During this quick trip out to New York I’ve been staying out in the hipster-mecca of the world, Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. So since I don’t have much time before I jump on a plane and head back to Los Angeles for tonight’s Beautiful Losers screening (after party w/ Money Mark rooftop performance!), I thought it would be ultra-appropriate to post this hilarious little cartoon by Devin Flynnbased on the fashion phenomenon known simply as “Lady Pants”. Loosen up your belt, or belts, and enjoy. I’ll be seeing you L.A. Style Chudz soon, “Westside!”
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
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…
ESPO vs. Valentino? Find out what it’s about in a few days!
Steve Powers, a.k.a. ESPO, has long been one of my favorite artists for both his sarcastic signs and clean lines. Along with the rest of the artists putting together the show, the studio gangster is currently holed up in the exhibition space cooking up punchline after punchline. When he’s not perusing the aisles of Tokyo Hands of course. Here’s the hand made myth himself along with Jo Jackson, Aaron Rose, and Yours Truly.
I’ve never been a fanatic of crazy-ass Korean artist and LA native David Choe’s art as much as I’ve been a fan of his process. The way he creates on the spot, throwing intoxicated caution to the wind and his fearless adventures across the globe (see: The Vice Guide to Travel-Congo), is what I’ve mostly been drawn to. This weekend, the documentary on his exploits over the past 7 years titled Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe makes it’s premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The film follows Choe on his on-going escapades in art making around the world, his rise in the art community, his descent in his own personal life, and even his stint in solitary confinement in a Japanese jail on charges of vandalization (the guy was still able to create art in his tiny cell using soy sauce and at times his own urine). More about the film and his bad-assery here:
“Los Angeles artist David Choe is not as crazy as his violent, phantasmagoric, and sexual work across several media would suggest, he is considerably more so, embodying William Blake’s adage that “you never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.”
Captivated by Choe’s mania for adventure and excess, close friend Harry Kim filmed the artist’s “life and crimes” from 2000 to 2007, a period coinciding with Choe’s rise to fame and fortune in the art world as he matured from a street artist bombing underpasses and illustrating porn magazines to a respected muralist, painter, and graphic novelist. The ride, however, was a bumpy one. From jail sentences and an addiction to shoplifting and graffiti to dinosaur hunting and wrestling pygmies in the heart of the Congo, Choe’s irrepressible spirit is as much a model of unrestrained living as it is a cautionary example of excess.”
After traveling the world for a month and a half, mixing business with pleasure from Los Angeles to Toronto, Canada; Toronto to Modena, Italy; Modena to Washington D.C.; D.C. to Beijing, China; Beijing to New York, and finally from New York back to Los Angeles; my Odyssey has finally concluded. I never thought I would be so thankful to be back home in L.A., but we always somehow end up missing what we take for granted. This website being one of those things taken for granted along my journey. But now that I’m back I’m going to do my best to get this kid back on track, appropriately starting with this video of a monkey doing karate. Think of it as a metaphor. Enjoy.
When I was in Modena, Italy a couple of weeks ago Cinzia and Manny from Sartoria took me to a spot where I could check out good local graffiti. It was there that I learned about their friend Blu and his stop motion graf piece he was working on overseas. They went on and on about how talented their boy is and how he was doing some next level shits. Stop motion graffiti?! I was intrigued to say the least. I got back to the states a couple of days ago and what do I find in my inbox from Chris Pouy? A link to that very piece and it is indeed the amazing. For those who have yet to see it, please watch now:
My work is now done, finally. On Monday May 12th and Tuesday the 13th here in Beijing, Nike launched two of the coolest events I’ve ever had the good fortune to be a part of. The first being the Nike Sportswear opening featuring video portraits by artist Robert Wilson and the 64 HD screen video installation I worked on along with the crew I was working with in Italy, Sartoria. The second event was the Nike 6.0 BMX demo and Lightning Bolts Art Show in a jaw dropping venue simply known as “the Gas Tank” in Beijing’s 798 artists district. Artists from this show included Michael Lau, Andy Jenkins, and Nick Philip among others and featured pieces using Bob Haro’s original number plate as a canvas. Over those past two days an amazing collection of talent, taste makers, celebrity designers, executives, and head creatives, converged on Beijing to produce another innovative Nike experience. Here’s a peak at some of the madness with more pics to come very soon!
Director Paolo Fresci (maestro of our installation), Suitmen’s Adam Glickmen (hugely responsible for bringing me aboard the project), DJ Alex Turnbull (created the banging beats for our piece), and Sartoria’s mad genius Giorgio Di Mitri (the visionary period) watch on as the other 32 monitors bombard them with video in our installation room.
New Nike Terminators with a Robert Wilson portrait of skater Shingo Iwasaki.
More new Nikes with Wilson’s portrait of dancer Sofia Boutella.
The outside of the Nike 6.0 event at the Gas Tank.
The impressive insides.
Another angle.
Too many people to name in front of Michael Lau’s piece at the main entrance (although that’s Nike sweethearts Jill Meisner and Drieke Leenknegt on the left).
I hope these pics whet your visual appetites because there’s much more to come soon!
