Who’s Mad? The Crowd or the Monkey?

The latest work from the Grickle animation series by cartoonist Graham Annable is “Zoo.” It highlights one simple theme; “Does the cage keep the madness in or the MADNESS out?“

As a cartoonist living in Oregon, Annable is the creator of the Grickle and Further Grickle graphic novels. He also contributes and is the editor of the Hickee comic series from Alternative comics.

Be sure to also check out his graphic novels here.

Banksy Exceeding Expectations, Again

Not surprisingly, Banksy works exceed expectations at London urban art auctions. Two spray paintings by Banksy were sold for an above-estimate 120,000 pounds ($234,000) each in a London sale of urban art recently.

Two pieces of artwork, including the one on the left, had been expected to fetch up to 50,000 pounds and 80,000 pounds each. Both were bought by telephone bidders. The 146-lot sale in an industrial space in Shoreditch, east London, the first of its type ever organized by a regional auction house, totaled 801,204 pounds with fees against an estimate of 672,000 pounds to 977,000 pounds, with 89 percent of the lots sold during the three-hour event, the company said.

Read the full article at Bloomberg

Michael Stipe’s Sculptures and Rogan’s Clothes

Two great events in one post? Fashion designer Rogan is opening a new boutique in New York, and New York magazine reports that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe will be having an art show there, exhibiting some bronze sculptures he did of cameras and music devices. Said Stipe:

“The radio alarm clock … changed forever the fragile state between sleeping and waking, allowing you to wake to your favorite radio station … The polaroid revolutionized photography by providing instant images available to anyone … Cassettes provided portable, compact music, altering forever the influence of radio as the individual became their own disc jockey.”

The items are not for sale but if you show up on the 27th you can pick up a Rogan Stipe T-shirt.

Read the full article here

Para/site

Have you ever heard of Para/site? No, I’m not talking about lices, fleas or other nasty bugs but about one of Hong Kong’s most progressive contemporary art gallery. Para/Site Art Space is a non-profit art organization in the centre of Hong Kong. We produce, exhibit and communicate local and international contemporary art. Their main activities include presenting an ambitious year programme comprising 10 exhibitions, publications of catalogues and PS magazine, Hong Kong’s only bilingual visual arts publication. To compliment their year programme, seminars, talks and workshops are regularly organised. They also manage another exhibition space – Para/Site Central, the smallest exhibition venue in Hong Kong, which is hosted by Hanart TZ Gallery in Central.

The video above is the interview clip by SO-U.TV with Tobias Berger, the curator.

The New Extraterrestrial Design by Zaha Hadid

What you are looking at is the new design for the new Cultural Centre and Opera House in Dubai by Zaha Hadid.

It is said that; “The design calls for an exciting new cultural centre in the new Seven Pearls district of Dubai. This landmark development will accommodate an opera house, playhouse, arts gallery, performing arts school and themed hotel on an island in Dubai Creek just off the mainland part of the district. All of these facilities will be state of the art to host world class performances and exhibitions. The opera house will have a seating capacity of 2,500 while the playhouse will have a seating capacity of 800.”

To read more about the dune-shaped building proposed for an island off Dubai Creek, go here.

Viva La Embassy

Embassy is one of the most interesting of new galleries to open in Hong Kong. It is a incubator for new and emerging artists. Meet the founder, Gary Kramer and take a close look at this fascinating new creative space.

“The Embassy is a fully operating art/design house which will open it’s doors to the public for specific events in order to share various types of art in it’s exhibition space. The exhibition space includes a 2,000 sq. ft. balcony which provides unique and exciting possibilities for a variety of events.”

Recent exhibitions include “Inside Whisper” by SAUQUET.