An agency working for Bic recently contacted me about contributing something to their Challenge Bic campaign. Basically a study by Reading University concluded that the ink in one Bic ballpoint can do 9431 signatures or 232 pages of A4, they wanted me to do a drawing using one pen. We chose to recreate Vermeer’s painting from 1666.
This was pretty tough for me as I was on a tight deadline, had to film the whole process, and the only image I had of the painting was a print out from an image I found online… On top of this I quickly realized that Vermeer’s painting is in fact in poor condition. The surface is badly cracked (click on below image) - so I needed to, in a way, restore it whilst recreating it.
I had to keep very quiet whilst doing this as any leak could compromise Bics idea. Any way, it went well and you can win yourself 10 pounds if you can finish yours… LOL.
You can also win one of the limited edition prints of the drawing.
See Bic’s promo video showing me creating the artwork after the image below.
The story was quickly picked up by national papers. It even appeared on the front page of The Telegraph online site for a while. Eventually the story was in London’s Metro newspaper, Telegraph online, Express online, and The Sun online (see below). It also got a mention on Radio 1 (soundclip link coming soon). I even heard that the big man at BIC Mr. Bic gave it a nod of approval which was great to hear.
Had a private view in an apartment overlooking the Thames in Kew Gardens on the 1st April. Was a really fun night with a great variety of people attending, going on into the early morning.
Had 2 other private shows in Fulham/London this year, with one more confirmed for 6th May in Chelsea/Lodnon.
The shows are organized by my wonderful agents Suzy & Abbe from Artists@Twist. So may not be doing a public show this year, but instead continue with the private shows, which I actually prefer.
An artist I’ve met a few times known as Mason Storm, well in his words: “After 10 years of nefarious activities and stalking I have managed to capture the illusive Banksy at work, face on and will reveal him in a new oil, hopefully finished by Sept. Dont rant it’s high time the mystery was revealed.”
Worryingly for Mason, Banksy apparently knows he has been captured on camera by him and artist friends are advising him to play it careful… LOL.
Mason is going to do an 6ft high oil painting of Banksy from the photo he took. Apparently someone has already tried to buy the painting before he’s even started it properly, but refused to sell it (as they insisted on him not reproducing the painting).
He’s also running a sort of competition to help spread the word: “a few choice prezzies for whom so ever prints of one of my ‘mason Knows’ mini posters and gets it in either the furthest location from London, the cheekiest location and 20 others for special merit”, his group on Flickr here is for the competition.
He’s gotta hope that Banksy doesn’t beat him to the scoop by revealing himself before he’s finished the huge painting…
Mason’s main form of artwork has been seriously intricate anti-imperialist sculptures. He also does oil paintings in photo-realist detail, a painting he did of Carravaggio’s Last Supper scene infused with Mc Donalds’ products can be seen here.
His online shop is here.
Had to post this. Who said graffiti is ugly - I guess this kind of scene would be a dividing line between people who can sense the creative energy, culture, and colour that graffiti can bring and those who can’t stand it… I think it’s almost beautiful.
Found the image from a great site that is constantly updated with people saving interesting images, quite a good source for inspiration. The site is FFFound.com
George Ramos spent two weeks on this intricately designed Lamborghini––he used Sharpie markers to create the design and then topped it off with a clear coat of paint to protect the pattern. The car was displayed at the Concorso Italiano, a festival celebrating Italian style, in Monterey, California, and received plenty of appreciative nods…
- (from source)
This is pretty bad-ass. I think the pattern he did goes really well with the car’s Italian “Uber-cool” reputation and form - and on close inspection (below) it has a bit of that “west coast thug life” vibe going on - great mix.
Just released a new limited edition print series. This is from a ballpoint biro drawing of Kate Moss, which is perhaps one on my most popular drawings & recently made the front cover of a Ukranian culture magazine - more info here. (See video of this biro drawing below).
The limited edition is of 50. Each one has a slightly different hand finished JRM design (see below image) different colours (spray paint & marker) on each print. You can order a print without one or even in a specified colour (although the number would not likely be the lowest available). See below image for more info…
The above right image is the number 1/50 of the prints framed and hanging.
The prints are A1 in size (about 59 x 84 cm), numbered & signed giclee (highest quality digital ink prints), available at £350. The one on the above right is framed, but price does not include frame. Buy a print through payPal below.
Became the featured artist on Birography website. Birography is a niche showcase of art & visual communication created using the humble biro.
It’s an interesting site that really is dedicated to exposing artworks of all kinds done in biro.
There seems to be more and more recognition of biro artwork across the world as time goes by. I saw a recent online article entitled Why is BallPoint Pen Art the most undeveloped art movement in history?. Just one example of how people are helping to bring biro art to the light of day with respect to the artworld.
This is a collaboration piece with THE KRAH. The KRAH is a greek born international street artist. He has recently been included in many street art publications & a book on Greek street art (see right image).
See the piece itself below (framed & detail). Details: “All City”, JRM & THE KRAH, 2010, ballpoint + pens + spray paint on card, 110 x 88cm (framed), 75 x 55cm (unframed), for sale (contact for price).
This is undoubtably the first of it’s kind. Combining ballpoint photo-realism and street art style work in spray paints and pens.
I’m responsible for the buildings (done in ballpoint), obviously KRAH’s responsible for the colour madness. It is mounted and framed in solid oak. More info and a video of this piece after the image below…
The piece is for sale, if you are in London and would like a viewing, don’t hesitate to ask.
There is a short video on YouTube of this piece, see below for an embedded version.
We have just released a limited edition of 50, sized A1 (about 59 x 84 cm), numbered & signed giclee (highest quality digital) prints available at £400. International delivery available, to order one of these prints, use the below button (Paypal) or contact.
Did an interview with K9 magazine which is a Ukranian magazine that focuses on world art, fashion, and film. One of my biro drawings of Kate Moss was put on the front cover (left, December 2009 edition). The interview was funny though - it hardly focused on my artwork (think they wrote about that themselves) - the first question was “what was your first car and how many woman you lay in it?”. Quite funny. The edition page on K9 website
‘Audrey Kawasaki is a Japanese-American artist, born and raised in Los Angeles, where she currently lives and works. Kawasaki’s work contains contrasting themes of innocence and eroticism, conveying the mysterious intrigue of feminine sensuality. Her sharp imagery is painted with precision onto wooden panels, the natural grain adding warmth to her enigmatic subject matter. The artist’s creative influences include eastern as well as western traditions such as Art Nouveau and Japanese Manga comics’. - from article on designrelated.com
