The video below shows a master at work installing his California contribution in Oakland and is sweetly bookended with a tandem bike ride with Barry’s and the late great Margaret Kilgallen’s daughter Asha (who was last seen on film in our Beautiful Losers as a toddler).
Go see Barry’s art if you’re in the Bay (installation at the Oakland Museum)…
The very first time I saw a Barry McGee drawing of a sad, anguished face on a wall in the streets of San Francisco in the early 90’s, it was the first time I began to look at “street art” as my art. At the time Barry (aka TWIST) and his wife at the time, the late great Margaret Kilgallen, were tearing up SF with murals, signs, stickers and tags, large scale pieces and beautifully detailed line work the likes of which had previously not been seen in the streets. The art, which could easily be seen walking or riding the bus, completely blew my mind and would help usher in a new format for a different type of artist to showcase their talents.
Fast forward to over ten years later, when in the summer of 2007 Aaron Rose gave me the opportunity of a lifetime: edit the film Beautiful Losers. The documentary, which featured Barry and Margaret and many other artists I appreciated and looked up to (Shepard Fairey, Steve Powers, Geoff McFetridge, Ed Templeton, and more), was an absolute dream job come true. I can proudly say we made a film that captured the spirit of creativity and inspiration I saw on those San Francisco streets that had a profound effect on me so many years ago.
Now that the excess known as Art Basel Miami Beach is all but wrapped up and ready to ship to rich art collectors around the world, the most interesting piece of Basel news I’ve come across was Barry McGee’s (TWIST) venture down to the Southeast. Barry’s reluctant art star status is well documented, so seeing him join in on the Miami madness was surprising at first but upon seeing the project he was working on it made more sense: a group of 15 influential artists from around the world brought together by long-time supporter Jeffrey Deitch of New York’s famed Deitch Projects to do what they please on warehouse walls in Miami’s Wynwood art district for The Wynwood Walls Outdoor Mural Project.
(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
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.
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.
Reform School
3902 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029
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.
Barry McGee (TWIST) and Phil FrostMind The GapPrism
8746 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Show runs from November 20, 2009 through February 20, 2010
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
THANK YOU! Thanks to all of you East and West coasters who’ve come out to support Beautiful Losers and helped spread the films message to your friends and family! With good word of mouth continuing to extend from person to person, through the web, and in print, we’ll be bringing our little film up the coast to San Francisco for another homecoming of sorts. Here’s a brief rundown of where we’ve been theatrically in the U.S. so far:
Los Angeles: At each of the 4 Q&A sessions we did on opening weekend 4 different people from the audience stood up and paid us the highest compliment, they thanked us for making this film. Come see what’s moving people! Last show is TODAY, Thursday September 4th @ 5:00, 7:30, and 10:00.
Tickets available here: Landmark Nuart Theatre
New York: The attendance of the late night showings at the IFC Center have been so strong that they extended the run for an additional 2 weeks longer than we were supposed to be in the theater. Last shows are this FRIDAY and SATURDAY September 5th+6th @ 12:25 a.m.
Tickets and more info here: IFC Center
San Francisco: You’re next! San Francisco premiere this Friday, September 5th with Q&A’s following the 7:00 and 9:00 shows.
Tickets available here: Landmark Lumiere Theatre
If you have peoples up North, please pass along the info that we’ll be making our Bay Area premiere this weekend. Your help has been invaluable and very appreciated! Thank you all again for helping make Beautiful Losers such a success!
(Sneak peek of the Nike/UNDFTD billboard on La Brea and 1st St. Design by Keith Scharwath)
On Friday August 29th, Beautiful Losers makes it’s Los Angeles premiere at Landmark’s Nuart Theater. To date, the response to our little film has been overwhelmingly positive and audiences have eagerly embraced our message of inspiration and creativity with open arms. With no major film distribution company behind us, we’ve been fortunate enough to have gained the support and good will from audiences who have seen the film and have continued to spread the good word amongst friends, family, and something called the “internets”. Hopefully this grass roots approach can continue to bring our film to more and more cities as we have just added Boston to our tour which already includes San Francisco, Portland, and Chicago.
The 7:30 and 10pm shows on opening night will feature Q&A sessions with myself, Aaron Rose, and Money Mark. Tickets for the L.A. premiere and theatrical run are now on sale and can be purchased at Landmark’s website here(Make sure you’re purchasing tickets for the correct shows. Dates are listed in the pull down menu above the showtimes!)
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