LANCE ARMSTRONG IS A SHOW-STOPPER IN HOLLYWOOD
By Diane Pucin, LA Times, March 8, 2009
“Ben Stiller did the introductions and newly hot artist Shepard Fairey did a mural, but Lance Armstrong was the star Saturday night at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in Hollywood.
As part of his cycling comeback, Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, has made clear that he is riding not only to win more races but also to raise more money for his cancer charity, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Armstrong is flying Sunday to Europe in advance of the third race in his comeback journey, the Milan-San Remo Classic. But on Saturday, Armstrong rode 2.2 miles with about 700 recreational cyclists and then spoke to an enthusiastic audience of art and cycling lovers.
Fairey has gained recent attention for his creation of the Barack Obama "Hope" image, and there was a Fairey-created mural celebrating Armstrong's cycling comeback and cancer-fighting commitment painted on the side of the theater.
Stiller introduced Armstrong by making a joke about how when the two of them walk down the street, people stop to marvel at Armstrong's ability to inspire awe because of his cycling accomplishments after recovering from cancer, and then they stare at Stiller and say, "Thunder, man," because of Stiller's starring appearance in the less-than-esoteric movie comedy "Tropic Thunder."
More than 20 artists have created works that will be displayed beginning July 16 at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris and will be sold with the proceeds going to Armstrong's foundation. Besides Fairey, other notable artists participating in this fundraiser include Tom Sachs, Eric White, Marc Newson, Os Gemeos and Taryn Simon.” Click HERE to continue reading…
Read more "Stages" show coverage at THE EXAMINER, FOX BUSINESS
Apparently, CBS SUNDAY MORNING is officially in the "Street Art" game now, following up their recent KAWS profile with a new segment this morning on SHEPARD FAIREY. Unfortunately the MILF-tastic Serena Altschul wasn't tapped to helm the piece, but the awesome animated spray paint can intro and robotic suburban housewife narration provide ample entertainment nonetheless. The most amazing revelation of the segment? Aside from the gray hair, Shepard still looks almost identical to his elementary school portrait...
KAWS' street hits were the freshest on the block back in '97 when an incredibly young-looking Brian Donnelley was getting busy on the billboards and bus stops of NYC and Tokyo on the regular. Here we see some rare footage of the youthful media manipulator on the go with commentary by fellow bomber RON ENGLISH...
This morning, SHEPARD FAIREY appeared in Roxbury District Court in Boston where he pleaded not guilty to vandalizing property in the city and was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment. He still faces charges in a separate case for other alleged vandalism that he will appear at Brighton District Court to enter a plea on soon. Meanwhile, read more about Shepard's Boston arrest at the BOSTON PHOENIX & THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RELATED STORY: "Timing questioned by artist in arrests," Boston Herald
Few moments in KAWS' multifaceted and unpredictable career have been as surreal as this segment on him that aired this weekend on CBS, most notable of which is the old dude introducing the clip alongside a 4ft Companion. Just in time for his hotly anticipated opening at HONOR FRASER this month in LA, the incredibly well aged SERENA ALTSCHUL tries to put her finger on the XX-eyed phenomenon. Click HERE to read CBS' article on KAWS...
Music award shows are for suckers. That said, RADIOHEAD did it right tonite on the less-relevant-than-ever GRAMMY AWARDS backed by a tight high school marching band. Coldplay literally should not even be allowed to play on the same show when Radiohead is present...
Debbie Harry es una buena Amiga...
Long before there were Steve Job's flashy Mac World technology summits, prehistoric computer rival AMIGA staged a 1985 publicity event in which ANDY WARHOL created his first computer-generated portrait using a then wildly-futuristic digital camera and the Amiga's pioneering graphic filters. Fittingly, the portrait subject was DEBBIE HARRY and the results weren't too far off from his off-register silkscreen prints. From the looks of things, Andy was pretty satisfied with the results. In the end, however, Apple won the space race, as Andy never made the Amiga logo into an art piece...
The future of art circa 1985: The Amiga 1000...
Apple's esteemed placeholder in the annals of modern art...
2009 really is SHEPARD FAIREY's year; we're just living in it. On the eve of today's press preview of his massive retrospective art show at the INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON, Shepard spoke to CHARLIE ROSE last nite about the intricacies of branding a presidential campaign from street level.
Mike Tyson: War & Peace...
Predictably, the flick garnering outright adoration and even a standing ovation at its first screening at this week's SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL is the gripping "Tyson" documentary by director and miraculous Tyson wrangler JAMES TOBACK. Told entirely in the lisping voice of the former champ in footage culled from countless hours of interviews, the father of six recounts his rise and fall, from early days being bullied as a fat kid ("It was kill or be killed"), and being forced to defend himself in juvenile detention at age 12, to his training with legendary Cus D'Amato ("I knew all the skullduggery ... most of these guys lost the fight before it even started"), to his days as world heavyweight champ ("Once I get in the ring, I'm a god"), and ultimately, his grisly public fall from grace ("I lost the desire to be a champion") including a prison term and the infamous ear biting incident. Along the way, it's revealed, Tyson squandered almost $400 million and lost nearly everything he'd ever earned, physically and emotionally. Toback has known the boxer since 1985 and was able to capture a raw and previously unseen look at the fighter. In Tyson's words, "Jim, he just elicited all this stuff out of me, I don't know how he did it." Far from glossing over the fighter's problems and controversial missteps, Toback's subject instead offers a shockingly open assessment of his tumultuous life, verbally beating himself into a corner again and again. The film is slated for commercial release on April 24. Read more HERE.
No, you don't need to get your eyes checked...
Easily their most accomplished and sonically compelling offering to date, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE's new "Merriweather Post Pavillion" LP is a trippy collection of driving sound fields colored by layers of Beach Boys vocal harmonies in the key of "Feel Flows." Strangely enough, it's also named for starchitect Frank Gehry's 1967 outdoor concert venue, one of his first major constructions. Unlike one of Gehry's buildings, however, this record is something you'll be able to live with for a long time to come.
Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.
