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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 High Snobriety. Video commisioned by Another Company for Dos Equis.

More KAWS coverage:

• Look. Look Again. at KAWS in Connecticut
• SUNDAY (June 27): Look. Look Again. with Kaws @ The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
• TONIGHT: Get Rich Quick!, Alëxone, Thais Beltrame
• THIS WEEKEND: Hyperdeath, Hyped Out, KAWS, Parra, Wiley, and Ass Kicking
• THIS WEEKEND: Darkness, Trees at Night, The Golden Ass, Hype, Home, and Tokyo!
• REMINDER: A Good KAWS This Saturday!
• SATURDAY: KAWS is Koming!

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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.

Click here for full list of vendors and more. Food offerings include the up and coming mobile Manila Machine (Filipino food!!!) and Sweet Lucie’s (organic ice creams) among others.

And as per the usual, our good buddy Bryan Davidson will be providing the entertainment for your ears.

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Add 2 parts Stephen (ESPO) Powers to 2 parts Chiho Aoshima, build over art and commerce, stir and you have yourself a refreshing mix of the Absolut Art of Sharing.

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 Sharing campaign which simply looks intoxicating.

Check details of the four bottle/pitcher set from the always well informed theartcollectors.com.

Absolut Stephen Powers

Absolut Chiho Aoshima

Absolut Art of Sharing pitcher set

More ESPO exposure:

• SATURDAY (June 5): Banksy, ESPO, Shepard and More Get Booked @ Carmichael Gallery
• Dr. StrangeESPO
• ESPO’s Love Letter by Book, Opening, Train and Tattoo!
• My Best List of the Best “Best of” Lists of 2009
• From ESPO with Love

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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.

Previously seen on this here site toting out Geoff McFetridge shirts and totes to support the Library Foundation, the ultra colorful pop-centric art of Gluekit comes to life in their own practical (and affordable!) piece for you to enjoy.

Click here or image below for purchasing info on Gluekit’s Stacked Brick Bookends.

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After receiving my prints in the mail yesterday, I have to talk about Josh Cooley and his fiendishly clever Lil’ Inappropriate Prints. A sweet love letter to A complete bastardization of the Little Golden Books you learned to read as a child, the style remains the same but the messages get mutilated by the movies that taught you how to curse like a Goodfella, kill like a Professional and crap your pants when riding a big wheel through a twin ridden hallway among other iconically dreadful film moments.

Responsible for making millions of kids smile as a story artist for Pixar (appropriately Toy Story 3 comes out this weekend BTW), Cooley has used his formidable skills of drawing and deception to create an Inappropriate Golden Book two years in the making. And from this soon to be released book comes a set of prints that are sure to make you laugh in horror as well as burn a hole in your bank account.

Click here or images below to view the set of Lil’ Inappropriate Prints available for purchase.

From cool hand Cooley:

“The first run of prints from the soon to be released, “Movies R Fun” book are now available in the brand spanking new COOLEY store! Visit www.cooley.bigcartel.com

Signed 8.5×11 prints are available AND also a fine selection of Limited Edition 13×19 signed and numbered prints, that have a super fancy illustrated border that is so awesome, it will make everything else you have hanging on the wall look like crap.”

Below is a sampling of the prints which come either as 13×19 signed and numbered limited editions or 8.5×11 signed in open editions. I couldn’t resist picking up the deluxe versions of two of my favorite films: The Godfather: Part II and Goodfellas.

The Godfather: Part II

Goodfellas

The Big Lebowski

Alien

The Shining

The Silence of the Lambs

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Our dear newlywed friend Lauren Fong is doing something special for the women this weekend as her elegantly lovely ladies line ITSOLA joins a host of other designers in a sample sale in Santa Monica to benefit USC’s Westside Alumni Scholarship Fund. Check out the list of other vendors here.

From Lauren:

“I am a part of a big sample sale this Saturday in Santa Monica to support the USC Westside Alumni Scholarship Fund!  Itsola will be there along with 19 other designers of clothing, jewelry, bags, and shoes!

The sale is from 10am-3pm at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel.  You can find more info about the vendors at http://www.westlatrojans.com/sctyle/vendors.php.

Make sure to bring your friends because I am marking everything down at least 65% off retail values and will have one rack of things under $30!

Hope to see you there!”

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Leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and following their successful line of Star Wars crossover shoes and apparel comes Adidas’ Originals Star Wars themed World Cup viewing party at a familiar looking cantina. Packed with both new (Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk, David Beckham, etc.) and old friends (Han Solo, Chewie, C-3PO, etc.), Adidas kicks up the already white hot World Cup fever to intergalactic levels. Unfortunately for Greedo he still won’t be watching.

From Adidas Originals:

“Adidas Originals invites you to join David Beckham, Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, Franz Beckenbauer, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Ciara, Jay Baruchel, DJ Neil Armstrong and some of your dear, old friends for an intergalactic 2010 FIFA World Cup™ viewing party that you’ll never forget.”

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With World Cup fever sure to be affecting just about everyone in the world this summer, Nike Sportswear helps kick off the futbol festivities by presenting Futbol Arte: Brasil with the launch of Nike’s Brasil Black Pack Collection as well as the US premiere of the Brazilian themed documentary Cadéncia at Hollywood’s Montalbán Theater. For more on the beautifully soulful film about Brazilian culture directed by Daren Bartlett click here.

RSVP is a must!

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UPDATED

During the week I’ve posted a bunch of amazing art shows and fun and exciting events going down around Los Angeles this unusually busy weekend. So I thought it would be helpful to gather them all in one post for all yous. Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Click links for further details and full postings.

• FRIDAY (April 23): David Choe’s Nothing to Declare at LAzarides (opening coverage here)
• SAT & SUN (April 24 & 25): Unique LA’s 2nd Annual Spring Show (updated w/ photos)
• SATURDAY (April 24): Phil Frost at Known Gallery
• SATURDAY (April 24): Roger Gastman Curates Rooms at Scion Installation L.A. (updated w/ photos)
  
• SATURDAY (April 24): It Takes Two to Make an Accident at New Image Art
• SATURDAY (April 24): Los Angeles, I’m Yours at Space 15 Twenty
• SATURDAY (April 24th): Sultans of Sand at Fix Gallery
• SATURDAY (April 24): This is the Beginning at Actual Size
• SATURDAY (April 24): The 1st 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational

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UPDATE: As mentioned previously, our buddy Keith Scharwath designed the tote bags which will be given away at Unique LA and we now have the pictures to prove it. Click here or photos above for more info on Keith’s fun bags.

The patron saint of Los Angeles locals gives back yet again as my dear friend and Unique LA and LA Street Food Fest founder Sonja Rasula brings us Unique LA’s 2nd Annual Spring Show at the California Market Center. Just what is Unique LA you ask? Not only is it the largest independent design and art show in Los Angeles, but it’s the largest show of it’s kind in the entire country! Major props to our pal Sonja for making it all just for us!

Also…the first 300 ticket buyers will not just get the usual entry with a tote bag (designed by our buddy Keith Scharwath), free drinks, etc. but will also get a t-shirt from The Grammy Museum featuring artwork by Paul Stanley of KISS among many other gifts and amenities.

Check a preview of the Spring show here.

Read up on why Sonja wants Angelenos to buy local on the LAist here.

Details and much, much more from Sonja below.

“We’re bringing you 300 amazing local designers/artists/gourmet food trucks just in time for you to buy your mom something nice. Hint-hint. From big names like Anthropologie favorites Salt Swimwear and Eva Franco (all made here in LA) to folks just starting out, we’ve got the best independent talent around! FACEBOOK FANS, BUY PRE-SALE TICKETS to avoid lines (http://uniquela.com/show-info/buy-tickets/).

* Check out the 300 talented, diverse vendors online first! http://uniquela.com/participants/

* Amoeba has joined us with a Pop-Up Shop… Amazing!

* This show’s Artist Series tote bag is by Keith Scharwath, http://scharwath.com/ (which you’ll get with paid admission along with re-entry both days, free drinks and more!)

* We’ve got an awesome lineup of workshops all weekend, so you can make stuff for free at all times!
http://uniquela.com/workshop-schedule/

* Our two cafe areas have expanded to include 3 restaurants (Tiara Cafe, MALO, Gram & Papas) and some of LA’s best food trucks like Coolhaus and The Flying Pig! http://uniquela.com/show-info/extras-amenities/

* On Sunday Luxury at Your Door will be on-hand giving free mini spa services such as hand massages & manicures (omg)!

* Test-drive Pedego’s COOL electric bikes… All weekend we want you to take a ride and discover their eco-friendly transportation options. They’ll be in the lobby! http://www.pedegoelectricbikes.com/

* Our non-profit partner for the Spring Show is GREENWISH, an important org headed by green guru Ed Begley Jr. that raises funds for 9 really important local eco charities. We donate a portion of proceeds to Greenwish, so when you attend you’re helping them too! http://uniquela.com/about/giving-back/

* Plot your day(s) at UNIQUE LA with the Map! http://uniquela.com/show-info/penthouse-map-directory/

We also launched a fresh new website that I hope you’ll love, http://uniquela.com/.

Thanks for supporting local design and our economy, see you soon!

sonja
founder of UNIQUE LA”

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