Archive for April, 2009
Thanks to our friends over at the Art of Storytelling for putting me onto to this interesting piece by UK artist Paul Baines. The guy is irreverent and unafraid to push the boundaries of the status quo. This piece is titled ‘Black Christ’ and according to Baines, “{it} deals with the rise of the political icon as celebrity in modern history…the hopes and fears of an inauspicious geopolitical geoculture; reared on fear and controlled by social fragmentation, re-engaging with the ancient practices of organised religion and its symbolic ceremonies to enshrine all positions of power, be they political, economic, or mere celebrity.” I’m always interested to see the spin people put on Obama artwork and I have to say that this is one my favorites. It’s risque but purposeful. I take ‘Black Christ’ as a commentary on both religion and the almost unquestioning support President Obama has received over the past year. Historically, people have thrown their collective faith in the idea of Christ as savior and now, by canonizing Obama, we’ve done the same. I love the man as our president and I think he’s done a swell job thus far. I’m just saying that sometimes people get caught up in this notion of being saved by a greater being and its hogwash. We can make him a martyr all we want but at the end of the day if he doesn’t fulfill the promises he made then hope is lost on a façade. I’m not a religious person because I find it to be vague and unsubstantiated. But what Obama has done, and will continue to do, is much more tangible. Progress for progress sake is meaningless. Let’s make this world a better place. ‘Black Christ’ is availble as either a print ($10.00) or printed canvas ($50.00) on his website. A couple more prints by Baines after the jump… 
This is a video of the Shepard Fairey/Obey, Lance Armstrong inspired, mural that was created as a wallscape on the Montalbon Theater in Hollywood. It has something to do with both Lance and Nike, or maybe they’re one in the same, what with his multi-million dollar sponsorship with them. The way they edited the installation into a time lapse format is very cool and worth checking out. I’ve always thought Armstrong to be quite an inspiration, regardless of how people percieve him, and his story is one to be admired. He showed love to Jailbreak friend Fairey on his twitter feed so I figured I would show both of them how much we appreciate what they’ve done over the years.
Famous London art gallery Andipa will be holding an exhibit of our favorite underground artist/martyr/genius/innovator Banksy starting tomorrow (4/23) and running until May 16th. Some of his better-known pieces will be displayed on canvas, and if you’re in the London area it would be a shame to miss out on seeing this. Banksy has consistently been doing work on street corners around the world while simultaneously remaining one of the most incognito artists out there. Go see this, please!
You’ve got about two more weeks to go to Pittsburgh and visit the Andy Warhol Museum if you want a chance to catch the innovative Vader Project (it ends May 3, 2009). The premise is simple: take the infamous Darth Vader mask and have famous toy designers, graffiti artists, painters, etc. re-imagine it to create something hot and unique. 100 contemporary artists took on this task including, Ron English, Suckadelic, Tristan Eaton and Azk One, Mark Ecko, Paul Frank, Mars-1 and many more. More photos after the jump.
Remember that Ron English documentary, Abraham Obama, I posted about a while back? Well, it has just been released on DVD ($20, jetsetgraffiti.com) for everyone (including myself) who missed it at various film festivals earlier in the year. The images above were designed by the good folks over at Jetset Graffiti who teamed up with Retro-Lens to create the “perfect” movie posters for the DVD. Both are in 3D and available on their website for $160 combined, and you also get a free copy of the flick. It’s a great deal so check it out! 
This clip, directed by Japan’s Takeuchi Taijin, is worth watching again and again. Check it out, let me know what you think!
A church in Sweden commissioned this absurd creation for the Easter festivities. Lego Jesus is 6-feet-tall and composed of 30,000 tiny little blocks. It took 40 volunteers 18 months to complete the *ahem* work of art, talk about monotonous, jesus. I don’t really know how I feel about this, I mean look how big his right foot is. The shoe for that thing would put Shaq to shame.
I’ve really started warming up to toys recently. This may seem strange that it’s recent since I run the blog for a toy company but, hey, liking stuff isn’t an inherent human characteristic. Being cynical and skeptical of everything is more my style. I have to wait until inspiration pops and then my brain goes ahhh, serving up a nice dose of clarity about something I truly enjoy. Anyway here’s a $225.00, 18-inch, Franken Fink Toy that was created by Johnny Ace and Kali. I like monsters, I like Frankenstien and this toy is perfectly crafted and beautiful. You can try and get one on Kidrobot’s website but I think they’re sold out, so ebay might be your best bet.
I like Ron English. I think he’s unique as hell and he makes cool art that takes it a step further than most of his contemporaries. This piece for instance is bizarre yet somehow entrancing at the same time. It will be included in his first ever solo show in the UK, which is titled “Lazarus Rising” and will be open to the public from May 8th- June 6th at Elms Lester in London. Ron recently sat down with Juxtapoz Magazine and spit a few words of his timeless wisdom. Head here to read the rest of the interview, but for now here’s my favorite quote of their session. What a guy. If you’re in London check out his show and support Mr. English.
Even though they’re taking responsibility for it, Republicans did not invent the phrase “tea bagging”. In fact they have no idea what tea bagging means. If they did I highly doubt they would (1) repeat it again and again and (2) enjoy the process of having balls dropped gingerly in ones mouth (except Palin). This is probably the funniest video about tea bagging I’ve seen in the last couple of days. The irony here is that many liberal-minded intellectuals would probably love to tea-bag a republican or two. I know I would! There’s a massive blizzard in Boulder right now and this made me laugh. Hope you enjoy it!
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