WK Interact comes to LA

I was talking to the manager of Subliminal Projects and he mentioned the upcoming WK Interact show at the gallery in Echo Park, CA.

WK's best known to me for his 'montone' terrorist characters that blur and move around corners in New York's Soho and L.E.S. neighborhoods (which is the same style he painted inside of the Nike House in Venice, CA if you had the chance to visit.)



Although I don't like the installation work of "How to Blow Yourself Up*" as much as his paintings it was good to see the man at work with his criminal processing centre...polariods and height markings on the wall and all!

L-R: me with the height markings; Jason getting processed; Sam and I on the rogue's gallery wall

Personal project I took along my two WK Interact books and my Obey vs. WK Interact poster for a signature. Mine is #3 or a series...the other two were in the store for $75. That was tempting, but after going through all my posters and prints to find this one I was a bit numb and in no mood for shopping. Hell, even collecting my 25th Anniversary of Subway Art from months ago made me wanna get a refund. Seriously...No more stuff...please! ;)



* "If you believe the world will end in 2012 and you can't do anything about it, maybe it's better to blow yourself up when you feel like it," says WK. To that end, he has turned objects of control and personal movement - skateboards and bicycles, as well as three-dimensional panels - into instruments of self-destruction, equipped with what appear to be pipe bombs and other menacing apparatuses."

Martha Cooper book launch

Last night Subliminal Projects in Echo Park had a book launch for prolific New York photographer, Martha Cooper. I was hoping she'd be in attendance so I took a pic of her and me from 2004.

Although billed as an exhibition of her pics of NYC street life, rather than her usual hip-hop snapshots (graffiti, b-boys, writers) the show was actually the most comprehensive retrospective of her photography spanning decades.

Whole car I'd never seen the photos of the graffiti and the writers behind the art printed so large (and displayed so raw.) These photos that we know and love are timeless and, even though I wasn't in the US, feel very familiar to me as a devotee to Subway Art. The new, unseen photos included Keith Haring painting (in colour) and kids playing in the streets of urban NYC (in black and white). The latter captured a sort of innocence rarely seen amongst the hustle and bustle in the city today. Or may be it was monochrome that did that for me ;)

Martha Cooper signing photo of me and her taken in Los Angeles, 2004.

Piece and quiet I left last night with a numbered poster set (#69) which included a pre-order for the augmented Subway Art book coming out in the spring. I went back to Subliminal to get a closer look when the hipsters aren't blocking the view. Enjoy the video below.

Glen E. Friedman retrospective

He might not be a household name like Annie Leibovitz or Steven Meisel , but his long-time photographer, Glen E. Friedman, has captured many historic cultural moments.

I'd mainly seen his work as a teenager because of his Run-DMC and Def Jam days and more recently as part of a group show retrospective of Run-DMC photos at Bill Alder's Eyejammie Gallery in New York.

What about the west coast? This weekend at Shepard Fairey's Subliminal Projects gallery in Silverlake will be showing Friedman's Idealist Propaganda. Surprisingly I hear it's his first major retrospective and will include some never-before-seen photos. If you don't know Friedman's work you will recognize his photos of skate (Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Z-Boys), punk (Dead Kennedys, The Misfits) and hip-hop (Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy) subcultures, as well as his political statements from his "Fuck You All" collection and "Fuck You Heroes" and "Fuck You Too" series. OMG?!


Friedman will be attending the opening reception, so I'm planning on going to see the show and maybe get a signed copy of one of his books produced by his publishing company, Burning Flags Press.

Side note Obey has collaborated with Friedman on a collection of prints, t-shirts, hats and clothing celebrating one of the most prolific and icon rap bands in history, Public Enemy. I love this project.