The highly anticipated “Ohhh…” Exhibition from KAWS opened earlier this evening at KaiKai Kiki Gallery to a very warm reception. Having seen a brief preview, here is an exclusive look at the body of works that witnesses a fresh approach to the Brooklyn based signature style of work.
Photography / SLAMXHYPE
Mr. Ellis, have you ever seen a dead body?
Yes, certainly. Growing up in L.A. I have driven past car accidents with a dead body that had not been covered yet. I have seen a dead body, but I have never been brought to a dead body to see it. The first dead body I ever saw was at my school. A bus driver had a heart attack. He was dead and he was still sitting in the seat.
In your novels your write explicitly about violence and death. Is that something you are fond of?
I am very sensitive and a nasty, extreme piece of writing can upset me a lot.
Really? Then how can you write the way you do?
At first I am horrified and I am upset. But by the time I’ve written all the scenes and they’re all completed I am a cool technician. We are now twenty drafts from when I first imagined these images and these horrible scenes and I am numb by that time. I just want to arrange it in a way that I think makes sense in the movements of the novel. I am sad about a lot of what the book is about, because it is based on a lot of my own experience.
Can you tell me an example?
Like in terms of how confused the character is, for example Patrick Bateman. There is a part of me in him. I am not a serial killer or anything, but I was definitely an alienated person in society the same age as he was. And I really thought the society I was a part of was ridiculous and it was full of shit and everyone was awful – and yet I wanted to fit in. I was 23, 24, 25 when I was writing that book and I was extremely depressed with the idea of society and what society expects of you. When I saw all the things people expected you to have to be a happy or a successful man I just thought it was a bunch of bullshit. But I went along with it anyway.
You were a successful writer in your mid-twenties and depressed?
When you become well known the first year is really, really fun and then you spend the rest of your life humiliated or trying to avoid humiliation. Everyone is so nice to you in that first year and then they all want to see something different. They want to see you get fucked up a bit and they want to take you down. It’s just the nature of the world. You can deal with it or you can fight it. Whatever. Then I realized how – this sounds like such a cliché – empty it all is. There is nothing there. It’s an idea. It’s a concept. It’s not real.
After the success of American Psycho you were described as both the enfant terrible and the voice of your generation. Which description can you identify with more?
I am comfortable with both. You can call me anything you want. Just don’t call me fat. I was never writing to become the voice of a generation and I was never writing thinking that I was an enfant terrible. I was just writing what I wanted to write and it was other people who decided that I was or wasn’t those things. I don’t identify with either one.
Have you taken to Twitter to show people who you really are? It seems like you just write whatever is on your mind instead of carefully curating it.
I just have these random opinions about movies or bands or what I am listening to and they end up floating on my little Twitter page and that’s it. I just have this abstract notion that I have 350,000 followers. But what does that mean? I never tweet at people. I’m not a bully. I just have these thoughts. A lot of people do insult others. I get those tweets constantly where people are like, “You are a douche bag!” “You suck!” or “You haven’t been relevant in years!” I get those all the time. A hundred of them a day. I’ve never done that in my life.
Well, you definitely have insulted people before. You even apologized for saying that Kathryn Bigelow is really overrated because she’s “a very hot woman.”
I did apologize for the Kathryn Bigelow tweet because I had too many women who were friends of mine, and my mother, and my sisters, say: “You really have to understand what you’re doing and how it’s coming off. What did you mean by that?” It was a week of being kind of annoyed. And you don’t get to actually say anything in a tweet. You can’t. What can you say in 140 characters? It encourages you to make statements and be a provocative person without being nuanced.
Personally, I find such stories like this should be kept between the two parties but having seen both Supreme and Married To The Mob play pivotal roles within street culture I don’t see any harm bringing your attention to this. In short, Supreme and James Jebbia are in the process of suing Married To The Mob and its founder Leah McSweeney for the sum of $10million for “infringes his trademark rights.” Below is a note from McSweeney and further down the page is an article from New York Magazine, while even Barbara Kruger has weighed into the debate.
As some of you may have heard, Supreme is suing me for $10 million over my “Supreme Bitch” design. I’ve been using this design since the first MOB collection in summer 2004. I even sold it as a tee at Union, a store owned and managed by Supreme’s founder James Jebbia, who gave the design his blessing. Now, he’s claiming that the design infringes his trademark rights. Unlike some companies that blatantly rip-off other brand logos, Married To The Mob has always had its own identity and aesthetic by being an extension of my life experiences. I started this company when I was 22 and have come a long way without a piggyback ride from anyone. Supreme Bitch is one design of many; one slogan of many. And the use of the design has always been to make fun of the misogynistic vibe of Supreme and the boys who wear it. Bottom line is this: I don’t think Supreme should be able to squash free speech or my right to utilize parody in my design aesthetic. It’s one of the most powerful ways for me to comment on the boy’s club mentality that’s pervasive in the streetwear/skater world. The fact that Supreme is coming after MOB and me personally is just another example of the hostility that MOB — the first women’s street wear brand — has faced from Day 1. And it’s why the Supreme Bitch message is so important. Civil liberties attorney Norman Siegel agreed to take my case and act as co-counsel along with Edward Rosenthal of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, a law firm that specializes in trademark issues. This isn’t a fight I went out looking for, but I have no choice other than to fight back. Because right now, it’s about more than just a t-shirt!
Here is a recent article that featured in New York Magazine highlighting the case:
In 2004, when 22-year-old Leah McSweeney started a women’s skate-fashion line called Married to the Mob, her first T-shirt was a sort of homage: supreme bitch written in the Supreme (via Kruger) style. Jebbia carried the shirts in Union, another store he owned. As Supreme’s fortunes multiplied, so did Supreme Bitch. Rihanna posted pictures of herself in a Supreme Bitch cap. Karmaloop and Urban Outfitters have sold Supreme Bitch items. In January, McSweeney took what would be a normal step for an upstart clothing label: She filed a trademark application for Supreme Bitch. Two months later, Supreme sued McSweeney for $10 million and demanded she remove the offending items from retailers. According to Jebbia, McSweeney’s shirts aren’t just logo appropriation; they’re “trying to build her whole brand by piggybacking off Supreme.” Though he does remember approving the original Supreme Bitch designs, at the time, “I thought it was just going to be a one-off. Now it’s on hats, T-shirts, towels, mugs, mouse pads.” McSweeney has a different take: “There’s this one Barbara Kruger piece that says, ‘Your comfort is my silence,’ and I can’t help but think that I’m being silenced by Supreme with this lawsuit. I don’t have $250,000 to litigate this case, and they know that.”
Kids came from the minds of Korine, a skate kid from Tennessee whose grandmother lived in Queens and hung out with Harold and his friends, and Clark, already known for his gritty, sexualized youth photography. (Clark had started photographing the crew in the early 1990s.) It was the first film for both, and the camera barely leaves the kids, none of whom were actors at the time; all were plucked from Harold’s skater crew and elsewhere downtown.
Those of us who watched Kids as adolescents, growing up in an era before iPhones, Facebook, and Tiger Moms, had our minds blown from wherever we were watching–whether it was the Angelika Film Center on the Lower East Side or our parents’ Midwestern basements. We were captivated by the entirely unsupervised teens smoking blunts, drinking forties, hooking up, running amok and reckless through the New York City streets. Simultaneously, the driving storyline highlighted the terror of HIV and AIDS, which was at its apex in the mid-nineties.
Here is a closer look at the B6 Venator Dutch automotive manufacturer Spyker unveiled earlier in the year. Named for the Latin word for “hunter,” the Venator is derived from the early 20th century Spyker Hunter fighter aircraft with elements like the aircraft-inspired canopy, afterburner-esque LED taillights, and 19-inch alloy wheels reminiscent of a Turbofan direct references. Featuring…
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Regal and nonnative continue to thrive from working together with another impressive piece coming out as part of the latters spring/summer 2013 collection. The Dweller Opera Shoe comes in bother black and brown while crafted in Japan, the timeless slip-on loafer is highlighted by the use of Horween Chromexcel leather construction providing superior quality and comfort. The…
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The latest from UK footwear retailer size? comes in the form of a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star OX Suede. Upgrading this minimal low top classic with a premium suede finish, you will also find that they are available in four season appropriate colorways such as warm sand, bijou blue, phaeton grey, and fig. The…
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Following their initial project together, Saucony and Bodega return with this latest collection of the Elite G9. Consisting of three designs, the G9 Shadow 5 which was used the first time around when they worked together along with the G9 Control in two new colorways. As you can see from the images, the designs really capture the…
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Undercover and Jun Takahashi are names associated as pioneers of the Ura-Harajuku era and with the label still a pivotal player in the game every new project is welcomed with open arms. The brand is set to host “The Mad Market” at its Aoyama location in Tokyo, a collection of t-shirts, posters, furniture, and other…
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The Porsche 911 has long been regarded as the pinnacle of the German car manufacturer so when the 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo was unveiled it makes for welcoming news. Both the 911 Turbo and high-performance Turbo S features a six-cylinder 3.8 liter direct-injection turbocharged engine capable of 520 hp in the 911 Turbo and 560 hp…
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Munich in Germany is the latest location for French luxury label Louis Vuitton to open up shop with a space fittingly located in the city’s historic Residenzpost. The three level space was designed by renowned architect Peter Marino, who applied Louis Vuitton’s decadent aesthetic to the building, creating a luxurious atmosphere in one of Munich’s most iconic…
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Preparing to celebrate their centennial, Italian car manufacturer Maserati have teamed up with compatriot and fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna on a special edition of the 2014 Quattroporte. Production is limited to 100 pieces with unique colourways used for both the interior and exterior of car along with a special trim and material options inside. Part of a three-year deal with…
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In February 2013, online visual culture journal Nothing Major caught up with Dutch illustrator Parra (who sells his wares under the Rockwell Clothing brand name) while he was in NYC for his “Tracy Had a Hard Sunday” solo show at Jonathan Levine gallery. In this interview with Parra, the artist talks about his love of…
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Sixpack France and Jonathan Zawada continue to collaborate with an original series of printed silk scarves. The Australian artist brings his signature artistic style to the garments, a perfect match for the French label’s similarly trippy aesthetic. The 90 x 90cm scarves are available from Sixpack’s web store.
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Here is a closer look at the Head Porter Plus Spring/Summer 2013 Collection, the premium apparel line from the famous Yoshida & Co, providing the coveted luggage with an appropriate line of clothing. Staying true to the label’s roots, each garment is highlighted by quality and durability, while maintaining a subdued aesthetic making them ideal for…
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This piece from Visvim oozes quality while maintains the essence of the Japanese label and its focus on natural craftsmanship. The Visvim Sundance Suede Shirt Jacket is made in Italy and is highlighted by the use of Goat leather and natural dye, while detailing like the brass snap buttons adds to the look. Available now…
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