Since Obama is now in his second hundred days (or twentieth business week, twelfth fortnight…) and people aren’t flocking to buy Hope related merchandise, you’d think that Shepard Fairey could take a nice summer vacation. But Arktip found the artist hard at work on a new print, complete with No Age’s punk soundtrack and a nice short-attention-span montage. Makes me want to have a productive Monday.
It’s incredible to see a blog grow into something that comes to change pop culture. The blog reports on it, but in the process, inevitably becomes a part of that pop culture as well. One of our smart classmates who’s been running in parallel alongside us all these years, adamantly pushing its cause, is Slamxhype.com, which started off as a simple street apparel-update blog but has recently made its foray into the print world—an interesting move considering media companies usually do it the other way around. The New Order is a heavy tome of a magazine that comes out quarterly and merges the right now of fashion, art, film and relevant topics affecting our generation. The second issue has just debuted and features a double cover with KAWS and Takashi Murakami, two significant icons of pop culture who consistently challenge ideas and keep them relevant. Each issue runs $25, but if you make it to the launch party tomorrow in L.A. at Carmichael Gallery, you’ll score a free copy that includes a special KAWS poster. Those who can’t make it can get a preview of the issue in a video on Slamxhype.com.
From beginnings in Stuttgard, Frerk and Marc C. Woehr have developed a style bringing street art into a realm of off-balance darkness. The atmosphere of their collaborative work looks like the product of the Brothers Quay reshaping an urban environment and all the characters emerging from it. While their work has appeared in publications and galleries all over Europe, their first show in the US will kick off at LA’s Carmichael Gallery on July 9th. Also, check out some of the Woehr’s work alongside Shepard Fairey’s at Art Basel Miami.
Inspired by modern ruins and the spirit that remains alive inside of them, Geometry of Ruins seeks to simultaneously provoke feelings of hope and its death. The multimedia show by Tyger creator Guilherme Marcondes and his artist wife Andrezza Valentin—both from Sao Paulo and now living stateside—goes from an art center in Sao Paulo that was never finished, whose mystical what-could-have-been promise is amplified by a superimposed eclipse on fire, to a video installation with dozens of tiny screens flashing frenetic images and mimicking the city’s grid layout. I love the couple’s concept of using structures as literal skeletons in which to frame imagination. The show runs till July 11 at Flux Salon in Venice, CA, the wonderful little gallery by Jonathan and Meg Wells (of ResFest fame).
While we’re on the subject of doing something good, let’s turn our attention to Poketo’s Cancer Benefit and Art Auction going on this Friday. We’re always super behind their projects, but this one hits a cause that’s other than for profit. Forty L.A. artists from Shepard Fairey to Saelee Oh have donated pieces to be sold to caring and generous buyers interested in helping Poketo friend Justin Van Hoy help pay for his ongoing medical treatment after receiving a successful bone marrow transplant. No doubt those of you who are unemployed and thus out of health insurance (hell, I can’t even remember the last time I had health insurance myself) can understand how even a little bit of money can help. It’s a totally win-win situation—you get a great piece of work for a good price, help someone else while doing it and even get to pig out on free food and drinks. The silent auction takes place at the Poketo Studio in L.A. this Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. Does good karma exist? Time to test it out.
Although her ink drawings always carry a somber vibe about them, Thais Beltrame’s (the only girl holding it down in the Sao Paulo artist collective Famiglia Baglione) U.S. solo debut will be anything but low key. Her new black-and-white works will be joined by watercolors for her When All the Stars Are Gone exhibit kicking off at Carmichael Gallery this Thursday. The title of the show refers to the literal skies, where she looks to for inspiration, and the pieces feature children walking down the path of awareness, turning into new people as they become wiser. I’m totally into the pensive state her work always leaves me in. The show runs till May 28, and in the back gallery will also be Get Rich Quick, a collection from the gallery’s collectors that includes work by Barry McGee, David Choe, Banksy and Kaws.
The work of London-by-way-of-Berlin artist Boxi paints a dark picture. Described by the artist as a collection built around themes such as paranoia, grief, and mistrusts, “Grey Area” pulls together images of humans and the nebulous backgrounds they find themselves in. The multilayered gray-scale stencilling conveys this desolation with life-sized effect. After a decade of burgeoning success in Europe, “Grey Area” is Boxi’s first solo show in the U.S. and is set to appear at the Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles beginning April 9th.
Gallery1988 was once snubbed by Juxtapoz, but it now celebrates its fifth anniversary as one of the most relevant art galleries of our generation. On April 2, G1988: LA presents Idiot Box, 100 artists paying tribute to icons of the small screen. The gallery has previewed some truly awesome pieces like Alex Pardee’s rendering of Steve Urkel and Adam Rex’s homage to Small Wonder. Toy fans should look out for something stupendous from Doktor A and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle by Le Merde. The roster of artists guarantees the show will be amazing, and to top it all off, Idiot Box will be hosted by Mr. Belding — yes, Dennis Haskins from Saved By the Bell. There will be an opening reception from 7 – 11 p.m. on April 2. The show runs through April 23.
“It all started with a simple thank you email to our friend Luke Ramsey, co-founder of Islands Fold, for designing Poketo's sweet Animal Mugs,” begins the tale behind today’s Islands in L.A. extravaganza. Kicking off at 3 p.m. at Poketo HQ in Southern California, the public is invited to watch artists Travis Millard, Marco Zamora, Derek Albeck, Joel Speasmaker, James Gulliver Hancock and Islands Fold’s Ramsey and Angela Conley showing off their artistic prowess on handmade zines, which will be put on sale a few hours later, along with a special tee made from the collaborative effort (Islands Fold is a neat little indie publisher, in case you’re looking for some more reading material). Poketo’s promising an island-theme photo booth plus food and drinks from Urth Cafe to help mark this great partnership. They don’t promise tans, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for umbrellas in our drinks. The event runs one day only and ends at 9 p.m., so make it your happy hour spot tonight if you’re around.
Continuing to further shorten the artistic gap between the U.S. and Brazil, Sao Paulo’s Choque Cultural is extending their connections northwestward to well-respected Scion Space in Los Angeles. The Sao Paulo exhibit starts on Feb. 28 and features some of the strongest artists on their roster, and in Brazil: Calma, Carlos Dias, Titi Freak and Zezao. Influences run from folk art and tattoo iconography to hip-hop and skate culture. Throw in free valet parking and an open bar and you’ve got a party! Now if only they really had free valet parking and non-stop drinks in the real Sao Paulo, the experience would truly be authentic. The show runs through March 28.
DNA 11, the creative company known for transforming your personal DNA into custom works of contemporary art, has set up their first pop-up gallery in a house on the West Coast. Starting today visitors can set up an appointment to take a stroll through the Hermosa Beach residence where one-of-a-kind art from DNA 11 will be on display. Company co-founder Adrian Salamunovic will be on hand to guide customers and explain firsthand how these works come to be. If you’re interested in having your prints printed, check out the DNA House site for more details and make an appointment.
Artist/provocateur KAWS has only recently begun doing official art exhibitions, but even though his fans may arrive with dollar signs (instead of double-x’s) in their eyes, don’t call him a sell-out. Josh witnessed the KAWS-craze in New York a few months ago, and now it’s set to hit L.A. Beginning tonight, the Honor Fraser gallery will host KAWS’ first West Coast solo exhibition, “The Long Way Home.” The exhibit will include a life-size Chum and several new paintings and sculptures that are likely to feature the artist’s take on the Smurfs and Spongebob. There will be an opening reception from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. tomorrow, and the show will run through April 4th. That should give you plenty of time to avoid the paparazzi who will no doubt be circling like hawks to capture the celebrities and their checkbooks.
The morning got off on an artistic note and included Ed Ulbrich who showed some dazzling film special effects from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love wooed the audience with an “a cappella” (read: no slide support) walk-through of her creative process while Margaret Wertheim amazed people with her crocheted great barrier reef art installation, which strangely and coincidentally unlocked mathematical secrets. Later Daniel Libeskind took us through a juxtaposed architectural vision and thoughts behind the new Freedom Tower. Shai Agassi who abruptly left SAP to follow a vision on shifting the world to non-petroleum transportation showcased his recent partnerships with both Renault-Nissan and various governments. Sarah Jones brought her multiple personalities to the stage and entertained everyone while poking a little fun at highbrow TEDsters.
Later in the day, TED 2009 Prize Winner Jill Tarter, introduced remotely by Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore, asked everyone to collaboratively find extraterrestrials which was actually rather well received. Sylvia Earle who is collaborating with Google Earth to map the world’s oceans gave everyone a good scare showing that fish populations have been depleted by 90% because of pollution and commercial fishing since 1900. Between Jeremy Piven’s mercury poisoning and this revelation I am going to reduce my sushi intake starting today. Accordingly she asked all of us to ignite public support for a global network of protected marine areas. The response was overwhelming. Jose Antonio Abreu in Caracas who created El Sistema and helped musically inspire impoverished children and bring them out of poverty also received acknowledgment today.
So while the elbow rubbing and hob-knobbing continues, there is clearly an underlying level of tension on the many global crises that exist right now. The good news is that the TED community is pretty powerful and may just figure out how to crack the code on some of these enormous issues
We’re attending the 25th Anniversary of TED, which is proving to be yet another extraordinary tour de force of mind expanding speakers and entertainers. Al Gore followed up on last year’s disturbing new environmental scientific data with some even more disturbing beta and a strong attack on “clean coal”. Bill Gates proved himself to be a genuinely humorous speaker and charmed TEDsters with his foundation’s work on Malaria and educational issues. Gates shared a couch with normally cognizant TED curator Chris Anderson, who brought further laughs as he unwittingly opened up his Apple MacBook next to the Microsoft CEO to read e-mailed questions to him.
Juan Enriquez opened up with, among other topics, an eye-opening reality check on how bad the banking situation is. The true father of the Internet (not you Al), Tim Barners-Lee spoke on the need for more raw data sharing and its ability to advance humankind and solve pressing issues. Yann Arthus-Bertrand showed beautiful film footage that highlighted the global environmental condition and made everyone pause. “Dancing Man” Matt Harding’s (famous for dancing around the world on YouTube) got both TED locations dancing. The musical hit of the day were instrumentless hip hop artists Naturally 7, who arrived fresh from their WEF Davos appearance and blew everyone away. For those who enjoy rubbing elbows with celebrities and progressive industry leaders, there are plenty to go around here. But alas, this is a trendspotting blog, not Perez Hilton.
This year, smitten Valentine’s Day lovers and bitter haters can come together to enjoy something everyone adores: art. On the Hallmark holiday, Los Angeles’s POVevolving gallery will host the opening of the gallery’s newest exhibit “Movers and Shakers“, an exhibit that showcases the work of more than 70 pop surrealists – including Brandi Milne, Ron English, and Yosuke Ueno. Because nothing says love like skulls with wings, aliens, and disembodied heads.
While we’re on the subject of 
