Scott Campbell, Things Get Better, (Installation View), courtesy OHWOW Los Angeles

A solo exhibition of work by artist Scott Campbell is currently on view  at OHWOW Los Angeles, featuring a series of large-scale ink wash paintings on paper, depicting invented objects, particularly makeshift tools, textual subversions, and intriguing figurations found in the world of underground and prison tattoo culture.

(more…)

Terry Richardson and Pharrell Williams at OHWOW It Ain’t Fair 2012 photo by Aviva for Art Observed

On December 7th, 2012, at 743 Washington Avenue (on the Miami Beach side and not across the bay in the design district) OHWOW inaugurated the fifth and last edition of It Ain’t Fair (IAF), a venue for avant-garde art across all media. It began in 2008 in Miami, concurrent with the main fair, as another way to view work by emerging artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Ashley Bickerton, Cyprien Gaillard, Clayton Patterson and others.

Atmosphere at OHWOW It Aint Fair Miami 2012, all photos by E. Schwartzberg for ArtObserved unless otherwise noted

(more…)

Nate Lowman

All photos by E. Damenia for ArtObserved

This past Sunday, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center held the opening party and preview for Nate Lowman: I wanted to be an artist but all I got was this lousy career. The exhibition features recent and new work including paintings, collage and sculpture. Also on view on the foundation lawn was the actual White Ford Bronco from OJ Simpson’s June 17, 1994 car chase, and Gang Gang Dance performed. Artists such as Scott Campbell, Adam McEwen, Richard Prince, Kalup Linzy, Kaws and Aaron Young were in attendance, as well as dealers, collectors and museum directors such as Eli Broad, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian and the Mugrabi family.

Gang Gang Dance performing

The OJ Simpson White Bronco brought in for the event from Los Angeles

(more…)

Scott Campbell, Our Secret (2012), courtesy the artist and OHWOW

Scott Campbell, whose Saved Tattoo parlor in Brooklyn is a destination for ink aficionados such as designer Marc Jacobs, has in recent years branched out into the contemporary art world, presenting bodies of work that dynamically comprise the “alternative” aesthetic and draftsman’s expertise of his trade. Using an array of unique materials, such as US currency and ostrich eggshells, employing a highly technical creative process born from the precision of tattooing, Campbell’s work rests comfortably in the space between high and low, art and fashion, gallery and street.

(more…)

All photos by Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer

The “Third and a half” Brucennial opened last night in New York City, the 2012 edition titled, “Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer.” At 159 Bleecker Street, the high-ceilinged art-filled space reached its capacity of 15,000—with a line around the block—shortly after opening its doors at 6 PM. Organized by the anonymous Bruce High Quality Foundation and Vito Schnabel, a large main room, balcony, and basement, were covered with paintings, sculptures, video-works, and other installations by artists both established and less so. Running the gamut from friends of the Bruces to a Damien Hirst spot painting, exhibiting artists of note include Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Reyle,  Francesco Clemente, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen, David Salle, George Condo, Rashid Johnson, Dash Snow,  Terence Koh,  Richard Prince, Joseph Beuys, Scott Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol (collaboration), and Dustin Yellin.

Francesco Clemente

(more…)

Agathe Snow, Hear No Evil, See No Evil (2008-2011). All photos on site for Art Observed by Alexandra Bregman.

OHWOW’s It Ain’t Fair lived up to its name as a successful destination apart from the Art Basel main fair last week. Located in Miami’s Design District, the show featured 20 artists in the fourth consecutive curated group show by OHWOW, this year’s theme: Materialism. As explored in Marxist philosophy, materialism at its most literal, tangible entity, focuses on the tactile rather than the abstractly metaphorical. Experimental materials served to manifest the ideology, with David Benjamin Sherry’s sand-filled photograph frame, Justin Beal’s use of plexiglass and plastic wrap, and the unique approach of Angel Otera, peeling and reapplying paint. “There’s not a bad piece in here,” said Operations Director Lydia Ruby. By Saturday evening, the gallery had sold most works on view, and had noted the remarkable curiosity and intellectualism overheard in the showroom.

(more…)

Scott Campbell, Untitled (2011). All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed.

Friday evening marked the opening of Marc Jancou Contemporary’s exhibition Blankness is Not a Void, a group show of works by Steven Parrino, Raymond Pettibon and Scott Campbell. Encouraging a dialogue between three artists of disparate time and locale, the exhibition showcases the overlapping thematic and formal references each artist drew not only from their social milieu, but also from each other.

Artist Scott Campbell (left) and gallerist Marc Jancou (right) with friends.

More text and images after the jump…
(more…)

A laser cut Powell Peralta (skateboard company) reference – All photos by Ava Rollins of Art Observed

New York based artist Scott Campbell made his West Coast debut last night at Los Angeles’ OHWOW Gallery. The show’s title, Noblesse Oblige, implies that whoever claims to be noble must conduct their life accordingly. Campbell harnessed thousands of bills of cut currency to transform tattoo subculture iconography into delicate and tempered work. In exhibiting a chronicle of imagery, Campbell suggests a fine art context for the genre.

More text and images after the jump…

(more…)

Another view of the main lobby, A Scott Campbell “tropical fantasy” (represented by the Miami based OHWOW Gallery) is the top center work

Art Observed was on site at the Soho Beach House Miami during the week of Art Basel Miami Beach for a tour of the 150 work art collection assembled for the private club and hotel.    Keeping a close connection with the artistic community has been an important part of the strategy for the Soho house brand, which has multiple locations in England as well as in New York and newly in Los Angeles, Berlin and Miami Beach.   This week marked the first Art Basel Miami Beach for the location and it hit the ground running,  hosting some important events such as dinners for White Cube and Victoria Miro galleries and a W Magazine event.

A John Baldessari on the left and a Friends With You on the right, in a hallway on the main floor

More story and images after the jump… (more…)

Robert Lazzarini and his work Brass Knuckles (2010) at OHWOW.

Art Observed was in the Miami Design District for the opening of IT AIN’T FAIR 2010, a group exhibition organized by the art gallery O.H.W.O.W during Art Basel Miami Beach 2010.  The show introduces recent work from emerging and established such as Agathe Snow, Kaws, José Parlá, Aurel Schmidt, Scott Campbell and others. The Miami based OHWOW is clearly a pervasive element of the week’s events.  The gallery was founded by Al Moran and Aaron Bondaroff and has been coordinating multiple events during the week.

More images after the jump…
(more…)

Half Gallery, opening reception. Image by ArtObserved.

AO was on site June 8th for the opening of “A Ways A Way,” the new exhibition at Half Gallery.  Curated by Meredith Darrow and Devendra Banhart, A Ways A Way offers synoptic views of work by artists Scott Campbell, William Eadon, Kevin Long, Megan Marrin, Keegan McHargue, Fabrizio Moretti, Angeline Rivas, Adam Tullie, and Banhart himself.  Coming from various corners of the artistic field, these men and women form a motley roster of familiar names: in addition to be being creators of fine art, Campbell is a renowned tattoo artist, Eadon is a deisgner, Long skateboards and plays guitar, Moretti is the drummer for The Strokes and Little Joy, Rivas and Tullie co-own Cavern Collection, Banhart is a singer-songwriter, Marrin works in mixed-media, and McHargue choreographs.  In attendance last night were Cynthia Rowley, Kathy Grayson, and a repletion of artists, gallerists, friends, and passerby.  Viewers spilled jocundly onto the surrounding sidewalk, chatting and enjoying a lovely night outside of the diminutive, buzzing gallery.

Anonymous Portrait, Fabrizio Moretti, 2010. Image by Oskar Proctor for ArtObserved.

Text, images, words form the artists, and an interview after the jump…
(more…)

Scott Campbell Skull Cube, 2010 via OHWOW

Thursday’s opening for Scott Campbell’s current show, If You Don’t Belong, Don’t Be Long, with OHWOW at 109 Crosby was inspired by the dreams of art students everywhere. There were celebrities, models, art superstars, and just plain crowds lining up at the door to see the work. Those in attendance, to name just a few, were Dan Colen, Aurel Schmidt, Nate Lowman, and countless others.  In addition to the block seeming to be the place to be at that moment in New York, the art set new standards for the artist and also helped to further establish Miami’s OHWOW gallery in New York.

Crowd at Scott Campbell’s opening April 29th, 2010. Photo By Oskar Proctor

More text, photos, and related links after the jump. . . (more…)