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Sasha De La Cruz AKA MUT INC.
February 2012
Facebook

MUT INC. pretty much means different mix of life. so if you love comic books, cartoons old school and new school, graffiti, animals, so on you'll enjoy my art..So this is the understanding of my logo and graffiti name. now i was born on friday the 13 in 1988. i went through alot in my life. by the age of 8 i begin to draw. i started graffiti in high school. once i left school my mind was set on become known as an artist as well as an street artist. i love art and never been picky with it. just thinking that art is everywhere makes my day. with my art i want people 2 understand the street art, my mind, the love of stuff in my life that makes me happy. not only for adults but kids 2 open more 2 the world.

Kevin Ilaqua
March 2012
http://kevinartmonkey.blogspot.com/

A senior at Montserrat College of Art, Kevin is working towards his BFA in Illustration. If you should like to contact kevin then email him at kilacqua97@krock.com.

"My life revolves around what I can produce with my imagination and the moments and people that inspire me."

Jennifer Schminke
April 2012
www.jenniferschminke.com

"The goal in my work is to tell a “sketch story,” one that is left slightly open for interpretation. It is important to me that my art doesn’t hide its history. I want to present a path through layers, of covered ‘mistakes’ and revealed treasures. This layering, to me, is an important part of life, which I try to reflect in my process. I feel that my work holds a rough draft or sketch-like quality similar to that of a journal; not fully polished and revealing a trail of the choices I make."

"There is a partnership in my art, an action and re-action that takes place between me and the materials I use. I am inspired by texture, layers and form, by hidden beauty and quiet strength, by lush organic images of nature and mundane everyday objects. I look to bring these things together in a new world, one with an eerie romantic, or even ridiculous, notion."

Chris "Tallboy" Coulons
May 2012
www.tallboyart.com

My name is Chris Coulon. I'm from Lynn, Massachusetts. I make illustrative art under the name TALLBOY. My biggest inspirations come from skateboarding, comic books, gory movies, metal and beer. Here's a quote that my friend Noel wrote for me that I think is really nice...

"I’ve long since been an advocate of the “cold call” when it comes to verbally interacting with strangers for the first time. Through this simple act one can find out a lot about the person on the other end of the line. In this specific instance one of the most rewarding random phone calls I ever made was to a friend of a friend of a friend named Chris. What began as a way to pass the time later became a full on friendship with one of the hardest working New England based artists of this generation. Chris possesses two characteristics that I wish more of us would attempt to grasp; one being the ability to laugh at ourselves and the other being the ability to pull comedic undertones and hilarity out of fear, darkness and gore. His body of work at large is a versatile multi-media exploration of what people think about on their deathbeds, teenage alcoholism and horror films. If Chris has taught me anything it’s that only dead fish go with the flow…"

-Noel Sinclair Boyt

Andrew Marathas
June 2012
www.andrewmarathas.com

Previous show at the Gulu

Artist Statement
The hope that I have for my work is that it's received well by people who appreciate my slight and severe nods toward the world around us through portraiture and metaphor. My hope is that the work connects with people, that it stays fresh as one piece lends to the next, that the work, ultimately, allows for a kind of consideration for classic themes and creativity that refreshes and inspires. As it stands, the process is a satisfying and time-consuming hobby that may or may not pay the bills.

Meghann Brideau
July 2012
www.meghannbrideauart.com

I spent my childhood roaming Singing Beach (and a few beaches in Magnolia and Maine) in search of undiscovered creatures lurking in the depths of the ocean and the sand. I learned to hold my breath, open my eyes without goggles, shimmy through pre-hurricaine waves, and make my best attempts at turning part mermaid. While I did not grow fins, nor did I meet these creatures on the ocean floor, this did not stop me and my imagination. 

I ignored my strongest ideas for quite some time after college, feebly attempting painting people and subjects that didn't interest me. I pushed to illustrate what I thought other people wanted me to paint. I had a breakthrough, watching Blue Planet.  Watching the cameras descend so deep to a place where some of fish won't develop eyes because there is no light in which vision is useful. Unless, of course, these creatures made their own source of light. Watching these glowing jellies and anglers fade in and out of the camera's field reminded me of what I had been looking for all those years. Shortly thereafter, I painted my first jellyfish. While I still explore more directions in my art, I always return to my curiosity of the ocean and all the treasures it contains.

Please visit www.meghannbrideau.blogspot.com or www.meghannbrideauart.com to keep up with my paintings! Or visit me in person at 86 Joy Street, Studio 32, Somerville, MA: May 5-6th, Noon to 6pm during Somerville Open Studios.

Laura Rooney
August 2012
www.softasrocks.com

Laura got her start in the art world with the macaroni necklace, but things really cranked up at Skidmore College where she got her B.S. in Studio Art. The Soft as Rocks studio effort began in 2010 and we’re happy that 2011 is bringing the studio online.

Artist Statement(s)

1) painting playfully is fun and expressive.
2) I can’t find a better way to explore wobbly winding world of relationships.
3) the bigger the crayon box the better.
4) art doesn’t have to be dark and moody to be meaningful.
5) I’d like to make YOU something splendid.

Mori Clark
September 2012
mori-art.tumblr.com

Mori is a twenty-two year old illustration senior at Montserrat College of Art. She likes fondue and coffee and music where she doesn't understand the words.

Shei also manages plaid kitten collective, her inspiration blog.

Lucas Custer
October 2012
kingdomofthezodiac.com

Pix from Lucas' last Gulu Show

All material has been retired, rescued and repurposed.
These orphans have been adopted. I have cleaned them and 
dressed them in my own clothing. I have encouraged them to
use words from my own vocabulary. 

These paintings are my concerns. 
They are warnings.
They are reminders that humans share the earth.

We share it with each other.
We share it with the animals.
We share it with our refuse and debris.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Originally from Texas, Lucas Custer graduated from Montserrat College of Art in 2003 where he studied graphic design.  Living in Salem over the past seven years has afforded him the opportunity to acquire abandoned artifacts which he gives new life in his work.

Dan Blakeslee

The last great American Renaissance man is gone, but his likeness lives on the shores of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Equal parts musician and artist, Dan Blakeslee's soul core is woven from the fabric of his surroundings. More specifically, the tangled fields and forests from the town where he was raised, South Berwick, Maine. This enchanted farming community also schizophrenically possesses an artist's spirit, which, is embedded deep within him.

After attending the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Blakeslee ventured northward to Boston. He toiled with his acoustic in the smoke-laden subways before slowly rolling his influences (Leonard Cohen, Red House Painters, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, Vic Chestnut, Radiohead, Tom Waits and the aforementioned Cash) into his own eclectic blend of music with chameleon-like appeal.

Scott King

Fed up with their country that now consisted of only two political parties, comprised mostly of stupid Bigfoots and Yetis, the youth felt the need to create a new political party: The Dance Party. The Romantic Era known as the 80’s had come to a screeching halt and nobody was throwing ‘classic game’ with clay on a potter’s wheel anymore. Instead, romance had moved into mainstream clubs where it was expressed through the purchase of hundred dollar bottles of booze for people that aspired to look like plastic super models. Pop Stars such as Lady BlahBlah were offering little to no real inspiration as they ranted mindless gibberish over mass-produced beats. Religious agendas had spread like wildfire across the land, leaving the youth wondering if God was just another ‘Baby Daddy’ that had run out on Mary. Meanwhile, street artists such as Shepard Fairey where hard at work spreading Phenomenology, a science intended to awaken the people and inspire then to question their surroundings. Lawsuits ensued as The Bigfoot Press tried to regain control of the masses.

The Dance Party, underwhelmed by the ridiculous barrage of consumerism and media, took to warehouses where they created art and danced up there own version of the American Dream.

>>> Gulu Artist Alumni