Bernstein & Andriulli are hosting Tristan Eaton’s 3D Book signing event at Chateau Marmont in conjunction with The Supper Club. Tristan Eaton, Gary Baseman, Shepard Fairey and James Jean will be in attendance, signing complimentary books, and doing a meet-and-greet for the art-loving crowd. Two ten-feet-high Gibson Les Paul model guitars, customized by Eaton and Fairey, will be placed outside the Chateau for all to admire. These are part of The Maxamillian Gallery’s “Guitar Town on Sunset Strip” series, a public art project launched in August 2010 featuring the World’s foremost street artists.

Gillian Laub will participate on two panels on photography this week. The first is today at The International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City and is called “ICP Spotlights: Creating a Better World: Groundbreaking Women in Photography.” The second is an all-day seminar on photography at The National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The panel at ICP is moderated by Ann Curry and will feature a discussion on women on the cutting edge of documentary practice and social justice through photography. Laub will join Mary Ellen Mark, Kathy Ryan, Samantha Appleton, and Stephanie Sinclair on the panel. The discussion will be followed by a silent auction and luncheon with proceeds from the events benefiting ICP’s educational programs and exhibitions.

The National Geographic Society Photography Seminar will feature Laub, David LaChappelle with Robert Draper, Kitra Cahana, Cirenaica Moreira, and Paolo Pellegrin with Anthony Bannon speaking to an audience of 400 photographers, editors, curators, and critics. Laub will be discussing her “Prom Divided” project, a photo essay on segregated proms in the South.

For more information about the ICP panel, visit their website.

See more of Gillian Laub’s photography here.

The Keystone Design Union (KDU), a Brooklyn-based design and marketing consultancy, is one of over twenty-five designers currently showcasing their work in a holiday pop-up shop. “DECK THE HALLS” features twelve days of exclusive shopping that benefits small businesses, designers, and artists. The shop is located at The Old School on Prince Street in the NoLIta neighborhood of New York City.

KDU created a series of printed garments for the shop. The pieces share their brand identity through visual paradigms and subversive messaging. KDU is known for their progressive and unique creative tone, which is conveyed in the garments. Other vendors include Cavalier, BKLYN Dry Goods, Mandy Coon, and Baggu. In addition to KDU’s exclusive garment, jewelry, toys, housewares, and other items are on sale.

“DECK THE HALLS” is open until December 22^nd. For more information, visit their website.

See more of KDU’s design work here.

Lounging in Mark Cunningham-designed AD Oasis@the Raleigh, 50 VIPs enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast and tasted 1800 Tequila Coleccion, a 400 limited edition extra añejo 100% agave tequila (guaranteed to allay any hangover) All set against  the dramatic back drop of an exhibition of Kai and Sunny’s graphic, monochromatic “Flower Series.” Artists Gary Baseman and Vivian Rosenthal, Founder of Tronic Studio / augmented reality platform Goldrun, Kai and Sunny, and Product and Industrial designer Demian Repucci, explored the broad theme of “The Intersection of Art and Design” in a lively panel discussion chaired by Bernstein and Andriulli’s Louisa St.Pierre.

Guests received an exclusive tote bag designed by Marc Jacobs illustrator Nomoco, containing a limited edition card set, and Baseman’s latest designer vinyl toy Toby’s Secret Society, kindly donated by KidRobot. Gary Baseman also customized 50 beautiful gold, black and red screen prints with his infamous characters, and chatted amiably with guests as he signed them, concluding the happy event.

An oasis indeed.

Nathan Fox and Tristan Eaton showed at Comic Con, last week in San Diego, CA. The annual convention showcases comic books, science fiction/fantasy and film/television as well as horror, animation, toys, video games, and anime. It took place this past Thursday through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.

Nathan Fox attended the convention to support several projects. He sold original art, books, prints, sketches, and did commissions at the Artists Alley table. For two days, Wednesday and Friday, he signed copies of Stay Tuned!, a 30 postcard book, at the Chronicle Books table.  He spoke on the Creepy & Eerie: Comics That Still Scare You panel on Thursday. Additionally, Fox is part of a new creative team for the series Haunt. He joined the rest of the team: creator Todd McFarlane, and Joe Casey for a group signing on Thursday. A limited-edition litho, created by Fox, was also given away at the Haunt signing.  Fox says the signing created a lot of new fans for the series. Finally, Boom! displayed the cover art, logo, and poster print design that Fox created for the new series “Key of Z” with the Evil Ink Kids. T-shirts and prints were made from the poster design in addition to harmonicas engraved with the logo, modeled off the harmonica used by the lead character.

Eaton attended the convention to promote two recent ventures. On Thursday he signed copies of his book The 3D Art Book at the High Fructose booth. The first ten guests to purchase a book received a free 3D art print, “The Geisha and the Swan,” (below) by Eaton. Buff Monster and Travis Louis, who contributed to the book, were also on hand to sign copies. On Friday, Eaton joined Plastic City to release limited-edition prototypes of their collaboration, the B-Bot action figure. The action figure, which comes in two editions, Blank or Mascot, is based on Eaton and Peter Cortez’s hit iPhone app. It is scheduled for a wide release this December.

See more of Nathan Fox’s work here.

See more of Tristan Eaton’s work here.

Broomberg and Chanarin will sign copies of their book People in Trouble Laughing Pushed to the Ground tonight at Dashwood Books in New York. The book is based on the photography team’s series of the same name, made in collaboration with the Belfast Exposed Archive. The archive started in the early 1980s at the height of The Troubles and includes photography by professional and “civilian” photographers. The photographs show both ordinary moments of everyday life and the violent aspects of life in The Troubles such as protests, funerals, and acts of terrorism.

People in Trouble Laughing Pushed to the Ground is Broomberg and Chanarin’s seventh book together and is published by MACK Books. They previously exhibited the series in Johannesburg and London.

Broomberg and Chanarin will be signing books from 6 to 8 pm at Dashwood Books, located at 33 Bond Street between Bowery and Lafayette Streets. Visit Dashwood Books’ website for more information.

See more of Broomberg and Chanarin’s photography here.

Shotopop won two awards for their collaboration with sportswear company ANTA at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and Awards. The design studio and JWT Shanghai were awarded two Bronzes, one in Outdoor and one in Design for their creative cardboard cutouts promoting ANTA’s footwear for basketball players. The festival was held June 19^th through 25^th in Cannes.

Shotopop and JWT Shanghai worked together to develop and build three pieces, made from the cardboard of ANTA shoeboxes and representing three Chinese basketball players. The idea was to create visually stimulating pieces that describe the basketball players and represent how the shoe improves their game.

Li Xiaoxu, seen above, is called the “Chinese Beast” and his playing style is fast, fearless and powerful. His style is reflected in the elements that make up his sculpture—wings, feathers, and lightning.

Tang Zhengdong is often referred to as an “irremovable pillar in the sea,” which invokes an ancient Chinese proverb “of a hero.” The spiral staircase around his sculpture represents his rise in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from the age of 16.

Zhou Peng’s sculpture is made up of gold stars, representing the six CBA championships he has won.

The cutouts were part of in-store displays in the 7,000 ANTA stores in China.

See more of Shotopop’s work here.

Client: ANTA
Agency: JWT Shanghai
Executive Creative Directors: Yang Yea, Elvis Chan
Creative Director: Terence Leong
Art Director: Zhang Chao
Designers: Zhang Chao, Shotopop
Illustration: Shotopop

This year’s theme was Home. Each participant was asked to create a five-minute multimedia piece using photographs of home. Laub’s entry, “Four Generations”, is comprised of images she has taken of the four generations of her family. Laub narrates the film, describing the photographs and adding in personal anecdotes about her grandparents and family events. The film was screened at the Pavillion on the second day of the festival.

See more of Gillian Laub’s photography here.

Laura Tamburino is the winner of our Le Book Connections Blog Contest. Tamburino’s chosen charity is the TJ Martell Foundation in honor of her late father Salvatore. Music executive Tony Martell started the foundation when his son died of leukemia in 1975 at age 19. Since then the foundation has been working to raise money and awareness for leukemia, cancer, and AIDS research. Tamburino became aware of the foundation when she was working in the music industry and a colleague put her family in touch with Martell after Salvatore’s diagnosis. He passed away in 2001 after a battle with MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome). Says Tamburino, “I am choosing to make the donation to the TJ Martell Foundation because without Tony Martell, and all the supportive people that I worked with in the music industry, who without I would not have been able to help my father live 21 months from his initial diagnosis. My family and I are enormously grateful.”  B&A is proud to make the donation in her name.

Find out more about the TJ Martell Foundation here.

Sign up for the B&A blog here.

FriendsWithYou and AOL Artists are excited to announce the opening of the forty piece environmental installation “Rainbow City” in New York City, in celebration of Section 2 of the High Line. Originally commissioned by Luminato Festival of the Arts in Toronto and showcased in association with AOL and PAPER Magazine during Art Basel Miami 2010, FriendsWithYou presents a vibrant collection of mutable, air-filled sculptures.

“Rainbow City” is FriendsWithYou’s first large-scale installation in New York. This happy city is made up of intensely colored balloon pieces and encourages visitors to be active and explore the giant 16,000 square foot playground. Built for adults and children alike, the installation allows for interaction with each art object, making the experience unforgettable. Holi, a festival in India during which people shower each other with color pigment and paint to celebrate the coming of spring, inspired “Rainbow City”.

The installation is located at the lot on 30th street in the Chelsea art district. “Rainbow City” will feature an exclusive pop-up shop where limited-edition products designed for AOL will be available.

“Rainbow City” runs until July 5^th at the High Line in New York City. For more information, including hours of operation, visit FriendsWithYou’s site.

See more of FriendsWithYou’s work here.

Photos: Aaron Barr

Fernanda Cohen will moderate the lecture “Illustration as Fine Arts” at the Society of Illustrators on March 9^th. Cohen has been running a lecture series at the society for over two years now. She chooses the topics and speakers, who discuss issues of interest to other illustrators. This week’s lecture will focus on illustrators’ work being shown at fine arts galleries in New York, the pros and cons of being a commercial artist when trying to break into the gallery world, and the difference between commercial and fine art.

Gallery owners Heidi Leigh and Nick Leon from Animazing Gallery in Soho and Alix Sloan from Sloan Fine Art on the Lower East Side were chosen for the lecture by Cohen. They will discuss the crossover from illustration to fine arts, the criteria they use for their exhibitions, the role of illustrative artwork in New York’s gallery scene, and how illustrators should go about exhibiting their personal work.

For more information on the lecture, visit the Society of Illustrators’ site.

See Fernanda Cohen’s illustration portfolio here.

This weekend in New York City October 9-11, RE:FORM SCHOOL will be taking over 233 Mott St. in a call for the reform of the American Public Education System. RE:FORM school is an art exhibition, event series, and public awareness campaign that believes it is the right of every child to have access to high quality education. It is open to the public between 10:00am-6:00pm.

Artists involved include Andrew Bannecker, Gary Baseman, FriendsWithYou, Shepard Fairey (founder of Studio Number One), Tes One (pictured above: Wonders Never Cease), TrustoCorp, and many more. Events include a silkscreening workshop with Faile, a paper mural workship with WK Interact, and a breakdancing class with Ken Swift. Don’t forget to stop by the old fashioned bake sale! Proceeds support local arts and education.

Tes One is featured at RE:FORM SCHOOL’s blog in their “Meet the Artist” series. He explains, “When I was younger, I had a hard time concentrating in school because my imagination was quite vivid. I would daydream a lot. I wanted to explore and discover things as much as I could. As I got older, the capacity of my imagination would shrink to make room for practicality, limitations, life, etc. 
I created “Wonders Never Cease” as personal reminder to never stop exploring, never to close my mind. With as much as there is to learn, you will never reach the end. Stay curious!”

Wonders Never Cease was created specifically for this exhibition, it is painted on a 6′ x 4′ chalkboard. Read more about Tes One at Meet the Artist: Tes One.

Tes One, Taking Tree

Tes One, New Day

Links:
RE:FORM SCHOOL
Tes One

Louis Vuitton commissions Erwin Olaf’s A Journey to Excellence, showing now at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam until September 27, 2010. The Dutch photographer captures fellow Dutch citizens in a series of portraits. The featured individuals are: Dick Bruna, Hans van Manen (pictured above, right), Janine Jansen (pictured above, left), Johan Cruijff, Joop van den Ende, Lidewij Edelkoort and Paul Crutzen. All are revered in their respective field in culture, science, or sports.

The exhibit coincides with the opening of Louis Vuitton’s new in-store boutique in the Bijenkorf department store in Amsterdam. The Peter Marino designed store is the luxury brand’s second location in the Netherlands.

L: Paul Crutzen: Winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in atmospheric chemistry
R: Joop van den Ende: Media mogul and theatre producer of numerous productions

L: Paul Crutzen
R: Hans van Manen: Ballet dancer, choreographer, and photographer

Johan Cruijff: retired footballer, proponent of the “Total Football” system, manager of football teams, and voted “European Player of the Century”

Janine Jansen – Violinist and recording artist

Links:
Louis Vuitton
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Erwin Olaf

Nathan Fox designed a custom 10 x 40 foot installation for a vehicle display at the Horton Plaza Mall during Comic-Con in collaboration with WIRED and Subaru. Says Lindsay Speros, Senior Integrated Marketing Manager at WIRED and WIRED.COM, “The display at the Horton Plaza Mall was a HUGE success and attracted thousands of people.” WIRED also hosted the VIP WIRED Cafe in the Omni Palm Terrace that featured Nathan’s custom mural and a contest to win an original 16 x 20″ Nathan Fox work of art. Fox signed posters of his mural for guests and fans at the VIP WIRED cafe.

Fox also had a table in artist’s alley, debuting the new Fluorescent Black graphic novel through Heavy Metal magazine. He signed copies at his booth as well as Heavy Metal’s. An exclusive hardcover version was available through pre-order that sold out quickly. This is Fox’s 3rd year exhibiting at Comic Con. Says Fox, “It’s always a pleasure to meet fans and critics alike and this year there were more than ever so I am glad for the great turnout.”

Visitors check out what’s underneath the hood of the Subaru WRX STI

The special hardcover version of Fluorescent Black.

Comments Fox, “Fluorescent Black as a book has been growing legs in the Heavy Metal magazine for the past 3 years so we were really amazed that subscribers and first time readers were there waiting for it or stopping by to make sure they picked it up before they left the con. It was a blast to see how may people enjoyed it and how far reaching it got through the magazine and pre-sales.”

Fluorescent Black by Nathan Fox

Nathan Fox signing Fluorescent Black

Gary Baseman, Jeremyville (pictured), and Thunderdog Studios were among the 100 artists chosen to participate in The Vader Project. Artists were given a 1:1 scale replica of the Darth Vader Helmet used in George Lucas’ Star Wars films to re-imagine and customize. The villainous Darth Vader’s helmet is instantly recognizable in pop culture; in the hands of artists the helmet takes on a new life.

The project premiered in 2007, starting in Los Angeles and then making its way through Europe and Japan before ending at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The helmets are now on display at Freeman’s Auctioneers and Appraisers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until they are auctioned on July 10, 2010.

The Vader Project began with Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys. They curated 100 notable artists and designers, partnering with Freeman’s to make the pieces available to the public. Other artists chosen include Shag, Paul Frank, Ron English, Tim Biskup, Frank Kozik, Simone Legno, Marc Ecko, and more. Comment Kelemer and Marks, “From a simple idea in 2005 to a record-setting exhibition in 2009, it’s time for our child to venture forth into the world.”

L: Gary Baseman, R: Thunderdog Studios

Multiple angles from Gary Baseman, Thunderdog Studios, and Jeremyville (in order)

This project has no affiliation with Star Wars or Lucasfilm.

Links:
The Vader Project
Watch the auction here
Bid at the auction here
View the other helmets
Gary Baseman
Jeremyville
Thunderdog Studios