chumpchampion

Last week (March 3-7) Los Angelenos were treated to Manifest Equality, the massive group art show in support of equal rights awareness. Throughout the week the gallery was open to the public where the works of over 200 artists were on view, Aaron Rose taught a Make Something!! DIY workshop, musical performances by Ben Lee, Seawolf and Modest Mouse and more rocked the opening and closing night parties where stirring speeches were delivered by activists such as Cleve Jones and actors Marissa Tomei and Heather Graham among others.

Click here or on photos to view entire Manifest Equality set on Flickr.

Barry McGee

Robbie Conal

Shepard Fairey

Aaron Rose

Curtis Kulig

Trey Speegle

Jesse Spears in the Make Something!! workshop room

Also…read more on Yosi Sergant’s Manifest Equality brainchild from our Gelatobaby friend Alissa Walker in her article for Fast Company.

Tweet This Post 

Lovers of art and equal rights have plenty to be excited about this week as the massive art show/equal rights event MANIFESTEQUALITY opens this Wednesday and continues through this weekend in Hollywood (*complete schedule of events listed below). Featuring a lineup of artists and friends who’ve donated their time and creativity to championing equal rights for all including Aaron Rose, Barry McGee, Cali Dewitt, Carlos Ramos, Chris Johanson, Clare Rojas, Friends With You, Gary Baseman, Jesse Spears, Keith Scharwath, Luke Cheuh, Ron English, Sage Vaughn, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Tim Biskup and many, many more.

See full lineup of artists here and check some of their work here on the MANIFESTEQUALITY blog.

Also…a Busy-Being pop up shop with curated artist made goods will be on hand with a porton of the proceeds going to support for the cause.

But first, more from the Manifesters:

“The MANIFESTEQUALITY Gallery, issues an inspiring, visual call-to-action, with hundreds of artists motivating public energy toward true reform on a local, state and national level.

MANIFESTEQUALITY will be open to the public, Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 through Sunday, March 7th, 2010 between the hours of 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM with extended hours Friday - Sunday.”

• March 3, Wednesday

10am - 6pm      Gallery Open to the Public
8pm - 1am        Opening Night Party:

Musical Guest:  Uh Huh Her, Fitz & the Tantrums, and more
DJ Sets by: Tim Biskup, Chris Holmes, and Booby Trap

• March 4, Thursday

10am - 6pm       Gallery open to the public

• March 5, Friday

11am - 10pm     Gallery open to the public

• March 6, Saturday

10am - 6pm       Gallery open to the public
11am - 5pm       Make Something School with Aaron Rose
8pm - 1am         Closing Night Party

Musical Guests: Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse, Sam Sparrow,
DJ Sets by: Crystal Method and Kelly Cole

• March 7, Sunday

10am - 5pm       Gallery open to the public

photo by Elisabeth Scooter Fried

Tweet This Post 

With artist/skateboarder Ed Templeton’s show The Seconds Pass passing through Los Angeles tonight, I thought it would be apro-pro to point you towards WKE and Aaron Rose’s ongoing D.I.Y. America series which is currently focusing on skateboarding and creativity.

(click corresponding images to view episodes)

• Skate and Create: Part 4 The Artists features icons who’ve taken lessons learned from skateboarding into their respective crafts such as Geoff McFetridge, Thomas Campbell, Andy Jenkins, Ray Barbee, Kevin Ancell, Thurston Moore, Tony Hawk and more.

Tweet This Post 

ATTENTION CREATIVE ARTISTIC TYPES: Just one more week left to have your artwork considered to be shown alongside a virtual who’s who of contemporary artists in Los Angeles MANIFESTEQUALITY show in March! Among the many talented and inspired artists joining the cause for equal rights are Aaron Rose, Barry McGee, Cali Dewitt, Carlos Ramos, Chris Johanson, Clare Rojas, Friends With You, Gary Baseman, Jesse Spears, Keith Scharwath, Luke Cheuh, Ron English, Sage Vaughn, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Tim Biskup and many, many more.

See the entire list of artists here and check out some of their work here on the MANIFESTEQUALITY blog.

From the Manifest Equalizers:

“Art plays a pivotal role in creating cultural momentum, and this is your chance to get involved.  The MANIFESTEQUALITY Gallery invites you to join artists from across the nation who are using their voices and talents to amplify and motivate the grass roots movement to fight for full & unrestricted equal rights for all Americans.

Submission is simple and quick. Just click here to submit images of your original artwork. You can submit any kind of visual art: painting, illustration, sculpture, collage— 2D or 3D. MANIFESTEQUALITY will be accepting submissions from Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 through 11:59 a.m. PST on February 19, 2010.

Our amazing panel of JUDGES will select up to thirty works of art from among those submitting to the art contest. FIVE First Prize Winners pieces will be shown along side some of today’s most respected contemporary artists, onsite, at the MANIFESTEQUALITY Gallery in Los Angeles, which will run from Wednesday, March 3rd to Sunday, March 7th, 2010.

TEN Second Prize Winners will be selected by our judges and displayed along with the FIVE First Prize Winners in the MANIFESTEQUALITY Online Gallery.

The MANIFESTEQUALITY Online Contest will center on six themes: EQUALITY, JUSTICE, RESPECT, UNITY, CIVIL RIGHTS, and LOVE. Artworks on any one, or all of these themes, will be considered for inclusion.”

Tweet This Post 

A bit of loveliness for you before your Valentine’s weekend begins as the lovely and multi-talented Ariana Delawari presents intimate excerpts from her debut album, Lion of Panjshir. The following series of filmed vignettes was directed by David Lynch who is also distributing the album through his record label David Lynch MC. Recording since 2007, Ariana’s journey making Lion of Panjshir began in her homeland of Afghanistan where she recorded at her parents home in Kabul and where she continues to return to film and document her family’s life in Afghanistan.

Click here to find out more about Ariana and her story in an exclusive interview from David Lynch Foundation Television (DLF.TV).

From Mr. Lynch:

“ARIANA WRITES GREAT SONGS - THEY ARE FILLED WITH FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS FROM HER LIFE - HER LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD AND LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN WHERE HER ROOTS ARE - ANCIENT AND MODERN FLOW TOGETHER HERE - THIS MIXTURE OF CULTURESAND HER MELODIES AND LYRICS CONJURE A GREAT UNIQUE FEELING IN PEOPLE - PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED AND EMOTIONALLY MOVED BY THIS MUSIC — ARIANA’S GOT SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT AND SHE DOES IT REAL WELL - IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DEBUT ALBUM SHE’S MADE.”

(*Ariana is also one of the lovely ladies from the LA Ladies Choir who’s hauntingly beautiful music I edited into Aaron Rose’s film on Corita Kent, Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita.)

Tweet This Post 

The brilliant Brazilian twin graffiti artists known as Os Gêmeos do D.I.Y. America for Aaron Rose’s latest installment for WKE.

Click here or the image below to see the twins in action in Episode five of D.I.Y. America.

An excerpt from the D.I.Y. America page:

“Os Gêmeos (Portuguese for “The Twins”) are identical twin brothers from São Paulo, Brazil. They started painting graffiti in 1987 and gradually became a major influence in the local scene, helping to define Brazil’s own style. Stylistically, Os Gêmeos are heavily influenced by the cryptic art of the São Paulo–based pixação graffiti movement as well as American hip-hop, which the twins grew up with in Brazil.”

Also…Flashback to 2008 for Cool Hunting’s piece on Os Gêmeos as they prepped their legendary Deitch Projects show beautifully filmed by the good man Tobin Yelland.

Tweet This Post 

Aaron Rose, one of my favorite collaborators and director of Beautiful Losers, brings a festival of rare and hard to see films from some of my favorite artists and filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard, Spike Jonze, Mike Mills, Harmony Korine, Thomas Campbell, Roman Coppola, Cheryl Dunn, Bucky Fukumoto, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Miranda July, Tobin Yelland and many, many more to the Roberts & Tilton Gallery in Culver City this Saturday night.

Read artist/filmmaker bios here.

See entire schedule of films here.

And read all about it from A. Rose here.

Tweet This Post 

Groundbreaking ad agency Wieden+Kennedy (Nike, Coca-Cola, EA) aims to break some internet ground with their own web-based television channel called WKE (WKEntertainment). Spearheaded in part by homeboy Aaron Rose, WKE is “an arts and culture digital content delivery platform, a subsidiary of advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. Whose (sic) goal is to renegotiate the relationship between art, media, advertising and the consumer.” With a handful of videos already rolled out to the masses, new episodes will continue to be released every Tuesday at WKE.

Here’s the rundown of their current lineup of shows:

• D.I.Y. America

• Don’t Move Here

A series focusing exclusively on the burgeoning underground music scene in Portland. Using a combination of interviews and live footage we will expose the world to all the interesting bands, record labels and underground venues that make Portland’s music scene so unique. Featured guests include YACHT, Lifesavas, Marriage Records, Jackpot Studios and more. (Cinematography by the great Tobin Yelland!)

• W+K Tokyo Lab

Embracing the concept of hybrid, music and visual label W+K Tokyo Lab has been experimenting with new forms of creative expression to bring new experiences that can only be created in Tokyo. Twenty video works are the best selection of music videos made through the collaboration of W+K Tokyo Lab and our label’s artists, such as Hifana, Jemapur and Afra. Also added two of the latest works from “Chinza Dopeness,” a new artist we released in September 2009.

• How To

• Hits and Misses

Hits & Misses is a bimonthly podcast where W+K’s music supervisor, Shayla Hason (aka DJ Safi), tracks the latest releases in popular music.

• Story Time

Recorded readings of short stories by published young authors set to soundscapes.

Tweet This Post 

Now that Beautiful Losers is available on DVD through Adam Yauch’s (MCA of the Beastie Boys) film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, your holiday shopping is now officially over (or at least made easier). With an inspiring message of how outsiders helped shape today’s pop culture landscape, I think our film is a great gift to give this year especially if you’re interested in the arts, DIY thinking, documentary films, graffiti, good music, skateboarding, and of course, these losers: Barry McGee (TWIST), Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine, Stephen Powers (ESPO), Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Thomas Campbell, Mike Mills, Shepard Fairey, Deanna Templeton, Clare Rojas, Cheryl Dunn and Aaron Rose.

Buy it now and inspire someone this holiday season!

Also available on iTunes.

Tweet This Post 

Our little film that could, Beautiful Losers, is coming to DVD next week (Dec. 8th) courtesy of Adam Yauch’s (MCA of the Beastie Boys) film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories. To commemorate the films release our trusty leader/director Aaron Rose will be coming back to LA to introduce Beautiful Losers Shorts, rare films by the artists and friends of the film. Screening at The Cinefamily on Fairfax, this special presentation features works Mike Mills, Harmony Korine, Thomas Campbell, Geoff McFetridge, Cheryl Dunn, Chris Johanson, Stephen Powers, Spike Jonze, Clare E. Rojas, Tobin Yelland, Jo Jackson and more!

Buy tickets here.

Brought to you by Oscilloscope Laboratories and Amoeba Music.

(flyer design once again creatively crafted by Keith Scharwath)

From our family at the Cinefamily:

“In celebration of the DVD release of Beautiful Losers, Aaron Rose will be showcasing short films by key artists in his critically acclaimed documentary, as well as never-before-seen interviews with artists from the scene, sharing personal stories behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation.”

Tweet This Post