PICKS PAGE ARCHIVES2016: Read about these artworks in the artists' own words in The Ballpointer PICKPIECE archives. Click on the artwork to see their PICKPIECES.
PICK PIECES The Ballpointer staff choose the artwork and let the artist explain it in their own words Vol 3 No 9 posted November 8, 2016
Mal0jo・
Basque Country
Jainkoak Txiki (Little Gods ) ・
2016 ・ 7 x 9'' (18 x 23cm) ・
ballpoint pen, gouache (yellow) and
colored pencil (white) on paper
M.I. Shaikh Mumbai, India
Pepe Lozano Cordoba, Spain
A Year in The Pen The Ballpointer Nov 2014 - Nov 2015 PICKS of the Litter 2015
Matt Rota Brooklyn, New York
Shirish Deshpande Belgaum, India
PICKS PAGE ARCHIVES 2015:
Pepe Lozano Cordoba, Spain
Andrey Poletaev Lugansk, Ukraine
Guy Woodard New York, New York
Shane McAdams Wisconsin / Brooklyn
All but the keenest viewers may have missed the many ballpoint pen cameos on screens big and small over the years. Ballpoints are regulars in Hollywood productions, and not just as set dressing...
Earnest Ernest
Ernest Goes to Jail 1990・Director John R Cherry lll
Ernest: ''Just fine, thank you.'' Of course you are, Ernest・
The DOH! moment (sound of pen snapping in mouth)...
Character actor Jim Varney as trouble-prone Ernest, much-mimicked TV commercial star who also made it to the big screen. In this 1990 film, Ernest does jury duty. In the Jurors' box Ernest realizes the gravity of the proceedings, composes himself and jumps into character as a responsible juror...
Judge: ''Excuse me sir, are you alright?''
Lennie Mace, 1984 New York, New York
James Mylne, 1999 London, England
Dave Warshaw San Diego, California
''Jainkoak Txiki means 'Little Lords' or more specifically 'Little Gods'. It’s the old good-versus-evil fight, but the more they fight, the more they mix in each other. I love these two characters made of tissues like some empty mummies. This is the second time I use them and I think I will continue to draw or paint the rest of their fight. It’s also a drawing about religious wars and my love of mythologies. For me, prophets, gods and messiahs are just like old super heroes.
I've always been fascinated by religious paintings. It was my very first contact with art, so all my paintings and drawings talk about that. The titles and sentences are always important in my work. Most of the time I try to use different languages because I’m tired of using both French and English. Growing older, I want to be closer to my roots so, for this one, I used Euskara which is the language of my country Euskadi. I don’t know the language and now I’m trying to learn it and pay tribute to my culture by using it in my work''・
Jainkoak Txiki is on display as part of The Ballpoint Show group exhibition at Pony Club Gallery in Portland, Oregon, throughout November.
Artwork © Malojo
2015 PICKS page archive MENU
FEB2015~NOV2015 click the BALLPOINTER graphic (left) to access the full 2015 menu
Ler Huang・
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
POW Experimentation ・
(Experimentation on a Prisoner Of War)
June 6, 2016・10 x 15cm (4 x 6'')
(shown nearly actual size)
ballpoint pen on paper
''This picture was drawn on June 6th, this year. On that day there was news about World War II on TV. The news was about a documentary of the war, and the part I watched was related to the Japanese army‘s Unit 731 experiments on live human beings (not Taiwanese). It was so cruel that I felt extremely angry. Therefore, this picture came out.
I didn't mean to make any judgement, neither did I want to cause any international disputes. I watched the news and felt very angry. My work was just my feeling about an old event. I had no way but draw the picture in red to express my anger.
I drew it directly in ballpoint pen without any preliminary sketch, and it was created by myself (not a copy of anything showed on the news). It took me around three hours to finish this drawing''・
Contact: website or email
Artwork © Ler Huang
Lennie Mace Tokyo, Japan
Chen Zhen Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Gareth Edwards Stourbridge, England
Peter Ross Hong Kong
Eric Seaholm Tokyo, Japan
Since 2014