Oh My God! was the first Art Car created by artist and filmmaker Harrod Blank. At the age of 16, Blank became embarrassed by the blandness of his all-white Volkswagen and painted a rooster on the driver’s door. He never stopped decorating the car, which ultimately served as the springboard to his career in building Art Cars and documenting the Art Car movement.

Unusual Life is based here in Seattle, and we’re excited because Harrod Blank is bringing “Oh My God!” all the way from the Art Car World Museum in Douglas AZ to Seattle for the Art Car Blow Out. The film “Automorphosis” will play Thursday June 17th at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle at 7 and 9 pm where “Oh My God!” and other art cars will be parked outside. Then he will attend the Seattle Art Car Blow Out from the 18th -20th at the Fremont Fair and the film will show again on the 21st at the Central Cinema at 7 pm. The filmmaker and other art car artists will be in attendance.

So if you live anywhere near Seattle, please stop by. Unusual Life will be in the Mighty Mighty Elvismobile, so stop by and say Hello!

Shepard Fairey  •  May Day

Recap – Opening in NYC at Deitch Projects – May 1st, 2010

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•  Click here to see the whole story, with lots of event photos and videos  •

Shepard Fairey’s current show at the Deitch Projects will be the last exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch’s groundbeaking SoHo gallery.  After a decade of presenting art here, the doors will close on May 29th. Deitch has been appointed the directorship of L.A’s MoCA.  You should catch this show if you’re in NY before May 29th.

Shepard Fairey’s illustrious career is highlighted in this ambitious exhibition, a fitting New York finale for the Deitch Projects. An impressive body of work is shown here, prolific in intent, from the artist who’s iconic red, white, and blue Obama/Hope campaign has made Shepard Fairey a household name, and made his style a deliberate viral cultural brand upon the brain of society’s visual literacy. Pure genius!

The opening night of this event was an epic art mob scene. The lines to get in extended for blocks, stopping traffic on Wooster St. for hours.  Artists, collectors, fans, and excited hipsters were out in force in the hot and humid night looking to catch a glimpse of the magic that was in the air.   - JD

•  Click here to see the whole story, with lots of event photos and videos  •

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On April 29th, 2010, we at Unusual Life were thrilled to attend the gala opening of The Gay 90′s, the newest set of masterpieces by artist Mark Ryden. The show is at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York City. You can see the full show of 5 paintings, and 18 watercolors and drawing studies online at the Kasmin Gallery website, or in person at the gallery thru June 10th, 2010. 

Guests attending the opening were asked to dress in the Olde Tyme theme. Mark’s friends and supporters showed up from all over the country, ready to congratulate him on yet another remarkable body of work. The crowd was thick with artists, creatives, and smiling admirers.  

-  Click here for many fun photos from the opening celebration!  -

-  Click here for many fun photos from the opening celebration!  -

Museu Dalí de Figueres. Dalí Museum of Figueres. SERIE 01, originally uploaded by ¡arturii!.

A short train ride from Barcelona takes you to Figueres and the fantastical Dali Theatre and Museum. Even lining up to get in, you know you’re in for an intriguing visit.

From Wikipedia : “The Dalí Theatre and Museum (Teatre-Museu Dalí in Catalan language), is a museum of the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia.

The heart of the museum was the building that housed the town’s theatre when Dalí was a child, and where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí’s art was shown. The old theater was bombed in the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin for decades until Dalí and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town’s most famous son in 1960. The museum also occupies buildings and courtyards adjacent to the old theater building.”

Dali Museum

Well folks, Jana has done it again and in honor of Elvis’ 75th birthday may I share with you “The Elvis Aaron Presley Cake”!

See more of Jana’s Fun Cakes here.

OK, I want my own trilobite vehicle. Who doesn’t? This is The Electrobite Olenoides, A Trilobite Vehicle which Jon Sarriugarte and Kyrsten Mate of Form & Reform created from an electric wheelchair to get around at Burning Man 2009. Watch the Boing Boing Video below to check it out, and here’s a Flickr Set of the build process. Giddyup!

We’ve posted previously about the incredible performance art pieces by France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company, and now they’ve outdone themselves once again with a stunning land and sea performance earlier this week. This is part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin wall. Check out the photos below, and the beautiful set of 35 photos just posted on The Big Picture. Please read the beautiful story associated with those pictures. Also check out the videos below and many more through the video links. Art and spectacle at it’s best. Pure magic!

The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor community art environment located in Detroit. The elements of the canvas contain recycled materials and found objects, most of which were salvaged from the streets and each work of art is carefully devised to tell a story about current issues plaguing society. As a whole, the Heidelberg Project is symbolic of how many communities in Detroit have become discarded.

The HP is the brainchild of native Detroit artist, Tyree Guyton. It began in 1986 and was originally designed as a creative response to ongoing blight and decay in the neighborhood in which he grew up.

The Heidelberg Project, as it came to be known, developed into a block long environment consisting of free standing found-object constructions and abandoned buildings and trees adorned with found objects. Much of the area and works are are simplistically painted upon with multi-colored polka dots being the signature icon.

The Heidelberg Project

We’ve featured the Walker Rock Garden in Seattle here before on Unusual Life. Here’s a jodavideo taken recently when we revisited there.

Read more about the Walker Rock Garden here.

Cakeland is a sculptural installation resembling a collection of perfect delicious cakes– wall mounted, hanging and standing– a walk-through cake environment complete with its own lighting. It is a sweet refuge, an endless kaleidoscopic landscape of cake, a respite from the grinding realities of the outside world.

The sculptures have all of the appeal of the best cake you have ever tasted, but can never be eaten. Whereas the nature of edible cake is fleeting, lasting only as long as the brief celebration it was made for, these cakes last as long as the artist or society have the wherewithal to preserve them, in order that they remain a place of pilgrimage, a seemingly idyllic oasis.

Cakeland was created by Oakland artist Scott Hove.

At first glance, these images look like painted landscapes covered in snow. However, if you look a little more closely you will see that the landscape is made of bacon and other cold cuts. These aren’t paintings but true photos! Also everything you can see in the photograph is made of real food! Pictures were photographed by Carl Warner, a photographer who works in London, and who made specialty of these food landscapes or how I like to call them – ‘foodscapes’. In recent years he has been commissioned by many advertising agencies throughout Europe to produce his distinctive images for clients in the food industry. Each scene is photographed in layers from foreground to background.

It’s the New Year! Sure, the big December blockbuster holidays are over. But, the rest of the year has no shortage of neat and unique holidays to brighten up those cold winter days. While you are stuck indoors and have a little time on your hands, explore some of the years less-heralded days at Holiday Insights.

And don’t miss your opportunity to download the original Rangerville 2009 calendar, full of art cars, folk art, installation art, sculptures, bizarre and unusual holidays and wackyness for the whole year.

If you missed the opening, don’t worry, you can drop by anytime to the Official Bad Art Museum of Art at Cafe Racer because it’s now open from 7am until 2am, 7 days a week. Stop by for lunch or dinner or a cold one after work and view the stupendous art.
• Video by Marlow •

From Emily Duffy, about her visit to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco:

Last weekend I went back to the De Young with some of the local crafty ArtCar wimmin. I got some photos of those amazing gun/bullet sculptures by Al Farrow (along with some other stuff) though still not able to get sneak shots of the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit.

View entire Flickr photo set HERE.

Hats off to Kelly Lyles for the tip.

Peace on Earth. Please!