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Home FEATURES Chris Pew Interview
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Written by Trippe
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Thursday, 07 June 2007 07:56
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 A video and text interview with this Oakland based artist and Receiver Gallery curator.
Many years ago when Fecal Face was just a tiny little fella, back in 2000 when the world wiped it's collective brow in relief when computers didn't rise up and kill all humans, we met Chris through a zine he sent us and were instantly hooked on his dream space like patterns which illustrate the chaos that our universe sits in. Through this chaos is a form of structure- If you close on eye you can see that in all of this (space, the sky, oceans, ants attacking a beatle) that there is in fact a scheme and orderliness in everything no matter how out of wack it may look at first glance... I guess that is what all art attempts to accomplish, and Chris's work does this very well. Making the disorderly beautiful... Say hello to Chris Pew- a Oakland based space cadet as interviewed by Receiver Gallery's main honcho, Jafön Hakkinen. -Trippe
Tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in south Orange County, and moved onto to San Diego to attend San Diego State University for some art training, mostly in graphic design. After a few years of living the dream that I s college, reality struck in and I moved to SF. In between some of that time there was a brief venture to Arizona State University to try and become an architect, however architecture is incredibly hard and I discovered that it is much more fun to paint about physics then to actually try and apply that to the real world.
Can you give us a brief description of what kind of art you do?
I basically paint my own versions of theoretical explanations of various scientific answers to the who, what, where, why, when and how of the cosmos. I do this in various mediums including acrylic on canvas, pen and ink, or plastic playpen balls.
You're the de facto curator at Receiver Gallery. How does being a curator affect your own personal art?
Mostly the effects are seen in the amount of time that I can devote to my personal stuff. Curating shows every month takes a lot of time and the way that I make art takes alot of time, I also have another part-time job doing design, organization is pretty key or things get wonky real fast.
For my personal art I try to make original stuff and to have my influences be from sources that I'm trying to make art about. This of course is also genually hard when you look at art all day, ideas are almost certainly going to show up in some form or another.
Then as far as the art that's apart of Receiver, since we mostly deal with emerging art and artists the most exciting part of curating is doing studio visits and checking out how other people make their work.
What do you like about the current trends in painting birds?
I'm not sure, but I believe that trend has ended.
I say that the focus of Receiver is 'slacker high art'. Do you agree with that statement? Are you a slacker?
I do if you mean that since we deal with emerging artists and since most emerging artists are relatively young, then most of these people are still trying to figure out what the fuck they are doing, which therefore comes off as being a slacker. Being a young artist and deciding to make a "career" as an artist can really fuck with your head. Mostly because most young artists really have to struggle to make money in art, and therefore be able to just live, pay rent, food and everything else, I think that this is sorta looked upon as being a slacker, yet at the same time it's also proving whether or not your going to have what it takes to make a living as an artist. I don't know if that really answered the question but that's what you get, so am I a slacker for not answering your question correctly, maybe.
What advice do you have to up and coming young artists looking to hit the art star lottery, besides "Don't suck."?
If you're gonna change the world with your art it better not suck.
You curate art tours in NY and LA whenever we travel together. What are some of your favorite galleries in these towns, and why? How come SF doesn't have a Culver City or a Chelsea? I think that 49 Geary is usually boring and quite miniscule, comparatively.
Oddly enough the only time I really get to see and appreciate art is when I'm traveling or on vacation, because that's really the only time when I can actually go into a gallery or museum and really try and understand and appreciate what's happening. With this in mind, I recently got to see the two exhibitions by the artist Tim Hawkinson in NY. One was at Pace Wilderstein, which was great, but he had another one at the NYE Haus, which was completly mind blowing because you had to go exploring in a really old NY arts building with shit everywhere and the exhibition was scattered all over the building and on different floors, but with typical Tim Hawkinson style, he managed to make it work.
For the second question though I think the focus is that San Francisco is relatively small town. The city itself is only like 750,000 people or something, so right there I think that's the main difference, LA has like 700 billion people and NY has lat least 996 billion, so all in all SF might actually be doing the same amount of art business percentage wise as NY and LA combined, but as I mentioned earlier I wasn't too hot at physics and this also applies to math.
Miami Basel and the Armory Show are indicative of the transforming global market for art. What do you think of art fairs?
Hard for me to answer, mostly because I've only been to the Armory once a few years back, and really only as a tourist and have never been to Miami. Hopefully this will change. They sound fun.
Your house and Oakland in general is much too hot (barf). Besides the obvious microclimates, what's the difference between the art scenes in Oakland and SF? How come Oakland has a murmur and the Mission doesn't have fart for community?
Well being an Oakland resident for over 10 years now, the Oakland Art Murmur is fucking great. I wish the Murmur was around when I had first moved here, and that there was such a big art community, or at least such a diverse place for the art freaks to meet at once a month. Why doesn't SF have this? Well it does, just in a different capacity. Obviously there's First Thursdays, though not crazy Murmur styles, it does get lots of folks out to see art, and as far as the Mission not having an art community, what are you crazy, granted all the galleries don't have a "night" for openings, but a lot of places have created huge communities for the freaks to get together and do the art loving.
You're a pretty responsible person for being such a pile and having piled friends. What's your secret to staying flush and saving coinage whilst enjoying the highlife in this blown out town? Can the little people do this as well?
What, I hate you. I'm hardly flush. I'd say more like thifty or something. Yes this town is expensive, really fucking expensive; so expensive I have no idea how art people make it here, but they do and they also seem to do it in cities like NY and LA where its also crazy expensive. Seriously people support the arts, my girlfriend is tired of me borrowing money.
Most days you wear long sleeve shirts to cover up all your spaceman tattoos. You're a tattooed guy and like seafood. I hear you once tattooed people for a living as well; what's the story with that?
Have you heard of sun cancer? its deadly dangerous, long sleeve shirts come in really handy for protecting you against the great fire in the sky. Seafood is really delicious. I occasionally eat out, and the most delicous meal that I've ever had involved lobster sausage.
How well do you sleep at night knowing what you know about yourself?
I live in a permanent haze, I sleep fine.
{moscomment}
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| Ian Kimmerly @Dolby Chadwick
SAN FRANCISCO --- Local painter Ian Kimmerly opened his newest show Continuous Wave at Dolby Chadwick on Thursday night, and these are some of the best paintings I've seen in a while.
 |

 |
| High 5s: 1 + 1 = 1
This editor has been posting images from his life for the last 13 years. Cats, sailboats and living one's life in the city of San Francisco. Visual randomness.
 |

 |
| The Black Robe at Spoke Art
Spoke Art opened The Black Robe on Thursday night, with the work of Barron Storey, Mike Dringenberg and Keita Morimoto, and was curated by Eidolon Fine Arts.
 |

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| Michael Alan Interview
These days New York-native multimedia artist, Michael Alan, has been incredibly active artistically in the big city. Between staging hours-long Living Installations at the New Museum and other DIY spaces, exhibiting his drawings and paintings in group exhibitions and hosting an unusual solo show in the home of his mother, Alan proves that there is no rest for the wicked. I caught up with him recently to hear the latest, the backstory, and what's next.
 |

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| Mute by Youth Lagoon
Have you been listening to Youth Lagoon's newest album Wondrous Bughouse? If not, do. It's one of the best albums we've heard in awhile.
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| Viborg International Billboard Painting Festival
Henrik Haven, who keeps us up to date in all that's Copenhagen, emailed over some photos from the Viborg International Billboard Painting Festival that's running throughout June. In this short installment he introduces us to the work of urban/graffiti artist and illustrator NYCHOS.
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| Kelly Tunstall's A16 Commissions
Kelly Tunstall, who's showing w/ Ferris Plock at FFDG this August 16th, recently finished some commissions for A16 in Oakland. Here's a little taste, and check out her last year's show at FFDG.
 |

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| Brendan Monroe Sculptures, A How To
Brendan Monroe, whose show Melting Into the Floor runs through June 15th at LA's Richard Heller, creates these great wooden sculptures and featured a bunch in the show... He's often asked how he goes about making them and gives us at Fecal Face a little 'how to' on the process.
 |

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| Mural by Curiot (+Mexico)
Mexico City based Curiot, whose sold out solo show Age of Omuktlans ran last March at FFDG, just finished this great mural entitled "El Retorno de Akhankutli" in Mexico. He recently completed one in Berlin too which we'll be posting in the coming week. The guy is very very talented in our eyes.
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| The Pizza Slice(r) by Henry Gunderson
This made our day. Not only do we love pizza but we also love Henry Gunderson... So a board shapped like a hot slice designed by Henry Gunderson for The Good Company, well... this writer needs to go for a slice right now.
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| Wendell McShine @Fifty24SF
Wendell McShine (lives in Mexico City, from Trinidad) opened his newest show, Raccoon's Law, at Fifty24SF on Saturday night. ARYZ was a tough act to follow, but McShine held his own in the space... With a combination of a mural, a video, and both drawings and mixed-media works on paper, the diversity of this solo show was impressive. The Raccoon drawings were especially attractive as the way he executed them looked like they actually had fur coming off the page, and you can only imagine how soft it would be to touch. I was lucky to see his work in person through this show, and I hope to encounter more in the future.
 |

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| Honey Boo Boo's Amurrican Starquest
Ingrid Wells just got her MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute and these oil paintings from her Honey Boo Boo's Amurrican Starquest were on display as part of the recent MFA exhibition... Ingrid Wells works and lives in San Francisco.
 |

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| "Out the Window" at Prohibition Gallery
Henry Gunderson emailed over some photos from his recent group show with Andrew Luck, Jordan Bogash, and Mario Ayala "Out The Window" which ran at the Los Angeles based Prohibition Gallery.
 |

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| The Tornatos in Moore, OK by Justin Clemons
I got there the day after the tornado came through. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. My mind just could not grasp what my eyes were seeing. It was just too much to take in, too much to process. So, I did what comes naturally and took images. It sort of helped me separate from the chaos and helped me focus.
 |

 |
| Hyuro "In/Between" at ArtRebels
Check out this, what could be, one of the longest murals ever created. Hyuro from Valencia, Spain was recently in Copenhagen for the solo show "In/Between" at ArtRebels.
 |

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| ARYZ's TL Mural and The Apple
Rachel Ralph spotted Barcelona-based ARYZ working on his mural in the TL a couple weeks back, and we forgot to share the pics. His show at Fifty24SF opened back in April.
.jpg) |

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| Oversized Paintings by Jeffrey Cheung
Jeffrey Cheung emailed over some photos from a recent one night show he had at Terra Gallery/ event space. The May 19th show also featured live music by Oakland garage rockers Twin Steps and Coldtergeist.
 |

 |
| Alison Blickle at Eleanor Harwood thru June 15th
Great solo show by LA based Alison Blickle (Born 1976) up now at San Francisco's Eleanor Harwood gallery. History of Magic Part 1... The Hermitage runs through June 15th 2013. -- 1295 Alabama St. Hours: Wed thru Sat (11-6pm)
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| John Felix Arnold III in Japan (Part 4)
Well, it looks like John Felix Arnold rocked Tokyo with his opening with Koutaro Ooyama at Spes Lab a few weeks back. Even a language barrier couldn't prevent the success of their collaboration. They invited everyone they met on trains, in cars, cafes, bars, restaurants, and people responded by attending, and bringing their families and friends as well.
 |

 |
| Sanjay & Craig Premiere Party (+LA)
Last Thursday evening, I was lucky enough to get invited to Nickelodeon's premiere party for their newest cartoon, Sanja & Craig, created by three awesome dudes - Andreas Trolf, Jim Dirschberger, and Jay Howell. Hosted at Tony's Salon with pizza provided by Pizzanistas, the premiere party was filled with libations and celebrations, even a break-dance battle broke out. Congrats to everyone who worked on the show, and especially Trolf, Jim, and Jay who all have been working tirelessly on it. Sanja & Craig premiered Saturday 10:30 am 11 am on Nickelodeon. You can watch Sanjay and Craig Episode 1: Brett Venom on hulu. and read about how the guys came up with it in this interview with The LA Times. Now, here's some photos from the premiere.
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| Travis Millard Was Almost Rusty Millard
Drawing Stories is a new series from our buddy Travis Millard. Grab a cup of hot coco, get your slippers on and enjoy some time with your uncle Millard.
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| Tofer Chin @Lu Magnus (+NYC)
Los Angeles Christofer Chin (Tofer) emailed over some install shots of his current show Ar running in NYC at Lu Magnus through June 29th. Simple/ clean and continuing his op artstyle Tofer Chin features new paintings, photographs, and sculpture continuing his exploration of geologically and architecturally inspired Minimalist forms.
 |

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| Sten & Lex for The Katowice Street Art Festival
More great street art by the Italian duo, Sten & Lex, this time in Poland for the Katowice Street Art Festival.
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Tonight We Fight @New Image, Sat
Wednesday, 19 June 2013 10:54
LOS ANGELES --- mark down Saturday, June 22nd on the calendar as New Image Art will be opening Tonight We Fight featuring works by John Malta, Pacolli, Mildred, Dillon Froelich, Eric McHenry, Teddy Kelly, Luke Pelletier, Sean Morris, Yarrow Slaps, Ben Jensen, Nathan Brown and Miles Jackson.
- show details

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Wednesday, 16 June 2010 17:39

Whole Foods Rips Off Corey Arnold?
Tuesday, 18 June 2013 13:57
Tucker Nichols emailed over this Whole Foods poster (below right) which looks a lot like one of Corey Arnold's photos (bottom left). Coincidence? Where they inspired by Corey's photo? Did Corey actually shoot the photo? Who knows and Corey is fishing for salmon right now (like this), so we can't ask him to find out.
Wait, on this Instagram, Corey Arnold writes "Ripped off!", so we guess that's your answer.
Whole Foods highly inspired by a Corey Arnold photo. Ripped off?

///
Wednesday, 25 April 2012 11:56

Homemade Tattoos (+How To)
Friday, 14 June 2013 10:00
Yeah, bad tattoos are basically a bummer, right? But they're also pretty much a rite of passage for bored and disenfranchised-feeling teenagers the world over. At least it was for about 95% of the people I know. Going to a reputable tattoo shop and getting a wizard or unicorn drilled into your lower back is totally fine, but nothing really takes the place of sitting around with a bunch of friends and some beers, enthusiastically taking turns poking each others' arms full of bad ideas-which actually is fun at any age.
Homemade Tattoos
Andreas Trolf's feature is an olde but goodie

Oakland: Organizers Trying to Keep Monthly Street Art Party Alive
Wednesday, 12 June 2013 15:18
OAKLAND -- First Fridays is hoping Oakland hasn't seen the last of the one of a kind event... The street art party is free to attend, but organizers say with police and other costs the price tag to throw the monthly party is $20,000... The City of Oakland has been footing the bill for months and after kicking in $500,000, it's pulling the plug... Organizers are now asking for donations and developing a vendor fee schedule to try and keep the party alive. ~continue reading
From a Fecal Face visit to one in 2008 ( pics)

June Group Show @Guerrero Gallery Saturday
Thursday, 13 June 2013 09:52
SAN FRANCISCO -- Guerrero Gallery, here in the Mission, opens their summer group show this Saturday, June 15th, featuring works from a steller lineup: Daniel Albrigo, Ryan Travis Christian, Alejandro Diaz-Ayala, Frohawk Two Feathers, Michelle Guintu, Justin Hager, Cody Hudson, Terry Powers, Rye Purvis, Victory Reyes, Jamie Williams, and Yarrow Slaps.
~complete details
Work by Alejandro Diaz-Ayala

Austin McManus Photography
Monday, 10 June 2013 14:06
NYC based Austin McManus updates his site with more tasty photography like the below image from his "Partner in Crime" series.
Image from Austin McManus' "Partner in Crime" series

SOEX's Monster Drawing Rally
Tuesday, 11 June 2013 12:42
SAN FRANCISCO --- Southern Exposure hosts thier annual Monster Drawing Rally Friday, June 14, 2013 at THE NWBLK, 1999 Bryant Street (at 18th). Tons of great artists auctioning works at a starting price of only $60.
A live drawing and fundraising event with 120 artists working side by side. The event lets spectators to observe artists in the act of creation, providing the opportunity to watch a drawing come to life, and to purchase a work of art minutes after its completion. Drawings are available for purchase immediately for just $60 each.
~complete details

Disputed Banksy graffiti art sold for $1.1M in London
Tuesday, 04 June 2013 14:00
Wonder if our old emails with Banksy are worth a few thousand dollars. It seems everything the dude touches is worth a million dollars these days! Nutty and much deserved.
A disputed Banksy graffiti artwork removed from a gritty London neighbourhood has sold for approximately $1.1 million US at auction. The provocative Slave Labour (Bunting Boy) sold at a private auction held by concierge firm The Sincura Group at the London Film Museum on Sunday, according to Bloomberg news service. The spray-painted, stenciled work depicts a child labourer using an antique sewing machine to create a Union Jack bunting.
-Continue reading
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| Ian Kimmerly @Dolby Chadwick
SAN FRANCISCO --- Local painter Ian Kimmerly opened his newest show Continuous Wave at Dolby Chadwick on Thursday night, and these are some of the best paintings I've seen in a while.
 |

 |
| High 5s: 1 + 1 = 1
This editor has been posting images from his life for the last 13 years. Cats, sailboats and living one's life in the city of San Francisco. Visual randomness.
 |

 |
| The Black Robe at Spoke Art
Spoke Art opened The Black Robe on Thursday night, with the work of Barron Storey, Mike Dringenberg and Keita Morimoto, and was curated by Eidolon Fine Arts.
 |

 |
| Michael Alan Interview
These days New York-native multimedia artist, Michael Alan, has been incredibly active artistically in the big city. Between staging hours-long Living Installations at the New Museum and other DIY spaces, exhibiting his drawings and paintings in group exhibitions and hosting an unusual solo show in the home of his mother, Alan proves that there is no rest for the wicked. I caught up with him recently to hear the latest, the backstory, and what's next.
 |

 |
| Mute by Youth Lagoon
Have you been listening to Youth Lagoon's newest album Wondrous Bughouse? If not, do. It's one of the best albums we've heard in awhile.
 |

 |
| Viborg International Billboard Painting Festival
Henrik Haven, who keeps us up to date in all that's Copenhagen, emailed over some photos from the Viborg International Billboard Painting Festival that's running throughout June. In this short installment he introduces us to the work of urban/graffiti artist and illustrator NYCHOS.
 |

 |
| Kelly Tunstall's A16 Commissions
Kelly Tunstall, who's showing w/ Ferris Plock at FFDG this August 16th, recently finished some commissions for A16 in Oakland. Here's a little taste, and check out her last year's show at FFDG.
 |

 |
| Brendan Monroe Sculptures, A How To
Brendan Monroe, whose show Melting Into the Floor runs through June 15th at LA's Richard Heller, creates these great wooden sculptures and featured a bunch in the show... He's often asked how he goes about making them and gives us at Fecal Face a little 'how to' on the process.
 |

 |
| Mural by Curiot (+Mexico)
Mexico City based Curiot, whose sold out solo show Age of Omuktlans ran last March at FFDG, just finished this great mural entitled "El Retorno de Akhankutli" in Mexico. He recently completed one in Berlin too which we'll be posting in the coming week. The guy is very very talented in our eyes.
 |

 |
| The Pizza Slice(r) by Henry Gunderson
This made our day. Not only do we love pizza but we also love Henry Gunderson... So a board shapped like a hot slice designed by Henry Gunderson for The Good Company, well... this writer needs to go for a slice right now.
 |

 |
| Wendell McShine @Fifty24SF
Wendell McShine (lives in Mexico City, from Trinidad) opened his newest show, Raccoon's Law, at Fifty24SF on Saturday night. ARYZ was a tough act to follow, but McShine held his own in the space... With a combination of a mural, a video, and both drawings and mixed-media works on paper, the diversity of this solo show was impressive. The Raccoon drawings were especially attractive as the way he executed them looked like they actually had fur coming off the page, and you can only imagine how soft it would be to touch. I was lucky to see his work in person through this show, and I hope to encounter more in the future.
 |

 |
| Honey Boo Boo's Amurrican Starquest
Ingrid Wells just got her MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute and these oil paintings from her Honey Boo Boo's Amurrican Starquest were on display as part of the recent MFA exhibition... Ingrid Wells works and lives in San Francisco.
 |

 |
| "Out the Window" at Prohibition Gallery
Henry Gunderson emailed over some photos from his recent group show with Andrew Luck, Jordan Bogash, and Mario Ayala "Out The Window" which ran at the Los Angeles based Prohibition Gallery.
 |

 |
| The Tornatos in Moore, OK by Justin Clemons
I got there the day after the tornado came through. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. My mind just could not grasp what my eyes were seeing. It was just too much to take in, too much to process. So, I did what comes naturally and took images. It sort of helped me separate from the chaos and helped me focus.
 |

 |
| Hyuro "In/Between" at ArtRebels
Check out this, what could be, one of the longest murals ever created. Hyuro from Valencia, Spain was recently in Copenhagen for the solo show "In/Between" at ArtRebels.
 |

 |
| ARYZ's TL Mural and The Apple
Rachel Ralph spotted Barcelona-based ARYZ working on his mural in the TL a couple weeks back, and we forgot to share the pics. His show at Fifty24SF opened back in April.
.jpg) |

 |
| Oversized Paintings by Jeffrey Cheung
Jeffrey Cheung emailed over some photos from a recent one night show he had at Terra Gallery/ event space. The May 19th show also featured live music by Oakland garage rockers Twin Steps and Coldtergeist.
 |

 |
| Alison Blickle at Eleanor Harwood thru June 15th
Great solo show by LA based Alison Blickle (Born 1976) up now at San Francisco's Eleanor Harwood gallery. History of Magic Part 1... The Hermitage runs through June 15th 2013. -- 1295 Alabama St. Hours: Wed thru Sat (11-6pm)
 |

 |
| John Felix Arnold III in Japan (Part 4)
Well, it looks like John Felix Arnold rocked Tokyo with his opening with Koutaro Ooyama at Spes Lab a few weeks back. Even a language barrier couldn't prevent the success of their collaboration. They invited everyone they met on trains, in cars, cafes, bars, restaurants, and people responded by attending, and bringing their families and friends as well.
 |

 |
| Sanjay & Craig Premiere Party (+LA)
Last Thursday evening, I was lucky enough to get invited to Nickelodeon's premiere party for their newest cartoon, Sanja & Craig, created by three awesome dudes - Andreas Trolf, Jim Dirschberger, and Jay Howell. Hosted at Tony's Salon with pizza provided by Pizzanistas, the premiere party was filled with libations and celebrations, even a break-dance battle broke out. Congrats to everyone who worked on the show, and especially Trolf, Jim, and Jay who all have been working tirelessly on it. Sanja & Craig premiered Saturday 10:30 am 11 am on Nickelodeon. You can watch Sanjay and Craig Episode 1: Brett Venom on hulu. and read about how the guys came up with it in this interview with The LA Times. Now, here's some photos from the premiere.
 |

 |
| Travis Millard Was Almost Rusty Millard
Drawing Stories is a new series from our buddy Travis Millard. Grab a cup of hot coco, get your slippers on and enjoy some time with your uncle Millard.
 |

 |
| Tofer Chin @Lu Magnus (+NYC)
Los Angeles Christofer Chin (Tofer) emailed over some install shots of his current show Ar running in NYC at Lu Magnus through June 29th. Simple/ clean and continuing his op artstyle Tofer Chin features new paintings, photographs, and sculpture continuing his exploration of geologically and architecturally inspired Minimalist forms.
 |

 |
| Sten & Lex for The Katowice Street Art Festival
More great street art by the Italian duo, Sten & Lex, this time in Poland for the Katowice Street Art Festival.
 |

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 |