Other: The Artwork of Troy Lovegates is a book of photographs showcasing the artist’s work and experiences along the way. From oil stick characters on the side of trains, wheat pasted posters, large scale murals and snapshot photographs.   Over the last 2 decades ‘OTHER’ (as he is know in the street art community)  has been constantly traveling and creating artwork for the urban/public space.  Common themes found in his work are homelessness and emptyness (he is constantly on the move) as well as subtle socio-political narratives such as human rights and land ownership.     This collection of recent images is evidence of a current and wonderfully developed Canadian outsider artist staying true to his ideas and practice by not working not in the typical studio/gallery environment but in the alleys and forgotten walls of the disputed public space.       The artist was given  creative control over the presentation and pagination/edit of  his work and collaborated with publisher Harley Smart in working out the design of the hardcover and binding.        The book’s cover has a two colour screenprint and has been laminated to protect the print.  The inside front and back cover (endpapers) have hand made prints created by the artist. The front cover print is a pattern which comes in two variations black or red. The back cover endpaper is a multi coloured print which is cropped at different spots throughout the edition.  Each book is unique.    The title page (character with levitating key) has been hand stamped in ink in each copy.

Available from Anteism.

http://www.anteism.com

Troy Lovegates aka Derek Mehaffey aka Other began painting on the streets around 1988 after noticing graffiti on the buildings in Toronto that would magically appear overnight. Also around this time he developed a love for rail travel, therefore it was natural for him to begin displaying his art on trains. His rail work became part of a nomadic culture that stretches as far back as the 1800s. Transients, train workers, and soldiers originally developed the tradition of inscribing their names on the trains they used to roam around the country. Troy Lovegates’ train work consists mainly of black and white outline portraits with exaggerated facial features. Some of the more complex pieces resemble his street murals which are large-scale, multimedia paste-ups created in his studio and then adhered to outdoor surfaces under the guise of nighttime.  In order to fund his train work, Troy Lovegates exhibits his art in galleries. To date, he has painted pieces and had art shows in Taipei, Tokyo, Paris, Dublin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Barcelona, Lima and many more cities around the world. His international work has occupied many canvases, from gallery walls to a projection on the side of the Romanian Palace of the Parliament, the largest building in Europe.

Anteism is a Canadian arts publisher showcasing visual artists through publications such as unique visual artist books, zines, monographs, prints &  handmade editions. Publishing new and emerging Canadian visual artists we strive to showcase and permanently archive up and coming artists whose work deserves a larger audience.   We hope to give a voice to a large group of young artists who wish to publish work, and may not have opportunities to do so otherwise, and develop public interest in artists we publish in order to enrich the local arts community.    The word “Anteism” alludes to the latin ANTE ( before) and ISM (art-ism).   We find this fitting as one day many of the artists we’ve worked with will surely be lumped into future ‘isms’ -  for now we hope to continue working with the undefined avant-garde and contemporary  artists who are just beginning their careers and have yet to be ‘figured out’..    Anteism’s roots were developed while curating collaborative art projects and exhibitions. Since 2003 the focus has slowly grown towards arts publishing. Art publications and limited edition prints are now our main focus. Anteism publishes books in the format of artist monograph, handmade artist books / zines, graphic novel, comics & illustrated fiction.