OBLVN Show at Klughaus

For all the when, where, why stuff click below:

KLUGHAUS

Pockets Of Darkness

Check out the homies' art show in SD on the 26th.

It's Fucking Lacao Time

Gonna go check out Lil Al's big show tonight.

What does that have to do with him lip singing the intro to Perfect Strangers?

Nothing really.

Party.

Chaka

I'm not a walking encyclopedia of graffiti by any stretch. I don't really care to be either. I always end up laughing at that one graff dude that loves to "drop knowledge" about who started what style and which crew bombed the most and blah blah blah. I'm cool with just looking at the pictures if you know what I mean.

But whenever I have talked to some of the big name writers from the West Coast and someone brings up the name Chaka they always just get this look like if didn't see it for yourself you may have trouble believing it. I was all of 9 when he was doing his thing so I can't say I witnessed it first hand either.

Chaka (LOD) is said to have bombed everything in his path from Orange County to SF starting in the late 80's on through the early 90's. He bombed at such a level that no one writer has really ever matched his output since then in terms of tags.

Check out the clip above and watch a real LA legend.

Chaka will be doing his first show ever at Mid City Arts on the 25th. If you live in the area you should definitely check it out.

Sneke DVS

Check out new works by one of Seattle's finest Sneke DVS.

Next Friday at EVO.

Shepard Fairey

It's not exactly news that Shepard Fairey has gone from being a street artist to the most known name in art.

Last year he created one of the most iconic images of the century which has now earned him an unjust lawsuit by The Asscoaited Press for copyright infringement. As if the lawsuit wasn't enough Shepard was also arrested by suspiciously Boston Police on the night of his art show. It has now been reported that the Boston police may have violated his civil rights and may have even tried to use Shepard's arrest as a catalyst to incite a riot in front of the show as a way to implicate the mayor of Boston as a supporter of a criminal.




I could only imagine the roller coaster this last year has been for him. I actually got to hang out with Shepard on a few occasions and even went bombing with him. Shepard played a huge role in the skateboarding/street aesthetic culture when he moved to San Diego. He created a lot of the earlier Obey Campaign designs in SD before eventually relocating to Los Angeles. He was enormously influential in the SD skate/art community.

For what it is worth I felt compelled to write this post because I have a huge amount of respect for Shepard. I've been privileged to meet a lot of the people I've looked up to in art, music, fashion, film, and the like and there is nothing I respect more than humility. Shepard has earned his stripes. He has bombed his posters and imagery all over the world and been jailed for it more times than you can count. He is the real deal. He remembers everyone by name and even when he's in the middle of huge installation or a dj set he'll stop what he's doing and shoot the shit with you. He is very open about where he gets inspiration from both in his design and concepts. He is an avid historian of youth/music culture and seeks the authenticity in everything he touches and puts his name on.

When I was beginning to design my second line for Militree Shepard was cool enough to let me convince him that Big L needed to get the Shepard Fairey treatment. My point was that Big L deserved to be in the same pantheon of artists that Shepard had immortalized in his posters, I told him that there will be a million 2Pac and Biggie tributes, but that Big L was as equally talented, but was murdered in the midst of his prime before gaining main stream attention.

See below:



The point is this:

Some people get successful and forget where they came from and why they started doing what it is they do in the first place, but thankfully Shepard Fairey is not one of those people. He is opening doors that were once closed to our sub-culture and is making a path so that others can follow his trail. It's hard to see the true impact of a legend when they are in their prime and it is usually only visible once they are no longer with us, but if you look for the signs carefully you'll see it is happening right here and now.



Links:

OBEYGIANT

Kevin Lyons "Parents Just Don't Understand" Show

Snagged these great photos of Kevin Lyon's recent show in Sydney, Australia titled "Parents Just Don't Understand."

The wall in these photos is 20 x 30. Real talk.

The characters in the piece all have bubbles proclaiming "Fuck...(fill in the blank.)

He riffs on every topic possible from the "hype" of fixed gears to the lameness of blog culture, Nike, Japan, collabos, and the whole lot.

No one is safe from Kevin's tongue in cheek humor.

There's not much more that can be said about Kevin's body of work. You name it and he's done it and he probably did it while you were sleeping.

For more on Kevin Lyons:

Natural Born

Buy Natural Born on TTL

Kevin's Book

Bigfoot at BLVD Gallery Tonight

No brainer right here.

Links:
BLVD Gallery

BLVD Show

It's Friday and BLVD has a show featuring SP.ONE and some dude known as FanKult just to name a few.

You know the deal.

See you there.

Kevin Lyons Show

I found this cool write-up on the career of Kevin Lyons. He has new LA show coming up so if you're in the area make your way out to the HVYW8 Gallery.

Also be on the look out for another Kevin Lyons/Heavy Manners tee coming this summer.

Kevin Lyons Show

Murakami

A lot of people hype up Murakami's work to gigantic proportions. His work is coveted by celebs, music artists, and the wealthy. If that isn't enough the man almost single-handedly brought "all over" print to the forefront of the world with his infamous Louis Vuitton bag. Dare I say the most imitated and knocked off pattern of the last decade?

All that being said, I can not see why this dude doesn't deserve the attention. His work is amazing and just hands down more enjoyable then 90% of the rubbish being passed as "art" these days.

I am just gonna assume that this is an ad of some sorts for Louis Vuitton seeing as the budget to make an animation piece this long would be really pricey. The fact that the entire theme of the short focuses on the iconic Louis Vuitton print was also my first clue.
Anyhow, watch it and bug out.

Trade Bloc: BLVD Gallery

Tonight at BLVD Gallery:

“Trade Bloc: A group show of Global Ambitions”
Featuring new work by Kofie, Other, NISHI, Nhon Nguyen, Erik Abel,
Hannah Stouffer, Mateu Velasco, and Acorn
February 8 – March 8 , 2008
Artist Reception Friday February 8 6pm - 10pm

Ed* I am big fan of Kofie so I think I will go on that fact alone, plus Damion always has a good crowd at his openings.

See you there folks.

Link:
BLVD Gallery: Seattle