Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Street Art’

Welcome to 2016!

Posted in Exhibition, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ah, time flies when your busy. So what has been happening in the second half of 2015 i hear you ask…

Well I was flat chat working on works to be presented up in Mildura as part of the emerging artist exhibition for the first Australian Print Triennial. This was a massive undertaking as i produced six screen prints resulting in around a hundred artworks as each one had an individually painted background.

Below: My install at Deakin 25, Mildura for APTmildura.

APT Mildura

On top of this i took part in Boom Gallery’s pop up gallery at Austin’s Winery as a part of toast to the coast. I also spent a fair bit of time putting together a mural for Deakin University where i was collaborating and mentoring young Jack Herd.

Below: Alfred Deakin mural at Deakin University, waterfront campus.

Alfred deakin mural

towards the end of the year also got my hands on a copy of Street Art Australia by Lou Chamberlin, which has a few street pieces of mine included. It is a really great book if your into Aussie street art. See it below:

Street Art Australia

and following this saw the year out with the Boom Christmas Show, a Little Window of Opportunity at Port Jackson Press as well as their christmas exhibition ‘Wrap Up’. So basically i have been pretty busy. I also finished up at my old job teaching high school and have taken up a new position teaching Cert/Diploma level courses…so that is exciting.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy christmas and new year, and stay tuned for an exciting 2016.

Cheers,

NF

Read Full Post »

2014 Round Up…a big year making art!

Posted in Artworks, Flashback, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2015| 2 Comments »

Well, what can I say. 2014 was a massive year! Below is the round-up…I hope you enjoy the flashback, and thanks for coming along on the ride.

So apart from working full time with two jobs…(NY Resolution…work smarter not harder.)

I had a successful solo exhibition down at Boom Gallery in Geelong…Boom also signed me up for representation during the year which is great for having a regular exhibition outlet…and they are always really supportive of me. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Above: Territory Exhibition shot

I also had a solo exhibition/installation in the Little Window of Opportunity at Port Jackson Press(This nearly sold out!), this was the first time exhibiting back in Melbs since maybe 2012…so good to be back in town.

pjp 2014 dec docAbove: Port Jackson Press front window on Smith Street

I produced a 15m x 5m paste-up installation at the Geelong Gallery that had a lead in of 12 months from start to finish, this was my biggest and most ambitious work to date. I completed it over 5 days on site as a residency. geelong gallery install dec

Above: #RitzHeritageOverlay in the foyer of the Geelong Gallery

I did the Chrissy Amphlett Mural for the City of Greater Geelong, which landed me on the front page of the Geelong Advertiser…that was a strange experience! OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA and co-ordinated ten artists to work with to create a 30m Paste-Up installation titled ‘Ctrl+V’ on the hoardings around the new Geelong Library/Heritage centre site for COGG. A big day with a spectacular result and amazing effort from all involved. ctrlv overview Along with all this I took part in a few groups shows including ‘Page-Print-Post’ at the Post Master Gallery in Ballarat, ‘Artistic Intervention’ at Red Door Café, ‘Unhindered Abstractions’ at Shearer’s Arms Gallery and Boom’s ‘Christmas Show’…oh, nearly forgot..also worked on a colab mural at One World Childcare Centre and was one of the artists on the installation for the Mountain to Mouth event in Steampacket Gardens on the waterfront. I finished up the year selling one of my biggest framed works to date and knocking up a few artworks out at Geelong’s newest art venue(well officially a venue now…always was under the radar! KNS), Powerhouse Geelong. Stay tuned for more on this amazing site… powerhouse 14 It was a hard year, but a rewarding one. Thanks to all those who have been supportive over the year…especially my beautiful partner who is always helping in the background and who I couldn’t do what I do without her support.

I hope you all had a good year during 2014, a great Christmas and a safe and happy NYE.

Take care of the ones you love and all the best for 2015!

Cheers, NF

Read Full Post »

November 2014 round-up

Posted in Exhibition, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2014| 2 Comments »

Yet again it has been a while between posts on here. But following up on my exhibition ‘Territory’, the exhibition was really well received. We got close to a few hundred people over the opening night and all feedback was really positive. The works were a little slow to sell…hopefully reflective of the current art buying climate…but by the end of the show we had sold 14 paintings so I am happy about that. On the upside the work has been granted some legs and will be getting a bit of a showing up in Melbourne at Port Jackson Press in their Little Window of Opportunity. Further Info here: Street Level (On show from the 4th Dec – 24hr viewing)

In other big news, I have also gone public with the news that I have been invited to do a large format street art inspired installation in the foyer of the Geelong Gallery. Titled #RitzHeritageOverlay, the installation will consist of a 4x15m paste-up of the infamous Geelong Ritz Flats. The install days are going to be 26 – 30 November, with the official opening on the 5th December. Drop by if your are in the area and say hi or have a look. Further info: #RitzHeritageOverlay

And last but not least my gallery Boom has their Christmas show coming up, opening on the 28 Nov 5:30-8pm. Should be a good party vibe with a around forty artists on the walls.

Boom Xmas show 2014

So it is exciting times with three shows coming up, however having the three open within seven days of each other is a little stressful!

So keep your fingers crossed for me that I stay on top of it all, and I hope to see ome of you at the upcoming events.

Until next time!

G

ps – Oh, and I started a little Instagram too. So if that is your kind of thing…find me by searching nofrillsart on instagram and click follow. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

No Frills Art – July Round Up 2014

Posted in Artworks, books, Exhibition, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Well it has been a little while since I have updated here. I have been consumed by working my day job and now a new second job writing the course content and getting it certified for a training organisation. On top of this I am working towards a large solo exhibition ‘Territory’ coming up in August at Boom Gallery in Geelong where I have made about 80 works over the last 12 months with about 60 odd to go on show. All are welcome, so come along and have a look on opening night, say hi and enjoy the art.

The opening night is on Friday the 8th August and there are a couple of concurrent exhibitions opening the same night in the gallery for Casper Raglus and Dave Bowers.

See the flyer below for further info…

territory flyer 2014

Hmm…So what else is new…

This weekend just gone I spent up in Ballarat as I had the Altered State assemblage book that I put together a year or so back on display as a part of ‘Page.Print.Post: 50 Years of Artists Books’. The exhibition looked amazing with over 500 books by artists covering printmaking, assemblage, political books and zines. So there is something for pretty much anyone interested in artists books. The highlights for me were seeing a box of work by David Dellafiora (Field Study international) who also opened the exhibition, Seeing a beautiful book made by Chuck Close as well as Sunset Strip by Ed Rushca. But there was too much great stuff to mention…so I suggest you get up to Ballarat and see the show at Post Office Gallery (Open wed – Sat 10 -4pm).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Above: Altered State Artists Assemblage Book

Below: Post Office Gallery Overview

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Below: Artists Book by Chuck Close

Bottom: Exhibition Flyer

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

ballarat book show 2014

On a different front I completed the ID:5G mural Project for the City of Greater Geelong. I painted Chrissie Amphlett as a tribute about a year to the day after her passing. I got some awesome feedback, the image went a little viral online getting nearly 2000 likes and the work even landed me on the front covers of both the Geelong Advertiser and the Geelong News. The stencil was a massive 3x3m six layer effort.

no frills art

Above: Close Up of Chrissie

Below: Mural Overview – Denny’s Lane Geelong (Next to Beav’s Bar)

Bottom: Addy Front cover

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Addy picture

Apart from this I have been spending a bit of time developing my audience on a new platform with my new Facebook page. Click on the link and come across and show me some FB love if you feel like it! ( facebook.com/nofrillsart )

Oh and I just realized that I didn’t post any of the Ctrl+V pics on her as yet so here are a couple from the project. The first picture is me putting up my image of the shell refinery, and below is a shot of the other works by the ten artists I was coordinating(Oops…one artwork is missing in this picture still), and their works in situ on the hoardings around the new Geelong Library and Heritage centre site.

ctrlv my paster

ctrlv overview

Secret Project…Shhh! I also have a big project in the wings as we speak, but I am currently not in the position to announce it, but stay tuned for big news around Sept this year for the announcement and Nov for work to begin. Seeing as I can’t tell you too much more about this yet, here is a sneak peak at one of my latest artworks for my upcoming solo exhibition. Rumour has it since I have created this artwork these shops have been knocked down…or earmarked to get demolished which is sad and poignant.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So I guess you can see that I have been pretty flat chat which is why the updates have been a little on the quiet side. I think I have enough work on the go at the moment that the next break will most likely not be till Christmas…where I am looking forward to sitting around relaxing and not have to do anything.

Hope life is treating you all well!

NF

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

October 2013 Art Round Up

Posted in Artworks, books, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Over the weekend just gone David Dellafiora and myself ran a workshop on zines and making artists books at Cloverdale Community Centre. It was a fast paced day but over the day we did manage to produced issue two of Sporadic. It was a fun day enjoyed by all involved and we were very happy with the quality of the finished zine. I think there are a few more of these workshops still to come over November so stay tuned or keep an eye on Cloverdale’s Facebook page if making zines is your thing.

sporadic issue 2 oct 2013

 

Flyer below…

NP flyer

Workshop Photo…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And while on the topic of Artists Books I saw a copy of the Artist’s Book Yearbook 2014-15 thanks to Dave, which happens to feature three of the books/zines that I have made recently. It was a pleasant surprise as flicking through the book I was unaware that they were in there!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

and below are the pages with my work featured…including Altered State, Don’t feed the Humans and NWO. This publication is produced by the University of West England. It is 21 x 29.7 cm, 296 pages, black and white offset print. Published September 2013 by Impact Press, UWE Bristol ISBN 978-1-906501-07-5 and are available to order online here. It looks like a great resource book for anyone interested in this field.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There is also an excellent article on Field Study written by Sue Hartigan in the publication. So one more reason to get your hands on a copy!

In other news I have an invite to place some works in a show in Melbourne in December and have a few murals that are in negotiation with the city currently…more to come as they all get more concrete!

I did an interview with Weekly Review Magazine that may/or may not be coming out this week. So keep your eyes peeled! And over the last few weeks I have got back into the swing of making things with a new mash up zine ready to go to press and new paintings on the go. I have about ten new small mixed media paintings done now, and I am heading towards a new solo show at some point but nothing is set as yet. These new works are all on found wood supports and are capturing abandoned buildings and other landmarks in the region.

Below are the first two that I did: Erskins (Before the reno)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAand number two… The Ritz (Demolition by Neglect)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I think that about sums up the last month, or at least everything I haven’t already discussed on the blog previously. Stay tuned as it looks like it may be a busy few months between now and the end of the year.

Cheers,

NF

 

Read Full Post »

Street Art Mural for the Kids at One World

Posted in Artworks, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2013| 2 Comments »

Recently, I worked on a large street art inspired mural with artist Glenn Fry at One World Child Care Centre. Having been friends for a long time, G2 and I had not yet collaborated on any projects of this nature and it was a fun opportunity to be able to do this together. A big thanks also must go out to our assistants Tom Armstrong, Darren Wescombe and Patricia Wade who made the day go super smoothly. Also a big props to Kitty the owner of One World for her foresight to commission a mural for the kids that is a lot more edgy than what you would normally expect to see in an environment such as this. It was a fun day and I think all parties were happy with the results and the starting point for the wall. Hopefully it inspires the kids making art on the streets of the next generation!!!

Below is a panorama shot of the entire mural along with a few shot of my components in the mural.

one world street art mural

Above: Panorama Overview shot

Below: Kids artworks that I made into a large stencils

kids art

Below: Laneway Paste up for a little authenticity

laneway

Bird Stencils

bird stencil

And my dalmatian stencil…

dog stencil

 

This artwork is forming the base for the wall and will be added to by both the kids and Glenn Fry as he will be doing an artists’ residency at the venue. It has since had a wash over the wallpaper section and Darren has done some airbrushing in one section…I look forward to see how it evolves over time!

Read Full Post »

‘Local’ Exhibition

Posted in Artworks, Exhibition, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I have  new solo exhibition opening this Friday at Boom Gallery in Geelong. So if your free from 5:30 – 8 pm pop in and have look at the new artworks and have a nice glass of wine and a chat.

Click on the flyer for larger details or visit www.boomgallery.com.au

(or find them on Facebook).

Hope to see you all there!

Cheers,

NF

Local_GlenSmith_webflyer2

Att: Press Release: 

What:                        ‘Local’ a contemporary art exhibition

Who:                          By Geelong based artist Glen Smith

Where:                     Boom Gallery, 11 Rutland Street, Newtown Geelong

( Regular Gallery Hours:     Wed – Sat      9:30 – 4:00pm )

“ Local ” by Glen Smith

25 July – 17 August 2013

(Opening: Fri. 26th July 5:30 – 8pm    –    All Welcome)

Why/Synopsis:

Local is a new exhibition by artist Glen Smith. Grungy street art inspired urban environments and skylines captured in their full illuminated glory. Artworks that are specific in their Geelong locations, yet captured in a glimpsing manner allowing for both familiarity for the locals with their intimacy of the physical locations, while also creating broader associations of inner city environments for a wider audience base through the use of common urban symbology, architecture and constructs. Through portraits of places, street scenes, fleeting snapshots and panoramas, ‘Local’ captures the very nature of the inner city of Geelong and the general atmosphere of ones surroundings when living in a contemporary cityscape.

Physically the work borrows its aesthetics heavily from the streets that it aims to capture, with urban/street art traits and techniques inspiring and informing the paintings through stencilling, spray painting and various contemporary print techniques. Metaphorically, the artworks are Psychogeographic, mapping the artist’s personal environment and his day-to-day travels instilled with memories, associations and experiences. On a Philosophical level, the works geo-tag Smith’s daily life while depicting the beauty of his urban travels and views about the beauty inherent in the entropy of his environment. All captured at street level.

Local can refer to familiar places or a state of mind. It can be a positive or a negative. It may mean home to some while others see it as an anaesthetic. However you view local, be it favourably or otherwise we are all locals somewhere.

Contact:               0417555101 /   0428305639

or Email:           info@boomgallery.com.au

Further Info:         www.boomgallery.com.au

##

Read Full Post »

Street Art Reno

Posted in Artworks, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2013| 2 Comments »

Currently the Eureka Hotel is in the process of getting a massive street art makeover by some of Melbourne’s best street artists. The artists working on the project are HaHa, Vexta, Kaffine, Drew Funk, Shida, Klara, Lucy Lucy, s-701a, and a bunch more. Somehow I was  lucky enough to also manage to get an invite to come along and be a part of it. The first order of business for myself was to do a massive 3 metre high bear on the front of the venue.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Below are a bunch of process shots of the bear getting done.

bear process

and a few process shots of some of the other artists at work.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Above: Ha Ha hard at work

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Above: Kaffine in the cigar bar

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

and finally Lucy Lucy sketching out a drawing for a colab with Kaffine. In my opinion this ended up being the best piece in the venue when completed.

More finished pix to come after opening night(29th June…this saturday!)…So get the word out and come have a look at some awesome street art.

NF

Read Full Post »

Trails – Drawing Session

Posted in Artworks, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday while in Melbourne I popped into the Blender Studios to say hi and stayed around for Trails…a melbourne tradition and a fun night of drawing. Always a worthwhile session if your about when its on. It took place in the new Silent Army Storeroom a zine/small press outlet put together by Michael Fikaris. One of the warm ups we did to get people to be a bit looser and have fun was a surrealist drawing type of game of Chinese Whispers. Each artist had five minutes to do a drawing then would flash the drawing for five seconds to the person next to them to redraw within a minute, this repeated until all players had drawn a variation of all other artist’s artworks. Make sense? Well we found it complex too…especially after a few drinks!

Anyway below are the images (In sequence) based on my drawing of a skull made out of worms…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Above: My Drawing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Ha Ha

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Unknown Artist

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Shida

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Blomtrog

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Unknown Artist

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Braddock

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Unknown ArtistOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Unknown Artist

Not a bad way to get 81 drawings from 9 people in ten or fifteen minutes!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I also can’t leave the Blender without leaving my mark…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And finally the other bit of recent news is we have adopted a new little Birman kitten/cat from the animal shelter. She has been a fairly sick little one having an epileptic fit, issues walking as well as being fairly under nourished…but she is so cute, and has starting to settle in gained 500 gms in the last week alone showing a healthy appetite.

So say hi to Audrey…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Read Full Post »

Herakut in Melbourne

Posted in Artworks, Exhibition, News, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2013| 2 Comments »

I recently went and saw the amazing Herakut exhibition in Melbourne. Previously, I had only seen the work by the German duo online and was very excited to see their work in the flesh…and i wasn’t disappointed. The work was amazing with a blend of beautiful people and animal mask/spirits. They beautifully blend the urban art aesthetic with hyper-realism. Definitely two artists(Hera & Akut) well worth looking up if you haven’t come across them.

Below are a few shots from the Metro exhibition…

herakut painting

possum

And below is also one of their street works in Union Lane in the Melbourne CBD, that they left as a small gift for the Melbourne punters as a part of their ‘Giant Storybook Project’. It looks awesome in the flesh!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As well as a few shots of their studio while they were in old Melbourne town for the Metro Show.

herakut studio

herakut

Also while i’m doing a little blog update, below are a few of my new works on found objects…

no frills art

Preoccupied – 15x15cms – Mixed Media on Found object

skeleton scissors

Skeleton Scissors – 22×45 cms – Mixed Media on found object

the end is near

The End is Near (Refuse Edition) – 10×15 cms – Mixed Media on found object

……………………………………………………..

As well as a little stencil that I have just done using a new technique i’m working with at the moment.

I’m slowly starting to settle into the new studio!

bird stencil

Until next time…Go check out Herakut and take it easy.

enjoy!

NF

Read Full Post »

Opening Night Roundup

Posted in Exhibition, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Well it has been a few days since opening night of ‘Only dead fish go with the flow‘. However I think I have needed a little time to recover…and regain energy before I got around to posting about the opening. The lead up to the exhibition went without hitch. Hanging the show went smoothly(Thanks Ren!), and we also got a little article in the local paper a few days before opening night which was great. Overall, everything seemed to travel nicely.

Opening night itself was amazing with over a hundred and fifty through the doors, although hectic with non stop conversations everyone seemed to have a fun night and the feedback on the show was all very positive. We managed to sell fourteen artworks which was great for both the gallery and myself. To my amusement we also managed to drink the galleries entire wine supply, which I hear was a first for them!

So thanks to everyone who came along for the opening and to those who have popped in to have a look at the show since it opened. And if you haven’t been through yet, the exhibition runs till Sat 1st Dec.(Further details on my previous post or at the Boom Gallery Website).

I have also got an interview about the exhibition and my practice in general over at: Artin’ Geelong. (Thanks Deirdre!) It’s a great read for anyone who wants to know a bit more about my work.

Below are a few shots of the works on show just prior to the opening. I didn’t get any crowd shot due to not having any free time at all once it started, but I’m sure others will have some. So I will have to chase them up at a later date.

This is not all the work in the exhibition, as there is about fifty works on show. But it should give an overall impression of how the show looks and feels. I think the work goes really well at Boom Gallery as they have a cool industrial aesthetic throughout which seems to compliment my style.

Cheers,

NF

Read Full Post »

Solo Exhibition :: Only dead fish go with the flow :: By Glen Smith :: Opening Nov 9th

Posted in Exhibition, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2012| 1 Comment »

Hi there everyone,

Just a shout out for my upcoming solo exhibition in November at Boom Gallery in Geelong. The show is titled ‘Only dead fish go with the flow’, and will be a massive exhibition with about 50 works…my biggest show to date. So if your around on the 9th of November between 4:30 – 8 pm pop into the gallery for the opening…All are Welcome!

Alternatively, the show runs from 7th Nov – 1st Dec and is open Wed to Sat 9:30 – 4 pm.

I would love for you all to drop by and say hello at the opening or pop in while it’s on to enjoy the artworks(They also do a good coffee inhouse!).

Hope life is treating you well.

Enjoy!

Glen aka No Frills

Front of Exhibition Flyer

Exhibition Poster

Extract from the Press Release:

‘Only dead fish go with the flow’ is a new exhibition of paintings by Geelong based contemporary artist Glen Smith. Filling the entire space at Newtown’s Boom Gallery, this extensive solo exhibition investigates a range of issues as diverse as matters of the heart through to political and social commentaries. Heavily influenced by street art and its aesthetic, Smith’s paintings are urban and gritty street level snapshots of contemporary society. Through stencils, paste-ups as well as traditional painting techniques the artworks in the show are designed to make the viewer reconsider the state of the world and present new ways to look at issues in life. This is Smith’s first solo exhibition in over five years and has been a massive undertaking with over fifty artworks on show. Definitely one local art exhibition not to be missed this year…so be sure to mark it on your calendar.

Boom Gallery is Geelong’s newest Contemporary Artspace. 

It can be found at Boom Gallery: 11 Rutland St Newtown, Geelong.

Read Full Post »

NFA Jewellery

Posted in News, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2012| 1 Comment »

Recently at work I had to look into some resources for making jewellery for a colleague. It was intended to be quite user-friendly as it was to be for jewellery making classes for high school students. Below are what I came across while looking into it and what I produced when I decided to have a play with the materials.

I had never made jewellery before… so it was a bit of fun!

Materials: Silver Plated, Resin & Digital Prints

Read Full Post »

The End is Near…

Posted in Artworks, Street Art, tagged , , , , , , , on June 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

These little stencils of mine have started popping up around Melb. this week…

…and a couple of overview shots in situ.

I think the end is near for the old cathode rays also…

and below how the stencil translates into one of my new paintings on canvas.

Read Full Post »

Forest-s Exhibition Photos

Posted in Artworks, Exhibition, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Here is a little shot(using my new toy…Fisheye lens!) of my work in situ at Boom Gallery as part of the Forest-s Exhibition put together by Tibor Novak. The opening was a full house…which was a surprise for a saturday arvo opening…but always a good thing! The show is on for a few weeks so if your in Newtown, pop in and have a browse as it is a pretty expansive show with a variety of artists and styles.

And below is a close up of my artwork in the show…

Fractals, Mixed Media on Canvas. 2012

And finally…a sneak peak at another one of the artworks for my exhibition in November at Boom Gallery…Enjoy! NF

 Joey’s Song(Work in Progress), Mixed Media on Canvas, 2012.

…

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

%d bloggers like this: