Friday, April 30, 2010

Secret Wars Stockholm!

Secret Wars in Stockholm...............CHECK!

What a roller coaster ride it's been, but now the first ever Secret Wars event in Stockholm is done and (saw)dusted - and yes, anoooother smashing success!!

Bad-ass tattoo guys SALONG BETONG challenged MONOREX to a 2-on-2 battle and threw a massive party right in the centre of the very centre of Stockholm to frame the event!

The musical line-up included among others: the Salazar brothers, Näääk and the banned rap group Kartellen (first ever gig in their home town..). Sadly our own tongue twister Reeps One got stuck in Sheffield and didn't make it.

Doing the first ever SW in a new city always adds a certain buzz. Not knowing how a brand new crowd will respond can be nerve wrecking, but I can't think of a single time it hasn't been instant love!
The preparations are the same though.. hammer, saw and roller - never leave Secret Wars HQ without them!


The ol' dynamic duo DiscoTeck & Jimi Crayon represented Team Monorex against Felix & Bleckan, two very interesting and up-and-coming tattoo artists. The match up would turn out to be very exciting as Salong Betong went for a very stylish and clean approach, while Monorex put more emphasis on details and concept.. (yes, the piece was hiiiilarious!).

Both teams were quick and had no problem in finishing on time. Everyone knew it was a close one and as the first judge got up on stage I was quietly hoping for us to sneak an away win..
Well respected cartoonist Kim W Andersson scored the bout as a Monorex win, 1-0 to the away boys!
The crowd was really into it at this stage and when it was time for the decibel count they didn't hold back - Salong Betong got a crazy scream...1-1
Last judge was Linda Skugge, famous writer and critic. She said it was a hard choice but she liked the style of Salong Betong better.. 2-1 to the new boys! Congratulations and well done guys, looking forward to seeing plenty of your skills in the future.

The audience was really mixed and we love reaching out to new groups of people. This time we even had two groups of leather clad, short-sleeved men with a common two wheel-hobby.. Art unites people!!

Big thanks to Filip/Reebok, Matthias/Kingsize, the staff at Kolingsborg, all the guys and girls at Salong Betong, everyone who performed, everyone who helped out and of course..everyone who showed up and partied with us!!

Photos by Linda Skugge and Daniel Wakeham.. Proper PRO Pics up tomorrow!

Tatshoes!


With the big Stockholm Secret Wars battle coming up Monorex was invited by Reebok and Kingsize Magazine to a friendly collabo with Salong Betong and photographer Erik by Erik.. The brief was to interpret five of the Salong's most prolific tattoos as shoe customizations!

The finished artwork is exhibited at Caliroots's very nice sneaker division Six Feet Down on Regeringsgatan in Stockholm. Hurry down and catch it before it's gone!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Stockholm Challenge!

The gauntlet has been thrown down and a challenge has been issued...

The guys from (in)famous Swedish tattoo studio SALONG BETONG have challenged Monorex to a 2-vs-2 Secret Wars battle. It's all going down on the 28th April in Stockholm...an unmeasurable amount of artistic pride is at stake - miss this at your own peril!

Banned rap group Kartellen are performing alongside Näääk & Nimo and our very own golden boy Reeps One. Total mayhem, this party is gunna be a killer!

Facebook Event!

Line-up & Info!


Oh, I hope they realize we'll be getting out our big guns for this one.. Stockholm, you ain't seen nothing yet!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

BIG MONOREX PROJECT... ANIMATED VIRAL



















The BIG Monorex project at the moment is a animated (old school stop motion) viral shoot - with our main man Discoteck painting onto a brand new £20,000 car.... scary stuff as its all one take only!!

3 (15 hour) day shoot in a secret east london warehouse, most of the guys have not seen daylight for most of that time...

We are working in collaboration with Stitchthat (director, producer, animators) and from the small edits I have seen already this video is going to be super fly!!

Also for all the Reeps one fans out there, he features heavily in this creative experiment and will also be creating the soundtrack ... I cannot wait to see this wrapped up and launched online.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Mr K does his bit for the community...


















Mr K was asked by Andy (Edding UK) to paint his kids playroom - above were the results! Love the colours and the pink BMW ;)

Good work Mr K..

Anyone else want a kids bedroom? leave your comments on this post on why we should pick you. The best entry will win a free Monorex commission sometime in spring.


Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Monorex @ Kicks N Canvas

Monorex have linked up with Kicks N Canvas. An exciting project, that has selected 21 artists, including, Goldie, Insa, Inkie, Disco Teck and host more of talented guys to custom paint a pair of sneakers. There's lots going on and everyone from Monorex will be there to support, so make sure you come say hi



Dates - April 8th to April 18th 2010
Opening Night - Thurs April 8th 18:00 - 21:00 (Invite Only)
After Party - There will be one, so get your dancing shoes ready!

Location - The gallery in Redchurch Street, 50 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London, E2 7DP

Each artist will customize a pair of all white Nike's and produce an 50x50cm piece that compliments the trainers.

There will be 21 artist's at the show, so thats 21 pairs of custom kicks and 21 canvases to check out.

All 42 pieces will be for sale, so get down to the opening night and bag yourself something special.

The show will be open 7 days a week from April 8th, and we are holding live events on the following days.

Thurs April 8th - Opening Night & After Party (doors open at 18:00, Invite only)

Sat April 10th - Live Art Jam featuring two hero's of Monorex's Secret Wars (1pm-3pm)

Sat April 17th - Live Paint / Art Jam (Artist tbc)