Stuntboy, armed and dangerous in hippy-ville USA…

Supertouch’s own ERIK FOSS (owner of LIT LOUNGE/FUSE GALLERY NYC) brought the downtown LES to hippyville USA (aka: San Francisco) this weekend when his first-ever solo show, “Smokem if You Gottem” opened at the newly inaugurated GALLERY THREE (at 66 Sixth St between Market and Mission). Filled with his distinctive politically-charged (and wildly politically incorrect) collage work, photographs and drawings, the show’s centerpiece, was a massive American flag installation built from a large collection of homeless panhandling signs the artist has collected from coast-to-coast over the last few years. HAVE A LOOK (NSFW): Read the rest of this entry »

Ghostriders in the fog…

San Francisco loyalist and prodigious monochromatic illustrator/tattooer/graffiti artist MIKE GIANT has once again paid copious homage to his adopted hometown with the opening of his new solo show, “Greetings From San Francisco,” at the fog belt’s WHITE WALLS GALLERY. Combining his love of fixed gear cycling, Buddhism, and American outlaw culture in general, Giant flaunts his expert and flawless freehand linework in this exhibition of pen & ink drawings, including original designs for his distinctive tattoo flash, and many illustrations for his REBEL 8 clothing line. Priced well within reach of the average recession-ravaged connoisseur, the show is a perfect venue for guilt-free collecting at a time when art outperforms the stock market as an investment tool on a daily basis. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Any second now these two elements are going to combine to create a new MIA video… 

Last nite’s opening of SHEPARD FAIREY’s new sold-out solo show “Duality of Humanity” at WHITE WALLS GALLERY confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that the so-called street artist is officially bringing in hot chicks from outta town as ringer “fans” to his exhibitions. In a city with the highest hags-per-capita rating in the nation (the highest number of unshaven and dreadlocked females snagged the #2 spot), there was simply no other viable explanation for the unreal presence of hot female art lovers in a city that literally has four, maybe five hot girls—tops—residing within the city limits. Can it possibly be that this middle-aged, married father of two has what it takes to drive the young ladies wild with his sexy stencil and wheatpasting chops? We think not, but if—by some strange miracle—it’s true, imagine what he could do with openings in similarly hottie-deficient cities like Portland & Seattle. Did we mention that this new work is all about war & rock ‘n’ roll and that literally every one of the 100+ pieces was sold out before the doors even cracked to the public? HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

With one look around the grimy, hippie and gutter punk-laden streets of San Francisco even a school librarian could tell that Supertouch’s own SHEPARD FAIREY was in town by the sheer volume of ugly wrestler mugs staring down from the forest of equally unpolished buildings. The occasion (besides wanton acts of vandalism—neé “Street Art,” that is?)? Shep’s new anti-war solo show, “The Duality of Humanity,” opening Saturday, September 13th at JUSTIN GIARLA’s acclaimed WHITE WALLS GALLERY. Looking to buy? The best stuff’s already gone. But the waiting list is accepting names. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Street art legend and notorious shapeshifter BARRY McGEE (aka: Ray Fong) surprised San Francisco art fanatics last Friday nite when an unexpected show of his work appeared at RATIO 3 gallery credited to the artist “LYDIA FONG” (his dress-wearing alter ego). For the most part an assemblage of pieces from several recent smaller shows, “A Moment for Reflection: New Work by Lydia Fong” is an amazingly comprehensive survey of all of Barry’s recent stylistic modes with a few new geometric and abstract twists thrown in for good measure (and even an installation of drawings by his gearhead father). HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Checking in on the City of Fog it’s nice to see Supertouch buddy SWOON getting her ups with this new piece at 24th & Hampshire…

Art sure attracts a crowd. Now someone take these people clothes shopping…

Phil Frost’s wheels of fury… 

The corner of Haight & Asbury was ground zero for San Francisco’s track bike & messenger culture when RVCA opened their “Pressure” exhibition of collaborative art bikes with esteemed Italian cycle maker CINELLI. On board to customize the premium two-wheelers was an all-star lineup of artists including BARRY MCGEE, ASHLEY MACOMBER, CLARE ROJAS, C.R. STECYK III, DAN MURPHY, DMOTE, JESSE GELLER, JOSH LAZCANO, KAWS, MADSAKI, PHIL FROST, PM TENORE AND STEPHEN POWERS who added their unique touch to an array of new and vintage Cinelli frames and components. While many of the bikes remained rideable works of art, some artists like KAWS, Clare Rojas, Josh Lazcano, and Ashley Macomber transformed their cycles into nonfunctional (or in the case of Lazcano, hyperfunctional) sculptural pieces. With artwork prices escaping the reach of most lowly city peddlers, RVCA created a limited edition series of T-shirts by all artists in the show and debuted some pieces from the new Barry McGee apparel and accessory collection set to drop this fall. Also up for grabs was the eagerly anticipated special Barry McGee production art bike. Available as an edition of 50 pieces worldwide in three frame sizes (54, 56 or 58), the cycle is available as 25 complete bikes and 25 frame-only kits with pricetags of $3,700.00 and $2,100.00 respectively. The run will be available for sale only through RVCA and LANCE ARMSTRONG’s MELLOW JOHNNY’S bike shop in Austin, Texas where the art show will make a stop in late September. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Necromantic jail bait never looked better…

One of our favorite young decorative/figurative painters SYLVIA JI has just debuted another collection of her iconic undead beauty queens at San Francisco hotspot gallery WHITE WALLS with portraits of enough hot zombie babes to raise a graveyard of dead sailors. The 26-year-old fogtown native has been on a hot streak the past few years steadily growing a large fan base by showing consistently high-quality work in key galleries coast-to-coast and stirring the loins of a nation of necromantic admirers in the process. Of course, if we had a few extra hundred grand lying around we’d start a strip club/art gallery in Vegas populated with Sylvia’s portraits and a slew of living babes outfitted in Ms. Ji’s trademark dia de los muertos makeup and not much else. Sylvia, if you somehow manage to make that vision a reality, we want 10% and our own private champagne room. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »