In the “culture of the remix” that we are currently experiencing, there are some pretty fascinating and creative things going on. The appropriating of other visual elements to create new work can be seen in streets all over the world. This technique was taken further into the public eye when, in 2008, street artist Shepard Fairey became world famous (infamous?) with his graphic of Barack Obama taken from an AP photograph.

In the popular musical world, there are “mashup” artists like Girl Talk who take all kinds of different music and mix it together (check out Feed the Animals). However, this is not a new technique as DJ Shadow pioneered this on his critically acclaimed debut album Endtroducing….. in 1996.

This past week, a new website launched that really caught my eye. Thru You is the creation of Israeli musician and producer, Ophir Kutiel, aka Kutiman. He’s taken a number of unrelated YouTube videos and compiled them together to create some really amazing pieces. You just have to see it to get the full effect and I was completely impressed.

Of course, all of these different interpretations of these mediums bring a lot of questions to the surface which I can’t quickly cover here, but like them or not, they are starting to shape the culture that we live in. Feel free to weigh in and share your thoughts!

For the first studio tour of 2009, I visited the workspace of artist and illustrator, Lora Jost. I first met Lora when we worked together on a poster for the River City Reading Festival and I was so amazed by her illustration that I asked if I could visit her studio to see her workspace and more of her beautiful art. Lora uses several unique techniques in creating her work including scratchboard, ceramic mosaic, and collage. Her pieces draw from personal experiences and collected stories which are depicted with elements of beauty, whimsy, darkness, and joy. From her artist statement:

“I am drawn to experiences that are mundane, whimsical, and socially urgent. I like to mix these themes, and find how they link in spirit. I hope that viewers will identify with the stories my pictures tell. I hope that my art, in some small way, deepens our collective appreciation and compassion for each other and for life itself.”

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Over the holidays, my wife and I had a fun project: decorate the nursery! We had decided a while back that we wanted to have a robot-themed room, so I decided to do some fun drawings for the walls. The canvases are 2′x2′ and I used Posca paint pens which are water based, non-toxic and really fun to use! Here are some photos of the process and finished room.

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Above image courtesy of Michael Krueger

This is just a quick post to point you to a nice interview with University of Kansas art professor Michael Krueger. You can see more of his artwork on his website.

There’s one more show I’d like to encourage everyone to go check out! Heather Smith Jones has some of her beautiful work up at The Merc at 901 Iowa St. in Lawrence, KS. The show ends on February 1, 2009, but if you can’t make it to the gallery, be sure and check out her Etsy shop.

Also, if you didn’t see it, I did a studio visit with Heather recently and showcased some of her great artwork!

I have to say that it’s been a power week for gallery shows. There’s a lot to see right now, so get out there and support some artists!