ALL THE BEST TUNES

I think geometric art is finally getting to me. This morning I came across this review for the new Slayer album on Amazon UK. Not only did it make me laugh, I thought how interesting it looked. The Slayer fans, and their record label on Twitter, also got a laugh out of it, but I think it's safe to say nobody else thought it was a great work of art. I do. So much so, that I'm going to put it in a show!*

*It's weirdly synchronous with a series of pieces that I've been working on for the last three months. I'll reveal more, soon!

ALEXI K featured in CONCEPT ROOM at CUSTARD FACTORY

Curated by up-and-coming Birmingham fashion designer, Antone Douglas of SneakerClub, CONCEPT ROOM features some of my colleagues from the Birmingham area.

Below: Show features my shoe design for Bucketfeet, plus debuts my newest painting SUPERCOLLIDER ( right ).

Venue: Custard Factory, Digbeth.

GO LOGO

Just read in AdWeek that geometric logos are 'more commonly associated with being powerful than other logo treatments. Logos with initials are a close second.'

I think my smiley man logo ( which is a sideways AK ), conveys just the right amount energy, vigour, forward-thinking, conviviality and wit, for people to feel that the Alexi K brand is their brand of choice. 

Alexi K...art that makes you feel better about yourself.

ABSTRACT DIGITAL

My colleague, fashion designer Antone Douglas, is curating an art and design show called CONCEPT ROOM, at the Custard Factory in Digbeth this weekend ( opens 12pm Friday until 8pm Saturday, 16 - 17 Oct ). I will be debuting my sneakers, and perhaps some digital translations of my abstract paintings, such as the example below.

ALEXI K...LIFESTYLE BRAND!

I create art to please myself. I don't want to be limited. If the art makes it out of the studio, and into a gallery, or into somebody's house, great. If a company approaches me because they like it so much, that they want to take it beyond mere aesthetics and give it a practical application, even better.

A year ago, Valley Forge Fabrics in Florida contacted me and we struck up a dialogue over the subsequent months. They manufacture material for large-scale interiors, and were originally enamoured with my 'Polygraph Nudes' and wanted to see if they could turn one of those into a fabric design for a boutique hotel. Later, on a whim, I sent them photographs of my abstract paintings. You may know from reading my blog, that my paintings are a progressed form of all my influences ( Comics, Cubism, Bauhaus, etc ). They loved them so much they did a test run of materials, and the result is below.

Below: Wall covering and chair based on the painting 'SUPERHIGHWAY'.

Will this mean I lose credibility or - god forbid - can no longer win a Turner Prize, because my art is seen to be 'commercial'? Us Birmingham artists have long since realised that you have to create your own 'situation' and not worry about what other people, institutions - or any other entities - think. As I said before, you can't be limited by outmoded ideas regarding what is, or is not, achievable, acceptable, or credible. It's the 21st Century, and previous ways of thinking are now obsolete.

I like to boast that I've put in my ten-thousand man-hours, and that the art speaks for itself. So, if it's a toss-up between 'winning the Turner Prize', or becoming the next Coca-Cola, my response is simple:

I'll take both.

Valley Forge Fabrics contact page

Below: 'Superhighway', the original acrylic on canvas, 76cm x 101cm, 2014

For more Alexi K brand, click here.

PHOTO DIARY: MANCHESTER, SEPT 24TH 2015

Went to visit the Affordable Art Fair yesterday. Wasn't allowed in, due to a misprint on the advertising ( - great, thanks for that! ). Decided to visit several galleries instead. Never got round to those either, because the city is so beautiful, I was mesmerised by the architecture and street scenes. I can only assume that Manchester was less bombed by the Luftwaffe than Birmingham ( which, let's face it, in comparison, is an unsightly mess ). 

Below: Ironically, the grimy window in the art gallery contributed to the 'painterly' look of this photo.

One minute, the light made Manchester look like a movie set, then next, a painting. I can't get over what an incredibly photogenic city it is.

I forgot my camera's chip, so borrowed a colleague's iPhone 6. After fumbling with it for most of the day ( you can see the shadows caused by my finger in front of the lens ), I began to get the hang of it. I've come to the conclusion it's better than my actual camera.

With the wide streets and the trams, Manchester resembles an archetypal European city...

...and also New York City.

I really do have to come back, ASAP.

All pics are shot on an iPhone 6.

2011's 'JAPANESE LANDSCAPE'

As seen in its home on the island of Paros, Greece.

Acrylic on canvas, 1m x 1m

THE HUMAN GLITCH

Sometime you work on something for hours and it still doesn't come out right...but  the mistakes can be as interesting, if not more, than the successful ones. I've put the trademark across this because I'm not sure whether I want this to be an official 'Alexi' or not. But it's growing on me.

Pen and ink on A3 watercolour paper

OUT NOW, COURTESY OF BUCKETFEET: ALEXI K's 'ELECTRONIQUE' SHOE!

Inspired by my love of urban futurism and electronic music, the ELECTRONIQUE is my homage to those things that provide the foundation of my creativity. 

NOTE: This has now sold out. If there are plans to reissue this design, I'll let you know!

( Post updated from 01 / 09 / 2015 )

LONDON UNDERGROUND N-DIMENSIONAL HYPERBALL

Concept: In the future, we'll be able to put the whole of London's Underground into a ball, and travel along the inside surface of it. In fact, they've probably done it already - only they haven't announced it, in case the transport union gets 'ideas' and announces another strike.

A GLITCH IN TIME

New 'faux-antique' fabric design taken from the code of a glitched photograph.

THE SPARK OF INSPIRATION BEHIND ALEXI K's 'ELECTRONIQUE'

In 2013, I did a great bunch of articles for my black & white art mag MONOBLOG, featuring current sci-fi film-making gurus Anthony Scott Burns, Ash Thorp and Bradley ( GMunk ) Munkowitz.

Looking for a cool custom background for one of these editions - and inspired by the utterly beautiful 'graphic user interfaces' that some these guys specialize in - I found a very ordinary electronic diagram, and abstractified it until it started to look interesting. 

It's like any other collage. You chop / rotate / mirror / cut / paste / edit , according to the configurations that suit your personal sense of balance.

Like a Rorschach test, you start to think you can see things amongst all the lines and shapes.

Below: Alternative Iteration, 2013

For example, to me, the picture above evokes an eerie A.I. version of the Turin Shroud. 

( Detail below ).

Shortly afterwards, I was still in this mode when I submitted one of the many iterations to Bucketfeet...lo and behold, it's now a shoe!

Below: Alternative Iteration, 2014