This week's cover by multimodal artist Adam R. Garcia was an extension of his original graphics, which were designed for last year's Soundset Festival. See how his process transformed the funky original 2D characters into glorious 3D. 

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Mini Prince by the lake

​His name is Le Petit Prince, and he is funky in a big way despite being about 12 inches tall. He's the creation of Seattle-based artist Troy Gua, who is a obviously a major Prince fan -- at least enough to create a fantastically accurate scale model of The Artist and a ton of props and cool outfits for him.

Slideshow: Le Petit Prince and his many outfits

Le Petit Prince was made in late 2011 to lighten up and redirect Gua's creative output, which he says had gotten cynical. Much of his work has been celebrated throughout the Seattle area and fuses together a charming pop culture perspective that seems in flux between adoring and skeptical. The Le Petit Prince project stands out as an intricate and humorous homage to the icon and as such has gotten a lot of love from megafans.

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SevenSpoon.com

​ "Seven Spoon" is a cartoon character created by Chicago native Shala Akintunde, but if you call her that you'll get a verbal smack -- either from the bratty 2-D character on the page or quick-witted Shala himself.

See, Shala considers Seven, who is drawn to be 14 years old, a mouthpiece for the jilted generation. If we had to pigeonhole her character (which she prefers over "cartoon"), we'd say she's a merger of Boondocks and Daria.
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City Pages

This week's cover image was shot by world renowned artist Alec Soth.

​It's not every day that a fine artist of Alec Soth's caliber deems fit to grace the cover of a local alternative weekly. But that's just what happened with this week's City Pages.

For the cover of our annual Artists of the Year issue, Soth--himself one of the honorees--agreed to shoot Emily Johnson, a choreographer whose arresting dance is featured on the Northrup stage.

How did this happen? And who decided to bring the fish?

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The Twin Cities are so cool. It seems like every other day something inventive, innovative and inspiring pops up, and summer's fertile ground is the perfect catalyst for high levels of creative

photo courtesy of Joseph Belk

​activity. Enter CO Exhibitions. As the Dressing Room reported last week, this new Northeast gallery is about to enter our hemisphere -- and it's a doozy! A collaborative effort between the art rockstars at Burlesque of North America/First Amendment Gallery and curator/art instigator Joseph Belk of design collective Permanent, CO Exhibitions certainly has the street cred and the know-how to make big things happen -- and big things are already slated for this summer and beyond. With a kick off exhibition featuring the artwork of the Twin Cities most beloved hip hop crew, Doomtree, this first impression is definitely one that will make one hell of an impact. The Dressing Room had a nice chat with co-ringleader Joseph Belk, a man who has had his talented fingers in some of the coolest exhibits and installations in the cities over the past couple of years including Save Canvas, Sweet Hair, The Slow Mirror & The Metronome and more. This week, he talks Co gallery, Doomtree, and of course, the local art scene.

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Minnesota-bred filmmaker Phil Harder has directed music videos for everyone from Prince to Hilary Duff, but his heart lies with the local legends who helped bring his talents to the eyes of many. An early career that spawned videos for iconic acts such as The Jayhawks, Soul Asylum,

courtesy of Phil Harder

​Rifle Sport, Babes in Toyland, and, of course, Low, Harder's keen eye and creative concepts have made a tangible impact in the local scene and beyond. The now-big shot has since gone on to direct commercials for giants such as Apple (yes, the dancing ipod silhouettes!), the NHL and HP, among many others, but this weekend at the Duluth edition of the Sound Unseen Music & Film Festival, he returns to his roots with LOW MOVIE, a yet-unnamed cinematic masterpiece that is neither music video or documentary. Gems from the early days of the Duluth-based band have been unearthed from Harder's collection of raw, unedited material and --  with the help of over a dozen colorists and editors -- an artistic musical mashup has been created. The film is a mixed bag of rare, never-before-seen footage and music video clips set to the backdrop of Low's minimalist sound. It's an homage, an ode, a what-ever-you-want-to-call-it -- just don't call it a "documentary." More »

It's been a minute since Minneapolis has been treated to a showing of new work by artist and Rosalux Gallery director Terrence Payne. And to local art aficionados, the saying "absence makes the heart

photo by Teri Anvid

​ grow fonder" has never rung more true. This Saturday at south Minneapolis gallery, Umber Studios, Payne will debut a fresh fleet of artistic wonders to the public. His signature style of demurely skewed oil pastel illustrations flocked with enticing patterns remains in play, though the subject matter tends to take a more nostalgic spin. In the new series, tripped out 1950s boyhood kitsch merges with the artist's lush design aesthetic, and portraits dappled with sad, doe-eyed characters hint at odd tales waiting to be told.

The exhibit, entitled Pick Me Up, will feature large scale works by Payne as well as smaller, silk-screened pieces. The reception runs from 8-11pm and is free and open to the public. T-Payne dished to the Dressing Room this week about the new show and the future of the temporarily closed Rosalux Gallery...



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Put on your arty-pants (no, not the Zubaz) and make your way to the Northeast Arts District this weekend for a flurry of creative activity! Unless you've been living under a rock for the past

Photo by ArtOrg Northfield on flickr

​ 15 years, odds are you have been to or at least heard of Art-A-Whirl. The annual Northeast-based art crawl spans an entire district, with thousands upon thousands of artistic treasures just waiting to be discovered. From big warehouse buildings packed with artists' studios to off-the-beaten-path home studio gems, this epic event just keeps getting bigger and better with each passing year. Started by a handful of marketing-savvy artists 15 years ago, the annual fest has gone from a party at the Thorp Building to the top art buying destination for collectors state-wide. Behind this behemoth is an army of hundreds of artists led by The Northeast Minneapolis Art Association (NEMAA), the non-profit neighborhood organization that publicizes Art-A-Whirl as a whole, produces the handy-dandy artist directory, and sets up info booths and trolleys -- all the while acting as an indispensable hub for said army of artists to connect, promote and get involved. This week, the Dressing Room chats with NEMAA board president and Northeast artist, Jeff Lohaus, about the origins of Art-A-Whirl and more...

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With Art-A-Whirl quickly approaching, May 14-16, our Dressing Room media partners at l'étoile thought it proper to clue you in on some awesome artists who will be showing their work this year! Each week over the past month or so, l'étoile has been spotlighting Northeast artists in anticipation of the annual neighborhood-wide art crawl -- the largest event of its kind in the U.S. This week, l'étoile staffer Lauren Gantner spotlights painter Susan Opitz. More »

MyLifetime.com

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