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MONSTERS IN THE CITY presented by BLAXK by ActionCity together with international artist Distort Monsters, for his inaugural solo show in Singapore!
Heavily influenced by elements of skateboarding and punk rock, Distort Monsters is a renowned urban artist based in the Philippines primarily known for his murals of colourful monster characters with bold outlines and multilinear textures. His works are often narrative and introspective in nature, with his monsters being a visual representation of his thoughts and emotions. Bringing these mischievous monsters to life through various mediums, the MONSTERS IN THE CITY exhibition put together a fascinating collection of original paintings, collectible art prints, large-scale sculptures, and exclusive art toys in both physical and digital formats – celebrating Distort Monsters’ captivating characters and psychedelic art which has created a strong following of collectors and fans worldwide.
Check out our Media Preview below of MONSTERS IN THE CITY Exhibition
Distort Monsters began his street art career in 2009. Using art as a means of coping
with mental health issues, Distort Monsters liberated himself and expelled the
monsters in his head by channeling them as inspiration for his artworks instead,
thus transferring anxieties onto canvas and walls. The artist finds solace in the act of painting these colorful, cartoonish troublemakers, calmed by the repetitive motion of painting detailed linework. It then dawned on him, that “…they’re not angry monsters anymore. Just mischievous, sneaky little b*stards.” Since then, these impish muses are taking on more forms with brighter and more powerful color contrast, which creates a happy, lively and energetic ‘monster’ style that is now eponymous to the artist’s brand. Now a prolific mural artist, Distort Monsters has also exhibited in galleries in the Philippines and Hong Kong, as well as headlined creative projects for brands including Nike and Globe Platinum.
Meet Distort Monsters – visual artist extraordinaire!
Distort Monsters began his street art career in 2009. Using art as a means of coping
with mental health issues, Distort Monsters liberated himself and expelled the
monsters in his head by channeling them as inspiration for his artworks instead,
thus transferring anxieties onto canvas and walls.
The artist finds solace in the act of painting these colourful, cartoonish troublemakers,
calmed by the repetitive motion of painting detailed linework. It then dawned on him,
that “…they’re not angry monsters anymore. Just mischievous, sneaky little b*stards.”
Since then, these impish muses are taking on more forms with brighter and powerful
colour contrast, which creates a happy, lively and energetic ‘monster’ style that is now
eponymous to the artist’s brand. Now a prolific mural artist, Distort Monsters has also
exhibited in galleries in the Philippines and Hong Kong, as well as headlined creative
projects for brands including Nike and Globe Platinum.
Exclusive Distort Monsters art collectibles
Together with BLAXK, Distort Monsters produced a special series of art toys to mark
this milestone exhibition in Singapore. Transforming his signature Monster Head
artworks and NFTs into art toys, Distort Monsters is launching a series of 10 unique
Monster Head art collectibles – each piece being a one-of-a-kind edition.
There will also be a BLAXK-exclusive Monster Head, released in very limited quantity
The artist will debut a new toy sculpt Hello Monster in this exhibition, highlighting a
cheeky welcoming mood in full body glory. A series of 3 Hello Monster art collectibles
will be launched, with each piece being a one-of-a-kind edition as well.
Stay tuned for the special release of a limited-edition BLAXK-exclusive Hello Monster
figure in the coming weeks!
Original Distort Monsters artworks in Singapore
The MONSTERS IN THE CITY exhibition comprises more than 40 artworks created by
Distort Monsters specifically for this inaugural solo show in the city state. This includes
the original hand-painted collages of his signature monsters, and the artist also debuts
a new Monstermash art style which merges various monsters into a single unique
entity. Every creation is unique with lively expressions and inimitable appearance,
which engages the audience to ponder the true face of these bizarre yet oddly
mesmerising features.
Beyond just paintings and NFTs, Distort Monsters also produced his Monster Head
series as large-scale sculptures specially for this exhibition – releasing two distinctive
designs, limited to one piece each. Peering out through those enormous peepers,
the giant heads stand at 1m tall and are hand-painted in weather-resistant paints with
protective varnish to add a dash of quirkiness and playfulness in any environment,
both indoors and outdoors.
Visitors of the show can also experience digital interactions with the giant
Monster Heads, which will exist in an immersive AR format for social media and
photo opportunities!
To further extend the value of his unique artworks, as well as bridging street art into
the digital space and back to the people, Distort Monsters pairs each physical piece
from his Monster Head original paintings with the specific corresponding NFT – to be
both a digital asset as well as a certificate of authenticity.
In his previous NFT projects, the monsters are divided into different traits, which are
then individually drawn by Distort Monsters and assigned percentages to determine
the rarity of each feature. These are then fed into the algorithm to generate completely
unique monsters minted as NFTs, and turned into actual paintings
by the artist.
As the NFTs for the Monster Head artworks in this exhibition are created by
Distort Monsters specially for MONSTERS IN THE CITY, they are hand drawn
rather than churned from the algorithm.
WHEN: The exhibition will only be available for public viewing from 18 February to 16 April 2023
Venue: BLAXK by ActionCity, Funan, #01-03
About Distort Monsters
Based in the Philippines, Distort Monsters is best known for his prolific outdoor murals,
street art and paintings featuring colourful characters with bold outlines and multilinear
textures. From his passion of skateboarding at a young age, Distort Monsters found
himself immersed in other subcultures that entwined skateboarding like graffiti and
punk music – forming the key influences of his art career.
Distort Monsters’ work, the monsters he described in an epiphanic moment to be the
monsters in his head, has been showcased on multiple platforms and projects, all of
which centres around staying true to the thing he values as an artist – authenticity.
@distortmonsters
https://www.distortmonsters.com/
