James Roper, one of our Tank Theory Artist Society contributors, shot over info on a new show he's exhibiting in, called Surface Tension. James' work always blows our minds, so don't miss this opportunity to check out his work.  Anyone in Dallas should go and check it out! Info below...

 

SURFACE PATTERN, a group show featuring works by Dean Monogenis, Pepa Prieto, Misato Suzuki, Thomas Spoerndle, Morgan Blair, Lucas Martell, John Guthrie, James Roper, Jessy Nite, Eddie Villanueva, Books Bischof, and Maxomatic.
Within this survey of abstraction, each artist examines the rich complexity of form, color, and line; defining and reinventing the surface of each composition.

Departing from representational accuracy, pre-existing forms are exaggerated or simplified; challenging the audiences perception, transforming visual language, and posing meaningful contradictions. From fluid and organic to geometric and methodical, each surface is carefully structured to reflect an array of visual stimulus. Some works are playful and inviting, others meditative or incongruous; yet all fixating and enticing the viewers neurological attraction.
The goal of each pattern is to exist without reference from the visual world. The goal of each surface is to amplify or displace each pattern, transforming otherwise disparate images into carefully constructed visual stimuli.  Methodical, meditative, intuitive, visceral, and calculated. As Arshile Gorky so eloquently put it, “ ..Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.”

Opening: May 12th, 6pm - 10pm

May 12th - June 16th 2012 at:

Circuit 12 Contemporary
1130 Dragon St. Suite 150
Dallas Texas 75207
USA

We are getting samples of the new tshirt line as we speak! We'll be releasing 3-4 each month starting June 1, so keep those eyes peeled.. Below is a sneek peak of one of the new designs.. the Tank Theory Black Ops!

Thought it would be cool to post the rough sketches working up to the final Manuscript tshirt. Most Tank Theory designs all begin right there in the old sketchbook...

First rough sketch..

Second tighter sketch..

Working it on the computer after scanning the sketch in....

We settled on this for the final composition and color scheme.. There are still a few of these available in our shop!

From the design lab (aka Zach's sketchbook).. a neat little Tank Theory verbage lockup.. good idea but ultimately this design falls into the Design Fail catergory. Why?  Mainly, because in the end, it felt a little too "sewn by grandma" look.. 

Struttin his stuff...

We have an AP print variant of Captain Super TT up for grabs.. along with some stickers.  Visit our facebook page and leave a comment for a chance to win it!

An homage to every naked girl tshirt on the market.. we got that too!  Just kidding, this will never be released, although we think it would probably kill it in sales!

Did the Skull Block exist way back in the 1500s?? Did Andreas Vesalius have the forsight when writing and illustrating his influential "On the Structure of the Human Body"?  Could be...

One of our fans sent through some images of this custom, hand painted Skull Block Zippo he created based upon the Tank Theory icon.. This is great David, thanks!  We should think about getting some of these made for ourselves..

The stencil print version of Captain Super TT is now available in the shop! They are being offered for $100 each. Creating this edition of 15 unique stenciled prints was an extremely labor intensive process but at the same time was really really fun.  Four separate stencils were cut by hand, one for each layer. We bounced between spraying the yellow, red and blue layers first, creating variations in color, hand splatters and color fades.  The black layer was sprayed last, sometimes again with color fades and splatters. The last move was numbering, signing and embellishing each of the 15 with silver paint marker.