[Australian-born illustrator, painter and sculptor Anthony Lister is no stranger to the art world; his work has been shown around the planet and his name is as recognizable as his unique style. For the first time in his career Lister brings his freakish interpretations of pop culture to the walls of Toronto’s Show & Tell Gallery. Dailydujour contributor Nick Hanekom caught up with him just prior to the opening of 'The Beauty of Failure' to chat about his views on creativity, rape and reality TV. ]

DD: How do you define yourself as an artist?

Anthony Lister: Just the same as I would if I were running from a bullet or chasing a speeding plane: difficult and hard to please. Or ‘As Seen On TV,’ either definition would satisfy me.

DD: Where’s your creative ignition switch – the thing that triggers your desire to do great things – best found?

Anthony Lister: It’s like shitting yourself in a restaurant — the reaction — it’s immediate. But mostly I switch the lights and music on in the studio and everything else is cheese and biscuits.

DD: Is your creative process somewhat structured or do you allow the paintings and installations to take their own course without being overly forced?

Anthony Lister: It’s a bit of this here and a bit of that there, really. If I don’t like it, I move it, and so on. I actively try to keep my construction style pretty loose within the structure of the project to encourage new experimental stylistic developments – that’s in the studio.

Before I get into the studio I try to nut out most of the decision making in my sketchbook. This includes the materials, concepts, compositional sketches, chroma selection, sizes, where its going, who it’s for etc – that’s for a body of work.

If I’m just drawing, then I’m just drawing, and that’s really where it all begins. That’s where the problems initially start and the solutions follow on organically from that point forward.

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Both shows opening next week at Show & Tell Gallery

Gallery NOSCO in London has released an online print shop featuring Bom.K’s “La Limite” as the first editioned print by the artist.

Details of the print as follows:

75.6 x 60 cm, giclee and matt silkscreened varnish
on 330gsm Somerset art paper.
Edition of 25, signed, dated and stamped.
Price £175 with free shipping worldwide.

Online store also features works from:
Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Dran, Bom.K, Arno, Herakut, Brusk, Kareem Lotfy, Sal, Matthew Curry, Tom Hine, Anthony Lister, Nicolas Ruston and more to come…

For more prints go to their website.