Agents of Chaos Retrospective Show /// Victrola /// March 2011

These killer Octo Coal stencil panels are available at the show. 3 color choices of Ltd Ed I. Hand Signed, numbered, and ready for a good home!

Octo Coal • Aerosol Stencil / Ink / Wood • ©2011 Nick Beery

URBAN LIGHT STUDIOS www.urbanlightstudios.com and Nick Beery presents a killer line up of 30 visual artists and live music from local 8-bit|Sci-Fi|Hip-Hop group Supercommuter www.supercommuter.net.

Bots vs Beasts • Urban Light Studios • Seattle 2011

Here is the respective line up of artists/media/and portfolio links:

Weirdo – Seattle • Muralist Painter  - www.weirdocult.com
Soule – Seattle • Stenciler Painter – www.urbansoule.com
Xavier Lopez Jr – Seattle • Painter – www.xavierlopezjr.blogspot.com
Ryan Henry Ward – Seattle • Muralist Painter – www.ryanhenryward.com
PJ de Villiers – Oslo • Illustrator – www.theshallowtree.com
Sensei23 – Seattle • Muralist Painter Illustrator – www.sensei23.com
Carlos Aguilar – Seattle • Painter – www.carlosGaguilar.com
Matt Lewis – Seattle • Illustrator – www.lostkeep.com
Justin Hillgrove – Seattle • Comic Illustrator – www.impsandmonsters.com
James Whitworth – Chicago • Illustrator Painter – www.thejcw.blogspot.com/
PaperMarbles – Seattle • Graffiti Painter – www.papermarbles.blogspot.com/
Maya Uemoto – Seattle • Muralist Illustrator – www.bgirlmedia.com/tag/katalyst
Miss Monster – Chicago • Designer 3D – www.missmonster.com
Ace – NY • Tattoo Illustrator 3D – www.diosadesigns.com
Duffy – Seattle • Collage Designer – www.electriccoffin.com
Augie Pagan – Seattle • Illustrator Painter – www.augiepagan.com
Hera Won – Seattle • Graffiti Painter – www.wix.com/herawon/heras-gallery
Chani Murat – Seattle • Tattoo Painter – www.chanisinc.com
Jesse Link – Seattle • Painter – www.jesselink.com
Jimbot – Milaukee • Painter – www.jimbot.com
Adam Schrimmer – Miami • Illustrator Painter – www.artis-life.com
Jenny Dayton – Seattle • Painter 3D – www.dandygelatine.com
John Osgood – Seattle • Muralist Painter – www.bherdstudios.com
Fernando Mora – NY • Painter Illustrator – www.artofmora.com
Zac Atkinson – Chicago • Comic Illustrator – www.evilby.me
Jeremy Gregory – Seattle • Painter – www.jeremygregory.blogspot.com
Ben Nettles – Sarasota • 3D Sculptor Illustrator – www.store44.com/bennettles
Nick Beery – Seattle • Illustrator Painter – www.beerymethod.com

I will be posting sneak peeks of artists work, the stories behind their pieces, and photos from the show. Please check out FB Bots vs Beasts for more info. – Beery

Family Reunion Art Exhibition

The Electric Coffin Family: Stefan Hofmann, Jesse Link, Akak, Lem Bartley, Mat Savage, Paper Marbles, Quincy Quigg, Carlos Aguilar, Beery Method, Dave Enriquez, Duffy, Ryan Davis, Solace, Weirdo, Jen Vertz, Davin Spridgen, Luke Yates, Asher Bowers, Matt Pinny and more.

This week I take some time with the great and powerful Nick Beery, we both started our careers in Seattle, anyway, at the fabled Orange Splot Gallery–a place that, like the Hostile was the one of the seminal spots in the Seattle art scene! Nick Beery’s work is taking the scene by storm, having big shows in California, Chicago and Washington! He is definitely an artist to keep your eyes on!

Xavier: So let’s start at the beginning–how long have you been working and where did you start out–here or in Chicago?

Nick Beery: I’ve been working as a full time artist for 8 years. I actually started working as an illustrator in South Florida after graduating from Ringling School of Art & Design. The throw back years of balancing fine art and commercial art exploration.

Xavier: Tell me a bit about Ringling, what was that like and how did it prepare you for some of the work that you’re doing now?

Nick Beery: Ringling is a private art school on steroids. I had an amazing experience with my departmental artist-peers as well as the diverse range of super talented instructors.

Being immersed in an environment that makes you constantly push the boundaries of your talents is exactly what RSAD was about. The instructors were ‘in the field–working professionals who sought to hammer in the essentials for making it on your own as an independent creative. I like to call it a “Business/Art School” as it really pushed the ingredients to make you prepared for the viciously competitive, creative world/industries.

Xavier: And, honestly that is something that really sets you apart from a lot of us–you really seem to have a good mental picture of the overall game–what you want and how to get it!

Tell me a bit about what you have got going on right now? How would you describe your newest work?

Nick Beery: It is a struggle to be independent and have the time to educate oneself on how to best market and meet your audience. I can’t speak on other art schools except from my peers’ perspectives, but there has been a lot of talent that has emerged from the nucleus of Ringling.

I like to have my finger in as many pies as possible and juggle new projects simultaneously. Right now I’m working on a new boutique apparel line which feeds my graphic art side and continuously work on new series for my “attention deficit creative disorder” which consists of experimenting with new media and strategically sharpening axes in my locker of skills

My latest work combines several ongoing series which are divvied up by the media in which I’m working them in.

At the moment I have an ongoing series called ‘pop fiction’ which is centered around parody-type concepts of imagery from my youth that has been engrained not only in my mind for life, but into American culture as well. Bringing characters, shows, music, and movies together is nothing short of creating fantastical mash ups that leave the mind bent for a few seconds and then which percolate the inner child which is tickled by the juxtaposition of the selected subject matter.

Xavier: Cool, do you find that childhood and pop culture motivate you to generate a great deal of what you do or are there other factors that feed your output?
Nick Beery: Right now there is a lot of the mash ups going on from all directions in the art world. I’m motivated because it is fun. It’s like taking your favorite childhood memories and blending them with culturally disturbing adult icons, to become a car crash you love to watch.

Nick Beery: I’m influenced by a lot of differing genres and aesthetics which seem to feed my constant progression of creativity.

Xavier: I like that; it creates a very vivid mental image.
Do you have any upcoming shows or projects and perhaps places for people to see your work that you would like to mention.

Nick Beery: Freelancing as a commercial and graphic artist keeps the workflow fresh constantly. It also allows my brain to split the methodologies for my work. I try and let all my inner demons bleed through, in even my most mainstream visual images.

Xavier: Cool. I have to admit that I love your zombie series rappers and non!

Nick Beery: I have a show that runs from Nov – Jan called “Nevermind” in San Francisco. It is a retrospective and exploration of the themes of the 90′s as well as nostalgia for 90′s era childhood.

The zombie rappers are featured in that show as Pac, Big, ODB, JMJ, and EAZY all were part of that time span. There will be new additions to that series coming soon!

Xavier: Very cool!

Are there any artists, living or dead that you find to be inspirational?

Nick Beery: I recently launched my premium apparel line entitled DEFIANT down in the bay area and am working on our new seasonal lines for 2011. Seriously big things are coming in the next couple of months. It’s all very secretive at the moment.
Okay, artists…

Xavier: Hold on, let’s talk a bit more about the San Francisco stuff. It looks like things are really going nicely and you are having all sorts of shows in Cali. Can you tell me about some of these shows and–what is this that I heard about Bert and Ernie pulling a gun on you?

Nick Beery: I began putting together an October themed show called Urban Undead which was a feature of my Hobo-Eaters characters and a couple of pieces from my pop fiction series. It kind of snow-balled from the first of that series entitled Pulp Street. This was my Bert and Ernie / Pulp Fiction mash up.

I ended up building out some ostentatiously large costumes to compliment the show. These ‘muppet hit men’ I created took a life of their own and inevitably left me penniless on the curbside of Haight and Fillmore!

Be careful when mixing character cocktail voodoo. A hair from Al Capone’s head, a drop of Jim Henson’s blood, and a hand puppet sacrifice can explode in your face very quickly!

Xavier: Haha! Love it!

Nick Beery: That’s life in the big city!

Xavier: Any things that I haven’t covered that you would like everyone to know?

Nick Beery: I try and keep a constant filter on while chewing the visual candy out there.

I’m inspired by various artists for very specific reasons. Dali will always be a huge influence on the way I work my backgrounds and landscapes.
Ralph Steadman will always be my go to guy for killer ink techniques. Alphonse Mucha is a huge credit to the design which overshadowed his insanely intricate paintings.

Xavier: Ralph Steadman is the man! I know several amazing artists that have been influenced by him. Mucha too! Lush and beautiful–but amazingly influential.

Nick Beery: I love classic illustrators such as Matt Mahurin and Roberto Parada. I keep tabs on all the high caliber players out there killing it in their field and have mad respect for all the upcoming ‘bad a****s’ who just keep pushing the envelope.

Xavier: Yes, even the Gibson Girls of the 1800′s are extremely influential to the newest breed of artists. Speaking of which and speaking philosophically–how do you see your work and how it fits into the art of now and how that is different than the ways that art was made just twenty years ago?

Nick Beery: The art world today has truly blended into a gray-area realm where nothing is static. What was once considered low-brow or outsider art is now main stream. Street art is now a well defined engine that steams forward and constantly shifts the ‘pop’ flavor of the art world. Tattoo art is blending more with traditional media and exploring more contemporary techniques that give a hand painted feel.

I think that there is such an abundance of profusely hard working, prolific visual artists who have their niches flowing simultaneously like parallel souls that the art scene is bleeding one genre into another.

Xavier: It’s interesting in a way–it almost seems like a backlash against the ivory towers that had been built up around the graduate schools that created and fed a very specific kind of art in the last decade. It’s a bit like Artists and the streets have taken art back to where it was in New York in the thirties or Paris in the 1800′s.

Its more real, more vibrant and more guerrilla.

Nick Beery: There is no large division between what is considered ‘fine art’ and ‘commercial art’ these days. Respectively, artists on all fronts have come together to create a new age–the 21st century Renaissance.

Xavier: Definitely!

At the same time there is a different edge–one that takes no prisoners and is definitely defining this age!

Nick Beery: Technology and today’s digital tools opened a black hole that is constantly feeding new energies into our visual universe rather than sucking them away by stagnating in a land of rigid traditions.

Xavier: Interesting, because historically speaking, that is exactly what led to the post punk and rap movements in England and America respectively–the availability of new and cheaper technologies put the artistic output into the hands of more and different people and suddenly everything changed again!

Nick Beery: If you hand us a rock we will build you a mountain. If you hand us fire we will set the world alight!

Xavier: Nice!

Nick Beery: It is all part of an ongoing cycle. We are in the midst of a major mind set shift in our shrinking societies’ perspectives on how art currently affects everything from what brand of cereal you buy to the latest app for your phone.

So before we close this puppy up–any last things you’d like to put out there and give me a list of places we can find your work virtual and non! Not to cut things off or anything!

Nick Beery:

www.BeeryMethod.com
www.beerymethod.com/blog
www.facebook.com/BeeryMethod
www.twitter.com/BeeryMethod
www.DefiantWear.com

Nick Beery: Had a blast brother!
Xavier: Awesome! Me too! See you out in the Seattle art World!

"all my loot?...but I created you!"

Had a blast doing the photoshoots for Xpress. A super special thanks and shout out to Jasmine Bheagler (photographer), Ian Graves (Vincent/Ernie), and Packy Hamilton (Jules/Bert). More ruckus from these muppet hitment to come!

Hobo Eaters Flyer

Artist statement (dirt on the show):

Hobo Eaters: Agents of Chaos

The term hobo-eater refers to an entity who, through ritual means, would take on by means garbage and liquor the sins of a deceased bum, thus absolving his or her soul and allowing that person of the street to rest in peace.

What was once a ritual performed by beggars and vagabonds in certain villages of bygone years is now performed in a reverse of roles by animated entities who take on the form of the hobo whose diabolical lifestyle is reflected upon the appearance of the hobo-eater. The hobo-eater would be brought to the dying vagrant’s curbside or stoop, where a neighborhood drifter would place a crust of dumpster pizza on the chest of the dying and pass a 40 oz. of malt liquor to him over the corpse. After reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the crust from the derelict tramp and eat it, the act of which would remove the sins and deadbeat-scars from the dying transient and take it into himself.

Often times hobo-eaters are not only filled with the sins and scars of the deceased but take on a ghostly appearance, ragged with the lines of deceit and chemical abuse of the former vessel. The result is a vaporous apparition whose tattered clothes and grungy attitude is forever portrayed among the urban environment. Thus the ethereal term Agents of Chaos has come as a contemporary descriptor for these aeon old hobo-eaters who are destined to drift the streets perpetually consuming fiendish souls.

Hobo Eaters 2010 Poster

Below are a few of the Hobo Eaters character pieces that are included in the show:

Vapor Trails:

Vapor Trails Ink & Wood Stain

Vapor Trails Detail

Vapor Trails / Bummin & Runnin

Below are some updated photos of some of the work included in the show. To avoid rambling on too much about all the pieces I am simply posting the pics including the detailed shots of the artwork. Enjoy!

GURU: Inspired by ancient sages of forgotten lore. The word bubble is Chinese for “Knowledge”.

Guru

Guru detail I

Guru detail II

Guru detail III

VAPOR TRAILS: Inspired by all the shredding skateboard bad-asses…you know who you are.

Vapor Trails Ink & Wood Stain

Vapor Trails detail I

Vapor Trails detail II

BUMMIN & RUNNIN: Inspired by old 50′s animations, bums, and liquor.

Bummin & Runnin Ink & Wood Stain

Bummin & Runnin detail I

Bummin & Runnin detail II

RUBIX DUDE:  Inspired by particle theory and physicists worldwide.

Rubix Dude Ink & Wood Stain

Rubix Dude detail I

Rubix Dude detail II

THE SHAMBLER:  Inspired by Scrooge McDuck, Robert Crumb, and A X-Mas Carol.

The Shambler Ink on Wood

The Shambler detail I

The Shambler detail II

CODED: Inspired by zen buddhism and hidden meanings.

Coded Ink on WoodCoded detail I

Coded detail IICoded detail III

ROCKET ROCKER: Inspired by the Rocketeer and dark rockers everywhere.

Rocket Rocker Ink on Wood

Rocket Rocker detail I

Rocket Rocker detail II

AGENT OF CHAOS: Inspired by Hells Angels debauchery.

Agent of Chaos Ink on Wood

Agent of Chaos detail I

Agent of Chaos detail II

Agent of Chaos detail III

LET THE WHEELS BURN: Inspired by Mars Volta album Octahedron

Let The Wheels Burn Ink on Wood

Let The Wheels Burn detail I

Let The Wheels Burn detail II

Let The Wheels Burn detail III

THE MANNIKIN: Inspired by Robert Bloch’s short story The Mannikin from his collection Mysteries of the Worm

The Mannikin Ink on Wood

The Mannikin detail I

The Mannikin detail II

The Mannikin detail III

The Mannikin detail V

LUMBERING JACK: Inspired by chainsaws and the Pacific Northwest.

Lumbering Jack detail I

Lumbering Jack detail II

Lumbering Jack detail IV

BLOOD LIFE: Inspired by gangsta females everywhere.

Blood Life Vector Print Poster

Blood Life detail I

Blood Life detail II

Blood Life detail III

Blood Life detail IV

RUBIX DUDE: 3 versions of all characters. 1. Ink on wood 2. Vector digital design 3. Oil painting.

Rubix Dude Oils

Rubix Dude detail I

Rubix Dude detail II

Rubix Dude detail III

Rubix Dude detail IV

Rubix Dude detail V

Rubix Dude detail VI

MICKSTER MCGEE: Inspired by unicycle chimps, hipsters, scenesters, 80′s cartoons, and underground comics.

Mickster Mcgee Ink on Wood

Mickster McGee detail I

Mickster McGee detail II

Mickster McGee detail III

Mickster McGee detail IV

OL TIMER: Inspired by father time, ferrets, chicken suits, tar & feathers, and explicit street vagrants.

Ol Timer Ink on Wood

Ol Timer detail I

Ol Timer detail II

Ol Timer detail III

PHANTOM BEARD & DOOB: Inspired by Norwegians, black death metal, k-9′s, rebels, counterculture, loud loud loud music.

Phantom Beard & Doob Ink on Wood (unfinished)

Phantom Beard & Doob detail (unfinished)

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished I

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished II

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished III

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished IV

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished V

Phantom Beard & Doob detail finished VI

Where's the bird?

Doob detail

Phantom Beard & Doob detail III

Phantom Beard & Doob detail IV

LYCOSA MASTER: Inspired by wizards, tattoos, medieval sorcerers, devils, demons, warlocks, giant spiders, and reckless gladiators.

Lycosa Master Ink on Wood

Lycosa Master detail I

Lycosa Master detail II

Lycosa Master detail III

Lycosa Master detail IV

Lycosa Master detail V

Artifakt - Valentine's themed art and music event.

The piece I chose to do for the show was an amalgamation of media. As I love to get tight with a lot of my illustrative style works the process is a daunting one that involves laying down a full rendering in graphite, inking with some sienna india inks, oil paint washes, and then redefining through the use of sharp color pencils to inflict contrast. The result is an eye-pleasing, three dimensional look that is nothing short of extremely unique.

Fragment Heart

This particular piece titled Fragment Heart was my take on the effect of broken hearts and how one copes with the trials and tribulations of love. It involves a sexy, medusa-like, animaesque-shiva female who holds the radiating pillowy heart which is the icon of love. She grips it close to her chest with snakes writhing from her hair and a look of dispair. Precariously gripped in her hand is a needle which is on the hinge of poking the “Valentine” to blow up the love that once was. It is also a sort of play on voo-doo and what a jilted lover might choose to do when love has gone wrong. She sits on a sinewy blanket of folds that creatively spell L-O-V-E. She is no longer taking what love has to offer…time to move on…time to put love in it’s place…time for revenge!

Here is a breakdown of the creative process:

Graphite Layer

Beginning with a sketch I build upon the image rendering it with graphite pencils to create contrast and depth.

Ink Layer

After fully rendering the piece in graphite (which looks black and white) a thin layer of clear acrylic spray is applied. Once dry, a mid-tone layer of ink is applied to accentuate details in the drawing.

Oil Rub Layer

After ink dries, another thin layer of clear acrylic spray is applied. Next, oil paint is rubbed into the surface of the image. Highlights are pulled out of this layer by means of eraser to create form through contrast and layered depth.

Color Pencil Layer

The tone is now set into the piece with the hue of the first layer of oils. After another layer of clear spray another hue of oils is added. In this case the piece turns from a ochre/sienna hue to a warmer red/rose. Erasing is repeated to create more depth between tones throughout the piece.