On Thursday night, Munky King unveiled their newest product, the Omi mask, with a release party at Bar Basic in San Diego. Of more interest to us, was the live painting on larger replica masks that went down at the event featuring Yoskay Yamamoto (interviewed) , Joe Ledbetter, Aaron “Angry Woebots” Martin, and David Flores. Take a look at more pics from the festivities and the completed pieces after the jump…
Mari Inukai
Another year has passed since the last Sea No Evil (covered) and the time has come to get together for another charity show to benefit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The benefit art auction for the organization most well known for Whale Wars is once again held in Riverside, California at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium and will feature an even more impressive lineup of artists this year with over 100 works available via silent auction.
The doors open on July 31st at 6 pm ($20 donation required) with highlights of the evening including a speech by Captain Paul Watson, a guest DJ set by Shepard Fairey (featured), and of course, great art! More preview images after the jump…
Opening this Friday, June 4th, Joe Ledbetter’s new body of work will be taking over the spacious Corey Helford Gallery. For his first solo show at the Culver City gallery, Joe will be creating a collection of paintings that narrate the epic adventure story of one of his griffin characters “Magnus Maximus.” Take a look at the video above as well as some preview images after the jump…
Marion Peck - Little Willie on Horseback
Something exciting is coming to the UK in the month of May in the shape of “Art from the New World”, an exhibition organized and curated by Los Angeles based Corey Helford Gallery. The exhibit will show a snapshot of the blossoming American new contemporary scene that we at AM love so much and is to be held at the location of last year’s Banksy versus the Bristol Museum – The Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
If you’re in the UK, don’t miss this chance to check out the show and see the work first hand as this is the first time that many of the artists have shown outside of the United States. The artist list reads like a who’s who of the new contemporary scene and represents all the different facets of the scene that we enjoy so much. The quality of the works produced for the show we’ve seen to date look stunning – check out this exclusive first look at Marion Peck’s piece entitled “Little Willie on Horseback” – shown above.
Josh Agle (SHAG), Jason Shawn Alexander, Chris Anthony, Van Arno, Gary Baseman, Ray Caesar, Colin Christian, Sas Christian, Luke Chueh, Coop, Dave Cooper, Ron English, Natalia Fabia, Korin Faught, Sarah Folkman, Melissa Forman, AJ Fosik, Camille Rose Garcia, Mercedes Helnwein, David Hochbaum, Sylvia Ji, Eric Joyner, Dave Kinsey, Kukula, Joe Ledbetter, Henry Lewis, Lola, Travis Louie, Michael Mararian, Elizabeth McGrath, Mia, Brandi Milne, Buff Monster, Michael Page, Marion Peck, Joshua Petker, Carlos Ramos, Johnny Rodriguez (KMNDZ), Gretchen Ryan, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Kathy Staico Schorr, Mike Stilkey, Greg Simkins (Craola), Joe Sorren, David Stoupakis, Adam Wallacavage, Martin Wittfooth, and Kent Williams will all be showing at the museum, and from what we hear, more than half of the artists are flying out to be in attendance for the private view on Friday April 30th and the public opening on Saturday May 1st, which is set to include book signing and other meet and greet sessions with the artists.
More details and preview images after the jump.
Last Gasp founder Ron Turner
Following LeBasse Project’s SF Pop Up Gallery debut (covered) and Fecal Face Dot Gallery’s Marco Zamora and Derek Albeck show (covered), AM wrapped up a busy and fun-filled night on the town by hopping down to 111 Minna for the opening of Last Gasp’s 40th Anniversary. The underground comic purveyor and alternative arts distributor has pulled out all the stops, calling on their extensive roster of freaks, fine artists and everyone in between. With an all star lineup featuring such luminaries as R. Crumb, the Clayton Brothers (featured), Vaughn and Mark Bode, Joe Ledbetter, Ed Hardy, Scott Musgrove, Eric White (interviewed), Attaboy, Robert Williams, Gary Baseman (interviewed) and Camile Rose Garcia (interviewed), Last Gasp provides an educational look into the company’s humble beginnings and provides an intriguing peek at the things to come.
Opening photos after the jump.
Joe Ledbetter kicked off his “Amalgamation Tour” last week at the London Miles Gallery. During this five city European event, Joe will be showing at five different galleries in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul (details here). For his UK fans, he brought a mostly new body of work which encompassed paintings, drawings, prints, and various art products - including the release of the European variant of his new Terror and Magnus toy.
More photos after the jump…
Gary Baseman, Ron English, David Horvath, and Joe Ledbetter gathered together for a special live-drawing event during STGCC (Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention). These are all artists we follow here at AM, but are recognized as toy designers in this setting, so fans were out in full force to watch them draw and reprise some of their favorite characters.
More images after the jump…
AM dropped by Copro Gallery this past Saturday night to be at the openings of our friends Joe Ledbetter (above) and Nathan Spoor (below). Ledbetter’s “Death & Taxes” show opening drew an impressive crowd. In addition to displaying a wonderful new set of paintings, Joe unveiled his new book “Creatures of Habit.” As an added bonus, Joe also offered his fans many of his older art prints and vinyl figures. This was no secret however, as fans lined up outside of the gallery as early as 8am for a chance to purchase some of these highly sought after items. Spoor presented his newest work just a few feet away in the gallery’s other room. Upon entering this room, you will see the ominous glow that much of Spoor’s work always seems to have.
You will see all of this in the pictures we’ve included after the jump!
“Overdose” (previewed) opened this past Saturday at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica. Upon entering the gallery, you will notice several great pieces from “Overdose” on display in the gallery’s front room. The majority of the exhibition’s body of work is displayed in the gallery’s main room. A table was set up over in the smaller wing of the gallery for the Hi-Fructose Collected Edition 1 book signing. Artists Greg “Craola” Simkins, Gary Baseman, Attaboy, photographer Brian McCarty, and Joe Ledbetter were all on hand for the book signing. This was a truly enjoyable night for all that attended. Many of the artists stayed throughout the show opening to chat, sign books and even draw sketches. Copro Gallery even had an ice cream truck park outside and served complimentary mochi ice cream!
AM captured some nice moments of the opening. Click through and take a look.
“Nobody walks in LA” is a show that will be exposing some Los Angeles based emerging artists to the Barcelona art scene put together by our friends over at Daily Dujour and Tina Ziegler from Atticus Gallery BCN. Artists include Amanda Visell, Derek Albeck, Edwin Ushiro, Jack Long, Jeremy Lynch, Joe Ledbetter, KMNDZ, Mike Shinoda, Nate Frizzell, Nathan Ota, Randy Noborikawa, Scott Belcastro, Tessar Lo (seen above), Tiffany Liu, Tom Haubrick, and Yoskay Yamamoto. Take a look at the full list of artists after the jump as well as some preview pics.
The fifth installment of Vivisect Playset is opening up this Friday, December 5th at Gallery 1988 SF (7-10 pm). Luke Chueh (curator since 2004) has said this will be the second to last of this annual show (last one being next year). Also dropping will be the Greg “Craola” Simkins mini-print set that we had previously talked about - good luck for all those hunting the chase original drawings (example of this as well as full list of artists and preview images we have gathered after the jump)
Palm Springs will play host to Joe Ledbetter’s solo show “Hunters and Gatherers” tomorrow night at M Modern Gallery. His usual cast of characters play out the multiple stories and interactions that he creates for them. He seems to have moved away from the lighter faded linework that he had been experimenting with in previous shows and again is painting with stronger silhouettes. Some selected pieces after the jump.
Day 2 of Baby Tattooville kicked off with a presentation by Murphy Design and then moved on to a talk with Bob Dob and Joe Ledbetter about the process of art toy making.
Bob Dob described his toy as having three different expressions and holding three different vices. Once of which was getting drunk…on milk LOL. His contribution to the “goodie bag” for participants were a special customized “black eye” Luey toy one lucky recipient gets a Luey with TWO black eyes). He also let us in on a little secret project that he was working on which was a clear Luey with a visible skeletal version of Luey seen inside.
Joe Ledbetter’s contribution to the event was his vivisect playset toy that was a collaboration with Craola. He will also be signing each box personally for us. Most artists have seperate sculptors who do their 3D work for them but Joe related that he does rough sculpts HIMSELF to help with the turnaround images that they have to produce to help make each toy.
More photos after the jump.
The second annual Baby Tattooville is fast approaching (October 3-5). This unique event, billed as a “limited edition retreat for artists & collectors,” has grown on us and Arrested Motion will be on hand to cover the event. The idea was for 50 paying attendees to spend the weekend participating in scheduled activities (panels, workshops, etc) and to socialize with the event’s artists. This year’s featured artists are Ana Bagayan, Glenn Barr, Dave Cooper, Bob Dob, Joe Ledbetter, Brandi Milne, Daniel Peacock, Shag, Amy Sol and Michael Whelan. Some of last years artists such as Luke Chueh and Jeff Soto should be returning as well.
Last years artists with their collaborative painting. Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Luke Chueh, Gris Grimly, James Jean, Frank Kozik, Lola, Tara McPherson, Ragnar, Jeffery Scott (1019), Jeff Soto and Amanda Visell.
