Longtime Primary Flight sponsor Jakprints got a nice write-up in the Cleveland Scene, Northeast Ohio’s alternative weekly, written by Michael Gill. The article focuses on company founders Jacob Edwards and Dameon Guess, and how they went from being high school drop-outs, to highly-successful entrepreneurs. It’s an inspirational story, proving that there’s no one formula for accomplishing your goals. Both Edwards and Guess cut their teeth on skateboarding, music and art as teenagers. They parlayed touring the country in a band van into a multi-million dollar printing & merchandising company specializing in flyers, t-shirts and other promotional items.

“For the uninitiated, Jakprints is the Cleveland printing company whose principal means of marketing for years was a garage band’s tour van. They grew out of a second-floor apartment in Willoughby to become a major player in the industry in less than a decade — all the while staying true to their roots. The company now has 120 employees and 69,741 customers worldwide. In May, Jakprints was honored by Harvard Business School’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City as one of the top 100 U.S. companies doing business in the urban core. Not bad for a couple of guys who didn’t get past 10th grade.”

The article goes on to talk about Jakprints spin-off company Indiemerch:

“As it turns out, these passions are translating to money. According to Harvard’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, Jakprints had $13.5 million in revenue in 2008 and was growing at an average rate of 33 percent per year. Just three years after buying the Chester Avenue building, they leased the one next door to house a spin-off called Indiemerch, an apparel merchandising company that is Jakprints’ major clothing customer. Run from a California office by Edwards’ brother and Sheilbound bandmate Isaac, Indiemerch prints and distributes T-shirts and other apparel for bands, handling the process from beginning to end and paying the artists a royalty, just like record companies do.”

Jakprints was also recently honored by Harvard Business School’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, when they were named one of the top 100 U.S. companies doing business in the urban core. Kudos, guys.

All photos by Anastasia Pantsios. Read the full article here.

This week South Florida lost another member of its graffiti scene. Crewmate and friend Evils posted a brief glimpse into the life of Jonathan “Ynot” Corso, and the heartbreaking account of how he died.  Our hearts go out to his crew, friends & family. Rest in Power.

A snippet of the original post:

“On Wednesday morning, July 28th, Ynot was celebrating his 21 birthday and went to Club Eden, a popular strip club in the Fort Lauderdale area.  He was standing outside at 4am waiting for some friends when a group of men approached him and began to ridicule and taunt him. Each man in the group was twice Ynot’s size and only began to make fun of him because they thought he was alone and he was smaller than them. Little did they know that our friends were just around the corner and were quickly coming to the aid of there little homie.  A scuffle broke out and the group of guys, according to witnesses had obviously lost the fight.  Instead of admitting defeat on of the men jumped into a white Cadillac Escalade and ran Ynot over then reversed and hit my friend Pucho.  Pucho flew back 15 ft. before hitting the ground and blacking out while Ynot lay on the ground motionless.  The driver, high on cocaine and alcohol then proceeded to circle around and intentionally run over Ynot’s motionless body again…”

Full post here [via Culture Kings].

BIG BANG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

“BIG BANG BIG BOOM:
An unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end.

direction and animation by BLU
blublu.org
production and distribution by ARTSH.it
artsh.it
sountrack by ANDREA MARTIGNONI

MIAMI ART SCENE PIONEER, LOCUST PROJECTS, ANNOUNCES A COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITION BY SOUTH FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The LAB (Locust Arts Builders)
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 10, 7-10pm
Through August 2019

Pioneers in the Miami art scene, Locust Projects is pleased to announce a collaborative exhibition by a select group of South Florida High School students. Under the direction of renowned contemporary artist Monica Lopez de Victoria of the TM Sisters, nine local high school students will experience the invigorating and arduous process of conceiving and executing original artworks from June 28 to July 10, 2010.

These students, currently attending Design and Architecture Senior High, Hialeah Senior High, Miami Northwestern Senior High and New World School of Arts answered an open call and were hand-selected by a committee of local art professionals.

Participating Artists: Omar Alvarez, Leslie Chavez, Jason Flores, Luna Goldberg, Kevin Hobbs, Ximena Izquierdo, Vanessa Lacayo, Asher Mones, Christina Quinlan

As a hallmark that makes Locust Projects stand out from other art venues, the organization embraces cutting-edge exhibitions and innovation in art.  In furtherance of the not-for-profit’s twelve-year commitment to providing an approachable arts venue for the South Florida community, for the first time, Locust Projects has created an exciting new program in which a young generation of artists are given the opportunity to create a collaborative exhibition in a public venue.

The project will be developed and exhibited in Locust Projects’ 2,700 square foot space in Miami’s Design District and culminate in a publicized show, open to the public. The goal is to promote contemporary art and project-based learning as a means to encourage creativity, critical analysis, and problem solving, while building communication skills. This unique initiative will allow young artists to learn the practical and exciting aspects of creating a public exhibition in collaboration with their peers.

About Locust Projects
2010 marks Locust Projects’ 12-year anniversary. Locust Projects is alternative, not for profit exhibition space dedicated to providing contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas without the pressures of gallery sales or limitations of conventional exhibition spaces. Artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations as an extension of their representative work and Locust Projects offers them a vibrant Miami experience to develop their ideas and methods. Locust Projects is committed to offering an approachable and inviting venue for the Miami and international art community to experience the work and meet the artists. With more than 65 exhibitions, representing more than 210 local, national, and international artists, Locust Projects has supported site-specific and installation artworks featuring photography, video, performance, sculpture, drawing, painting and digital media making it a nationally-recognized art institution, and a landmark in the Miami art scene.

About the artist:
Monica Lopez De Victoria is a Miami-based artist that works in collaboration with Tasha Lopez De Victoria under the name TM Sisters.  Together the sisters work in the mediums of video, digital video performance, VJing, collage, social experiments, zines, clothing, installations, and interactive video created along with their brother Samuel.  The TM Sisters’ recent exhibition, WHIRL CRASH GO! at Locust Projects was featured in The Miami Herald.  The sisters’ work has been included in the international traveling exhibition “Uncertain States of America: American Art in the 3rd Millennium;” the Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, and PERFORMA 07 in New York.  Their work has been seen and written about in publications like L’Officiel magazine, The Guardian, STEP Inside Design, the New York Times, Vogue Italia, and on the cover of ARTnews.

This exhibition is made possible with the support from: Andy Warhol Foundation; Galt & Skye Mikesell; Hannibal Cox Jr. Foundation; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners. Special thanks to Jonathan Eismann Restaurants.

For further information contact: Monica de Miguel

305.576.8570

locustprojects {at} yahoo(.)com

The music is Daru Jones ft. Kissy Asplund “So Good”.

ENUE x TATIANA SUAREZ x ASKEW x JAES from Askew One on Vimeo.

Click here for original link

Whether the display is beautiful is up for debate. The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego commissioned internationally-known artist Barry McGee — who has created murals throughout the world — to use the building as his canvas as part of a larger exhibition after initially getting the permission from the building’s owner.

Street art wins out (for now). Fight the powers that be!

I really do not advocate artists tagging over others’ work usually (unless it is absolute shit/Waterloo Tunnel/or the artist does it himself), but in this case I applaud TrustoCorp for doing what other artists have wanted to for awhile: vandalize MBW’s street art. Granted the guy is a joke, and his portrayal inExit Through the Gift Shop did not exactly help to improve his credibility in the art world.  TrustoCorps’s work is a physical manifestation of the discussion around Mr.Brainwash and his so called “art” so I smiled when I woke up this morning and saw these pictures. I especially liked the use of the phrase “Locals Only” which harkens back to summer memories of New Yorkers invading my beach on the Jersey Coast. Go away MBW and stop putting up street art. I would rather see a 14-year-old bombing for the first time paint on a wall then see your post modern Warhol wannabe stencils on the streets. And while I’m ranting, Dear Bennies, please stay off the Jersey beaches. Love Stephanie.

See more

TrustoCorp Coming Soon to Primary Flight : 2010!

Check out what ABC News had to say about them…

Who’s Cool? Apparently Not You

Absurdly Entertaining, Ironic Street Signs Mysteriously Popping Up Across U.S.

Read More

Miami NewTimes writes: “Every year, some of the best street painters in the world converge for Art Basel week. Since 2006, a guy named Books IIII has corralled the talent, mediums, and paint for a creative explosion called Primary Flight.”…

For the city’s biggest event yet, Pecha Kucha Miami teams up with World-architects.com for the AIA National Convention exploring the conference’s theme Design for the New Decade with a range of speakers presenting on urban planning, environmental conservation, international trends, technology application, and artistic vision. The event will bring together national and local chapters of the Young Architects Forum/Emerging Professionals Group, USGBC Emerging Professionals, and Architecture for Humanity. Thank you to Rain Vodka for sponsoring and Miami Beach Botanical Garden for hosting.