Four&Sons
Dogs and
culture collide
On the road
by Samantha Gurrie
Theron Humphrey and his coonhound copilot, Maddie, are road-tripping across America again, this time to capture adoption stories on photo and film for his new project, Why We Rescue.
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Portlandia
Portland is the Williamsburg of the West coast. And Portlandia, the cult comedy series starring SNL’s Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, brings the irony with side-splitting sketches about the city’s offbeat denizens (hirsute mixologists) and boho environs (feminist bookstores). Season 3 just wrapped, but you can get the Portlandia trinity at the iTunes Summer Sale this week. Need instant gratification? Watch this sketch from Season 2 about a couple of cuckoo pet parents at the dog park. There’s always one…
Recommended by Samantha Gurrie, Writer
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Welcome to my world!
Artist and musician Daniel Johnston is nothing short of a cult icon. He counts Beck, Kurt Cobain and the Flaming Lips as fans. His songs about unrequited love will tug at your heart strings. And his idiosyncratic drawings offer a glimpse at the quiet genius within. In the midst of a European tour, Johnston squeezed in an exhibition at Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland, which will feature familiar characters like Jeremiah the frog, Joe the boxer and Casper the ghost. Until 30 June 2013.
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Free run
by João Bento
Julia Schlosser, a Los Angeles-based artist, art historian and educator, belongs to a new category of artists looking at domestic animals in a non-sentimental way. In her photographic series Roam, Schlosser digs deep in an LA off-leash dog park.
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Dreamscapes
Tim Walker has shot for Vogue and Vanity Fair, but the fashion photographer has also been known to dabble in British Surrealism. In the 26 photographs exhibited at the UK’s Bowes Museum, ball gowns impart an alien luminescence, beds teeter on tree tops and flying saucers lead a fox hunt. Walker’s work is at once spellbinding and spine-tingling. Until 13 September 2013.
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My Dog Tulip
We all fret and fuss over our pets, but J.R. Ackerley takes his consternation to the next level. In My Dog Tulip, an animated short film adapted from the British writer’s 1956 memoir, Ackerley wonders if his German shepherd has a headache and worries that her clock is ticking to have puppies. It’s a bittersweet tale about a man and the four-legged love of his life. Voices by Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini.
Recommended by Samantha Gurrie, Writer
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Between Worlds
Between Worlds’ animal-like children offer both a recognisable form and one of rarity and intrigue. These mysterious creatures by celebrated Australian photomedia artist Polixeni Papapetrou, photographed in natural and man-crafted settings, are concurrently beautiful and unsettling to the eye. The Centre of Contemporary Photography in Melbourne presents a survey show of Papapetrou’s work until 14 July 2103.
Recommended by Christina Teresinski, Best in Park
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It’s a Pug Life
Brooklynite Courtney Andujar is on a mission to document every pug in New York. But instead of snapping pictures to post on her blog, the graphic designer records the details of her encounters with the little squashed-faced canines of the big city in the form of a quick sketch. Her Tumblr features cartoons of pugs in all sorts of situations from sniffing bottoms to buying booze to riding in a stroller. Courtney says of her motivation: “There are so many pugs here, and they all have so much personality and style… I think every pug is worthy of a comic and try to document every pug I see.”
Recommended by Amy Freeborn, Journalist
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Off the Leash
by Emma Guthrie
Cartoonist Rupert Fawcett is an old hat in the genre, his trademark wit and warmth prevalent across the board. We spoke to Fawcett about his latest project, Off the Leash.
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Best in show
Visual artist Robert Clarke has been on a voyage of canine discovery since overcoming his lifelong fear of dogs with the girlfriend-prompted purchase of a Jack Russell puppy. Clarke says the emotional turn-around was “a religious experience of sorts”, and it has been inspiring his work ever since. “I try to capture the essence of the dog. When I meet the dog, I gauge its playfulness and its attitude… Each dog has a different personality; I try to capture that in paint.” An exhibition of 42 of Clarke’s canine canvases, Best In Show, is on now at London’s Cricket Fine Art gallery and runs until June 1st.
Recommended by Amy Freeborn, Journalist
For more information click here