Style and pride are inseparable.

Jamel Shabazz (portrait of the artist)
Vintage Cazal Frames

DAMN! Seriously, I can't decide which pair of vintage Cazal frames rule the world more! Run DMC made them famous in the eighties, but I want to make them legendary. Everything about these frames are completely extroverted and bold. When did we get so timid?

Fashion hasn't seen attitude like this since Jamel Shabazz's collection of photographs documenting urban street style in "A Time Before Crack." (I have a singed copy of this book that I am very proud of, which Mr. Shabazz wrote a note in reminding me "always keep your focus.") Sometimes, fashion's previous triumphs need to be celebrated. Now is one of those times. New York City's coolest kids got it right in the mid 70s and held it down for a solid decade. It's time for a revival. Before crack hit the ghettos of NYC in the mid eighties, optimism existed...and style and pride were inseparable. I'd like to think that wearing a pair a vintage Cazal's is my nod to that innocent and positive time.

Art Club Blazers

Don't be surprised if you see me and a gang of misfits bumbling around in flashy blazers like these ones from Balenciaga's fall 2007 collection. For some time, I've been a proud member of some "art club." Whether it was painting at my friend Mandee's house (her creations can be seen here: www.kodakgallery.com/mandeepaints) while slurping purple sizzurp, or drawing with my roommate Caitlin when I lived in lovely San Francisco, I have always embraced the idea of an art collective. And, nothing makes a collective, group, or team more solid than matching uniforms. Now that I live in Brooklyn and have a heap of fellow artists to create with, I invite all members of "art club" to fashion their very own art club blazer! The ones above are totes inspiring with their bold buttons, decorative ribbon, crests, and other royal embellishments. Being in a gang is awesome, even if you are just drawing pictures with other low lifers. Wearing a custom blazer just makes it official.

Kehinde Wiley a.k.a. painting's hero

Hans Holbein The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb, 1521

Recently, I went to view New York based artist Kehinde Wiley's show, DOWN at Deitch Projects. It totally moved me. He's doing everything right in an epic way. The enormous canvas' feature various young black men with impeccable sneaker taste posed loosely after Hans Holbein's Christ in the Tomb. For Mr. Wiley to to take a Northern Renaissance image and infuse it with vibrant floral patterns and completely modern figures is mind blowing to me. His technique is astounding. I have never seen patent leather Nike's look so real. Just when you think contemporary art has gone all graphic and kitsch, Mr. Wiley comes through with realism that is as breathtaking as the old masters. There's nothing more perfect than a painting that includes detailed floral patterns, gold chains, fresh sneakers, and stunning color combinations. If your an artist, you should quit because you'll never be this good.

Deitch Projects

18 Wooster Street, New York
November 01, 2008 — December 20, 2008

http://www.kehindewiley.com/

Being Rich is Awesome!

Being rich is awesome. Awesome pets, awesome teeth, awesome bill payments, awesome cars, and awesome notebooks. But more awesome than being rich is having awesome friends. Friends who surprise you with incredible gifts, like a handmade t-shirt with their own sweet faces on it that reads "Being Rich is Awesome!" I dedicate this blog to my amazingly creative and funny friends.