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To celebrate the Grammy nominations of Brooklyn baritone rapper Mos Def, HVW8 Art & Design Gallery, Union LA and Frolab present a photo exhibition entitled MOS DEF: ECSTATIC MOMENTS. “Photographer Cognito showcases rare performance and behind-the-scenes images captured during the two year journey of making and supporting the June 2009 release of “The Ecstatic”.

Also…Mos Def at the Key Club on Sunset tonight! Get tix here.

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The Japanese Megane Zine crew, fresh off their release party/art show featuring artist/skater Ed Templeton at the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery last weekend, have really good taste. The upstart collective of best friends from Tokyo have suggested to check out the work of another one of their best friends and favorite artists, Hidehito Shinno this Thursday at Blends in downtown LA. And since I happen to think they have really good taste I’m suggesting you check out tomorrow’s show as well.

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The 2nd weekend of the new year brings a plethora of group shows to Los Angeles along with a Hamburger weekender.

• Gallery 1988 on Melrose has been pumping out art shows depicting some of our most recognizable pop culture heroes and villains over the years (I AM 8-BIT, Crazy 4 Cult, Lost, etc.) so it comes as no surprise that our favorite childhood muscle bound bowl-cut hero from Eternia has over 100 artists making pieces of him and his pals for the show Under the Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

(Click image for more info and full artist lineup)

• You Can Heal Your Life! at the Circus Gallery on Lexington that is at their group show which features the works of Sister Corita among others. Curated by Emma Gray, the “art works in this show seek to address issues of religion, spirituality and self-help through performance, sculpture, painting, video and printmaking.“

(Click image for more info and full artist lineup)

• For animal and art lovers alike, Thinkspace in Silver Lake is putting out A Cry For Help, a group show of over 100 artists with the goal of raising awareness about the plight of animals in our modern world. *20% of all proceeds will be donated to Born Free USA.

(Click image for more info and full artist lineup)

• New Image Art on La Brea is run by some amazing women (Marsea Goldberg, Amber Abramson) so it should come as no surprise that their current group show features some of today’s powerful women photographers with the group show Put Your Finger on the Button. Included in the show are two of my favorite photographers, regardless of sex, the awesome Cheryl Dunn and lovely Deanna Templeton (who you may have both seen in our film Beautiful Losers).

(Click image for more info and full artist lineup)

• Speaking of Deanna Templeton, her husband Ed Templeton will be featured in the show for the Japanese publication Megane Zine at the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery off of Melrose. In addition to a limited edition HVW8 x Megane t-shirt designed by Ed for sale, comic zine’s will be given free to the first 20 people on January 9th.

(Click image for more info and full artist lineup)

• And finally wrap up your weekend with family, laughter and Hamburger as the Cinefamily on Fairfax extends their Comedy Death Ray series with Neil Hamburger’s tribute to Frank Sinatra, Jr. I repeat Frank Sinatra, JUNIOR. In honor of Frank Jr.’s birthday, Hamburger has assembled this evening of rare, vintage Frank Jr. TV variety specials and film appearances!

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The day after Thanksgiving, a.k.a. Black Friday, is upon us which of course means the holiday shopping season has officially begun (in the United States). Let the commerce commence!

• In a novel approach to bring the art to the people, artist/designer Parra drives around LA with his mobile pop-up truck where he’ll be peddling both his art and clothing from his Rockwell Clothing line including various Stones Throw collabos. Truck stops at UNDFTD in Silver Lake from 12-2pm, HVW8 Gallery on Melrose from 3-5pm, and Archrival in Little Tokyo from 6-8pm. Take a peak at what items you may find via Freshnessmag.com.

• Giant Robot stores in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and on the interwebs go the more traditional route as they conduct their salesmanship in-store.

• Possibly the best place to do your gift shopping on the east side of LA is at the uniquely school themed boutique, Reform School. They may not have the crazy sales that many other chain stores are having today but they certainly have an abundance of those not-so-common gifts that are the hardest to find.

• And last but certainly not least is this little show I failed to mention last week and I can’t forgive myself for missing this one. Barry McGee (TWIST) and Phil Frost, two masters of graffiti-to-gallery art opened their group show Mind the Gap at the Prism gallery in West Hollywood last Friday. Curated by RVCA founder and fight aficionado PM Tenore.

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A solid first weekend of November with friends in art shows, friends being crafty, and Pac Man going up against Kitty. I got my money on Manny.

• Fifteen years strong, Marsea Goldberg’s venerable New Image Art Gallery keeps banging out the hits with the help of special human being Amber Abramson (who herself is often busy-being) as they present the group show 14 Artists. And these aren’t just any artists, they’re heavy hitters Judith Supine, Cleon Peterson, Skullphone, The Date Farmers, Richard Colman, and Erik Foss among others. Party starts at the gallery and continues on to the after-party at the Cha Cha in Silver Lake.

• Get your craft on at the Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica as my dear old friend Tianna Osborne will be displaying (and selling) her art through her uniquely beautiful purses through the weekend. Flyer below is good for free admission for two!

• Want more Manny? Of course you do! So I suggest you start waiting in line now at Hollywood’s Montálban Theater as Nike Sportswear presents Under the Hood with Manny Pacquiao, a send off celebration and Q&A with the man himself and his team of Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez and Alex Ariza. RSVP is mandatory and capacity will surely be reached, but if you can’t make it in person the event will be streaming live on Niksportswear.com, Complex.com, and Facebook.

• The HVW8 Art+Design Gallery on Melrose reunites three old designer friends with the show Michael, Kevin & Geoff. Those three amigos would be: Geoff McFetridge who was of course in Beautiful Losers and whose work you’ve most recently seen in the title design of Where the Wild Things Are; graphic designer Michael Leon whose work with Nike is well documented; and Kevin Lyons who’s well, Kevin Lyons.

• Ever wanted to know how to blow yourself up? If your answer is yes (or if you just want to see some good art) then you’re in luck as WK Interact teaches you how to do so at Echo Park’s Subliminal Projects with his solo show aptly titled How to Blow Yourself Up.

• Speaking of blowing stuff up, the Three Apples Exhibition Celebrating 35 years of Hello Kitty continues at the Royal/T Cafe in Culver City with limited edition print releases, live painting, and meet and greets with some of the participating artists of this never ending event. Along with my Hit+Run homeboys silk-screening gear, Buff Monster and Plasticgod will be among the artists on hand from 4-9pm. Presented by Juxtapoz and Japan LA.

• And finally, another celebratory show as the clothing line Blood is the New Black celebrates their five years of existence with a group show and party at Silver Lake’s JÜNC Gallery. And what would an art party be without my talented friends, the lovely Jesse Spears and the sometimes bearded Dan Monick, among the many participating artists.

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Dutch illustrator, graphic designer, Rockwell Clothing creator, and burgeoning international art star, Parra brings his highly saturated, boldly sarcastic style to his first solo show in Italy with his latest painted canvases, original drawings, prints, posters, as well as a site-specific installation at Milan’s Galleria Patricia Armocida with The Disco of Italo.

Also Parra’s current stateside show, Is That A Gun My Friend, is still up and running at Los Angeles’ HVW8 Gallery off of Melrose and will continue through May 29th. Click below to see more from the gallery.

Parra also has been dabbling in the disco with his musical side project LeLe. Check out the music video in which his signature typography get’s animated in “Breakfast”:

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Plenty of inspiring openings and closings around LA this weekend, oh and some additional ass kicking as well.

• The Secret Headquarters brings new art by comic book artist Josh Simmons to their not-so-secret shop in Silver Lake with Special Nice Cosmic Hyperdeath.

• Bill McMullen’s Hype, Hustle, Ripoff ends today at the Constant Gallery on La Cienega with a closing BBQ just for you!

• KAWS‘ latest works in The Long Way Home will finally be going home as his much hyped first show in LA comes to a close at the Honor Fraser Gallery. Check out this amazing show as well as the closing of Bill McMullen’s at the Constant Gallery as they’re just a block from each other! Both well worth your time and travels (lot’s of other galleries in the area too!)

• French artistic heavyweight Parra shows off his latest works with Is That A Gun My Friend? at Saturday’s HVW8 Gallery opening off of Melrose in Hollywood.

• Art superstar Kehinde Wiley brings his latest works titled The World Stage: Brazil to Roberts & Tilton on Washington in Culver City. See more and read more about Wiley’s show inspirations here.

• On another note, wanna cheer on former Asshole of the Year Chris Pouy as he kicks ass and gets his ass kicked Muay Thai style? Of course you do!




South Coast Martial Arts
Fight night Saturday April 4th starting at 7pmdoors open at 6pm

2990 Grace Ln. Costa Mesa CA 92626

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