’s an eight-second demo reel of the prototype spinning on its axis.

Wonderfully realistic paintings from Mike Bayne, more images after the jump

He does a great job on such a small scale, capturing the day-to-day and the mundane from across the continent. He has a show opening soon in NYC, have a look if you’re in the neighborhood. Check his site here, enjoy!