Last Friday night Auguste Clown Gallery turned into a funhouse of pop surrealism, when the allure of our Natural Instincts dual solo exhibition drew a crowd eager to see the engaging artwork of Alex Garant and Kane Kokaris with their own eyes. 

Garant's beautiful, duplicated female protagonists turned heart eyes into crossed eyes and back again; and fans of Kokaris' incredibly detailed, otherworldly creatures were able to chat to the artist himself, who was visiting from the Gold Coast for this special event.

We're very excited to be exposing these works to Melbourne audiences. You can visit the show up until the 15th of May, and purchase works still available on our online store. 

It’s not often we get to work with felt faux-taxidermists, so we’re especially excited to have a gaggle of Ohio-based Jordan Elise Perme’s Horrible Adorables mounted on our wall at Auguste Clown.
 
Sharing our love for anything out of the ordinary, Perme is particularly inspired by Cryptozoology (the study of hidden animals like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster), and cherry-picks features from different animals that don’t normally go together to design each unique, one-of-a-kind Horrible Adorable.
 
Perme’s fancies for sideshow trickery and novelty repeating patterns were sparked during her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she graduated from in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Influenced since by her freelance work in the toy industry, her Horrible Adorables have evolved from near-grotesque to sweet and playful--from horrible to adorable, you could say—attracting a devoted fanbase heart-eyes for these colourful otherworldly creatures.
 
Perme’s artistic process begins with loose ideation sketches, though she’s quick to get stuck in to sculpting the foam base, which she then meticulously layers with pieces of bold multicoloured felt. Their glass taxidermy eyes give the Horrible Adorables a lifelike feel that tiptoes uncanny-valley territory, but Perme’s skill and sweet style mean they’re more enchanting and endearing than creepy.
 
Husband Chris Lees, an engineer, recently joined Perme to work on Horrible Adorables full-time as webmaster, sculptor and creative and logistical problem-solver.  
 
In the future Perme dreams of creating full-scale Horrible Adorables or marionette versions to be animated for short films. We're keeping our fingers crossed! 
 
To keep tabs on this talented team, ensure to follow Horrible Adorables on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their website and Etsy store.  
 
A photo truly does not do justice to the charm of these sculptures--they are well worth the visit to Auguste Clown to see them in the felt!

-G

Receiving artwork for an upcoming show is like sampling the cream atop a cake you know you'll be able to devour very soon.

As a taster for you, Auguste Clown is excited to reveal a piece by one of the two incredibly talented artists who will be showcased in our upcoming dual show Natural Instincts.

​Alex Garant is a Canadian visual artist whose captivating portraits invite you to meet the duplicated gaze of women caught in an optical illusion of pattern, repetition and superposition. Grappling with the rigidity of individuality, Garant's fractured protagonists are sensorial puzzles that will make you question the way you'll instinctually try to solve them. From pleasantly mesmerising to potentially dizzying, Garant's artwork, in her words, "conjures questions, such as how do we see, how do we analyse visual information... The viewer becomes involved with the piece on an emotional and physical level."

Garant delights in drawing inspiration through dialogue with her growing international viewership, and is excited to find out what will resonate in Australia. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

Natural Instincts runs from the 29th of April until the 15th of May, with opening night at Auguste Clown Gallery (52 Johnston Street, Fitzroy) on the evening of the 29th. The event is free and will be a wonderful opportunity to gain some insight into the artwork and its creators. 

Auguste Clown Gallery is excited to announce our upcoming show featuring two exceptionally talented artists Alex Garant, of Toronto, and Kane Kokaris, of the Gold Coast: Natural Instincts. 

While Garant and Kokaris possess their own distinct styles, Natural Instincts will showcase the unique ability these artists share of warping our perception of the world as we know it.
 
Mark the 29th of April in your calendar as this is opening night: a chance to get the first look at Natural Instincts and have a chat with Kane--who will be visiting from Brisbane--over free champagne and beer! The show will be on display until the 15th of May, with free entry.  

Be sure to follow us both on Facebook and Instagram for updates! 

Mel Macklin lives in Melbourne, while the fabulous heroines that star in her artwork live in a vibrant wonderland of ribbons and frills, pop culture, mythical creatures and all things cute and quirky.  

There's a story to be found in each and every one of Macklin's pieces: like a snapshot into the mind of a 6-year-old girl spellbound by her own imagination. As much a storyteller as an artist, Macklin holds a deep love for her strong, adventurous, sometimes mischievous Lolitas, whose telltale orb-like eyes suggest compelling personalities, secrets and desires of their own. 

Macklin's passion for art history has sent her around the globe, teaching and learning in Darwin and in London, attending the famed Bologna Children's Book Fair and getting lost in the artwork of Caravaggio, Bosch and Da Vinci in Rome, Madrid and Paris respectively. She boasts of a collection of children's books lovingly handpicked from almost every major city in Europe. 

​As an art teacher she's influenced by great artists throughout history, and is inspired to push herself and take risks just as they did. A few years ago she put aside her beloved Swiss Caran D'Ache colour pencils and learned to use a graphics tablet, now alternating between the two. This has added some diversity to her body of work while maintaining that inimitable soft Polaroid effect unique to her. 

In 2011 Macklin was among the top 20 finalists in the Melbourne's Koko Black Easter Drawing Prize, and in 2014 she held a place in the top 12 finalists in the CAE (Centre for Adult Education) Reginald Portrait Prize for Softies. 

It's been wonderful to showcase Macklin's piece  in our Made in Melbourne exhibition. With a wealth of worldy knowledge, an enchanted fan base, a profound love for the heroines of her childhood daydreams and an insatiable desire to tell their stories, Macklin is one local artist to watch. 

To follow along Macklin's artistic journey be sure to check her Tumblr, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram for updates of her work. To get your hands on some artwork, head over to her Etsy page. 

​-G

With only two weeks to go until the doors open on 'Made In Melbourne', we've been swamped with artworks arriving over the last few days. It's been a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our local talent, and we're super excited to be able to showcase such an amazing collection of artworks. We've got 27 paintings and 6 sculptural pieces on exhibit, and will predominantly be showcasing artists that we haven't worked with before. There's always a smidge of uncertainty when working with an artist for the first time, mixed in with the hopeful anticipation that they'll create something amazing for us. Fortunately, we've been delighted to with the high calibre of artworks submitted as well as the wonderful new people we've had to the opportunity to meet. Well, we'd better get a wiggle on and start photographing all these masterpieces for the preview! Email us if you'd like to be put on the list to get the full info on these before the show opening.

- E