If you havent already, head on over to www.kotorimag.com and check out the latest and greatest issue of KOTORI magazine. They are now officially monthly as a free downloadable PDF although you can still subscribe to or buy the printed issues.
For the record: THIS IS NOT A PAID ENDORSEMENT!!! I happen to like Kotori Mag. I like the folks who run it. I like the stuff they write about and the way it looks. Maybe you will too. So with that I once again reccomend you check it out and maybe tell a friend to do the same. I also love the good people at the lab 101 in LA. My old roomates Evan & Freddi C are fine and talented young minds. They used to call me "the parrot". Now I just miss them a lot. Go visit them and tell them the parrot sent ya. SQUWAAAUUUAAKKKK!!!
As long as Im doing the free plug bit, I may as well suggest that you if you happen to be in the LA area, to get on over to THE LAB 101 gallery space in Culver City, CA www.thelab101.com for this weekend opening.
Heres the gist:
~I WISH I WAS HERE
new paintings, sculptures and installation by ANDY HOWELL
MARCH 3 - MARCH 28, 2007
opening reception: Saturday March 3rd, 6-10pm
the artist will be signing copies of his book "Art, Skateboarding and Life" from 6-7pm
Guest DJ : MARK RAE
THE LAB101 GALLERY 8530-B Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
310 558 0911 / http://www.thelab101.com (map & directions)
gallery hrs. tue-fri 11am-6.30pm sat 12.30- 4.30pm
Press Release / ANDY HOWELL solo exhibition at The Lab 101 Gallery
Andy Howell grew up immersed in the 80‚s Virginia and DC punk, skate, surf and Hip Hop scene. Turning Pro In 1989, he went on to become a major influence in the style of street skating that help set the tone for the next 10 years. During his career as a top professional skateboarder, Howell received his Visual Communications degree and co-founded New Deal Skateboards, Element Skateboards, 411 video magazine, and Giant Distribution.
Through these outlets Howell developed his own unique graphic style of graffiti and cartoon influenced designs for skateboards and t-shirts. He founded Zero Sophisto Clothing, MTN, Girly Things Clothing, Freedom Video and Rowdy Industries. As Founder, President and Creative Director of Imagewerks, branding/advertising agency in California, Howell was responsible for major campaigns and promotions for such clients a McDonalds, Coca Cola, Activision‚s Tony Hawks Pro Skater Series, K2 Snowboards, Time Warner‚s Transworld Media Group, among others. After selling Imagewerks he set forth on adventures traveling across the globe for six months, hiking live volcanoes, surfing famous reef breaks in Bali, living on an island in Thailand, whitewater rafting at the source of the Nile, and trekking with the endangered mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Through these explorations he connected with many old and new friends along the way and interacted with artists from around the world in different languages and cultures. One central theme carried through it all: create new and exciting works of art.
While Howell‚s last solo exhibition in 2003 dealt with the painfully human reaction to the loss of his father, this current solo exhibition examines a human dilemma in a more playful manor. Howell chooses an array of mixed mediums that include all new works on paper and large sculptural formats to reflect his pictorial goal to examine∑'A history of the cultural dichotomy between abstract organic and synthetic geometry in the lost social tribes of tomorrow'.
ŒI WISH I WAS HERE‚ opens Saturday March the 3rd and runs until March 28th, 2007
For further information please contact The Lab 101 gallery @ 310 558 0911 / freddic@thelab101.com
'A history of the cultural dichotomy between abstract organic and synthetic geometry in the lost social tribes of tomorrow'
The goal is to show the currently existing tribes through the paintings and how they regress over time from organic abstraction to synthetic geometry, in their cultural understanding, social interaction, and self image. Basically we continue to evolve through a definitive series of regressive steps. We started as beautifully ornate organic abstractions filled with creativity and complexity, expressed though organically changing creative mood patterns. Our direction was unified, and we were all moving foward and working together as part of a whole being. Through religion, social institutions (like gangs, Hollywood, and business school), and technology we gave ourselves the illusion of progression through complexity. We added dimension to our personalities, we multitasked ourselves into splintered version 9.0, and our actual depth decreased. We could do more, but we continued to dilute our quality in order to produce more content. Thus the multiplicity of each person, his possible yield from a purely marketable product perspective, increased exponentially, while the value of each dimension of us as individuals decreased. We became complex configurations of one dimensional shards of personality, beautifully decorated monotone shells of our former selves. Empty input producing massive throughput without any significant output. We positioned ourselves on a grid of predictibility, in order that there be no new topics of conversation, just pre-processed blocks of jibberish that could easily be regurgitated in between meetings. 'How are you?' became an empty redundancy that could only be answered with the exact same phrase in same tone of voice. There was no answer, no exchange of feeling, just verbal filler that gave the illusion of interaction. And over time that emptiness became enough for us, and the meaningful content in our lives was provided by media. The grid of this new plastic society locked each one in, and our media addiction allowed us to medicate on others' dreams and tragedies, while we let go of our ability to share our own emotions. Our connectedness was replaced by connectivity, we cleared our hard disks to make room for RAM, disconnected from the network, and we became known as 'The Lost Social Tribes of Tomorrow.' - Andy Howell / Feb. 2007
http://www.andyhowell.com
Anywho, its Friday and almost 8pm EST and Im still at the office which is super lame, so Im gonna finish this sentence, click publish, then head out on the town.
enjoy your weekend. get out and do something for yourself and maybe someone else.
-MH
