Art that money can’t buy! The problem with being an art-lover that isn’t a millionaire, is that you end up being eternally frustrated that you can’t afford the work of the artists you love. However, a new event might be able to change that.

The Art Barter event revolves around the idea that artwork will be acquired by individuals through alternative means to money. In the past, artists such as Picasso exchanged sketches for his meals, and now, in the present, you have the opportunity to exchange your special talent, skill or offering for the work of one of 50 established and emerging London based artists, including Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Tim Noble & Sue Webster. Perhaps you can offer to clean up Tracy Emin’s unmade bed (see what I did there?) in exchange for an artwork?

So if you fancy bartering for some art, head down to The Rag Factory (16—18 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ) this weekend with your items to exchange.

Visit Art Barter London for more information.

Want to catch the debut show of a young, up-and-coming artist? Online gallery Hang Up Pictures, in collaboration with advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy London, is launching the debut solo show of Alex Daw, a multi-talented contemporary artist, at the agency’s new space ‘The Cole’ situated in The Old Truman Brewery in London’s Brick Lane area. The exhibition, sponsored by Havana Club, will run until Sunday 29th November.

The artist, Alex Daw, brings his warped view of the world of fashion, status and advertising via his ongoing series of compelling contemporary mementos of modern life. He utilises anything at his disposal – he cuts and paints on a number of surfaces. Culling fragments of pop culture, fashion and art history, Daws’ obsessive nature to critique and de-construct objects, results in cut up magazines, and paintings on canvas and glass pieces.

If the art doesn’t grab you then there’ll also be lot’s to drink and eat. Havana Club are sponsoring the show – there will be enough rum on-site to create 400 cocktails and caterer extraordinaire Matt Phelps aka Fun Thyme will be catering live on site.

To find out more about the exhibition, or to reserve a place at the private view, click here.

They say he plays the banjo & drinks whisky. The illustrator Stevie Gee has a solo show entitled ‘Vengence is Coming’ over at Jaguarshoes 32-34 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London E2 8DA. It’s up for six weeks, so if you’re in the neighborhood, you can pop in and see the custom bike paint jobs by Death Spray Custom, prints, tomahawks, screen prints, T’s, etc.

See more images from the show here.

I’m a couple of years late on this but… once upon a time there was an exhibition of lasered skateboard art. The exhibition allowed a select group of global artists to explore the idea of lasering away at seven layers of ply, in order to make their mark on skateboard decks. Only 50 will be produced per artist. Those 50 are available through the Refill 7 Shop.

For old school value, my personal fave is Mark Drew’s design, although at 500 australian dollars a pop it seems a bit pricey for me (although, in all honesty I have no idea of the value of the australian dollar. That might be cheap. I’m just too lazy to find out.)

See more images on Flickr.

Parra this, Parra that! Parra, yada, yada! First off in Parra related news – Arkitip are presenting Parra’s first ever Exhibition and Pop Up Shop in Germany. Find out more here

Secondly, and more importantly, LOOK AT MY PARRA SHOES!!! (gotta click ‘more…’ to see ‘em though!)
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No need for facts. All I know about the artist Genta Kosumi is that he was born in 1974 in Osaka, Japan and his artwork is colorful, bizarre and, above all, amazing. Check out his work at Cosmo Head Anno.

It’s not an obsession with hammers… Ba5h wants to make you think about what money is; why you use it; who made it; who controls it; why it has a value; how this value can change; who affects the value; is it the route of all evil; and why has it been going down the drain?

Find out more at Ba5h.com.

I’ve never wanted sculpture more. Frank Plant is a Barcelona based American sculptor who creates “drawings in steel. These are simple and direct studies of the forms and compositions of everyday objects.” I’m loving his recent Kalashnikov rifle piece, but my heart belongs to his heart. He’s one of the artists that I really, really, really want some work from, but know it’ll cost more than I can ever afford. Just like José Parlá, he’s now on my “Things I’d Buy If I Won the Lottery” list.

See more work by Frank Plant.

Beautiful photography in horrible circumstances. I’ve been admiring the work of photographer Fazal Sheikh. Most often his work has been with displaced people driven out of their homelands by civil wars, drought and famine, struggling to survive for years in refugee camps where the traditional balance of their lives has been entirely destroyed. He has worked in camps in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania, where people fleeing conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique and Rwanda were gathered.

It’s easy to become desensitized to the images of refugee camps that you’re presented with via the news media, but the images in Fazal Sheikh’s photographic series’ such as A Camel for The Son are hauntingly beautiful considering their tragic subject matter.

See more work by Fazal Sheikh.

‘Obsessions Make My Life Worse & My Work Better.’ In 2001 Sagmeister embarked on an ongoing project based on sentences from his diaries. For the typography he used a great variety of materials and sites, writing three-dimensionally on objects and surfaces. His latest piece is ‘Obsessions make my Life Worse and my Work Better’, an elaborate design that consists of 300.000 Euro cent coins on a large square.

See the latest piece via this Flickr set, then find out more at http://sagmeister.com/urbanplay/