A little chat with BSV founders Brad & Jared
In between all the preparing for the Blood Sweat Vector exhibition, after hanging canvases, drilling holes and fixing lights, I had a little talk with BSV founders Jared Nickerson and Brad Mahaffey. Read what they told me about BSV..
Hi guys, let’s get straight to the core: what’s the idea behind BLOOD SWEAT VECTOR?
To create a community where artists could communicate and gain publicity through a combined public medium. The artists at BSV were specifically invited to participate, with adding their news, updates, and other general vector news because of the respect they garner in the international vector community.
As BSV is strictly based on invitation, how do you choose the members?
We selectively invite members based on work history, popularity, and our personal taste.
How many artists are involved at the moment?
We currently have 36 artists participating.
I really like that there are so many diverse styles at BSV, you get a really good impression of how different artistic expression can be exhibited within vector design…
Definitely. We try to select artists with many varying styles so we have a little something for everyone to enjoy. What remains consistent is the quality of the artists and their work, which is reflected by the BSV exhibition.
This is the first exhibition in a gallery that shows your community as a group – what plans do you have for the future? Are there more exhibitions or other collaborations planned?
We definitely hope so! Immediate plans for the future include a possible exhibition in Vancouver, CA. As for collaborations, we have some upcoming vinyl toys and playing cards planned with a few selected BSV artists.
And what are you two doing apart from BSV? Tell us a little bit about your daily business…
Brad: Apart from my BSV activities, with Vanillagreen I specialize in graphic and web design/development work, independently contracted with clients on a case-by-case basis. I also run Zidalgo, a premium wordpress theme outlet.
Jared: I run my own design studio, J3Concepts, based out of Seattle, WA. I’m also the art director for laFraise. I also like long walks on the beach, and vigorous hand-jobs.
You are in Berlin at the moment and will attend the opening of the show – are you excited?
Of course! We are very pleased so far in the preparation and promotion of the exhibition. It will run for a whole month, and should be great exposure for everyone involved, as well as the BSV platform.
Thanks a lot, Jared and Brad, we really appreciate to have you here at West Berlin Gallery!
And you all don’t miss the chance to talk to Brad and Jared in person, meet them tomorrow at the ‘WEST BERLIN GALLERY presents BLOOD SWEAT VECTOR’ opening. See you there :)
Blood Sweat Vector – Opening this Thursday
Only 3 days to go until we celebrate the big opening of our eagerly awaited next exhibition: WEST BERLIN GALLERY presents BLOOD SWEAT VECTOR…
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 :)
West Berlin Gallery presents Blood Sweat Vector
We are really happy and excited to announce our upcoming collaboration with Blood Sweat Vector!
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…
2011 West Berlin Gallery