Archive for June 19th, 2008

Get Dirty With David Choe

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

I’ve never been a fanatic of crazy-ass Korean artist and LA native David Choe’s art as much as I’ve been a fan of his process.  The way he creates on the spot, throwing intoxicated caution to the wind and his fearless adventures across the globe (see: The Vice Guide to Travel-Congo), is what I’ve mostly been drawn to.  This weekend, the documentary on his exploits over the past 7 years titled Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe makes it’s premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.  The film follows Choe on his on-going escapades in art making around the world, his rise in the art community, his descent in his own personal life,  and even his stint in solitary confinement in a Japanese jail on charges of vandalization (the guy was still able to create art in his tiny cell using soy sauce and at times his own urine).  More about the film and his bad-assery here:

“Los Angeles artist David Choe is not as crazy as his violent, phantasmagoric, and sexual work across several media would suggest, he is considerably more so, embodying William Blake’s adage that “you never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.”
Captivated by Choe’s mania for adventure and excess, close friend Harry Kim filmed the artist’s “life and crimes” from 2000 to 2007, a period coinciding with Choe’s rise to fame and fortune in the art world as he matured from a street artist bombing underpasses and illustrating porn magazines to a respected muralist, painter, and graphic novelist. The ride, however, was a bumpy one. From jail sentences and an addiction to shoplifting and graffiti to dinosaur hunting and wrestling pygmies in the heart of the Congo, Choe’s irrepressible spirit is as much a model of unrestrained living as it is a cautionary example of excess.”

Saturday, June 21st 9:45pm Majestic Crest Theatre
Sunday, June 22nd 4:00pm Mann Festival Theatre
Thursday, June 26th 4:30pm Mann Festival Theatre

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