Just in case anyone’s not been paying attention, graffiti’s officially a wrap, folks. RIP…

Before…

After, with tagging fill from Little Angel…

In an admitted last chance fame grab, former KEITH HARING buddy & sometime collaborator ANGEL ORTIZ, aka: “Little Angel,” & “LA II” has taken a spray can to Haring’s reconstructed memorial mural on Houston Street this month, filling in all the negative space with squiggly patterning and repeating LA II tags. Having met in 1980 when Haring was 22, and Ortiz was 13 after Haring expressed admiration for “Angel’s” graffiti chops, the pair collaborated on many of Haring’s early pieces with Ortiz’ style proving to be a solid inspiration for the rising art star. Said Haring of Ortiz, “We just immediately hit it off. It’s as if we’d known each other all our lives. He’s like my little brother.” When Haring originally painted the now-reconstructed mural in 1982, he even left an existing LA II tag in place in his finished piece. When the mural was repainted at the behest of the Keith Haring Foundation and Deitch Projects to the tune of $30,000, this summer, LA II’s original tag was recreated for the occasion. Still a struggling artist 18 years after Haring’s death, when asked about his mural tagging, Ortiz told the NEW YORK TIMES, “What keeps me going is my art. I wanted to show the foundation: This is LA II, this is how it all started.” The fate of the altered mural is still undecided and may have to be cleaned or removed. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Above: McLaren & Hirst. Below: One of the alleged original fake garments in question…

The world’s highest-paid living artist, DAMIEN HIRST recently shelled out $160,000 of his hard-earned diamond skull money to a private collector for a wardrobe of original punk clothing created by Sex Pistols impresario MALCOLM McLAREN and VIVIENNE WESTWOOD for their legendary 1970s shop SEX & SEDITIONARIES, only to have it all declared fake by McLaren himself. Purchased from longtime McLaren archivist SIMON EASTON as an intended addition to Hirst’s private museum currently under construction, McLaren examined the entire collection at Hirst’s home shortly thereafter only to find the entire lot was comprised of authentic-looking bootlegs. “Seeing these clothes, I said, ‘Wow, they’ve gone to great lengths to manufacture the labels, and distress the fabrics,’” McLaren explained, “but clearly they were not the fabrics we used 35 years ago, and the stitching was totally different. And there were bags and bags of them. We simply didn’t make that many. I mean, we literally made these clothes on my kitchen floor. They were each unique.” While Hirst remains under gag order pending legal action against the collector, Easton maintains that “absolutely everything my clients have purchased is authentic. McLaren actually had very little input in the design of the clothes; he’ll rewrite history on a daily basis. He has less knowledge about these clothes than the people who collect them.” Ever get the feeling you’ve been “cheet-ed”?…

McLaren & Westwood’s “Sex” shoppe as it appeared at 430 King’s Road in the ’70s…

The Independents Show on vimeo from Beautiful Losers

Bringing the low-fi art world of BEAUTIFUL LOSERS to the big screen with a full-length documentary on the movement is director and Losers mastermind AARON ROSE, who will debut the film in NYC this Friday, August 8th (aka: 08.08.08) at the IFC CENTER (see screening times below). Presented by NIKE SPORTSWEAR, the film chronicles the lives and creative process of artists including Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmony Korine, Stephen Powers, Geoff McFetridge, Thomas Campbell and Ed Templeton, among others, whose DIY attitudes informed the aesthetics and ethos of their generation. To celebrate the film’s release, Nike Sportswear is presenting a series of “MAKE SOMETHING!” youth mentorship workshops in NYC, LA, and San Francisco that will invite local children to participate in creative workshops such as sign painting, photography, skateboard graphic design, toy design, filmmaking, tattoo art, footwear design and zine making taught by featured Beautiful Losers artists including Barry McGee, Ed Templeton, Tobin Yelland, Eric Elms, Geoff McFetridge, Shepard Fairey, Mike Mills, Todd James, Cheryl Dunn, KAWS, Mr. Cartoon and Aaron Rose. The work created in each location will form a continually evolving exhibition, which will be open to the public to view. To further commemorate the film’s release, Nike’s Sportswear’s JESSE LEYVA has also created a series of 22 Beautiful Losers Dunks emblazoned with iconic stills from the movie using the company’s new high-resolution digital printing process. Says Aaron Rose of the project, “We went back to the documentary and pulled frame stills of what we felt were key moments in the narrative. We used these moments to tell the Beautiful Losers story using the shoes as a medium, with the end result being a collection of works of art.” Viewed together, the shoes reflect the overall narrative of the film, and after being exhibited at the NYC and LA “Make Something!” workshops, two sets of the shoes will be auctioned off with proceeds donated to the Children’s Aid Society. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Haze delivers the goods in HK and proves that a crisp pair of denim and some nice white kix never go outta style…

OG Supertouch homie, downtown NYC graffiti/graphic art legend, streetwear impresario and speed bike aficionado ERIC HAZE marks his full-force return to his 1980s fine/Pop Art roots with a massive solo show of new paintings, drawings, and screenprints at MoCA CHINA in Hong Kong this month. Coinciding with the 47-year-old artist’s relocation to his spiritual homeland of New York after an extended stint in the full sun of LA, the exhibition finds our man employing the iconic linestyle evident in his seminal ’80s and ’90s graphic design for bands like Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J to brands like Def Jam, X-Girl, Tommy Boy, and MTV, albeit with a distinctly loose approach that softens and abstracts the resulting imagery, alluding to his improvisational graffiti linework in the process. Paying homage to his longtime and pioneering involvement in the streetwear industry, Haze has created a special clothing line with 55DSL available in a custom pop up shop within the show. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »