Hoover & Wiebe are Compressed Company

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 029

My good friend David Hoover reached out last week to tell me about a small art show he and his collaborator Darryl Wiebe were putting together. Together they form the collective Compressed Company. That show is running tonight until 11pm down on Borden Ave. Brohemus and I stopped in this afternoon to have a look. Above is a fragment of a collaborative piece. And it was my immediate favourite.

The TL;DR: if you dig any of the work in this post, reach out to Dave and Darryl at compressedcompany@gmail.com and stay tuned for some very cool upcoming projects from these guys.

A completely reasonable number of pics follow…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 004

Not this door.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 008

Artist Darryl Wiebe works by day as a tattoo artist at Way Cool Tattoo and by night…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 052

in this studio space painting on board and canvas. Darryl knew Dave from high school days at Waterloo Oxford. They kept in touch and Darryl eventually did a co-op work term at…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 050

the ever-awesome Sign Depot down on Borden where owner Peter Moir fosters all sorts of creativity. So it’s not surprising to find this studio within The Sign Depot itself. Long-time readers may remember my profile of Peter from back in 2011 when he generously toured us through his workshop, which is where during the day you will find…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 064

Mr. David Hoover rocking all sorts of sign magic for customers on the high end unique signs The Sign Depot is known for. By night, Dave is pushing the edges of his art and it’s especially cool to see the development of the work since I shot Dave’s first show in this space back in 2011.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 013

The work is a great mashup of stencil, free brushwork, patterns, text, screening, textures, glazes and the two artists fuel each other’s momentum.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 017

One thing about having your studio inside The Sign Depot is access to a professional…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 016

paint booth. Not only are the guys pushing the creative, but also the technical execution in their medium. They have excellent craftsmanship on the presentation of the work. Where this face board is adhered to the support frame you’ll only find a perfect fit. Nice job.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 019

This amazing piece, which I’d estimate at 3×4 feet includes a tonne of stippling, which Dave told me Darryl put in all by hand to achieve the subtle shading in the face. Darryl: “No more dots!” This piece has a really cool visual depth between the highly-stylized foreground and the soft-focus background. Excellent.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 023

I love these details where the work wraps around the edge of the piece.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 022

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 071

One of the pieces in this series ended up finding its way to a small café north of Toronto in Schomberg. Christian Snyder of Pandora Press (the shop of which morphed into kwartzlab’s current home) was working with a bakery delivering baked goods far and wide, and put Dave on to this café that he thought would be a good fit for the work. As I recall the story, when Dave showed up with the work, a customer bought one of the pieces right there. To me, it’s very interesting how art travels and connects between different communities.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 025

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 038

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 036

The bar top is almost finished, but…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 040

the important part is already there.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 044

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 048

Tools of the trade.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 049

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 055

Great space.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 059

Texture!

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 056

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 057

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 067

Snaaa…

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 068

aaacks.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 078

And then Brohemus and I were feet on the street again.

David_Hoover_and_Darryl_Wiebe_Compressed_Company 074

Again, if you dig the work, buy the work.

On Borden Avenue South, this is Kitchener.

DW

This entry was posted in art and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Hoover & Wiebe are Compressed Company

  1. Pingback: Compressed Company-new work, same great artists | makebright

Comments are closed.