Book Review - Bad Day Magazine

Bad Day Magazine is a quarterly publication from Toronto. I started picking up this magazine mostly because of the awesome design. Each issue is monochrome to a single colour shade, this issue is all purple. Yet the inside is full of interviews with artists who have interesting thoughts. My personal favourite is an interview with Shary Boyle, who I first found out about at the National Art Gallery's new exhibit "It Is What It Is". Her porcelain figures are disturbing and at the same innovative (her most famous one is a figure with a woman's legs and the upper body of a penis). Bad Day is known for it's choice of unique artists. Disturbing, creepy, yet wonderful all at once. As their about page states, "The name is meant to subvert a negative concept through the positive impact of art; good things are found in the pages of a Bad Day." That's the way I see it to0. To find out more about Bad Day click here.

Event - Electric Church Party Feb. 4th

This friday get ready to get wild in a cathedral! The Arts kids from OttawaU have organized an Electric Church Party. All drinks at 5 dollars and music blasting in your ears in one of the sweetest venue in Ottawa means that there are no reasons to miss out. A Tribe Called Red and Dj Brains4breakfast will invade St. Brigid's (which has been converted into a cultural art center). It is located at the corner of Cumberland and St. Patrick st. and the event starts at 10:30pm. Tickets are 8$ dollars in advance or 10$ at the door. All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society through Relay For Life. Click here to check out the event on facebook for more details. ps: I'll be bartending, so come visit!

If this video isn't enough to pump you up for this Friday night, I'm seriously not sure what will.

Book Review - The Gutenberg's Quarterly: A concern on illustration & surroundings

The Gutenberg's Quarterly is a magazine primarily about illustration. This issue features interviews, artist profiles and "a bunch of good work". As the back of the magazine states "Illustrators: Their ways of life, studios, pets, meals, and of course, their work." This fourh issue of The Gutenberg's Quarterly closes Volume 01 with great european interviews wich will let your mouths wide open. Some contributors include Sasha Grey, Kristian Hammerstad, and even Tanya Johnston of Montreal.

For me, it was interesting to see art from the illustration perspective, a medium that is so often ignored in discussions of art today. There is also a multi-media aspect to the magazine as well. Illustrations go alongside photos and collages. The one fashion shoot has the model photoshopped out so that you only see her hair and her clothes.

The magazine is very web friendly. It's a print edition but "The Next 26 G'sQ Rated Concerns" section of the magazine is full of websites to go visit to see awesome art or other awesome publications. I also enjoy the chill feel of the writing. It's very laid back and just plain cool. As the back of the magazine states "Freaking out? Buy this magazine and take a nap by the pool!" I would definitely agree. Check out The Gutenberg's Quarterly by clicking here.

Art Show: Richard Jansen

The artist Richard Jansen is having his first solo exhibition at the Gallery 115 of OttawaU (corner of Laurier and Cumberland st). It opens today and will be on until February 11th 2011. The show curated by Natasha Chaykowski introduces Richard's impressive photographic work, mostly done with a camera-phone. The vernissage will take place this friday February 4th from 630 to 9. Hope to see you there!

Adrian Wu

Here are some of my favorite photos of Adrian Wu's design. They are from the Vancouver Fashion Week blog and it was a preview for his runway show last year.

Aren't these amazing dresses?

Book Review - Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals is a new zine by Swedish artist Ragnar Persson. The zine is self-published but is sold on HUH Magazine's website. HUH Magazine's online shop features a variety of of cool magazines including Cabins & Woods and Guide to Unique Photography Magazine, who I blog for when I have a spare moment. But more than any of the other zines, Ragnar Persson's artwork looks the most naturalistic. Hence the title Nocturnal Animals. He includes the coffee stains and the marked out errors and it all only adds to the effect of looking through an artists sketchbook.

Much like the artistic zine by David Wilson, Persson's zine is fun to imitate. The drawings are detailed and, though they take hours to recreate, are wonderful guides on how to draw fur and scales. To check out Persson's artwork click here.

DIY Couture

DIYcouture has made an unusual clothing collection: rather than purchasing a garment, the DIYcouture customer purchases a book containing a set of simple, visual instructions, which help them to make that garment themselves.

To check out their website click here. DIY Couture will be featured in the next issue of The Fashion Press which comes out March 31st, get excited.