Seven international street and illustrative artists will be gathered next week in a group expo at Lucy*, temporary platform for art and music in Antwerp. The chosen "lucky" ones are none other than Swoon (US), Logan Hicks (US), Nigel Peake (UK), Marcus Oakley (UK), L'Atlas (FR), Sebastiaan Van Doninck (BE) and Ephameron (BE)...

This video presents the making of the excellent Swoon / Chris Stain / Mike "The Polaroid Kidd" Brodie show in Paris last fall that we've already posted on this blog before... It's a great peak into the world behind building an exhibition, featuring three of the most awesome artists, made by French documentary makers Sofarida. Check it out!

Last week, L'Atlas' newest solo show opened up in Paris at the famed Espace Beaurepaire. The artist has been experimenting with a new method of painting by making rub-offs of a.o. manhole covers all around the globe, which are all being exposed for the first time here. From the sound of it, it's a good one, so pass on by when you're around...

What do art, skateboarding and charity have to do with each other? Nothing, at first sight... Until you come across a creative project like "The Helping Hounds of Hell" in Germany, a double group show featuring the works of over 30 artists that donated a customized skatedeck which will be sold to help out a hospital in Senegal. The exhibitions in Berlin and Hamburg are coming up soon!

"Carbon & Chemicals Mini Arts Tour 2008" is a low-fi analogue exhibition of hand-painted skateboards, screenprints and paintings from JamFactory, Klingatron, Mr Jago, WASTE + Paul Harraway, Richt, Danny Wainwright, Orco & Pone, featuring Lomo photography accompanying the artwork from Laura Thorne, Lee Page, David Canning & the Xyn Fam. Let's see what these guys have in store for us.

Photo by Martin Menke

Photographers, street artists, graphic artists, painters and video artists worldwide, get ready for the first edition of Artrmx Cologne (Germany) in August 2008! Send in your works about the theme "Where is my mind?" before April 15th and get noticed by internationally acclaimed curators and artists when you get selected to be part of one of the exhibitions that are organised all over town.

This Thursday the newest exhibition at Eindhoven's reputated museum for contemporary art MU is opening up. Geneviève Gauckler, famous for her character design and big campaigns for companies like French make-up brand Bourjois will be premiering her installation "Food Chain". The artist will be showing tons of humouristic and smart graphic work about food, digestion, excretion, getting fat and answers to all kinds of crazy questions referring to the body in general.

Just a quick note to let you know that Keep A Breast is going to be at the ASR tradeshow in San Diego from January 24 until 26... In the ASEC green room they're presenting the Keep A Breast Music for Awareness Campaign and you can also check out the new ORGANIC "keep a breast is for lovers" tee's. In the GRING FOR LIFE Chill Zone the Keep A Breast High School Education Program will be presented, with students from JBHS painting live and there will be photographs from the KAB Kings & Queens Exhibition by Desiree Astoga on display too. Come by and say hi!

What happens if you take a bunch of young and energetic artists and have them organise an open exhibition platform? You get an exciting one night art show with live painting and dj sets called "Visual Tourettes" - and the next one's coming up on February 18th at The Light Lounge in Basingstoke, UK!

Opening up tomorrow: Skwak's first solo exhibition at the fairly new but already reputated Addict Galerie in the Marais district of Paris. If you like colourful and detailed character design, make sure to visit!

These books came out a little while ago, but they're still worth mentioning with an exclamation mark (!) since we dig what Arts Factory do in Paris so much. Frédéric Magazine and the Dans La Marge collection are distributed in France but also available online, so go ahead and order some of the best contemporary French illustrative art now!

Coming across a professionally finished and detailed publication like Alexone's "Came à Yeux" makes my heart skip a beat every time.