Художник ARGH!! представляет сюрреалистичные работы и политические сатиры на ярмарке искусств в Ричмонде

You Nearly Missed: ARGH!! at the Richmond Art Market I was given two shits by ARGH!!. They're in a jar on my bookshelf: two plastic turds with googly eyes in a disturbingly cloudy mayonnaise container and the words "Two shits by ARGH!!" written on the bottom. I suspect they were meant as a visual pun by the artist, commenting on my caring at least two-turds-worth about his work, as I occasionally come to see him at his oddball art shows, which few people do. "I never see anybody I know at the shows—except you & Ed,", the artist know as ARGH!! has been known to gripe. "Only comic book & toy nerds—my people." The Ed in question is Stab'Em in the Abdomen/MeBats frontman Ed Hurrell, who sometimes makes music with ARGH!! (that is not a double-entendre; I have a CD by them, credited to Famous Monsters of Richmond). I wonder if ARGH!! gave him two shits, too? Even though said toy nerds enjoy his work, their comments are along the lines of, "Cool, but my wife would kill me if i brought that home." And where ARGH!! tackles Trump--as in an art piece which depicts Trump as a king with a turd jammed into his mouth—he gets comments from American visitors like "Somebody would shoot you if you were in the States". "One frowning guy said, 'You don’t like Trump?'” As with my two shits, ARGH's art is often vividly 3D: pop-culture-rich toy boxes that assemble toys and other bits of pop culture iconography, from Yogi Bear to Campbell's soup cans, to make sometimes quite witty and surreal statements. Pictured is one such box jampacked with visual references to Black Sabbath songs, including a pig with a war helmet and a faerie in boots; how many others can you spot? There are also 2D pieces of work, including postcards and photo collages and doodles of Joe Don Baker or other obscure heroes, which he displays at his shows. One such piece hangs in my apartment above our cat's litterbox, showing Felix the Cat tiptoeing past a nuclear test in the desert while Rango (the Johnny Depp voiced animated lizard who is done up to evoke Hunter S. Thompson) looks out at the viewer with more fear than loathing. Behind Felix's head is a psychedelic patch meant to evoke blotter acid, I think. The piece is entitled "Trippin' in the Valley of Death" and I traded it ARGH!! for it for a signed copy of Ed Sanders' memoir Fug You (he also gave me an unsigned copy of the book in the bargain, because he'd read the book and no longer needed a reading copy, while I had not read my copy of the book because it was signed at I didn't want to put wear on it). People who have been around long enough will know ARGH!! from various points of juncture with the Vancouver scene, including a vintage D.O.A. colouring book (which comes with crayons and is still available, as far as we know, but only direct from the artist) and the cover for NO FUN's historic cassette 1894. There are also, for those with a really long memory, his vintage Joe Mason strips that ran for awhile in Discorder and multiple Facebook posts showing off doodles of figures on the scene (including myself. ARGH!! recently gifted Fred Frith a quick portrait he did of him, too. The shows at the Richmond Art Market (near Aberdeen Station, at Lipont Place 4211, No. 3 Road) opens this afternoon and will include glimpses from all phases of ARGH!!'s history and if the artist isn't in attendance it's because he's ducked out for a smoke. If Richmond is too far for you, other chances to view ARGH!!'s art include Comic Con at Heritage Hall, September 20, and a comic and toy show at the Forum Sept 26-27, There's also the End Times Garage Sale at Heritage Hall on October 18, and another Comic Con at Heritage Hall on November 8, after which ARGH!! will be making his way to see Jon Spencer at the Rickshaw. "ARGH!! never misses a Jon Spencer show." You should give two shits about ARGH!!'s work; he might just give you two shits back. ARGH!! at the Richmond Art Market When: August 14-16 Where: Lipont Place, 4211, No. 3 Road Tickets: Free.