Opening May 11th to June 10th, 2012.
rsvp: lisa_leone@hvw8.com
New photo exhibition documents hip-hop’s moments of truth.
Before hip-hop was an industry, it was a community.
THEN, a new solo show from photographer Lisa Leone, is a deeply personal portrayal of the last days of hip-hop’s innocence, of a culture caught between an intimate past and a global future.
Born in the Bronx and raised throughout New York City, Lisa Leone has been surrounded by hip-hop culture for virtually her entire life. By the late eighties, as a widely published photographer, she was in a unique position to capture a behind the-scenes perspective on the spirit of collaboration that fueled hip-hop’s early artistic triumphs. “To see a young Nas in the studio with Q-Tip, Premier and Large Professor was not only inspiring,” she reflects on one of the candid photos included in the show, “it is ‘the decisive moment’.”
THEN explores a series of such moments through the eyes of the young artists that would go on to become the hip-hop generation’s biggest stars: Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, Run DMC, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Rosie Perez, the Roots, Queen Latifah and many others.
But these are not mere portraits. Each image captures a unique interaction between an individual and their environment, and is supported with text drawn from new interviews with the subjects themselves.
“It was still fresh and we, the generation of that movement, still dictated what it was and meant to us and not the mass media. MTV wasn’t calling the shots. We were still telling them what the rules were.”
– Rosie Perez
“THEN is a testament to the natural eye and passion of a real New Yorker, presented now through the collected three decades of her work and experience.” – Eric Haze
“No one…can fail to be moved by Lisa Leone’s evocative portraits of Hip Hop legends captured in the midst of their young lives…set in those moody South Bronx scenes of abandonment that was their home.” – Henry Chalfant, producer of “Style Wars”
A long time coming! The Hawthorne Headhunters ‘Myriad of Now’ is now available.
Thanks to everyone who made this project possible.
Born at the HVW8 Gallery Hawthorne Headhunters, then featuring Black Spade, Coultrain, Proh Mic and I, Ced was created from the infamous ‘Live At The BBQ’ podcast series. Five years later the full length LP ‘Myriad of Now’ (with the current line up of Black Spade and Coultrain) is complete and was licensed to Plug Research for distribution.
The album features artwork from HVW8 (thanks to Wazy for appearing on the album cover).
This past Friday March 30th, 2012 we brought together LA based Lifetime Collective friends and family at HVW8 Gallery in Hollywood for a one night only event celebrating the release of our Free Thinkers Zine Issue #2! The night was amazing and fortunately we captured some really great footage of the whole experience!
The festivities kicked off with a print and photo show of select works form the zine followed by a live performance by The Mattson 2and DJ set by KCRW’s Jeremy Sole. The night was truly amazing with Lifetime Collective Artists and Free Thinker Zinecontributors bringing the experience to life. People from all over the city came together to make the night one for the books.
Big thank you to The Mattson 2, Jay Howell, Ray Potes, Jeremy Sole, Thee Oh Sees, HVW8, and American Rag!
And our good friend Joey Indrieri for the film and edit.
A few images from the upcoming Free Thinkers zine launch this Friday at HVW8.
Here are a few words about the zine:
Welcome to our second issue of Free Thinkers zine. This has been a long time coming for us. The zine was born from our original Lifetime Books that were published along with our catalogs. The zine will provide a home for interviews, artwork, photographs, travel logs, ramblings, stories and articles on Lifetime and the world via our friends in the Collective. It will provide a place where we can communicate to you (the reader) our ideas, thoughts, dreams and wishes. This second issue touches on an overarching theme of “The creative process,” and what that might mean to us all. In the following pages you’ll find a some conversations, stories and photographs with Thee Oh Sees, the scene of Topanga California in the 70’s, The Mattson 2, Featured artists/designers Niall McClelland and Ryan Rhodes. This issue also looks at the artwork of Hunter Longe, a selection of zones from Brass Tracks Publishing, Cameron’s Books in Portland, our friends at Collage Collage in Vancouver, BC and a photo essay with Michael Jager.
During the event we’ll be launching Free Thinkers Zine Issue #2 with a gallery exhibition as well as a performance by The Mattson 2 between 9pm-11pm.
Also music by DJ Set by Jeremy Sole (KCRW/theLIFT/Afro Funké)
Our friends at Ego Trip asked us to contribute to their Blog. So we added few videos from when HVW8 shot Snoop’s, Wonder What It Do at Taz Arnold’s loft in Downtown, Los Angeles. Including Snoop and Krs-One performing ‘South Bronx.
Lifetime Collective Invades Los Angeles to Launch the Second Issue of “Free Thinkers”
Timed with the launch of their Spring/Summer Collection and installation build-outs at both American Rag locations, Canadian lifestyle brand Lifetime Collective has invaded Los Angeles to debut their second issue of “Free Thinkers” a self-published magazine that takes an in-depth look inside the inspiration behind Lifetime. The debut of “Free Thinkers” will be held at the HVW8 Gallery, on March 30th at 7pm. The event will be open to the public and will include a performance by Mattson 2 along with a gallery exhibition.
Highlighting the creative process, the anticipated second edition “Free Thinkers” gives us a glimpse into all things Lifetime by providing interviews, artwork, photographs, travel logs, profiles and articles on the nature on the very things that inspire the brand.
WHAT: Lifetime Collective welcomes guests to celebrate the “creative process” on Friday March 30th at the HVW8 Gallery with a reveal of issue #2 and a live performance by Mattson 2.
WHEN: Friday March 30th 7-11PM, Mattson 2 Performance 9-11pm
WHERE: HVW8 Gallery, 661 N. Spaulding Ave, Los Angeles CA 90036 www.hvw8.com
For more information, or to inquire about media credentials for NGCB, please visit
Back in Jan. 2005, George Bush had been re-elected and things were not looking good. The war in Iraq was in full effect and we wanted to bring awareness to this and other social causes. So we decided to have a large art show / event in downtown Los Angeles, in continuation of our Political Minded series. This was the fourth ‘Guerilla Gallery’ after New York, Montreal and San Francisco.
The series was a collection of portraits in homage of people, activists, political figures and cultural icons whose work, lives and sometimes deaths revealed vital details about the reality of our world and the shape of our own social political perspectives.
More photos from the Los Angeles exhibition can be viewed here.
Thibault Choay from Classic Paris stopped by the Gallery to show some of his latest projects, including the No Way Out exhibition with Eric Elms and new books Le Team Manger and Deliciarum.
A few album covers with amazing artwork and tracks of the Legendary Dub Champion Scientist. Along with icons King Tubby and Lee Perry, Scientist is king of the Dub.
Read about his discography, working with Studio One and Channel One Studios, and recording with the likes of Barrington Levy, King Tubby and Prince Jammy HERE.
Check back for a special upcoming project at the HVW8 Gallery …. soon come!
We started the year off with Mark McKee’s Seen/Unknown. This exhibit consisted of a selection of Mark McKee’s personal favorites from over 20 years of legendary skateboard artwork. From old classic decks to new limited edition prints to never-before-seen original drawings and paintings, McKee’s work is a must see for skateboarders and art enthusiasts alike.
Joshua Prince, aka Dust La Rock, made his Los Angeles gallery debut with the new exhibition Joking Victim, an intimate, stark exploration into the themes of pain versus pleasure, free will versus destiny, fetishism, the occult and mortality. A true mixed media collaboration, Joking Victim consisted of works on paper, photographs, and a short film in which La Rock teamed with a team of innovative artists to help bring his vision to life, including photographers Angela Boatwright, Kareem Black and tattoo artist JK5. The opening reception featured music by Jokers Of The Scene and culminated with the Los Angeles debut of Bruce LaBruce’s queer cinema horror film L.A. Zombie.
Anthony Lister’s tireless approach to living is an unrelenting approach to art. His name and imagery are on street corners worldwide, accessing a massive audience by way of stickers, aerosol paint and all manner of markers. His paintings, drawings, sculptures and happenings pull from his experiences as a youth in Australia and as a father of two. Super Heroes, skateboarding, graffiti, Australian gangster celebrities, television, jail birds, tattoos, the internet, pop and advertising resurface in his art practice. With invitational residencies in London and New York, a mentorship under Max Gimblett, a CV as long as your arm—including shows at Elms Lester London, New Image Art L.A., Metro 5 Gallery Melbourne and K Gallery Italy—numerous awards and monographs, Anthony Lister’s renown among peers, curators and collectors is testament not just to his extreme productivity but his work’s exceptional potency.
Dutch artist Parra returned to Los Angeles’ HVW8 Art + Design Gallery with The How Original Show. An exhibition consisting of all new work in the form of drawings and paintings, revealing the process of sketch to final piece. Each work is an original, a departure from his well known numbered silkscreen editions. Look out for Parra at the SF MOMA in March.
With “We Was Them Kids …”, HVW8 curator Tyler Gibney pulled together some of the finest contemporary artist/designers to have exhibited at the HVW8 Gallery in recent years.
Works ranged from Amsterdam resident Parra’s post-pop imagery of highly saturated colors, vibrant hand-drawn letters and worlds inhabited by hybrid, surreal characters to Geoff McFetridge’s communicative pieces in sculpture, drawing and design that echo with humor and insight. Yogi Proctor proliferates decoys. These works span a variety of mediums, appearances, and approaches, de-stablizing notions of “originality” and “artist” with wit and agility.
From Brooklyn, Kevin Lyons brought his sharp tongue together with sharpie, stepping away from his A-List clientele as Creative Director of the internationally known ad agency Anomoly, to have some fun with his madhouse of characters and type. Brent Rollins (best known for his Boyz In The Hood and Mo Better Blues logos as well as being one of the creators of Ego Trip) continued his visual relationship between design and music, while Miami’s Alvaro Ilizarbe’s work explored space, energy, and tension through hypnotizing large scale black and white patterns.
Winston Tseng and Matt Irving departed from their skateboard and design backgrounds with original work, and French born/Hong Kong resident Charles Munka (well known in Los Angeles for his work with Flying Lotus) brought his post graffiti stylings to round out this exhibition.
A few of Brent Rollin’s prints are still available.
In Feburary we hosted the Dogghouse with adidas and Snoop where different artists came to celebrate the art of Joe Cool and Snoop. We were lucky to have an impromptu performance with Snoop and Dam-Funk in the Gallery parking lot.
Since opening the Gallery, we have recorded a number of live music Podcasts with a number of local and international artists and even helped the formation of a couple bands, like Master Blazter and the Hawthorne Headhunters. We continued this tradition with the likes of Strong Arm Steady, J-Davey, Computer Killer at Kutmah to name a few last year, along with ever present hosts Ty G And Just Max.
HVW8 Co-Founder Tyler Gibney was featured in the international adidas commericial All Orginals, Iconics ad with Big Sean, Dwight Howard, Snoop Dogg, Odd Future, Jeremy Scott, Sky Ferreira, Pusha T.
Our feel good summer music video for Snoop’s “Wonder What It Do” feat. Uncle Chucc. Produced by HVW8 with Direction by Soupbone. Also featuring Anwar Carrots, Taz Arnold, dstrbo, le connecteur, Stamp’d, Billy Goods, Computer Jay, J-1, and Battlecat.
HVW8 has tried to continue a social mandate since its early Political Minded exhibitions. Last fall we continued this tradition, painting with kids at Ted Watkins Memorial Park in Watts as part with of the SEIU’s Fresh Festival.
Upcoming –
This year we’ll continue the good fight with exhibitions from Lisa Leone, Alvaro Ilizarbe and many more, along with music, events and everything quality you expect from HVW8. Make sure to follow at www.hvw8.com
Some early Master Blazter footage from when we had the HVW8 Music Studio in downtown LA, from 2010. Featuring Dam-Funk, Computer Jay, J-1 and Groweyez.
Start the new year off with some World Peace. New HVW8 Podcast with Max and Ty G, recorded a few weeks ago during a cook out at the Gallery … listen HERE.
