The work of Team Macho reminds me so much of The Royal Art Lodge. Like The Royal Art Lodge, they are also a Canadian artist collective who collaborate on drawings and paintings. The five members- Lauchie Reid, Chris Buchan, Nicholas Aoki, Jacob Whibley, and Stephen Appleby-Barr do fine art collectively but also do illustration work for clients. This book was put out in conjunction with a show at Magic Pony Gallery a couple years ago. It’s full of really nice interesting drawings from the fully realistically rendered to the most crude. The drawings all have so much variation in style and technique because multiple artists might work on each one. (If you haven’t tried the communal drawing thing, it’s worth an experiment. I sometimes have a hard time letting go of the good drawings I make, but sharing helps you remember that drawing can be a learning exercise and that each drawing doesn’t need to be so precious. Plus it’s exciting when someone else adds something pleasantly unexpected.) Team Macho has this silly “pansy awesomeness” thing going. The cover of the book has them posed in dorky sweaters with a forest backdrop and they give quite a ridiculous interview with Gary Taxali in the book. They might be Stella’s cousins. You can get this book here.

© Julia Rothman 2007