Screens 'N' Spokes: Judge

Judge - Chicago, IL

I've been a fan of Judge's work since Jess brought a poster back from a Neko Case show. Her technique using scratchboard doesn't look like anything else in the Screens 'N' Spokes show. One of the things I'm especially excited about are the different angles artists are approaching this year's set of prints. There was Brad Klausen's take on the MS Society slogan, and here Judge is citing the ride itself; notably where it ends up, at the rolling waves of the Jersey shore.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Nick Rhodes

Nick Rhodes - Manchester, England
This Mancunian has been at the forefront of the recent revival in British gig posters. Nick's Screens 'N' Spokes print brings together the biking and art communities perfectly. So many of the artists in the show are admittedly avid bike riders, and here we've got a rider with his tools of the trade, a squeegee strapped to his back, riding to work.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Brad Klausen

Brad Klausen - Seattle, Washington
Many people will be familiar with Brad's consistently amazing work for Pearl Jam. The level of thought he puts into his pieces is always apparent, even if you don't actually hear the process from the artist himself, but in this case I'll let Brad's words tell the story:

Originally i was going to do a poster involving a bike or two...but then in an email you wrote "MS stops people from moving. We exist to make sure it doesn't"

And that struck a cord with me...movement..

My poster depicts the Hindu deity Ganesh, who has many attributes...one being that he is the remover of obstacles. If MS stops people from moving, then that is an obstacle in their life, something impeding their movement. The bike ride and poster show helps raise money to make sure MS does not stop them from moving. You are helping remove the obstacles that stand in their way. In my portrait of Ganesh i have him holding a wheel in his left hand...the symbol of movement and progress as well as the obvious symbol of the bike. In his right hand is a white orb or sphere, this represents consciousness...a ball of light if you will. Consciousness is the light of the universe, that which connects all things...through putting on this event and gathering artists to create art and the gathering of people who will attend the show, you have connected many minds to focus on helping others with MS...hopefully that collection of thought, of consciousness, will help generate the healing power of the light of the universe.

Behind Ganesh he is holding a crop circle design that appeared at Gog Magog Hills in Cambridge, England in July of 2001. This particular crop circle is known as "The Angel". Now the general public tends to not pay much attention to crop circles, and scoff at them saying they are man made...and a percentage of them are in fact man made. But as one researcher said, anyone who has read a book about crop circles, been to a lecture, watched a dvd, or actually been in a crop circle knows that there is something much larger taking place. No one knows for sure why they are here or what they are communicating or how they were made...but everyone involved with them, with studying them and being around them, speaks of how there is tremendous energy within them...some researchers believe they are messages of love being sent from the consciousness of the universe. The main form of communication is through unbelievable geometric patterns, mainly expressed through circles...again, this comes into play with the bike race....the power of the circle, of the wheel....to heal, to enlighten.

With this piece i wanted to convey ideas of healing, progress and love...

Screens 'N' Spokes: Dirk Fowler

Dirk Fowler - Lubbock, TX
Dirk, the Letterpress wizard, is back with another dynamic, eye-catching design. Dirk has been designing posters on his antique letterpress for years now, and you can spot his unique style from a distance. Always using minimal elements to achieve a greater whole, Dirk has created a print that is sure to jump off the wall.

Screens 'N' Spokes Bike Team Update

We decided to keep you posted about our bike team progress through a series of emails written by our Philadelphia Site Coordinator, Bradley Harris. Please check out all the details (it's not too late to join us at the ride!) at the Screens 'N' Spokes official team page.

As of July 18, our ranks have swelled to twenty five riders, and our fundraising goal sits at $30,000. It seems like a pretty ambitious number, but in 2007, we raised over $31,000. Although of course we aim to beat that figure, we'll settle for matching it. So far as a team we are at 11% of the total.

Jess is leading the pack at $1,340, 27% of her $5,000 personal goal!

With the bike ride just over two months away, now is the time for each rider to go full throttle in their fundraising efforts. We are going to need everyone to pull together in order to reach our goal.

We'll keep you posted...in the meantime, check out the posters as they arrive, and save the date for SNS Opening night - Thursday, Sept. 4 at Mugshots and Friday, Sept. 12 at Chapterhouse and hopefully a Screens 'N' Spokes/MilkBoy party on Friday, Sept. 5!

Screens 'N' Spokes: Guy Burwell

Guy Burwell - Portland, OR
Guy has been one of my favorite artists for a while. I love his completely unique style, and he's created another one of his indelible characters for Screens 'N' Spokes. This young lady is ready to ride. In fact, the Bike MS:City to Shore brings riders of all shapes and sizes, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her on the road this year. These are printed on textured watercolor paper.

Screens 'N' Spokes: The Half and Half

The Half and Half - Columbia, SC
Speaking of the printing process, The Half and Half may be a young studio, but they are doing some amazing things with ink and squeegee. Their 2008 Screens 'N' Spokes print is an awesome collage printed using a CMYK process. I haven't picked through all the photos that make up the bike but this one definitely deserves a closer look.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Us & Them

Us & Them - Boone, NC
Sei Rey Ho brings together every element of the show with this year's print. A bike and heart are burned into an ink splattered screen. While Jess and I are just learning about screen printing, we love seeing how art is made, and this print represents the process so well.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Punchgut Studio

Punchgut Studio - Fargo, ND
The man behind Punchgut Studio is a crazy guy, and his art gives you a little peek into his head. You can see it in the eclectic bands he's worked with (from Of Montreal to the Drive-By Truckers to Modest Mouse), and you can especially get a sense in the myriad of styles he uses. Rarely does one Punchgut poster look like the next. Following the twists and turns of his Screens 'N' Spokes art print might make you go a little crazy too, in a good way of course. I can't wait to see this one in person as I've been told there is an additional metallic gold layer that isn't showing up in the photo.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Leia Bell

Leia Bell - Salt Lake City, UT
Leia Bell is woman wearing many hats at the moment. With her husband she runs Kilby Court, an all ages venue in SLC. She designs and prints beautiful posters for most of the shows there, and she recently opened up an art gallery, Signed & Numbered. Leia's printing style is uniquely her own, with thick and bold layers of color. In person her prints often have a real painterly quality. For this year's art print she's turned her gaze to the Bike MS:City to Shore itself, the ride that inspired this show.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Crosshair

Crosshair - Chicago, IL
Jess and I had the pleasure of checking out the Crosshair studio while Dan was printing these last week. I've been an admirer of his work for a long time. His ability to turn compelling architectural photographs into screen prints is amazing, and I don't think anyone out there can do color separations like him right now. These prints always need to be seen in person to fully appreciate the level of detail he achieves.

Screens 'N' Spokes: Lars Krause

Lars Krause - Dresden, Germany

With the 4th of July in our rear view mirror we're now looking at 8 weeks before the opening of Screens 'N' Spokes. The creative juices are flowing, screens are being burned and the flatstock is being printed. We've begun to receive prints and we've seen previews of others, which means it's time for you guys to see them as well. Every week leading up to the opening we'll be previewing 3-4 prints on the blog, one per day. The mailing list will get to see them all first at the beginning of the week.

Our first print comes by way of Germany via Chicago, and I think it's a great introduction to the 2008 series. Lars has been producing amazing work for bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Rage Against the Machine and Band of Horses, but since he works in Germany I don't think his art has gotten the same attention as his American colleagues. The global riders are a great way to announce Screens 'N' Spokes' international contingent in 2008 and I love the hand-drawn text. These were printed in the good ol' USA by screen printer extraordinaire Steve Walters at Screwball Press in Chicago.

2008 Subscription and Preferred Buyers

Before we start to preview the artwork, we wanted to announce two special opportunities to our biggest supporters for a unique way to experience and collect this year's prints.

Preferred Buyer
$100 - Donation made directly to the Screens 'N' Spokes Bike Team
Preferred Buyers will have the chance to purchase one (1) copy of any and all Screens 'N' Spokes 2008 prints before they go on sale to the general public. The opportunity to become a preferred buyer will be available until Aug 31. During the first week of September, Preferred Buyers can reserve and purchase one copy of any posters they choose. We will do our best to accommodate requests for specific edition numbers, though we can make no guarantees. We like to take care of our best customers, so preferred buyers can expect some extras in their shipments.

This offer is limited to 10 Preferred Buyers. To become a Preferred Buyer, email us with "Preferred Buyer" in the subject.

2008 Screens 'N' Spokes Subscription
$750 - With $250 of that total as a tax-deductible donation to the Screens 'N' Spokes Bike Team
For the first time we will also be offering Screens 'N' Spokes subscriptions. Our subscribers will receive a complete, low matching-numbered set of all of our very limited art prints. We are expecting about 30 prints in Screens 'N' Spokes this year, and we'll also throw some extras in subscriber tubes. All told, subscribers will receive 35-40 prints (an average of about $20 a print). Because the 2008 Subscription includes all things Screens 'N' Spokes, our subscribers will also receive a 2008 Screens 'N' Spokes Team biking jersey. This year our jerseys will be designed by the amazing Cricket Press. Subscriptions will be sent out in 3 installments, and shipping is included in the price of the subscription. Subscriptions can be paid all at once, or in three installments of $250, with the balance paid off by Sept. 1, 2008.

Subscriptions are limited to 5 Subscribers. To become a 2008 Subscriber, email us with "Subscription" in the subject.

Screens 'N' Spokes 2008 Artists

With a little over 8 weeks until Screens 'N' Spokes 2008 opens, we are going to start cranking up the posts on the blog. Today we are releasing what should be the final list of contributing artists this year. I'm sure you'll agree with us when I say we couldn't be more excited about the amazing talent involved with our cause. There are many, many returning favorites, and a number of awesome new artists.

In the coming days and weeks we'll be offering up previews of this year's prints (3-4 a week) as well as updates on Team Screens 'N' Spokes' fundraising efforts. We'll also be announcing two exciting opportunities to purchase this year's prints before anyone else. As always you'll be getting this information first if you're a subscriber on our mailing list. Simply shoot us an email and we'll get you set up.

Screens 'N' Spokes 2008 Artists:
1982 (Nate Duval and Jon Smith) - East Coast/West Coast
Brad Klausen - Seattle, Washington
Cricket Press - Lexington, Kentucky
Crosshair - Chicago, Illinois
Dan Grzeca - Chicago, Illinois
Dan Levine - Boston, Massachusetts
Diana Sudyka - Chicago, Illinois
Dirk Fowler - Lubbock, Texas
Dr. Pizzoli - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Drew Millward - Leeds, England
Gary Houston - Portland, Oregon
Gina Kelly - Los Angeles, California
Guy Burwell - Portland, Oregon
Hero Design Studio - Buffalo, New York
Jay Ryan - Chicago, Illinois
Judge - Chicago, Illinois
Kevin Mercer - Oaklyn, New Jersey
Lars Krause - Dresden, Germany
Leia Bell - Salt Lake City, Utah
Mark Forsman - New York
Matt Sutter - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mike Munter - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nick Rhodes - Manchester, England
Jennifer Nicholls - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Patrick Theaker - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Punchgut Studio - Fargo, North Dakota
Sei Rey Ho - Boone, North Carolina
Strawberryluna - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Tim Gough - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania