Monday, March 31, 2008

Lucy McLauchlan & Slick at Fifty24SF Gallery, April 3, 2008


Restricted Freedom" & "Ceci n'est pas Graffiti"

FIFTY24SF GALLERY PRESENTS TWO SOLO SHOWS APRIL 3, 2008 FEATURING NEW WORK BY LUCY McLAUCHLAN and SLICK

FIFTY24SF GALLERY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
(p) 415.252.9144 (e) gallery@upperplayground.com

LUCY McLAUCHLAN ‘Restricted Freedom’and SLICK ‘Ceci n’est pas Graffiti’ New Paintings

April 3rd – May 1st, 2008

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 3, 2008 7-9:30 p.m.

San Francisco, CA (February 2008)
– FIFTY24SF Gallery is pleased to announce the opening solo exhibition of UK-based artist, Lucy McLauchlan as well as Ceci n’est pas Graffiti, a solo exhibition of new graffiti-related work by Los Angeles-based artist, Slick.

This will be the first solo show of Lucy’s work in the US in which she will present a collection of new paintings incorporated into a site-specific installation that will literally transform the gallery. Working in a style that combines illustrative linework, bitonal colors, figurative subject matter, and primal stylings, Lucy’s work is both graphic and subtle at the same time. Expressive faces with delicate expressions inked in black blend together amidst abstract deisgn elements that sweep across the page giving her work a sense of movement and flow.

Slick will present large-scale acrylic, marker, and spray paint works on canvas as well as sculpture and a series of smaller, panel pieces. For the subject of this series, Slick uses the train – an urban canvas foreign to him as a youth growing up in Hawaii. Through this series, Slick is able to explore an era of train painting while paying homage to the East Coast graff writers who transformed it into a phenomenon. When known for his graffiti, Slick worked in a highly rendered, 3-dimensional style. For Ceci n’est pas Graffiti, he works in a more gestural style, taking it back to the essence of graff where simpler strokes enabled the artist to work under time constraints.

Lucy McLauchlan was born in Birmingham, UK and has shown extensively with international shows at such illustrious galleries as BLK/MRKT Gallery, the Eclectic Gallery in Tokyo, the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and a recent solo show at Lazarides Gallery. Lucy has been featured in numerous publications, but amongst them are I-D, Vogue, Relax and Lodown magazines. Lucy is also one of the founding members of Beat13, an artist collective that began in Birmingham in 1999 and whose collaborators list includes the animated pop band Gorillaz, Banksy’s Pictures on Walls, Keep A Breast Charity and the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

Slick was raised in Hawaii and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. He attended Otis Parsons, and later received training at the Art Center College of Design. It was at Otis Parsons where he met his crew K2S (Kill to Succeed). Slick has founded prominent streetwear companies such as Third Rail Clothing™, Fuct™, Shaolin Worldwide™, Dissizit™, and the toy division STD™. He has worked on special projects with corporations such as Levi’s and Nike, and with recording artists, The Pharcyde and Booyaa Tribe. Slick’s utilization of computer graphics, painting techniques, and aerosol techniques has presented a style uniquely, and respectively his own.


About Upper Playground and FIFTY24SF Gallery
Based in San Francisco, California, Upper Playground was founded in 1999 and has become a leader in today’s progressive art movement with its innovative apparel line and art gallery, FIFTY24SF. Recognized as a catalyst for the fusion of fashion with art, Upper Playground produces apparel lines bi-annually and features designs from notable local and international artists. Upper Playground apparel is sold nationally and internationally in over 300 boutiques and online. The FIFTY24SF Gallery is based in San Francisco, CA and showcases art from some of the best contemporary artists in the world with its monthly art exhibits. Please visit www.upperplayground.com for more information.

THE 008 x UP x SAM FLORES x MUNK ONE FOR OBAMA



THE 008 x UP x SAM FLORES x MUNK ONE FOR OBAMA

SAN FRANCISCO, March 25, 2008 – In an ongoing effort to secure Democratic hopeful Barack Obama's presidential bid, The 008 and Upper Playground have collaborated with Sam Flores and Munk One to create two new limited screenprints of each artist’s portrait of Obama. The Sam Flores and Munk One posters are part of an ongoing series of artist collaborations in support of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

The Sam Flores and Munk One limited screenprints are now available for purchase online through www.upperplayground.com. Both posters will be signed and numbered by the artists and are made at a limited quantity of 200, with each retailing for $200. Each poster is a pre-sale item and will not ship until April 21, 2008. All proceeds from the sales of each design from Sam Flores and Munk One Obama posters will go directly to creating more campaign T-shirts, posters and stickers by other artists in support of Obama's bid for President. Currently, the Munk One design is being used in bus shelter advertisements throughout Philadelphia prior to the primary in Pennsylvania on April 22, 2008.

Upper Playground recently endorsed Obama’s campaign by creating posters featuring artwork from The Date Farmers and Mac, as well as printing T-shirts with Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster graphics to help support the campaign.

For more information on Sam Flores (www.samflores.com) and Munk One (www.enjoymunk.com) and their endorsement for Obama, please visit www.upperplayground.com.

The 008, Sam Flores, Munk One and Upper Playground would like to thank everyone who continues their support of the Barack Obama campaign.

About Upper Playground
Based in San Francisco, California, Upper Playground was founded in 1999 and has become a leader in today’s progressive art movement with its innovative apparel line and art gallery, FIFTY24SF. Recognized as a catalyst for the fusion of fashion with art, Upper Playground produces apparel lines bi-annually and features designs from notable local and international artists. The apparel line is sold nationally and internationally in over 300 boutiques and online. Upper Playground’s FIFTY24SF Gallery showcases art from some of the best contemporary artists in the world with its monthly art exhibits. Please visit www.upperplayground.com for more information.

British artist Angus Fairhurst dies



Mon Mar 31, 2:17 PM ET

LONDON - Angus Fairhurst, one of the group of "Young British Artists" who stormed the international art scene in the 1990s, has died, a spokeswoman said Monday. He was 41.

Erica Bolton said Fairhurst committed suicide Saturday during a walk in a remote part of Scotland.

Born in 1966 in Penbury, southern England, Fairhurst studied at London's Goldsmiths College in the 1980s, where his contemporaries included Damien Hirst, Gary Hume and Sarah Lucas.

They and their work — first exhibited in the 1988 exhibition "Freeze" — were central to the group of provocative and playful young artists. Patronage by collector Charles Saatchi and intense media attention brought riches and fame to several of the group, notably Hirst and Tracey Emin.

Fairhurst had a lower profile, but his paintings, sculptures and installations were exhibited around the world.

His work was included in the 2000 "Apocalypse" exhibition at the Royal Academy. In 2004, Fairhurst, Lucas and Hirst collaborated on the "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" show at Tate Britain.

Fairhurst's last show was at London's Sadie Coles gallery last month.

Fairhurst "made some of the most engaging, witty and perceptive works of his generation and was an enormously influential friend of other British artists who came to prominence in the early '90s," said Tate director Nicholas Serota. "We shall all miss him greatly."

Hirst said Fairhurst was "a great artist and a great friend."

"He always supported me, in fair weather and foul, he shone like the moon and as an artist he had just the right amount of slightly round the bend," Hirst said. "I loved him."

Fairhurst is survived by his mother, Sally, and brother, Charles.

Photo and text courtesy of Yahoo News.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Various Pics from the launch of Experience Harlem's "Essential Guide to Shopping, Dining, Arts and Culture", March 11, 2008













































Pictures courtesy of ah2811.

Launch of Experience Harlem's "Essential Guide to Shopping, Dining, Arts and Culture" Official Press Release


Shay Stevens
(973) 632-9265
shay.stevens@gmail.com

Angie Hancock
(212) 933-0964
angie@experienceharlem.com


UPTOWN COLLABORATION SPARKS LAUNCH OF A NEW HARLEM INFORMATION AGE

Harlem, NY, March 11, 2008—More than 200 New Yorkers filled the Tribal Spears Gallery in Harlem on Tuesday March 11, 2008, to celebrate the launch of the first annual
compilation Essential Guide to Shopping, Dining, Arts, and Culture created by Experience: Harlem. The Essential Guide is Harlem’s premier information source for Harlem businesses, food, entertainment/cultural venues, and events. It is the brainchild of Angie Hancock, founder of Experience: Harlem.

Harlem’s business owners, designers, artists, politicians, media figures, and other
distinguished guests celebrated the Essential Guide to Shopping, Dining, Arts, and Culture at the emerging artists’ venue, Tribal Spears Gallery, 2167 Frederick Douglass Blvd. Guests flowed through the modern gallery enjoying wine from Harlem Vintage and beer from Harlem’s own Harlem Brewing Company. As a compliment to the libations, guests also feasted on various culinary treats from local restaurants like Harlem Wing & Waffle Corp, Piatto D’Oro, and Zoma. The event was a skillfully arranged adult scavenger hunt using the Essential Guide as the guide to discovering and experiencing some of Harlem’s finest offerings.

Angie Hancock says that Essential Guide to Shopping, Dining, Arts, and Culture bridges the gap between Harlem’s increasing number of unique retail businesses, its historical venues, and Harlem’s superb entertainment and dining with the growing affluent consumer base who are hungry for things to do in their community. The Essential Guide provides them with concise, relevant information about these businesses and attractions. It will convert Harlem residents and visitors into future Harlem mavens.” The guides are available at local businesses as well as online at http://www.experienceharlem.com/essential.pdf while supplies last.


To visit Experience Harlem, click here.

Get into the FLOW with Thelma Golden & the Studio Museum in Harlem in Essence April 2008 issue



Essence Magazine features SMH Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden as she speaks candidly about the new exhibition FLOW, the museum's mission and what's next.


April 2008 issue on newsstands now.

To visit Essence Magazine online, click here.

To visit the Studio Museum in Harlem, click here.

Photo courtesy of Essence.com

ARTNOW FAIR: NYC, GHETTOGLASS GALLERY ROOM #212, MARCH 27-30, 2008



ARTNOW FAIR: NEW YORK CITY
GHETTOGLOSS GALLERY ROOM #212
MARCH 27-30 2008
FEATURING: IAN O'PHELAN
Hotel 30/30
30 East 30th Street
New York
NY 10016

art fair hours:
Thurs, March 27 11a-8p
Fri, March 28 11a-9p
Sat, March 29 11a-8p
Sun, March 30 11a-6p


Also on Display:
Artworks by Danyi Deats, Mr. Brainwash, Jersey Joe, Yarrow Earth Hock, Allee Willis' alter ego Bubbles the Artist, Jenny Mollen, Shana Nys Dambrot, and many more will be on display to view and to buy.

www.ianophelan.com
www.ghettoglass.com
www.artnowfair.com