Category: Artists

Mr. Wash Fundraising Initiative Featured on NBC News

HVW8 L.A. is currently showing Fulton Leroy “Mr. Wash’s” Washington’s fundraising exhibition “Bridging the Way” which is helping to fund the building of his new studio and community center in Compton, CA. NBC News reports:

“Fulton Leroy Washington, who goes by Mr. Wash, knows a thing or two about getting a second chance in life even in the midst of hopelessness and isolation.

Before President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in 2016, Mr. Wash was behind bars for more than two decades. While serving a life sentence after being wrongfully convicted of nonviolent drug offenses in the 1970s, he taught himself how to draw and paint.

“I brought eight brushes and a couple of paint tubes and started practicing. And here we are now,” the Compton native recalled.” 

“After commissioning his artwork, he was able to purchase his studio in Compton. And he’s now raising money to build a community center on the same lot with the goal of giving second chances to the formerly incarcerated and artists of color.  The ex-inmate said the Art by Wash Center will also provide free housing of up to 6 months to those newly released from prison.

“This is my new blank canvass,” Mr. Wash described. “It’s going to have spaces for inmates coming home from prison and teaching art as a way of communication to prevent them from going [back] to prison.”

Mr. Wash also planned to host a fundraising exhibition with other artists of color whom he took under his wings.

The exhibition, which is curated by Mr. Wash himself, runs from Feb. 15 through Mar. 26 at HVW8 Gallery at 661 N. Spaulding Ave. in Los Angeles.”

Read the full article here or learn more about the exhibition.

Nicer Tuesdays: Olimpia Zagnoli

 

Olimpia Zagnoli takes us on an illustrated trip through 80s Italy at Nicer Tuesdays

“I don’t remember when I began drawing exactly but it was a long time ago”, explained illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli, opening the evening at Nicer Tuesdays September. Joining us from her home of Milan, the beloved illustrator spoke through the numerous forms her illustrative work can take, from illustrated plates and pillows to collaborations with fashion brands to children’s books.

However, Olimpia’s talk explained the importance of personal work, explaining how crafting her own practice is always on her mind, particularly when she gets to consider how her work can infiltrate a space when exhibited,

Her most recent exhibition, Cuore di Panna in Los Angeles, saw Olimpia illustrate visuals that were close to home. Taking inspiration from her childhood in 80s Italy, Olimpia illustrated the popping high colour of it all, from fizzy drink packaging to cafe signs. The result was a series that jumps off the page, screen and in the exhibition context, the wall too. It’s a guilty pleasure series, and one that suits the illustrator’s work perfectly, both sensual and overly sweet at the same time.

Beloved Italian illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli talks us through one of her most recent projects, Cuore di Panna: a personal and cultural interpretation of 80s Italy.

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Atiba Jefferson Creative Class

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HVW8 Gallery and adidas Originals present :

Creative Class
Featuring Atiba Jefferson

An evening with Atiba Jefferson as he talks about his work and creative process for his ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ exhibition.

To be eligible to attend, please post an original photograph of yours and tag #atibacreativeclass and he will reach out if you’re selected.

All entries must be posted by Thursday, June 21st. The exhibit is located in Los Angeles, you must be in the area the weekend of June 23rd to attend if selected.

Creative Class is an ongoing series of artist talks and lectures fostering dialogue between established exhibiting artists and emerging artists and creatives.

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ATIBA JEFFERSON – ‘HEART-SHAPED BOX’

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HVW8 Gallery and adidas Originals present:

ATIBA JEFFERSON – ‘HEART-SHAPED BOX’

 MAY 19TH – JULY 15TH, 2018
Opening Night May 19th, 7 – 11 pm, presented with Jägermeister
rsvp@hvw8.com

HVW8 GALLERY AT PLĀNA
5416 WILSHIRE BLVD., LOS ANGELES, CA 90036
GALLERY OPEN 1 – 6PM, THURSDAY – SUNDAY
HVW8.COM   @ATIBAPHOTO

#adidasLosAngeles

About the show

HVW8 Gallery and adidas Originals are pleased to present ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, an immersive exhibition of photography by Atiba Jefferson. Assembling large-scale lightbox cubes of Atiba’s iconic images, ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ establishes an interactive environment that shines a new light on the renowned photographer’s continually evolving practice. The show configures four lightboxes in a black-painted gallery space, illuminated from within to reveal a sublime view of Atiba’s portraits, action shots and cityscapes, while drawing attention to the essential component of light throughout the photographic process.

‘Heart-Shaped Box’ celebrates twenty years of Atiba’s photography. Keeping it fresh, the show collates images from his more recent archives, some of which have never been viewed beyond the dimensions of an iPhone screen. The installation presents digital and analogue work across five facades of the 8 ft lightbox cubes, enabling new dialogues to occur between the images when the structures are observed from different perspectives. “This collection of photos is how I view photography,” Atiba explains. “I like things to be different—from my lighting, format, angles and the same goes for my subjects. It’s not just skateboarding, it’s not just music, it’s not just people. It’s all the things I love.”

About Atiba Jefferson

Born in Colorado Springs, photographer and skateboarder Atiba Jefferson lives and works in Los Angeles. While these two passions have led to his international acclaim as a skateboarding photographer and working for Thrasher Magazine, Atiba also has a deep history with basketball, being a staff photographer for the LA Lakers during the Shaq and Kobe years, and shooting more SLAM magazine covers than any other photographer. Alongside commercial shoots for clients such as Supreme, adidas, Nike, Converse and Oakley, Atiba’s extensive portfolio also comprises music and lifestyle photography and has been exhibited across the globe.

HVW8 Gallery x adidas Originals

HVW8 Gallery and adidas Originals continue their long partnership in fostering emerging artists and creators from around the world. By supporting local artists and providing an inclusive environment for dialogue between artists from various cultures and mediums, the partnership provides an international platform for new and diverse artistic visions. Past artists include Kilo Kish, Brian Lotti, Inès Longevial, Gogy Esparza, Lisa Leone, Mark Gonzales and Jean Jullien.

Plana Foundation 

Plana Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and the advancement of creative fields including art, architecture and design through educational programs and events.

Jean Jullien ‘Flat Out’

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HVW8 Gallery Berlin presents

Flat Out

A solo exhibition by Jean Jullien

Graphic artist Jean Jullien applies his signature style to three-dimensional sculpture for the first time in the series of six steel artworks now displayed at HVW8 Berlin. The French graphic artist playfully explores the theme of laziness in soft brilliant-hued, life-sized figures that resolutely refuse to “do” much of anything. A keen observer of the everyday and current events, Jullien here focuses on moments of unadorned idleness that punctuate the hyperactivity of modern life.

Opening:
April 27, 7–10pm

Exhibition:
April 28–June 17, 2017, Thu–Sat, 1–6pm

HVW8 Gallery Berlin Linienstr. 161 HVW8.com

Made possible with support from adidas Originals.

HVW8 Selected Works January 2017

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Brian Roettinger
Lichtenstein: Done Deal
2015
15.5 × 21 in. (39.37 × 53.34 cm)
Framed
Screen printed on styrene
info@hvw8.com

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Parra
Face Blast
2014
9.5” x 12.5” (24 x 32cm)
Framed
Acrylic Paint and Ink
info@hvw8.com

Devin_troy

Devin Troy Strother
2 in the pink 1 in the stink (part 1) “get’cha nger outta there”
2016
20 x 16 in. (44 x 35.2 cm)
acrylic, oil, cut painted paper, on wood panel
info@hvw8.com

 

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Cody Hudson
Doomsday Reggae Sunsplash I
2015
24” x 24” (52.8 x 52.8 cm)
Acrylic on Linen

Just a few pieces available from past exhibitions. Please email info@hvw8.com for inventory.

‘Anxiety’ Exhibition on Purple Magazine France

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Eric Yahnker

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Steven Traylor

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Brendan Donnelly

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Anja Salonen

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Co-Curator Laura Watters

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Devin Troy Strother

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Co-Curator Tyler Gibney

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Kyla Hansen

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Photos from Purple Magazine Paris.

Photo Paige Silveria

Cody Hudson at HVW8 Berlin extended to March 26th


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Cody Hudson ‘When I Finally Get Myself Together’ Now extended to March 26th at HVW8 Berlin.

Email info(at)hvw8.com for inquiries.

Chicago based artist Cody Hudson presents a new body of work in his first ever solo exhibition in Germany at HVW8 Gallery, Berlin.

After years of working on sculptures using a similar set of geometric shapes, this new body of paintings on linen takes those same simple bold shapes into painted forms.  For the first time, this language is brought concurrently into all parts of his practice. Starting with simple geometric shapes and slowly evolving into slightly more representational paintings to abstracted still lifes, the repetition of color and shapes starts to develop an internal dialogue. Titles of paintings such as “All One Or None,” “I Don’t Want To Die Alone” or “Post Post Still Life With Pots, Bong And Shell” loosely reference spirituality and/or false spirituality, 90’s rave music sub-genre ragga jungle, and overwhelming feelings of anxiety.

The show also includes a series of one color paintings from the “Shapes and Colors Dept.” painting series, which focuses on very simple one color combinations of shapes painted in an almost meditative state. At times these paintings take on a repetitive pattern feel while at others becoming almost floral.

A series of new steel sculptures will also be shown as well as four new screen prints produced by the art publisher Draw A Line based in Berlin.

Cody Hudson is a Chicago based artist, also known for his graphic design contributions under the name Struggle Inc. His graphic work and paintings have been exhibited throughout the US, Europe and Japan including the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), V1 (Copenhagen), Hellerau Art Center (Dresden) and Andrew Rafacz (Chicago).

Location: HVW8 Gallery, Linienstr. 161, Berlin

Exhibition Runs: February 12 – March 12, 2016 *Now Extended to March 26th

www.hvw8.com

www.struggleinc.com

www.codyhudson.net

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Brian Lotti: Echo Park on Nowness

New feature on Nowness


Brian Lotti: Echo Park
Visionary skate filmmaker Jacob Rosenberg captures the artist’s LA story

It is no surprise that American artist Brian Lotti’s work takes in inner-city neighborhoods, alleyways, vistas and purposefully-striding figures – the elements inherent to the urban landscape with which his years as a professional street skateboarder made him so intimately familiar.

After a successful career in the sport (he is credited as being one of the originators of technical street skating), the Okinawa-born Lotti studied art at San Francisco State University, after which he returned to Southern California.

Directed by renowned skate director Jacob Rosenberg – responsible for the pioneering Plan B films Questionable and Virtual Reality, and whom Lotti first met 27 years ago at a skateboard camp in Santa Clara – today’s profile follows the painter as he prepares for his first solo exhibition at HVW8, a collection of oils, color studies and monotypes that captures his home base in Los Angeles’s Echo Park with bold impressionistic strokes and vivid colors that bring to mind Cezanne’s Provençal landscapes.

Echo Park by Brian Lotti at HVW8 gallery, Los Angeles runs to August 2.

James Wignall is Copy Chief at NOWNESS.

Atiba Jefferson Interview

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Interview with Atiba Jefferson by Chris Danforth.

I first heard the name Atiba Jefferson in relation to the skate scene in Los Angeles. Over the years, Jefferson has had access to a who’s who of not only skating, but music, sports, pop culture and more. Whether sitting in on a Henry Rollins photoshoot and quietly clicking the shutter through a long lens, or being commissioned to snap portraits of the Jumpman himself, Atiba has accumulated a wealth of experience during his tenure as a photographer and multi-creative. When speaking with Atiba, there was a lot to cover, as you can’t place his work into only one silo. In this sense, he seems to be a caricature of the modern creative; being well-versed in multiple creative mediums.

How did the HVW8 exhibition in Berlin come to fruition?

It came together at the last minute. I was in Berlin, working with Oakley on a new project, traveling with Sean Malto and Eric Koston, and they asked us to come over for a sales meeting. Tyler asked me to do it, and I was enthusiastic about the project, especially because I was already there.

So you knew him from LA?

Yeah, that’s the one gallery I show at in LA. So I’ve done a couple of shows at his gallery in LA and stuff like that.

Do you have other relationships with galleries like that in the States where you only want to show at one particular gallery?

I don’t regularly show my work but I do have a friend whose group show I’m always trying to be a part of. And then smaller stuff but I only started doing solo shows after I met Tyler.

What about the name of the exhibition? Could you explain that as well?

Titles are always a little bit tricky to come by. I’ve been listening to “So Long, Lonesome,” this Explosions in the Sky song. They’re an instrumental band – pretty big in the U.S. They’re one of my favorite bands actually. I saw them on their first tour in 2000 or 2001, and they were playing to some four people. Now they play huge festivals, in front of eight to ten thousand people at a time. The funny thing is, I was backstage at the Fuck Yeah festival in LA, and the dudes in the band were passing me. They called out to me because they knew who I was. I turned around and recognized them as well. After that we became really good friends.

Read More HERE

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Also Atiba Jefferson on NOWNESS

Jean André Interview

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Excerpt from Jean André Article

by Chris Danforth

En route to HVW8 Art + Design Gallery in Berlin, I was chewing over the years I spent listening to Ed Banger releases. Admittedly, I definitely had a higher level of familiarity with So Me – Jean André’s predecessor as art director at Ed Banger – before speaking with Jean himself that is, who was hosting an exhibition in the intimate gallery setting in the city’s Mitte district. You may expect to receive virtually zero facetime in circumstances like these, given the way that PR people, writers, photographers, fans, and myself, will be pooling around an artist, however, Jean obliged conversations effortlessly, entertaining all those to take an interest in the visual offerings that night. So Me was practically synonymous with Ed Banger at a certain time and presumably following up on his role would entail certain challenges. Jean André seems to have strode confidently into his new position, while bringing a singular and unique approach that would not presently indicate a total overhaul of the French record label’s artistic aesthetic.

Check above in the slideshow for a custom illustration done for Highsnobiety by Jean André.

What’s up Jean? How was Art Basel Miami?

Art Basel was great! Constructing a full exhibition in 4 days in a new city is always a big challenge to me. I had to deal with the furniture we brought, the supplies which didn’t show up because of shipping from Los Angeles, the display of the adidas x HVW8 shoes that I worked on with Kevin Lyons etc… It’s super motivating.

Would you describe yourself as a sneakerhead? What is your relationship with streetwear? 

I think I have like 5 pairs of shoes. I’m not a super fashionista, I do not collect sneakers or any apparel, and I don’t go to fashion week. I wear what fits me, that’s pretty much all I care about fashion. Actually, I have a cool collection of white Apparel T-shirts and Zara pants.

You often work with Kevin Lyons, what is his role in your life?

Kevin is a friend and a great advisor, kind of a brother/mentor. He has a great deal of experience in this crazy art/exhibitions/collaboration game.

What about HVW8 Gallery?

That’s all about Tyler Gibney. He is a great guy, he believes in me and was the first man to suggest that I travel to show my drawings. HVW8 has some great artists that I have followed for years, so I feel great to be part of a cool move like this.

 

Read more HERE

‘Mon Amour’ Book Launch at HVW8 Berlin

HVW8

MON AMOUR is the 3rd and final book of the Ladies Collection, after JE T’ADORE and ENCORE.

The aim of the book is to collect the many faces of femininity and lady-ness as a tribute to womankind. With the acumen of a graphic designer and the passion of a 70’s erotic filmmaker, Jean André handles his women with curiosity, reverence and intuition.

André’s oeuvre combines mixed international pop culture with personal childhood references and swirls them into his work, using the female form as a sort of icing on the cake. The artist traces the roles of women from cultural icons to sexualzed bodies to intimate bodies, using his love of women as a lens to make his already private drawings more sensitive. “I make drawings of women for women, I don’t do this to turn boys on.” The meat of his work is contained within the active space of performance between muse and drawer.

All three books in the Ladies Collection are available for purchase at Colette Paris, www.Club75.fr and HVW8 Gallery. Published by Ed Banger, 50 pages black print

Jean André (b. 1986) describes his drawings and paintings as “gentleman art” focused and inspired by the beauty of women. His work as a graphic designer in Montmartre for Ed Banger is just one outlet, while his other work channels themes of the female form in charming paintings. At once minimalist and realistic, he tries to explore all the opportunities the ink offers him. His major influences include Tom Wesselmann, Matisse, Richard Kern and Serge Gainsbourg, among others.

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery was founded in 2006 by curator Tyler Gibney with Addison Liu in Los Angeles, California, with mandate supporting fine-art and avant-garde graphic design. Over the past seven years, emerging and established artists such as Parra, Geoff McFetridge, Kevin Lyons, Hassan Rahim, Mark Gonzales, Cody Hudson, Lisa Leone, Craig Costello (aka Krink), and Jean André have exhibited their works. Further informaton can be found on HVW8.com

MON AMOUR will be the inaugural event of HVW8 BERLIN. After event at LARRY Club – chauseestraße 131, Berlin Mitte

Supported by Zoe and Our/Berlin

HVW8 BERLIN Linienstraße 161, corner Klein Hamburgerstraße
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 12- 6pm or by appointment: (0)30 9836 3691

Download Press Release  Jean_André_MonAmour

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