Barack Obama with Amanda and Shepard “Hussein” Fairey in LA…

While we assumed that Supertouch’s own SHEPARD FAIREY would be getting the official “First Artist” nod for his campaign artwork once BARACK OBAMA takes office, we’re as shocked as anyone to find out he’s chosen the LA street artist as his VP candidate (although Jesse Jackson was a front runner). The pair met in Hollywood last week for a covert strategy session where this photo was taken to commemorate the event. And no that’s not background noise in the photo, it’s stardust in the air. Well, actually, glitter. Obama is serious about his party favors…

Inspired by the popularity of Shepard’s “Hope” campaign posters, Barack has started a little stickering campaign of his own…

KB takes purple away from Prince once and for all…

KOBE BRYANT fans not still bedridden after the sickening Celtics Championship victory last month can grab a piece of the KB MVP legacy by snapping up one of these two commemorative prints by Supertouch’s own SHEPARD FAIREY who was commissioned personally by the Kobe himself for the occasion. Limited to 50 print editions each signed by both Shepard and Kobe, and in 100 print editions signed only by Shepard, “Kobe” and “MVP” are available only through UPPER DECK and will set you back around $1K each. And don’t forget to look up next time you’re driving past Hollywood & Vine. Number 24’s up there plotting revenge (and hopefully some player trades) in 2009…

From up there Kobe can see Boston, and he’s pissed…

In town for his ROUGE STATUS opening in Venice last weekend, London bad boy wall banger INSA did a little Hollywood swingin and dropped in on BARRACUDA  for a little rooftop renovation, adding his trademark high-heels to the sunset skyline in the process. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Art collectors Lance Armstrong & Kate Hudson get a closer look at Todd Schorr’s new masterpiece…

As the editor of JUXTAPOZ ART MAGAZINE from 1996—2006, I had a personal stake in scoping out the LAGUNA MUSEUM’s “Juxtapoz” retrospective group show “In the Land of Retinal Delights” last nite. Celebrating the so-called “Juxtapoz Factor” in the modern art world, the exhibition chronicled the magazine’s golden age, the years when the underground art world literally exploded into public consciousness and began to permeate the fabric of everyday life in the form of ubiquitous art shows, innovative merchandise, and corporate marketing and advertising campaigns. Assembling a roster of over 150 artists including such luminaries as MARK RYDEN, OS GEMEOS, PHIL FROST, ERIC WHITE, TODD & KATHY SCHORR, GLENN BARR, CHAZ BOJORQUEZ, XNO, MARGARET KILGALLEN, R. CRUMB, RICK GRIFFIN, RON ENGLISH, BASIL WOLVERTON, SHEPARD FAIREY, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, CRAIG STECYK, and BARRY McGEE, among others, it was truly a joy to witness such an incredible array of artworks by pioneering visionaries of so many disparate genres finally assembled for a formal show in a major cultural institution. Of course, this is something LACMA, SF MoMA, Yerba Buena SF, or MoCA LA should have done years ago, but the zeitgeist of our times often escapes the blurry vision of the establishment. Barring a few questionable curatorial choices, works that were less than masterpieces, and Juxtapoz founder ROBERT WILLIAMS‘ notable absence (read: boycott) despite having the exhibition’s title borrowed from one of his seminal paintings, it was a much-needed walk down memory lane in an era dominated by “street art” and other soulless anti-technique genres. Making its official public debut was a 10′ x 12′ masterpiece by elder statesman TODD SCHORR (more on that on ST in upcoming weeks) who proved that while the world of cartoon surrealism that we’ve all known and loved may have gone back underground, it isn’t lacking for talent or innovation. On hand to take in the scene was the genre’s most astute collector, Nike’s MARK PARKER, along with fellow art collector/Supertouch buddy LANCE ARMSTRONG and actress KATE HUDSON, who’s slated to portray underground art legend MARGARET KEANE in an upcoming biopic. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Mr Brainwash’s personal SWAT team keep an eye on the goods…

To call last nite’s opening of newly minted and ridiculously named “artist” MR BRAINWASH an “art show” would be a disservice to artists everywhere and even Mr Brainwash himself. Instead, let’s call it what it really is: a grand art prank of epic proportions. A heist. A spoof. A joke. Or maybe just the biggest, funnest, sloppiest high school art fair of all time. But let’s not call it an “art show.” Unfortunately, the majority of the Hollywood zombies lined up around the block for the better part of four hours awaiting entrance didn’t quite get the joke. Neither did the faceless minions who quietly bought into the affair during the preceding weeks for a reported—but completely unverified—total of $500K as of opening nite after reading the recent LA Weekly cover story hyping the event. And, apparently, neither did Mr Brainwash who is taking this all very, very seriously. And who is this alleged artist we’ve never heard of till now? If you had asked Frenchman THEIRRY GUETTA eight years ago about his chosen profession, the answer would have surely been “cameraman.” After following pioneering street art legends like Banksy and Shepard Fairey around, camera in hand, shooting hundreds of hours of footage, however, the lure of cheap & easy fame began to eat away at him. The desire to mint an original style proved more elusive. It all began several years ago with a series of uninspiring wheatpaste posters in the style of nearly every stencil artist that came before him depicting Guetta, with trademark facial hair and fedora, holding a camera, fused to the walls of Hollywood’s most heavily trafficked corridors. Further inspired by the success of Banksy’s self-produced “Barely Legal” solo show in 2006 (and with the encouragement of Sir Banks himself—possibly his biggest art prank on us all to date?), and having established sufficient “street cred,” Guetta began to plot his own ascent. The result is the exhibition in question, titled “Life is Beautiful” that currently occupies the formerly vacant CBS Studios on Sunset Blvd. Unfortunately for us all, instead of using Bansky’s example as an inspiration for an original show, Mr Brainwash has replicated the Bristol Bad Boy’s fete in relative scale and concept, but without a trace of originality. Which is not to say that Guetta lacks vision. The concept of renting out the staggeringly large and formerly vacant (it will be razed in coming months to make way for LA’s biggest skyscraper) building for a homegrown art show is a brilliant move. Handling it all himself sans gallery, even moreso. But what Guetta has chosen to fill the studio with amounts to the canon of Pop Art fed through the blender of street art and rendered verbatim in the style of the genre’s top earners in nearly every conceivable medium from sculpture to paintings. Which in theory, should make it an incredible work of parody, if not for Mr Brainwash’s steadfast assertion that what he has created is indeed art. “For ten years I’ve been creating real artwork and never with a show,” explains the artist. “I never did it to make money, and I’m still not. This is a gift to Los Angeles. I’m sharing this experience with everyone.” The result is indeed visually stunning with giant Claes Oldenburg style sculptures greeting his fans in the building’s courtyard who are in turn awed by the cavernous and sloppy wonderland of imagery that awaits them inside. In the words of one of LA’s most pioneering street art provocateurs, Skullphone, “if Disneyland wanted to open a street art ride, this is what they’d have done.” Warhol, Banksy, and nearly every other major Pop artist conceivable are ripped off wholesale in these works which incorporate the style of humor implicit in Banksy’s best designs but without the artist’s biting irony and dry English wit. Instead, what Mr Brainwash (or more accurately, his army of assistants) has created is a vast array of straightforward sight gags that never fail to amuse, but never quite hit the satirical homeruns of his mentor. The sloppiness of the entire affair and DIY spirit are its most redeeming qualities, and it will surely be the biggest show LA will see all year. It’s just too bad it wasn’t intentionally the most astutely satirical one too, aimed at taking the inflated, overpaid, and hyper-serious world of street art down a notch. That would have made it truly brilliant. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve been warned…

It’s been a painfully slow year in streetwear but the event of the summer kicks off this Friday in Hollywood when NEIGHBORHOOD, STUSSY, and NIKE unveil their “Boneyards” collaboration at the 144 LaBrea installation space. Unabashedly celebrating OG Southland beach and skate culture, the Boneyards project brings together a like-minded group of skaters and artists including JUAN PUENTE, JEREMY CARNAHAN, JOHN HALL, JACK RUDY, JESUS “CHUEY” QUINTANAR, ERIC DRESSEN, MISTER CARTOON, ROB ABEYTA, and ESTEVAN ORIOL to create a hard-edged clothing collection and sneaker collab that real SoCal skate rats have been dreaming of. Event space is extremely limited, RSVP now (see below) if you’re even dreaming of showing your ugly mug at the spot. Don’t sleep… HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »