More than 30 Australian artists have been named as winners in The Next Level competition and will have their artwork exhibited alongside national and internationally renowned artists at exhibitions in both Melbourne and Sydney throughout September and October. The competition attracted more than 1,200 entries worldwide.
The winning creatives will have their work showcased alongside artwork by Alex Lehours, Alex Solis, Ben Brown, Bec Winnel and Dirty Bandits, who all used the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 to create their masterpieces.
Digital technology company Wacom and creative management agency Just Another Agency teamed up to bring the one-of-a-kind event to Melbourne and Sydney, which will also launch Wacom’s first artist publication, featuring a range of digital artists’ work from across the globe.
One of the renowned artists exhibiting at the exhibition is Sydney based illustrator, designer and artist Ben Brown. “Getting involved with The Next Level competition and exhibition is a great way of promoting the intricacies of digital art. When creating my artwork, I often use digital aspects as a way of adding a different element to my art.
“My process is generally pretty straight forward. I draw the image on paper with ink, brush and pen, then scan it into the computer where I can edit and fix up the original drawing, before colouring and finishing it in a variety of ways and styles that a computer allows,” explains Brown.
Other artists, such as Wisconsin based Alex Solis, prefer a completely digital workflow. “I often have doodles of ideas, but a lot of them I do the actual sketch with the help of a Cintiq since it is close to working traditionally when drawing right on the screen. It makes working digitally feel natural and it really saves me a ton of time, “explains Solis.
Wacom Australia Managing Director Shane Cook says the company’s ethos is to bring people and technology closer together. “Supporting both local and international artists in the digital scene is something we are really passionate about.
“We love what creativity brings to the world, and love celebrating the amazing artwork and designs that people create using our technology. For this reason, we teamed up with Just Another Agency to bring The Next Level competition and exhibition to the public,” says Cook.
The chosen winners will not only have their work exhibited and published in The Next Level publication, but if purchased at the exhibitions, will receive the profits from the sale, less the production costs.
The exhibition runs from Monday 5 to Sunday 18 September at Melbourne’s No Vacancy in Federation Square, with its opening night on Thursday 8 September. The exhibition will then move to Sydney, where the work will be on display at China Heights Gallery in Surry Hills from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 October.
The Australian winners of The Next Level competition are:
Adam Dunt – Melbourne
Adele K Thomas – Melbourne
Aglaia Bolis – Melbourne
Cat Wall – Melbourne
Danika Clark – Melbourne
Dean A Jones – Melbourne
Eevien Tan – Melbourne
Joel Hammonds – Melbourne
Justine ‘Sketchet’ Mcallister – Melbourne
Kode ‘Bosslogic’ Abdo – Melbourne
Le Grizz – Melbourne
Olyver Payne – Melbourne
Thuan Huynh – Melbourne
Allison Chau– Sydney
April Prime– Sydney
Ben Owens – Sydney
Bill Hope– Sydney
Clare Cook– Sydney
Dale Bigeni– Sydney
Fabien Gouby– Sydney
Jane Fan ‘Adelruna’ – Sydney
Josh Pratt– Sydney
Sam Shennan– Sydney
Scotty ‘Dubya’ Williams – Sydney
Silly Pear– Sydney
Yasmin Cameron– Sydney
Zheng Qu – Sydney
M-Lon– Sydney
Anthony Hearsey – Brisbane
Rob Corless – Brisbane
J2ske – Gold Coast
Chrono-X - Adelaide
Joshua Rowdon – Perth
Owen ‘Butcha’ Gibbons – Canberra
For more information, visit http://justanother.com.au/projects-events/wacomnextlevel/
About Wacom
Founded in 1983, Wacom is a global company based in Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727) with subsidiaries and affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries. Wacom’s vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world’s leading manufacturer of interactive pen tablets and displays as well as of digital styli and solutions for saving and processing digital signatures. The advanced technology of Wacom’s intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality.
About Just Another Agency
Just Another is a creative management agency with a focus and passion for creating a visual and visceral experience in everything we do. Representing a plethora of local, national and international artists, Just Another specialises in event management, commercial design, apparel, exhibition curation, and street art. We do it all.
Known in the creative community as the go-to agency, Just Another is dedicated in making your vision come to life. We basically get s#!t done, with some finesse and flair. We produce some of the most memorable designs and installations, work with respected big-name brands, and launch the careers of numerous artists.