Friends with You exhibit “The Beginning” at cult store Colette in Paris. The show is centered around a recurring theme and archetype in the design duo’s art: the boy, a cute and simple spirit that is also all powerful. The boy is representative of the child inside everyone and acts as a self-reflective tool for the viewer to connect to the art.

The exhibition consists of bronze sculptures, a series of prints, including some exclusive edition prints for Colette, an animation video piece, and a menagerie of limited-edition products from the world of FriendsWithYou.

“The Beginning” is showing now at Colette’s gallery until September 24^th. Find out more information on Colette’s website.

See more of Friends With You’s art 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

Viewers will be sure to delight at the characters and animation that FWY Studios have created. The television spot is airing now, look for it on a commercial break!

Screenshots:

Client: Dunkin’ Donuts
Agency: Hill Holliday
Animation/Character Design: FWY Studios

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

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), also referred to as the Moon Festival or Lantern Festival, is a major holiday in China and Vietnam. Family members and friends gather underneath the full moon at the autumnal equinox to celebrate the harvest. An indispensable part of festivities is eating mooncakes (月饼), round pastries with a thin skin that contain a sweet, dense filling of ingredients such as red bean paste, lotus seed paste, dates and walnut paste, and more.

B&A Reps Asia has enlisted B&A artists to create 6 unique mooncake paper crafts for the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 22nd. Download the mooncake craft templates, print them out, assemble them, and then give them out as gifts! The paper craft kit includes five paper mooncakes and one box to hold them all. Andrew Bannecker, FriendsWithYou, ilovedust, Nicola Meiring, and Stanley Chow all contributed mooncake designs. Am I Collective designed the gift box.

Andrew Bannecker

FriendsWithYou

ilovedust

Nicola Meiring

Stan Chow

Am I Collective

Download them all here.

FriendsWithYou bring their signature magic, love, and friendship to Taipei, Taiwan for the Very Fun Park exhibition sponsored by the Fubon Art Foundation. “Field of Dreams” covers the facade of the Fubon Banking Center skyscraper in the eastern part of the city. A smiling cloud nestled in colorful flowers reminds us to look up at the sky, reminding viewers of their hopes and aspirations as children.

Very Fun Park extends throughout the entire city of Taipei, with “Field of Dreams” as one of the focal points of the exhibition. Other artists are displayed on storefronts, outdoors, and more, making the art accessible to all and dissolving the line between gallery and viewer. The theme of “looking up” demonstrates how in a small movement, one can be reminded of the vastness of the universe.

Links:
Very Fun Park
Fubon Art Foundation
FriendsWithYou

For those of you who were in Toronto June 10-20th, we hope you had a chance to experience the magical world of FriendsWithYou’s “Wish Come True Festival”. Commissioned by the Luminato Festival of the Arts, FriendsWithYou spread their message of “Magic, Luck, and Friendship” throughout the city. Queens Park in downtown Toronto was converted into Rainbow City, a colorful alternative dimension of gigantic totems, magical mushrooms, oversize bounce houses, and inflatable characters that came to life. Appearing in Rainbow City and around Toronto was the Rainbow King, Wish Come True Festival’s very own ambassador. Rainbow King was present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Rainbow City, opened the Canadian Stock Exchange, walked the red carpet at the Prima Donna opening night, and more. A walking piece of art, the Rainbow King thoroughly enchanted all the people of Toronto to join in the magic that was stationed in many parts of the city. The Wish Come True Festival was a complete transformation of the city into a beautiful place where dreams and magic became reality!

As part of the festivities, Narwhal Art Projects presented Day Dreamers, a solo exhibition of FriendsWithYou artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III. Rarely seen fine art and sculpture pieces were on display, portraying an intimate series of portraits and magical moments that seemed to drift in and out of the artists’ personal dream worlds. Lest fine art gallery shows not be of interest, festival-goers could also visit the Magic Pony pop-up shop to take home a piece of FriendsWithYou. New Wish Come True prints, toys, and other products were available for purchase, as long as a meet and greet and signing with the FriendsWithYou founders. Comments Arturo “Turo” Sandoval III, “From the beginning, one of our main concerns was we wanted to make art that was accessible to everyone from a price point to an intellectual level.”

For more coverage on the FriendsWithYou Wish Come True Festival, visit the links below after the pictures.

Rainbow City in Queens Park, Toronto

The Rainbow King spreads love and magic throughout the park

Park-goers interact with the installations

A large inflatable bounce house held joy for all

The Day Dreamers show at Narwhal Art Projects

Rarely seen personal work by Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III were shown

Starburst is the captured moment of an exploding star. In it’s grand scale it is kinetic even without motion. He is constantly exploding and being reborn and you are there to witness it.

Secret Garden – hidden in the financial district the Secret Garden is the story of a spirit and his adventures within a secret garden. Everything is alive and has a part in the story.

New Wish Come True prints available at Magic Pony

Links:
View work by FWY Studios
Learn more at FriendsWithYou
Watch an interview with the founders Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III
See the Rainbow King around town on Rainbow King TV
Read the interview at The National Post

FriendsWithYou brings color and festivities to Toronto for the Wish Come True Festival in what will be their largest interactive installation to date. The Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity has commissioned FriendsWithYou to spread their universal message of magic, love, and friendship throughout the city. During June 10th – 20th, 2010 visitors can enjoy larger-than-life inflatable installations, a gallery show, several pop-up shops, community events, speaking engagements, and more. The highlight of the 10-day event is Rainbow City at Queen’s Park. The Luminato 2010′s festival Mascot Rainbow King leads a host of celestial characters in transforming Queen’s Park with larger-than-life dimensions of giant totems, bounce houses, and inflatable friends.

Schedule:
June 16th – 20th – Rainbow City Installation at Queen’s Park
June 10th – Day Dreamers – FWY Solo Exhibition at Narwhal Art Projects
June 12th – FWY Pop-Up Shop & Artist Signing at Magic Pony

June 16th – 20th – Rainbow City Installation at Queen’s Park
Rainbow City welcomes all into a world of Magic, Luck, and Friendship! As the highlight of the 10-day festival, FriendsWithYou transform Toronto’s Queen’s Park into Rainbow City from June 16th-20th with their largest and most impressive installation to date. The Rainbow King and a cast of celestial pals embark on a mission to delight citizens by welcoming them into Rainbow City, a magical kingdom where happiness is the key and the more you play the better you feel! Bounce, dance and chill as the Wish Come True characters bring you into their colorful alternative dimension of gigantic totems, mushrooms, and bounce houses while inflatable friends shower you with magic, color, and love! FriendsWithYou and Luminato are offering this unique experience with the hope of bringing people together to find a central happiness that is common inside of everyone. In addition to the installation, FriendsWithYou will also feature several pop-up shops showcasing a full line of new limited edition Wish Come True merchandise including apparel, tote bags, fine art prints, toys, accessories, and more!

June 10th 6-10pm – Day Dreamers – FriendsWithYou Solo Exhibition at Narwhal Art Projects
June 10th Narwhal Art Projects and FriendsWithYou kindly invite you to Day Dreamers, a bright and beautiful solo exhibition of artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III’s rarely seen fine art flat works and sculptural pieces. On this special occasion the artists allow you to venture into the secret workspace of the duo to witness the precious seeds of their inspiration and the birthplace of all things FriendsWithYou. Day Dreamers portrays an intimate series of portraits and magical moments that seem to drift in and out of the artists’ personal dream worlds – a place where everyday holds a dream.

June 12th 5-8pm – FriendsWithYou Pop-Up Shop & Artist Signing at Magic Pony
During the FriendsWithYou Wish Come True Festival, longtime friends and supporters at Magic Pony open their doors for a very special FriendsWithYou pop-up shop and artist signing on June 12th. As the first home for FriendsWithYou toys and art products in Toronto for over 8 years, Magic Pony has been actively promoting FriendsWithYou’s positive message of Magic, Luck, and Friendship since the beginning. This is going to be an amazing opportunity for long time fans and admirers to experience a one-of-a-kind FriendsWithYou pop-up shop, get all new products and prints, meet the artists, and interact with all of the FriendsWithYou family and friends! Limited edition Wish Come True items will be on sale exclusively at Magic Pony during the event.

Hope to see you there!

Links:
More Info
FriendsWithYou
FWYstudios

N.E.R.D. rolls around the California desert in a custom-wrapped Rolls Royce designed by FriendsWithYou for their upcoming music video “Hot & Fun.” The single featuring Nelly Furtado drops in June. In the meantime, teaser music videos by Fro Rojas have been proliferated around the web. FriendsWithYou’s Super Malfi gets some special attention from a few party-goers in Rojas’ “The Party Version.” In creating the one-of-a-kind Rolls Royce FriendsWithYou says “Magical Explosions [were] born, a psychedelic take over of FriendsWithYou cosmic forces.”

Links:
FriendsWithYou interview at PaperMag
FriendsWithYou
BBC Ice Cream
Promo videos

FriendsWithYou has also just launched a new and improved version of their website, FriendsWithYou.com. The more interactive and user-friendly site features the latest news from Friends With You, an online store for purchasing colorful prints and beautiful books, and a rainbow of information about FriendsWithYou.

Over Valentine’s Day weekend, Friends With You held a huge celebration at their new boutique in Miami. The “Love is Magic” event had a live band, a kissing booth, special guests, fun surprises, and tote bag giveaways full of goodies.

Party-goers feel the love at the party. See more pictures from the event here.

Pictures from FriendsWithYou:

The blog will resume January 4th, 2009. Cheers!

Animation and direction by:
12 foot 6

Art By:
Andrew Rae
Andrew Bannecker
Stan Chow
Am I Collective
Josh Cochran
Nishant Choksi
FriendsWithYou
Nathan Fox
Big Chief
Tatiana Arocha
Tristan Eaton
Sarah Coleman
Ben Wachenje
12foot6

Sound, Music, and Voice:
Expansion Team

FriendsWithYou recently opened their flagship boutique in the heart of the Miami design district, perfectly in tune with Art Basel festivities. The boutique is a place “where fine art meets consumer products.” Marking the opening was a new line of limited edition merchandise including apparel, fine art, sculptures, prints, collectible toys and everything FriendsWithYou.

FriendsWithYou is a multi-disciplinary group that specialize in spreading their positive message of “Magic, Luck, and Friendship” through large-scale installations, special events, toys, and more. We invite you to “Shop Happy!” with them.

FriendsWithYou Flagship Boutique
3930 NE 2ND Ave, Suite 202
Miami, FL 33137

Hello Kitty celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Parent company Sanrio is not holding back when it comes to honoring the pink-bowed feline. At the center of numerous Hello Kitty events is the Three Apples exhibition at the Royal/T gallery in Los Angeles. Curated by Jamie Rivadeneira, owner of pop-culture shop JAPANLA, the show includes Hello-Kitty inspired work by over 80 artists such as Gary Baseman, FriendsWithYou, Ron English, Buff Monster, Camilla d’Errico, Luke Chueh, Deph, Yosuke Ueno, and more.

In commemoration of Hello Kitty, Gary Baseman painted “Hello Kitty is Fishy,” a loving portrait of one of Baseman’s nymph mermaid girls holding up Hello Kitty transformed into a catfish. “I’ve always admired Hello Kitty in that she is a playful, singular, iconic image. [Sanrio] has created such a life for Hello Kitty from fashion to toys to products to everything.” Despite Hello Kitty not having a mouth, Baseman contends that “Hello Kitty communicates with many other senses - just because Hello Kitty can’t speak doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a lot to say.” With a massive merchandise empire and rabid following, Hello Kitty has certainly found her way into the hearts of many without ever speaking a word.

For an experience that a Hello Kitty fan will never forget, FriendsWithYou created “Kitty Ride,” a massive 18′ x 6′ interactive theme-park experience. At the opening party, well-known Hello Kitty fans Paris Hilton, Kimora Lee Simmons, and her two daughters sat in the Kitty Ride for a real-life fanciful Hello Kitty fantasy.

Says an ambassador of friendship from FriendsWithYou, “We were very inspired to make a Hello “Kitty Ride” to give people an interactive experience and break boundaries form what we have done before. We love to make art that is experiential. Something that is more than passive art. We want to engage you and make you smile! Working with Hello Kitty is super fun for us because of her openness to let us think big and dream bigger, the result was kittyriffic.”

“Three Apples” is on view now until November 15th.

Illustrators and animators Friends With You are at it again with their latest book Try This. Inside this latest volume is a beautiful selection of recent works and some older classics. Fans of Friends With You’s colorful and vivacious style will not be disappointed.

For other goodies from Friends With You, check out their online art store.