ALTERNATIVE COMICS in Toronto Magazine

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics in Toronto Magazine

I received a copy of the latest Dandyhorse Magazine today from contributing author and editor in chief Tammy Thorne. I've done some illustrations for the magazine in the past and was interviewed by Tammy this past winter. The article was published in this new spring issue along with a new illustration based on the primary themes the periodical references. Dandy horse is a cyclist and bike oriented fare which discusses personal, political and all issues concerning bicycles and their positive impact on our urban center and the environment in general. The articles look also at various social issues with an enticing a activist ideology. For this particular publication the major thematic hypothesis revolved around different interpretations of the term “social justice”.

HEY APATHY! Social Justice Superhero

The article discusses my evolution and experiences as a street artist as well as some of my insights on the metamorphoses of Toronto. Not to many people ( actually absolutely no one) had the same unique vantage as I did on the streets to witness our big city get bigger. The article gets down to my interpretation of social justice which fittingly runs throughout all my stories and artwork. The basic idea is that the city is a giant gear but it is up to all the different individual character’s to make that gear spin. Basically a call and a warning for each of us to slow down and take note of the import of our actions on a day to day basis. Thanks Tammy for the awesome  article, I think you expressed my expressions without even the slightest of misinterpretations ( though I never actually graduated from O.C.A.D. which keeps popping up in all these articles, maybe they should just give me an honorary degree!).

I was proud to get involved ( and not just because of the interview) and created my own “social justice” hero with a bicycle for a head. Dawning a flowing cape and an insignia initialled S.J. this weird little superhero is ready to ride. The connections between cycling, the environment, mass transit and humanity are readily discussed through out the magazine. I found some really interesting information about Toronto’s new large scale environmental centre as well as an enlightened comparison between T.O.’s and Vancouver’s approach to subsidized housing. Anyways you’ll have to go out and buy one I’m not giving any more away.(Viva Capitolismo!)

Cover of Dandyhorse Magazine

In a similar fashion to the SPACING Magazine, in which another HEY APATHY! article was published earlier this year, I was extremely honoured to be part of a socially driven and political publication. It has always been my mission to create artworks of social significance which can be used as a means of discourse and potentially incite change. Neither Dandyhorse nor Spacing are driven by celebrity or known to be exploitatively fashionable. In fact both magazines are intellectually charged and designed to perpetuate dialogue and information of the utmost relevance to the learned Torontonian. Though I’m not one to turn away art or fashion press exposure, I am incomparably proud to be part of these more important magazines.

more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/