ESPO goes from graffiti to glasswear and joins Japan’s Aoshima, who herself takes a break from Takashi Murakami’s collective Kaikai Kiki, to each create limited edition bottle/pitchers for Absolut Vodka’s Absolut Art of Sharingcampaign which simply looks intoxicating.
Check details of the four bottle/pitcher set from the always well informed theartcollectors.com.
Booked
Opening reception: Saturday, June 5th, 6-8pm
Carmichael Gallery
5795 Washington Blvd Culver City, CA 90232
Show runs from June 5 through July 3, 2010
Or How ESPO Never Stopped Painting and Learned To Love West Philly. With the completion of his mural masterpiece along the buildings, shops and walls of Philadelphia, Steve Powers’ (aka ESPO aka my hero) takes a look back and waxes philosophical on his charming Love Letter and explains how it truly was a labor of love.
“for a week (more or less depending on demand), the only artwork that will be on offer will be all Steve Powers, all week long. All your favorite icons, punchlines, poignant reminders of the futility of life, hilarious illustrations of our inadequacies, True depictions of true love from the Love Letter project, and of course, PIGEONS. Its all here, it’s cheap, its permanent. No, I’m not tattooing, no skills. I will, however, sign your arm and let one of the skilled pros on staff at Todd’s shop re-ink it, fair enough?”
“Another Elebration, another storm bringing massive precipitation. In spite of the snow, Espo’s Love Letter Tattoo Shop (a division of ICY SIGNS, a subsidiary of Mark Surface Intl.) opened right at the happy hour of 5. Two excellent co-defendants stepped right up: Nick encouraged me to invent something on the spot, while Michelle chose “whats mine is yours” and got it bolder on her shoulder. WHOA, I’ve got that feeling I get when I put work in a good spot. It’s like a seeing diamond in a moonbeam. 10 sheets of flash are in the shop now, we’ll add 10 more on tuesday, 10 more on thursday, and 10 more on friday. Dont see that special piece of flash? come again, rewind till you find the fine line to put on your spine. Or if you want, you can suggest to Es what works best, HELL YES”
I know I said I wasn’t going to do any sort of year end lists the other day, but there’s just something about lists that I just can’t resist. And when I can cherry pick from all the “best of” lists that suckers esteemed writers have diligently compiled on the interwebs, well it pretty much makes this list the list to look at. I mean, where else can you peruse a list that includes street art, Quentin Tarantino, NSFW music and viral videos, Manny Pacquiao, conservative conspiracies, repurposing tricks, National Geographic photos and iPhone apps all from one webpage?
So without further ado, and in no particular order other than alphabetical, I present to you my humble list of the best “best of” lists for the year 2009.
Click headers or corresponding images to see complete lists.
Stephen Powers (ESPO), one of my favorite graffiti artists (or artists for that matter), is currently working on a Love Letter-an ambitious project in which he’s literally painting a love letter to his hometown of West Philly. In conjunction with The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Steve has been outfitting the city of brotherly love with his signature slogans in his uniquely bold style for this “public art project consisting of a series of 50 rooftop murals from 45th to 63rd streets along the Market Street corridor” which has been ongoing since July of this year.
And if you’ve seen our film Beautiful Losers you’ll have a much better understanding as to why this project means so much to the “handmade myth” known as ESPO (see how Steve eloquently puts it in the Coney Island section of the film).
(And no, I didn’t sign up for any back-end points, DVD residuals or anything like that when I edited the film. I just sincerely believe that we made something that is truly worthy of your time. Watch it!)
Beautiful Losers
Starring Starring Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Mike Mills, Stephen Powers, Ed Templeton, with Cheryl Dunn, Clare Rojas, Aaron Rose and Deanna Templeton
Directed by Aaron Rose
Co-directed by Joshua Leonard
Produced by Rich Lim, Jon Barlow, Chris Green, Noah Khoshbin
Executive Producers Ravi Ann and Jared Moshe
Cinematography by Tobin Yelland
Edited by Lenny Mesina
Original score by Money Mark
Graphic design by Keith Scharwath
Fresh off of Valentine’s Day weekend comes ESPO’s latest love lettering via Pictures on Walls. These 12 color signed and numbered screenprints come in two different color flavors, on cream and black and are only limited to 100 per color. Must. Have. Now.
Tonight the high-topped tight-tipped sultan of the subversive, Steve Powers (a.k.a. ESPO), brings his artistic stylings overseas to Belgium, Germany for his latest show “Semaphores of the Soul” at the Alice Gallery in Brussels. For years now ESPO has been bridging the gap from his roots in graf to fine art to installations, indoors and out, and those who know know ESPO runs the show. And yes, I know most everyone who reads this won’t be making it out to Deustchland for the opening or even during the shows run. But I just had to post this and support Steve as he’s one of my all-time favorite artists, dead or alive.
“Semaphores of the Soul” opening January 29th, 2009 from 6-10pm
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