The First Thursday of every month is always one to be celebrated in Santa Barbara because we have our monthly art walk. This past week, I made it over to check out my friend Sean Anderson's New Works at The Big Idea above Pink Berry on State and Chadillac Green's Assisted Living at DNA (interview with Chadillac here). As usual, I left the evening feeling inspired from all the talent. Thanks to all the homies that were out and about, love seeing all of you.
My dear friend Adam Mars in one clever dude. He is defiantly hands down one of my favorite and coolest friends out there. He recently had a show in Los Angles at Gusford Gallery and here are a couple of his paintings that were on display from his show Public Privates . Great conversation starters if you ask me.
This one is made from cupcake sprinkles.... SO COOL! This is Adam's latest
A surfboard has to be hands down one of my favorite canvases for my art. Every fresh new CI Surfboard that comes through my house gleams back at me, I am lucky if I can get the paint on before Kilian gets ahold of it and it gets consumed by his stickers, wax, and his drawings. This time I got lucky, I would argue that he got lucky, and I drew a Nymph on his new Flyer. He is off to Argentina and she went with him. I love drawing pin ups! Check out one of my many muses below. xoxo
Today I came across a story on the Internet that truly troubled me. This story bothers me for lots of reasons but I will try to sum it up as simple as I can. For most of you that know me, you know how incredibly passionate I am about the action sports industry, the athletes, and the lifestyle that comes along with it. Boardsports have always been considered a counter culture spanning back to the 1950's and 60's when if you were a surfer or a skater, you were probably an outcast because you weren't apart of some team or league sport or maybe people wanted to call you a dope head because you grew your hair long. Either way, it has taken years to grow this industry, for the punks to be the cool kids so to say, and we are still on the brink of legitimizing the sports. Snowboarding has been accepted into the Olympics and the ASP is changing things up so that event sponsors don't have so much control over what happens in professional surf contests and then there is skateboarding- which is lacking a world tour or a governing body all together with a couple of different large contests in various places but not one big league like surfing. We are all fighting for our industry without selling out and becoming lame, because this industry is all about the true meaning of cool. The fact remains that a big wave surfer has way more balls than some rapper who has over a million twitter followers. He is risking his life for his true passion and pushing the limits of human abilities & evolution all together, ground breaking shit if you ask me. But why are we all still the under dogs? Like I said, things are starting to change and people like Kelly Slater and Shawn White are showing us that there is value in these talents. You don't have to play baseball to be cool. Sometimes you actually might be better than your whole team and therefore want a platform where you are up against nature's elements, a place to show off your true talents and creativity. But the thing is, we are still small in the scheme of things, in the big picture of all the different industries and capitalistic adventures. Yes, clothing brands like Billabong and Hurley have shown us that there is a demand for this. Are we as big as Gucci? Maybe not yet but its going somewhere here. We are fucking cool. We are core because our lifestyle pushes the limits. Zumiez has approximately 400 stores in the US, in malls all across America and this number will probably grow. They support hard goods and provide skateboard decks and wheels in places that may not necessarily have them. Then there is all the "Mom and Pop" stores, the brick and mortarthe anti corporate... These are the shops that are supporting riders and keeping our industry core. I have been blessed to work for one of the greatest and most timeless skateboard brands of all time, Powell-Peralta - and I have seen how much skateboarding has trickled into other venues like fashion, art, tattooing, California dreamin' and what not. I have seen how the fashion industry wants to have an edge, a connection to something cool, a lifestyle filled with passion with dedicated followers who live and breathe this stuff and would not like it any other way. I have so much love and respect for board sports and for skateboarding. It bums me out to see a fashion designer who I really liked, clothing I cant afford right meow but still want anyway, rip off one of my inspirations Jim Phillips from Santa Cruz Skateboards in such a blunt disrespectful way. The knock is so obvious, Jeremy Scott didn't even change the color way for fuck sake. I know I know this happens all the time in fashion, in art, bla bla bla. BUT, to think you can get away with it and not have an industry of people, especially skaters and art lovers, some of the most passionate ruthless human beings I know, not stand up for themselves. It's crazy. People want to glamorize action sports and its culture, sell skateboarding without really supporting it. Steal the raw creativity that exists here, lame. All for what? Support your local skateboard and surf shop kids! You would think the guy could have just done a legal collaboration and give Jim Phillips credit as rightfully deserved.
Robert A. Denike, CEO and President, NHS, Inc./Santa Cruz Skateboards
We had never heard of Jeremy Scott until it was brought to our attention. This is not a collaboration or under license, nor did we or the Phillips family approve the use of this artwork on his apparel designs in any way.
It’s obvious to us, the Phillips family, the fans of Jim Phillips Sr. and Jimbo Phillips, and fans of the brand Santa Cruz Skateboards, as well as many in the global skateboard and skate art community that there is clear and obvious infringement by Mr. Scott. We are discussing this with our legal team to determine our next steps.
These two artists and this brand are iconic. Any true fan of skateboarding will tell you how the Phillips artwork style, this brand and the activity of skateboarding has positively influenced their lives. It may just be artwork to Mr. Scott, to be used and thrown away by next season, but these artists and brand mean a lot to many people around the world. And by the looks of the outcry on social media, skateboarders and non-skater’s alike are angry to have two of their most favored artists and one of the original true skateboard brands violated in such a way.
I hope that Mr. Scott sees that his actions have hurt and affected many people, including the Phillips family, and that he has also severely damaged his own reputation. It is not too late for him to do the right thing, as an artist and creative person, and fix his error in judgement.
In addition:
Many people have concluded that Jeremy Scott must have obtained a copy of Jim Phillips Sr. book “The Skateboard Art of Jim Phillips” published in 2007. There is some obscure art in the book that Jeremy Scott lifted and it could only have come from that book.
As an avid fan of street art and the LA graffiti scene, I was beyond excited when I heard about the collaboration between LA based artist RETNA and ... ugh.. Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton has been embracing collaborations with artists for quite some time now and this one is just as fabulous perhaps a grip more considering my infatuation with West Coast lifestyle. Check out his amazing scarves below, which are retailing for $875 and are currently sold out online. But that is nothing compared to what his original paintings are going for.
Born in Los Angeles in 1979, artist Retna creates work, blending the use of photography with painted graffiti. This style takes influences from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as Arabic, Hebrew and Asian calligraphy. Combining elements from the past, present and future, Retna’s work is impressive, using text and image to expand the boundaries of painting and confound visual interpretation. His compositions are powerful, fusing various types of media, starting with a precise optic point and improvising quickly to form a final piece.
As part of a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, which also involves pattern design for an upcoming collection of textiles, Retna will paint the facade of the new store the week before the opening. Retna himself explains his artwork’s origins and visual universe, his artistic identity shaped by Californian contemporary street-art and how he found inspiration from Miami Design District’s neighbourhood’s look and feel for this piece. Through this artistic collaboration, Louis Vuitton draws attention to an original creative process and highlights its involvement within the world of Art.
My favorite skater out there, well besides Gravette and Mullen. Gosh this is such a cool project, I love my industry so much and I hope you do too! There are people out there doing amazingly rad, creative things for our communities and promoting positive activities. Check out this project in Detroit. Radical stuff. Lance Mountain makes art riding a skateboard with a graphite pen.
Juxtapoz and Matthew Barney present Lance Mountain in Detroit
Today my mother and I spent the day in Lahaina on the west side of Maui. I was overwhelmed with all the galleries and art there is here on the island. It was a pretty inspiring day to say the least.
Lahaina
Hopefully he comes before 12-12-12 or something like that
Rockin my neon Tori Praver's in Ka'anapali
I was introduced to Fabian Perez today and I totally am hooked. Fell in love with the whole story and I just love his work. Check out his site here.
looks like Shepard or his army has been around. I spotted about 4 Andre the Giants around Front Street
The most impressive gallery that I went into on Front street was Martin Lawrence Gallery . They had Takashi Murakami (one of my faves), Warhal, Rembrant, Picasso, and many more.
"Kicking off New York fashion week, photographerBen Wattshas splashed the entire Milk gallery with his signature acid-pop colours and photography, amongst which are eight shortboards to be auctioned off in aid of eight different charities.
Karlie Kloss, Allesandra Ambrósio, Dree Hemingway,Ashley Smith, Behati Prinsloo, Emanuela de Paula, Cintia Dicker and Candice Swanepoel all agreed to appear on the boards that were designed by world champion surfboarder Kelly Slater.
Crowned world ASP surf champion eleven times, Kelly Slater added his magic touch to the design process to create the ‘Whip’, the Bugatti Veyron of sharp shortboards. Hanging on a wall or carving up fast waves, these beauties will never go into mass production and will be unique to each lucky private bidder.
Grinding up a killer wave with Allesandra Ambrósio on your side, what can be hotter than that?"
Check out this art show I helped assist with at Neff Headwear. It also happened to be hosted and curated by The Seventh Letter, whom I have been a huge fan of for the past six years, so needless to say, this was a huge deal for me. The theme of the show was Sesame Street, in which every artist illustrated/ painted/ collaged/ created their own rendition of their favorite 80's characters. I am also happy to note that a large percentage of all the work sold at the show (everything sold btw) will be donated to the City of Hope's Pediatrics department.The event turned out so amazing, I can't thank everyone whom was involved enough. Special thanks to Aaron Levant and Tal Cooperman for all their hard work curating the show and Neff Headwear for making it happen!
Big shout out to my homie Samir on his pieces in the show! Stoked to kick it finally!!!
Thank you to the lovely ladies from Sesame Street for flying all the way out to Cali for this event!
Dirty Nasty and me....
Chris Judd and his lovely date
So stoked to finally meet Pat Tenore, master mind behind one of my favorite brands in the industry... RVCA. Honored to have him at the show!! Thanks for coming out.
Joel Madden and NORM
Do you want a mini cupcake?!
Cisco Adler and some hipsters
Olympic medalist snowboarder & Neff team rider Louie Vito and Kilian Garland
Da Dingo!
Cope with Louie Vito
Ryan Phillipe and Shaun Neff taking a tour of the gallery photo via Neff
Coachella always brings pleasant surprises, speechless musical performances, and memories that will last a lifetime and this year's Cocahella was no different. I was blessed with the means to attend this year's festivities with an amazing group of friends and my boyfriend Kilian. Big thanks to all the guys and gals over at Vestal for hosting an amazing weekend at the Vestal Village and thanks to everyone at Redbull for linking us in.
Enjoy the pics!
We are almost there!
Welcome to the Vestal Village
I love Palm Springs. These fellas were camping right beside our RV, a nice touch to our scenery.
Directed by Ryan Hope, Skin is a dark, stylish examination of tattoo culture as high art, and a film that tests the boundaries of art and the human body.
Featuring contributions from Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Raymond Pettibon, the film is a beautiful visual essay from the frontiers of contemporary British art.
One of my favorite artists in scene the past couple of years has got to be Mr David Choe. The guy is so creative, funny, and talented it is overwhelming for me at times (did you see his movie Dirty Hands?). Apparently this is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's second time requesting Choe's assistance and creative talents in sprucing up the new office with some inspiring art. Check out the entire story on Upper Playgroud.
While reading the most recent issue of BL!SSS Magazine, I stumbled upon an artist that caught my eye... Heather Jansch. She is based out of the U.K. and her Driftwood Horses are AMAZING. Would love to have one in my yard one day! Enjoy!