Retna X Louis Vuitton

As an avid fan of street art and the LA graffiti scene, I was beyond excited when I heard about the collaboration between LA based artist RETNA and ... ugh.. Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton has been embracing collaborations with artists for quite some time now and this one is just as fabulous perhaps a grip more considering my infatuation with West Coast lifestyle. Check out his amazing scarves below, which are retailing for $875 and are currently sold out online. But that is nothing compared to what his original paintings are going for.

From the Louis Vuitton Site-

Born in Los Angeles in 1979, artist Retna creates work, blending the use of photography with painted graffiti. This style takes influences from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as Arabic, Hebrew and Asian calligraphy. Combining elements from the past, present and future, Retna’s work is impressive, using text and image to expand the boundaries of painting and confound visual interpretation. His compositions are powerful, fusing various types of media, starting with a precise optic point and improvising quickly to form a final piece.

As part of a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, which also involves pattern design for an upcoming collection of textiles, Retna will paint the facade of the new store the week before the opening. Retna himself explains his artwork’s origins and visual universe, his artistic identity shaped by Californian contemporary street-art and how he found inspiration from Miami Design District’s neighbourhood’s look and feel for this piece. Through this artistic collaboration, Louis Vuitton draws attention to an original creative process and highlights its involvement within the world of Art.

As an avid fan of street art and the LA graffiti scene, I was beyond excited when I heard about the collaboration between LA based artist RETNA and ... ugh.. Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton has been embracing collaborations with artists for quite some time now and this one is just as fabulous perhaps a grip more considering my infatuation with West Coast lifestyle. Check out his amazing scarves below, which are retailing for $875 and are currently sold out online. But that is nothing compared to what his original paintings are going for.

From the Louis Vuitton Site-

Born in Los Angeles in 1979, artist Retna creates work, blending the use of photography with painted graffiti. This style takes influences from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as Arabic, Hebrew and Asian calligraphy. Combining elements from the past, present and future, Retna’s work is impressive, using text and image to expand the boundaries of painting and confound visual interpretation. His compositions are powerful, fusing various types of media, starting with a precise optic point and improvising quickly to form a final piece.

As part of a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, which also involves pattern design for an upcoming collection of textiles, Retna will paint the facade of the new store the week before the opening. Retna himself explains his artwork’s origins and visual universe, his artistic identity shaped by Californian contemporary street-art and how he found inspiration from Miami Design District’s neighbourhood’s look and feel for this piece. Through this artistic collaboration, Louis Vuitton draws attention to an original creative process and highlights its involvement within the world of Art.

My First Mural:: A Mandy Tribute:: The Process

This past weekend I was blessed to be given the opportunity to participate in a Santa Barbara community art project with the goal to help the infamous Funk Zone flourish again. Laura Inks, the director of the project explains “We signed the lease for the gallery, opened the front door, and looked out at broken windows, graffiti-covered walls, and a trash-strewn parking lot,” she said. “It wasn’t pretty Santa Barbara, and I knew we had to make this street more visitor-friendly.” in an Independent interview that can be read in full here. So Inks devolved the mural project for the time being, and with this in mind, I wanted to make the street really pretty...Mandy Candy Pretty.

I am so happy to share my muse Mandy with all of you and everyone who passes the mural on Mason Street. Please go check it out in person, right next to Hot Spots Coffee. Here are a couple of pictures of how she developed ;)

I had to paint over an existing mural so here is my primered wall...lol. Needed a fresh white canvas to start!

 

I am so happy that my art is in the street! The viewer experiences it in such a different way, rather than say a gallery, and with all the celebrating street art has been receiving lately, I am so proud to celebrate my first crack at it.

Special thanks to Andi Gee for giving me this opportunity! 

xo Caterina

This past weekend I was blessed to be given the opportunity to participate in a Santa Barbara community art project with the goal to help the infamous Funk Zone flourish again. Laura Inks, the director of the project explains “We signed the lease for the gallery, opened the front door, and looked out at broken windows, graffiti-covered walls, and a trash-strewn parking lot,” she said. “It wasn’t pretty Santa Barbara, and I knew we had to make this street more visitor-friendly.” in an Independent interview that can be read in full here. So Inks devolved the mural project for the time being, and with this in mind, I wanted to make the street really pretty...Mandy Candy Pretty.

I am so happy to share my muse Mandy with all of you and everyone who passes the mural on Mason Street. Please go check it out in person, right next to Hot Spots Coffee. Here are a couple of pictures of how she developed ;)

I had to paint over an existing mural so here is my primered wall...lol. Needed a fresh white canvas to start!

 

I am so happy that my art is in the street! The viewer experiences it in such a different way, rather than say a gallery, and with all the celebrating street art has been receiving lately, I am so proud to celebrate my first crack at it.

Special thanks to Andi Gee for giving me this opportunity! 

xo Caterina

My First Mural:: A Mandy Tribute

Just finished up my first mural! I will do a complete post with photos of my process and links to the community project in the next couple of days... so stay tuned!

In the meantime, please check out my finished piece in the Funk Zone of Santa Barbara on the corner of Mason Street and State Street, right by Hot Spots Coffee Shop.

XoXo

Just finished up my first mural! I will do a complete post with photos of my process and links to the community project in the next couple of days... so stay tuned!

In the meantime, please check out my finished piece in the Funk Zone of Santa Barbara on the corner of Mason Street and State Street, right by Hot Spots Coffee Shop.

XoXo

Have you been to the MOCA yet?

Get your ass down there.

OUTSIDE IN movie trailer from Levi's Film Workshop on Vimeo.

OUTSIDE IN is a celebratory and historical look at street art through the lens of the Museum of Contemporary Art's groundbreaking exhibition Art in the Streets. The film features renowned artists Shepard Fairey, Lee Quiñones, Swoon, Futura, Mister Cartoon, Revok, Martha Cooper, Invader to name a few. Director Alex Stapleton (Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel) documents the artist's creative process, their pitfalls with the law, the poetic impermanence of their craft and the artists' evolution from the back seat of a cop car to the walls of a well-respected institution.

 FREE REVOK by Chad Muska

All info from Revok1

Get your ass down there.

OUTSIDE IN movie trailer from Levi's Film Workshop on Vimeo.

OUTSIDE IN is a celebratory and historical look at street art through the lens of the Museum of Contemporary Art's groundbreaking exhibition Art in the Streets. The film features renowned artists Shepard Fairey, Lee Quiñones, Swoon, Futura, Mister Cartoon, Revok, Martha Cooper, Invader to name a few. Director Alex Stapleton (Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel) documents the artist's creative process, their pitfalls with the law, the poetic impermanence of their craft and the artists' evolution from the back seat of a cop car to the walls of a well-respected institution.

 FREE REVOK by Chad Muska

All info from Revok1