KAWS, one of the most interesting men in art, will soon be joining Dos Equis’“Most Interesting Man in the World” as the New York street legend lends his signature “xx’s” to the labels of the delicious Mexican beer (which literally translates to “two x’s”). Unfortunatley for us Americanos, the limited edition brews will only be available south of the border beginning this September. Make sure passports and livers are up to date.
Images courtesy of HighSnobriety. Video commisioned by Another Company for Dos Equis.
Our lovely go-getter friend and lover of Los Angeles independent designers, artists and businesses, Sonja Rasula, brings her fashionably fun Unique LA marketplace to Orange County for a weekend of Unique OC at The Lab in Costa Mesa.
“Half a year ago, I tapped you all for help with a massive project. I was asked to curate the product design section of the California Design Biennial, a hefty task that sometimes felt like I was sifting through every single design blog post written in the last three years.
Fast forward to six months later and the show is opening this weekend! I don’t want to give away the surprise of what’s actually featured in the exhibition, but I do want to give a shout out to all the amazing designers whose work will be found in the product design section. These designers are doing amazing work and, to me, epitomize California’s unique convergence of high-tech wizardry and crafty activism. I couldn’t be prouder to live in this state with them.”
Our close collaborator, inspiring curator and dear friend Aaron Rose relaunches his dream art and design school in New York City this July and August with the return of the Make Something!! workshops. Originally spawned from a joint venture between our film Beautiful Losers and the generous contributions of Nike Sportswear, this latest incarnation of the D.I.Y. workshops aimed at teens features world renowned artists (Os Gemeos, Todd James, Ari Marcopoulos and Jeff Canham amongst others) as well as creatives from Converse, Nike and Brand Jordan working with students to create in a variety of mediums in Lower Manhattan.
The workshops culminate with a celebration of the students’ artwork created during the classes with a parade at the world famous Rucker Park in conjunction with the World Basketball Festival Celebration Event in August.
Register and sign up for the month long workshop events here or here. Class schedule, teachers, details and more can be found at Makesomethingschool.com as well as from head teacher Aaron Rose below.
“Not sure if everyone knows, but for the last three years we’ve been doing D.I.Y. creativity workshops for teens under the banner of Make Something!! This summer we’re partnering with Nike, Jordan and Converse to open a five-week long “pop-up” school house in NYC filled with amazing classes taught by fantastic artists, designers, musicians and all around champs in their fields. I thought I’d put the word out as I’m pretty excited about it.
Just as a teaser we’re offering classes like this: Documentary photo with Ari Marcopoulos, puppet-making with Todd James, sign-painting with Jeff Canham, Costume design with Cassette Playa, a mural workshop with Os Gemeos…plus shoe and garment design with Nike/Converse/Jordan designers and many, many more!
Check out our website for info and dates as they develop.
Classes are filling up quick, but if anyone is New York-based and has kids who want to attend (ages 13-18), email us at <info@makesomethingschool.com> and we’ll try to fit them in.
“Join design east of La Brea for an evening of free expression and generous libation in celebration of LA’s design culture at large.
Featuring stories about LA read by some of the city’s leading design writers and most notable characters: Nick Adams, Frances Anderton, Ken Bernstein, John Chase, Zach Frechette, Christopher Hawthorne, Brooke Hodge, Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam, Marissa Gluck, Joe Linton, Sam Lubell, Tom Marble, Chris Nichols, Tibby Rothman and Alissa Walker
Plus food and drink, interactive design installations, a silent auction featuring art and design by members of the de LaB community, and a VIP after party hosted at the Crocker Club by Los Angeles magazine’s LA Circles Club.
-For the basic ticket ($25) you get awesome food and drinks, and admission to the show, which is at the beautiful Spring Arts Tower in downtown LA, plus you get to see all the cool interactive design installations and silent auction items featuring art and design by members of the de LaB community.
-If you want to be extra-supportive you can buy the de LaB groupie ticket ($50), which gets you a guerrilla gardening seed bomb kit (with slingshot!) among other goodies and giveaways, as well as access to the after party with all the speakers at the swank Crocker Club (conveniently located below the venue).”
And in other product news…the talented couple of Chris and Kathleen Sleboda, who push the positivity with Part of it as well as forming the design duo Gluekit, have come up with a set of nifty sturdy bricky looking bookends to wrangle your collections of covered pages.
Now our favorite Silver Lake based Beautiful Losers graphic designer who looks exactly like Paul Rudd has teamed up with Poolga to create (free!) digital wallpapers for your favorite Apple and Palm Pre devices.
“A few months ago I was invited by my friend JC to create a few wallpapers for Poolga, a site dedicated to providing quality original artwork for iPads and iPhones.
It became the perfect opportunity to point out the similarities between all the boards (planks, slates etc.) in my life. Head over to Poolga for the free download and never forget to be thankful for the board under your feet (or fingers).”
Over the years skateboarding and art have been crossing paths more and more frequently to the delight of both fans of skating and art. For one night only the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery on Melrose will host a group show of some of the artists who perpetuate the art and skateboarding crossover with One Way or Another featuring: Geoff McFetridge, Michael Leon, Donny Miller, Andy Jenkins and many more.
From the HVW8ers:
“There have been countless exhibitions of the art inspired by skateboard culture. Decks and shoes adorned with the paint splatter from our favorite skaters from yesteryear. Showing that not only does skateboarding breed creativity, but with it astounding prowess. In recent years professional skaters such as Ed Templeton, Jason Lee, Mark Gonzales, Chris Pastras and Jason Adams have carved their own ways into the world of art with favorable reviews. Now and for the first time ever Color Magazine brings together the artists who make up the skateboarding world today, as we see it. Representing the wide spectrum of the industry, these artists come together for the pure love of a skate-trip.
Greg PNut Galinsky (Vans), Andrew Pommier (Momentum Wheels, RVCA), Michael Leon (Commonwealth Stacks), Mark ‘Fos’ Foster (Herion Skateboards/Altamont Clothing), Todd Bratrud (High 5/Nike), Ben Horton (Slave Skateboards), Donny Miller (Vans/Skate Mental), Michael Sieben (Volcom/Roger) and Mat O’Brien(Krooked/SLAP) will be traveling from around the country and the U.K. tothree cities showing the wonderful and inspirational work they do. Others like Dennis McNett (Anti-Hero/Vans), Travis Millard (Fudge Factory Comics),Geoff McFetridge (Solitary Arts/Girl), Andy Jenkins (Girl), Matt Irving (adidas, Delphi), and Eric Anthony (4 Star Clothing/Girl) are contributing art for these one-night shows starting in Los Angeles at the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery, then Escapist in Kansas City, MO ending at the No Comply Skate Shop in Austin, TX.”
Pocket pals Poketo and Bobby Solomon’s delightful design-centric Kitsune Noir deliver one last event in an “everything-must-go” manor as they close out their super successful rotating swap meet show Los Angeles, I’m Yours at Space 15 Twenty in Hollywood.
From the Poketo peeps:
“We’ll be having a fun filled closing party on Saturday May 22nd, from noon to 4pm. Everything must go! In market fashion, get ready to put your haggle face on and come and get some great vintage art pieces for the home and select Poketo stuff at a special 15% on this day only! If you have not seen the show yet, May 22nd is your last opportunity.
Not only that, but, we’ll be putting on the first ever “Los Angeles, I’m Yours” Ping Pong Tournament. That’s right, come out and enjoy the sun and play some PING PONG in the Space15Twenty courtyard with us. Sign up to compete and be prepared to earn ultimate bragging rights of being The Los Angeles, I’m Yours Ping Pong Champion! Winner will not only be the envy of friends, but, great prizes and a very special trophy will be awarded. SIGN UP TO PLAY HERE!“
“A member of the French art collective, LCP United, Munka’s style is strongly influenced by hip-hop and the progressive L.A. beat scene. His gateway to the westside came via Andrew Meza of BTS Radio in LA, who in thoroughly modern fashion met through MySpace in 2005. The two began collaborating on logos and designs for the music being played on the program and subsequently, Munka became the visual voice of the BTS sound and later led to his partnership with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder collective. Using mixed media, Munka’s work captures a new style of art that blends more traditional aspects of graffiti and his identification with contemporary and historical imagery from film, video games, abstract expressionism and pop art.”
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