Summer Madness

So it's been a while since I've been able to update on here. Over the last couple months I painted in Basel, Berlin, Dublin, Hawaii, Singapore and Saigon, in that order, one right after the other. (Monterrey, Mexico was just before all this) It was an amazing, enlightening, exhausting and inspiring experience. Over this time I met a lot of really great people, and I owe them thanks for all the opportunities, help, and hospitality. I also owe a lot of people apologies for not keeping up with emails- I'll do my best to get back to everyone. If it's important please just email a reminder, thanks!

I will try and catch up on here with some of the recent work, adding in chronological order. Starting with where I left off, here's a mural I painted in Los Angeles with Retna for Ruger's new tattoo shop. It's based on a photo I took of our friend Dianne. The mural is by Thai Town, at Hollywood & Wilton. As always, I painted the figure, Retna painted the background.

Seres Queridos/Vitaliano mural with Sanez + Colorado

Here are some shots of the second mural I painted in Monterrey for the Seres Queridos project. The figure is Vitaliano Cerda, who runs a used book shop in the center of the city. A much more serious looking counterpart to Régulo. I painted this one a little looser and faster than usual. The red background designs were painted by Sanez, a super talented young artist from Monterrey. His designs often include a mix of animals native to northern Mexico and have a strong indigenous influence. Really cool stuff. That last wall was a little piece I did right afterward in Colorado Springs. He's a paletero (ice cream seller) I took pictures of in Phoenix.

Régulo mural at MARCO

These are photos of a mural I just painted on the side of MARCO, the contemporary art museum in Monterrey, México. It was the first mural I painted there as part of the Seres Queridos(loved ones) project. The portrait is of Régulo de Leon Santos, who works as a parking lot attendant near the museum. This was a very cool project and I met some great people. A lot of locals helped out, making the project possible. Thanks go to Anna of Nobulo who started the project, The good folks at ARTO-Art Beyond Museums, Marla and the people at MARCO, As well as the other artists: Jorge Rodríguez Gerada, El Niño de las Pinturas, and Atma. Special thanks also to Poeekz, Claudia, Buster, Sanez, Dose, Rene Almanza, los fotografos José Lara y Verónica Valdés Vega, los del taller de Grafica Miguel Alvarado, Bacalao, and everyone else that helped out....MILES DE GRACIAS

´Seres Queridos´ in Monterrey, Mexico

I am in Monterrey, Mexico painting for a project called Seres Queridos. Just finished painting a mural on the outside of MARCO, the contemporary art museum here. Very cool project, will post more pictures when I have time. In the meantime, check out the website for more info and photos...and here is a good newspaper article.
Things have been hectic lately and I owe a lot of people emails and phonecalls by now- my apologies! I will try and catch up soon.
More updates on the way..

New print: "Persephone"

This came out really nice..
It is an edition of 50,
5-color serigraph,
signed & numbered,
4 deckled edges,
black archival cotton Arches paper,
print is 30"x42"
Limited one per customer.
first come, first served.
presales(first 20) are already sold out,
Printed by master printer Karen Fiorito, who also did the "Song of Songs" print last year.

More details, pricing & images here: http://buddhacatpress.blogspot.com
order info here: karen@buddhacatpress.com

Don't sleep!

I'll post some new art soon, just finished a nice mural in Los Angeles. Lots of good stuff on the way...
Also, the revamped elmac.net should be up soon....

"Justice" mural with Kofie & Retna for Manifest Equality

This is a mural I just painted with my friends Kofie and Retna near Vine and Sunset in Hollywood, CA. It was commissioned by Yosi Sergant for the Manifest Equality show. I based this on a reference photo I took, which in turn was based on a drawing of Lady Justice by Edwin Abbey from the late 1800s. Retna painted the large letters in the background, Kofie painted the designs around the hands and borders on each end of the mural, and I painted the figure. The wall is about 100 feet wide and 20something feet high. Thanks go to the lovely Ginalyn McNamara who generously modeled for this on short notice, and special thanks to Tom from Andenken, The Sergants, FAIR, and Mid-City Arts for helping make this mural possible. Below is a cool time-lapse video Kofie made showing the process:

New piece with Retna: "Collige, Virgo, Rosas"

This is a new commission piece I finished recently with Retna for Nick Cassavetes. I painted the girl based on a photo we took, Retna then added the halo and text designs in the background. The title of the piece comes from the text in the halo, which is an old Latin phrase:

Collige, virgo, rosas dum flos novas et nova pubes et memor esto aevumsic properare tuum.
Pick, girl, the flowers while they are still fresh and the youth is new, remembering that the time goes by.

New Print with Retna - "The Conductor"

I have a collaborative print with Retna that's just been released this week, The Conductor. Printed by master printer Karen Fiorito who also did the outstanding work on my "Song of Songs" print.
This is a detail from the large mural that Retna and I painted last year in Miami during Art Basel/Primary Flight on the side of the Margulies collection building.
It's a four color serigraph with one gold metallic, one silver metallic, one white and one black printed on grey, 22x30" Stonehenge archival paper.
Edition of 50, signed and numbered.
$250 unframed/ $500 framed
More photos and order info @ www.downtowndialect.com

Please email Deborah & Mike at: info@downtowndialect.com with any additional questions.

LA Art Show 2010- Vox Humana

I'm participating in Vox Humana this week at the LA Art Show in the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with Retna, Kofie and Mear. Details at LA Art Machine. Shig & Med of 33Third made the super cool promo video above. Special thanks to the folks at Lucius Hudson for their generosity & craftsmanship..I'll post photos later..more to come..

Happy new year! + Juxtapoz top 100

Happy new year!
I'm honored to say that Juxtapoz magazine included my show with Retna at Berman gallery in their 100 Best list!
I feel really grateful for all the opportunities I've had in 2009 and I'm excited to see the art, projects, travels, etcetera that 2010 will bring...I'd like to thank you for checking out my art and I'd also like to encourage you all with your own creative endeavors.
Cool stuff coming soon.....

Margulies mural in Miami

Here are some shots of the mural Retna and I just finished for the Margulies collection in Miami during Art Basel as part of Primary Flight. This is now our 4th mural the Wynwood district. As usual, I painted the figure, Retna painted the text. Based on a photo I took in SF a few months back. We basically spent the entire time in Miami battling the weather and working on this thing, but we did get to see a lot of really impressive mural art. Special thanks to Books, Lynn+Chris, Hoekz, Slow, the MSG's, 33Third, Beats by Dre, and everyone else that made this possible in one way or another...

Le Mac in Montreal - video

Here is a video of the piece I painted at the new offices of the Montreal architecture firm Aedifica last month. Very cool! Video directed by Phil Arsenault & project curated by Basta!/Nicholas Coupal
More photos here.

Mac & Retna mural in Salt Lake City - "AVE MARIA"

Retna and I just painted this mural in Salt Lake City, Utah last week. I think this is the tallest mural either of us has done so far, at about 44 feet height. This was commissioned by FICE. It was a special project for everyone involved. Many thanks to Corey B for making it all possible, and the rest of the cool folks at FICE, OTRA, The guy at the gun shop next door who gave me a beanie and hand warmers, Este Pizza, the lovely Bri Acsani for modeling, and everyone else who was supportive of this in any way. The text in the halo is in Latin, the beginning of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary).