chumpchampion

(Sneak peek of the Nike/UNDFTD billboard on La Brea and 1st St. Design by Keith Scharwath)

On Friday August 29th, Beautiful Losers makes it’s Los Angeles premiere at Landmark’s Nuart Theater. To date, the response to our little film has been overwhelmingly positive and audiences have eagerly embraced our message of inspiration and creativity with open arms. With no major film distribution company behind us, we’ve been fortunate enough to have gained the support and good will from audiences who have seen the film and have continued to spread the good word amongst friends, family, and something called the “internets”. Hopefully this grass roots approach can continue to bring our film to more and more cities as we have just added Boston to our tour which already includes San Francisco, Portland, and Chicago.

The 7:30 and 10pm shows on opening night will feature Q&A sessions with myself, Aaron Rose, and Money Mark. Tickets for the L.A. premiere and theatrical run are now on sale and can be purchased at Landmark’s website here (Make sure you’re purchasing tickets for the correct shows. Dates are listed in the pull down menu above the showtimes!)

Fresh from Tokyo, Japan after our official theatrical world premiere (much more on the Japan trip coming soon), Beautiful Losers makes it’s homecoming with the U.S. theatrical premiere on August 8th at the IFC Center in New York city. This release has been a long while coming as we’ve been on the festival road for over a year now, even capturing a documentary jury prize along the way. Select showings of this weekend’s special release will feature Q&A sessions with several artists from the film. The lineup goes as follows:

Friday, Aug.8th @ 8:20 - Aaron Rose, Steve Powers (ESPO), Chris Johanson, and Cheryl Dunn

Friday, Aug.8th @ 10:20 - Aaron Rose, Cheryl Dunn, and Lenny Mesina

Saturday, Aug.9th @ 8:20 - Aaron Rose, Tobin Yelland, and Lenny Mesina

Saturday, Aug.9th @ 10:20 - Aaron Rose, Cheryl Dunn, and Lenny Mesina

Tickets can be bought right here. (Make sure you’re purchasing tickets for the correct shows. Dates are listed in the pull down menu above the showtimes!)

The New York theatrical release at the IFC Center will run from August 8th through the 28th before shifting to the West Coast with runs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and finally end in Chicago (the film may have a longer run depending on the success of this initial roll out).

In addition to the the film’s U.S. launch, Nike Sportswear has partnered with us to give back to the people. “Make Something!!” is a series of D.I.Y. creative art-based workshops taught by some of today’s best creators aimed at inspiring and educating young people. The first set starts in New York and runs from August 8th through the 22nd and then moves to Los Angeles and goes from August 29th through September 8th. The workshops range from sign painting, photography, skateboard graphic design, toy design, filmmaking, tattoo art, footwear design and zine making. Classes will be taught by the likes of Aaron Rose, KAWS, Todd James, Tobin Yelland, Cheryl Dunn, Mike Mills, Ed Templeton, Money Mark, and yours truly to name a few. Come by my class August 30th where I’ll be teaching kids the dark arts of film editing! More on the workshops to come as they happen.

The paint is still drying and the time is almost upon us. The highly anticipated show will open tomorrow night at the Laforet Museum at 6pm! Like the sign says…

Yesterday I failed to mention half of the other artists involved in the Beautiful Losers opening at the Laforet Museum. Here’s whose crates of artwork arrived yesterday: Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Chris Johanson, Geoff McFetridge, Mike Mills, and Ed Templteton (Mark Gonzalez sculpture to be included as well if we can track it down somewhere in Shibuya). And here’s who arrived via plane last night:

It’s the lovely Jo Jackson straight out of Portland!

Elevator at the Laforet in Harajuku.

This week I’ll be chumpchampioning from the far East as I’m in Tokyo for the Japanese Premiere of Beautiful Losers on August 2nd. A bunch of other peeps are out here as well as our director Aaron Rose will be curating a group show with Steve Powers (ESPO), Jo Jackson, Josh Lazcano (AMAZE), and Alexis Ross of the Gents of Desire, and will also include original pieces by Margaret Kilgallen and Barry Mcgee. The show also features Nike’s Lightning Bolts artwork and will open at the Laforet Museum in Harajuku the day of the film’s premiere. I’ll be documenting the setup of the show leading up to the premiere, so stay tuned as there’s much more to come!

If you’re not going to be lining up to see one of the thousands of sold out Dark Knight showings this Saturday the 19th, you might want to check out the Santa Monica Pier anywhere from 7pm to 7am for the event known as Glow. After perusing the website and checking out the scheduled events (DJ’s, live bands, parades, and a possible Grunion run sighting!), this fairly huge and ambitious art offering may not be right for me. Maybe if I had gone to a Burning Man or two I would be all over it. But lucky for me I’ll be enjoying a glow of another kind, namely the glow of a 60 foot Joker’s smile on an IMAX screen.

From the Glow website (not to be confused with the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling-G.L.O.W.):

Back in the day when Jackie Chan just started to Rumble in the Bronx and people still thought Chow Yun-Fat was a Chinese dish, I sent a letter to a (then) little known fledgling magazine called Giant Robot. I gave them props for highlighting the rise of Asian pop culture as they brought it to the attention of American audiences who wanted more. In return I got my first ever letter published in a mag I love and they also sent me the coolest Bruce Lee sticker ever (here in shirt form)! Today I get to return the favor as the awesome Asians continue their support of emerging artists with their latest group show at GR2.

Suggestion Box at GR2

July 19 - August 13
Reception: Saturday, July 19, 6:30 -10:00

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276

Giant Robot is proud to present Suggestion Box, a group show featuring new works by artists selected by our own store and magazine staffs in addition to pieces by many of the staffers themselves.

We intend our publication and shops to be catalysts as well as showcases, and are excited to mix artists that provide inspiration with homegrown talent that is inspired by them. Pieces will include drawings, paintings, comics, sewn work, and other mediums.

Contributors will include (but are not limited to) the following:

Aaron Brown
Jeffrey Brown
Seth Drenner
Jordan Fu
Michael Hsiung
Benjamin King
Diana Kwok
David Magdaleno
Tru Nguyen
Molly Colleen O’Connell
Sidney Pink
Yumi Sakugawa
Emilio Santoyo
Eric Shaw
Ryan Jacob Smith
Mark Todd
Christiaan Van Bremen
Katie Vonderheide

A reception featuring many of the artists will take place from 6:30 - 10:00 on Saturday, July 19. For more information about the opening, the artists, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact:

Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311

(click pics to see more of Mr. Brainwash’s brainwashing)

Last Sunday I was able to check out Mr. Brainwash’s (a.k.a. MBW) solo show Life Is Beautiful at the old CBS studios in Hollywood. I had seen MBW’s work on the street for some time now but aside from the pastings and stencils of the bug-eyed man with a film camera, I wasn’t sure what else this documentarian turned “street artist” was responsible for. Before entering the massive compound on Sunset blvd., you’re greeted by an equally massive Elvis cutout holding a toy machine gun. And as soon as you step in, you see more hugeness lining the courtyard; there’s an enormous pile of books with a laptop straddled on top which reads “Life Is Beautiful”, an over-sized paper bag with a Chinese food receipt stapled to it, and a cutout of an old-timey rendition of the Star Wars family. Very promising from the outside looking in.

The inside walls were lined with images of pop icons ranging from Hendrix to Run DMC to the Dalai Lama to of course, Elvis. Lots and lots of Elvis. The styles of Warhol, Banksy, and Shepard Fairey run rampant through MBW’s work, as is the case with many pop artists working today, but in addition to his emulation he has created an entire installation space that lives, breathes, and breeds pop culture and shaped it into his own thing. Even though that “thing” is derivative of what others have done before him, it’s still something to behold. The sheer volume of work is impressive, especially in putting together a 2 story art show, my only gripe is that it looks all too familiar and a tad redundant. Apparently, I’m still not sure what else Mr. Brainwash has done.

Exhibit hours and location:

June 27th-29th

1pm to 9pm

The show will be open Friday through Sunday for the months of June and July.

Show reopens mid-September with new art and installations.

6121 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028

(Another fine flyer design from Keith Scharwath)

This Sunday June 29th, kick down your old new shoes for a good cause. Nike, Undefeated, and the illustrious Gents of Desire are kicking off a benefit for the East LA Community Youth Center where every pair of unworn shoes donated will be generously matched by Nike. In addition to helping out your fellow peoples, Nike and Undefeated will be hosting a picnic for you filled with food, drink, music, and a “lady pants” competition in their back alley featuring the artwork of the Gents of Desire. Your ticket in is the pair of shoes you’ll be donating. Read on for more info:

Time and place:

June 29th

5pm-9pm

UNDFTD Los Angeles

112 1/2 South La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036

If you’ve been in the Hollywood area, specifically around the now defunct CBS building on Sunset and Gower, you may have seen some new billboards up where the likes of Jim Hill and the rest of the channel 2 news team have been resting for years. Consisting of Warhol’s iconic Campbell Soup image but on a can of spray paint, an interwoven black and white Miles Davis, and Pacino’s Scarface holding a machine gun pointing down at the street, these are no ordinary billboards. These are strategically placed ads for France’s Mr. Brainwash and his first solo art show entitled Life is Beautiful. Mr. Brainwash’s pastings and stencil work have been seen on the streets of LA for a while now as he oftentimes gets up with the likes of Banksy and Shepard Fairey. Here’s more info on Brainwash and his show which already had it’s opening night on Wednesday but will be up through the rest of the weekend:

Exhibit hours and location:

June 19th-22nd

1pm-9pm

6121 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028