West Berlin Gallery presents a group exhibition of the artist collectiv ‚Blood Sweat Vector’, running from November 13th to December 12th 2009. For the first time works by members of online-community Blood Sweat Vector will be brought together in the rooms of a gallery.

123Klan: We got the skills to pay the bills
Based on geometric variables like points, lines and curves and their composites in form of polygones, today computer generated vector graphics are an essential part of visual communication and illustration. Blood Sweat Vector, founded in 2008 by the designers Jared Nickerson (aka J3Concepts) and Brad Mahaffey as a platform for news, portfolios, recommendations and artistic exchange, is today one of the biggest networks for vectordesign. Some of the most important international vector artists are among the members. Blood Sweat Vector sees itself as an open channel for communication which encourages instant feedback and allows for interaction between likeminded designers.
All Blood Sweat vector members are highly regarded internationally and can look back on several cooperations, doing design for vinyl toys, skateboards, video games or fashion. In their portfolios you will find clients like Louis Vuitton, Kid Robot, Eastpack, MTV, Adidas, Sony, Artoyz and publications in magazines like Modart, WAD, Juxtapoz and many more.

Tokyocandies: Sweet Nightmare

In assembling an international selection of multifaceted styles the exhibition provides an overview of contemporary artistic vectordesign. The exhibition features works of more than 20 renowned artists, among them such staple names as Niark1 (France), 123Klan (Canada), Cuypi (France), Sheena Aw (Singapore), Maria Vittoria Benatti (Italy), J3Concepts (USA), Loungekat (Melbourne), Sublevel (Munich), Keuj (France), Tokyocandies (Italy), Charuca (Barcelona) and many more…

Niark1: Dead End

Join us for the Vernissage on Thursday, November 12th, starting 19:00. Some of the artists will be around, as well as Blood Sweat Vector founders Jared Nickerson and Brad Mahaffey.
42Below will care for excellent cocktails again and for the first time we will have DJs spinning, West Berlin Gallery’s own Guillaume aka DJ One (also founder of Vinyl kills MP3) back to back on the decks with Tatjana.
We are looking forward to see you on thursday, in the meantime also link up to the Facebook event :)

Blood Sweat Vector is an online artist community which brings together some of the highest regarded vector artists in the world. Founded in 2008 it serves as a platform for news, recommendations, portfolios and artistic exchange.

West Berlin Gallery is very happy to show a group exhibition with an international line-up of artists like Sublevel, Niark1, Sheena Aw, 123Klan, Short, Maria Vittoria Benatti, J3Concepts, Tougui, Cuypi, Loungekat, Keuj, Los Fokos, Tokyocandies, Charuca and many more…

Watch out for more infos coming soon…

‘Heads’, acrylic and ink on carton

Hey Martin, how are you doing? Would you like to introduce yourself? What should we know about you?
I’m fine, thanks. My name is Martin Krusche, I’m 27 and I work as an Illustrator.  I’m mainly working for my own brand Yackfou, but i also do many free stuff, like paintings, free illustrations and ink sketchings. You can see some examples in the upcoming exhibition.

First tell me, how comes your special interest in ‚Ugly & Drippy’ things?
I like ‚Ugly&Drippy’ because I’m just attracted by raw, unfinished and even unaesthetic things. Our life is very ‚overaesteticised’ and in art/graphics we always try to create very beautiful things as well. This contrast between the Ugly and Imperfect and the Beautiful is always very charming for me and influences the style of my illustrations a lot.

Do you like the way the contestants worked on the ‚Ugly & Drippy’ topic?
Yes, basically I’m very satisfied with their adaption of the topic. But I was really surprised that almost all contestants just worked on the motif of ‚Ugly & Drippy’ and didn’t use it as a technical approach.

And what do you think about combining your works with the contest designs in an exhibition?
I like that very much, super! Actually I really like group exhibitions, and if there’s a topic above all, I’m always all excited! So you can see how different people pick up a topic and work on it. I’m looking forward to the exhibition…

What inspires your works?
I’m inspired by everything. I don’t have any particular examples or heroes or anything like that. Of course I go to see exhibitions, check magazines, books and blogs, but that’s not the only input. Everything I experience all day or leave impressions can affect my work.

Can you describe your workflow? For me it was a really interesting point that your designs rely a lot on analogue handwork with ink and pen.
Yes, that’s right. I like the feeling of producing something by hand. And I like the haptics and optics of analoguely sketched illustrations much more than the relatively cool and mathematic layout of digital works.
But regarding the workflow: I draw a lot, which serves as a foundation for elaborated illustrations. Mostly i take good drafts and enhance them until I judge them as good as in the sketchbook. Then I enlarge them and do a black and white final drawing on the light box. These I will scan and colour the ink sketching digital.

You are often working with the contrast of black-white and colored details. That makes most of your designs highly recognizable.
You are right. The reason for this is the way I work – basically inking the illustration in black and white.

‘Smokerface’

As you are socialised with Graffiti, in which way does it influence your work today?
Hardly intentional, as I’m not thinking: How would this work on a wall or something like that. But indirectly or unconsciously I would say that a certain sense for letters, size, colours and forms is rooted in this graffiti aesthetic somehow.

Why did you decide to focus on designs for clothing? You are running your own clothes brand Yackfou…
It wasn’t a deliberate decision, things just turned out like that.
In the beginning i just wanted to use my abilities for creating a product, which is beyond the duration of a flyer or a website but, like a T-shirt does, shapes a phase in one’s life and your everyday life in a very intense way. But over the course of time me and the fabric became friends, so my focus automatically came to rest upon it!

Thanks a lot for your time, Martin, and we are happy to show your work here at West Berlin Gallery!
Thank you too.

If you are now curious to see more of Martin’s work and the results of the laFraise ‚Ugly & drippy’ contest, join us on the opening tomorrow, starting at 7pm. We will care for nice music and 42Below will serve you with tasty and boozing drinks. If you can’t make it, the exhibition will run until November 06th. In any case check Martin’s blog and laFraise for the shirt designs.

You can see more pics of the painting session on our flickr…