Aaron McGruder’s benchmark “The Boondocks” satirized American pop culture and politics, dissected the Pan African-American mythos, analyzed race relations, debunked gangsta rap culture and took heavy blows to every other group most TV shows often forgot. But despite it being one of the most controversial cartoons ever to air across the globe (using “nigga” in every episode except one, “The Itis”), it taught us valuable life lessons. In honor of their “supposed last season,” here are a few:

1.

White imperialism is just as rampant as ever. Every episode shows the white man one-upping black folk, in one way or the other. Don’t believe us? Examine the season finale of the show’s third season where the corrupt realtor Ed Wuncler, Sr., Gin Rummy and his grandson Ed Wuncler III walk away… no harm, no foul, after plotting a terrorist attack.

2.

Colorism is still a hot button issue. Look at all of the women that granddad has eloped with or has taken out on nice candle lit dinners. They all have one thing is common: they are all racially-ambiguous, slim, light-skinned women with straight hair. Another example, anything that comes out of Uncle Ruckus’ mouth.

3.

It’s even harder when you’ve made it. Notorious B.I.G. had it right the first time, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Robert Freeman took his boys Huey and Riley out of the ghetto and brought them to Woodcrest, getting them away from the noise and the peril of the inner city. But constant pressures from egotistical Hurricane Katrina injured kinsfolk, rowdy ghetto blaster jamming gangsta rappers and nosy neighborhood watch creepers, its hard to really too keep your head up when everyone around you is trying to bring you down.

4.

Big Brother does exist. Flagrant federal agents aren’t the only thing you should be afraid of, but being tapped and even chased by some Orwellian corporate supergiant… now, that’s scary.

5.

Nigga Moments are an epidemic in the black community. Often irate black people encourage other logical and non-confrontational black people to throw their lives away at the chance to square off at the moment’s rage.

6.

BET is completely out of touch with their audience. Referenced in an episode, the world domination of “Black Evil Television” is composed of coming up with devastating blows to the black community via racist, minstrel televised shows.

7.

Non-racist white people exist. The black community is paranoid of discovering white people who are not an aficionado of nepotism; bare no racial abhorrence and or ethnic chauvinism. It’s like finding a unicorn.

8.

If you’re mixed, you’re black and that’s that. Jazmine Dubois, the naïve, cherub faced biracial sweetheart of the series and possibly Huey’s love interest, struggles with her multiracial identity. Much to her chagrin, the boys make fun of her at first when she denies her black heritage.

9.

Rappers tattletale on themselves. Don’t believe us? Look at rap super star Ganstalicious, when he day in and day out comes out to a blank stare audience that idolizes him. His clothing line, while “hot” is effeminate and comes complete with backless daisy duke chaps and pearl necklaces. He has a No. 1 hit titled “Homies over Hoes” and its accompanying music video features overt homoerotica. It’s even suggested that his crew are very “close.” Yet, no one believes this until a gossip tabloid by a superficial, Superhead-esque video vixen outs him.

10.

Pimps aren’t the best people to ask for advice. Look at the episode “Tom, Sarah and Usher” where A Pimp Named Slickback bitch slaps assertiveness into the mild-mannered Tom when his wife Sarah allegedly leaves Tom for R&B crooner Usher. The result: Tom is beaten to a pulp by Usher’s posse.

11.

Pay more attention to soul food and health problems. In the episode “The Itis,” there are corrosive consequences when Robert Freeman opens up a restaurant and sleepover style chill spot. Earlier in the show, protagonist Huey Freeman analyzes the film Soul Food and notes that after the grandmother has passed, the family continues you eating the food responsible for her imminent demise.

12.

People lie about themselves on the internet. Several times throughout the series, we’ve seen super-hot suicidal ninja assassin love interests invade their home; celebrity sensei divas with inflated egos get one over on the Freemans and several other shenanigans. However, the computer is still our friend. After all, it did solve the whole Catcher Freeman dilemma and helped Huey and the family from avoiding the Fried Chicken Flu.

13.

Prostitutes are faster than a Kenyan track team in heels. When he appeared in “Guess Hoe’s Coming to Dinner,” A Pimp Named Slickback tracks down Cristal, a prostitute that he is pimping, who has fallen in love with the Freeman lifestyle. Counting down at the front door, he walks to his car, gets in and begins to take off. Though he is driving at the speed limit, she keeps up with him, her clear heels click-clacking the entire way.

14.

If you pay attention to rap lyrics you’ll become smarter. Hip-hop icon Thugnificent and his senseless Denny’s-employed protégé Leonard look up DIY vids on Youtube for the ingredients of crack cocaine after he is dropped from his label. Luckily for them, they have rap videos and Wikipedia on their side. Ready to deal, Thugnificent steps out into the streets with a premium batch and second-rate fried batch, despite having a bachelor’s degree.

15.

Always read your contract. In one of the earliest episodes “The Block Is Hot,” against the wishes of Huey, Jazmine sells out her successful lemonade stand to Wuncler Sr., for the price of a pony. Her brilliant idea of putting up a lemonade stand during a heatstroke in the middle of winter is blotched when she barely makes a profit and actually winds up in debt. Wuncler Sr. gets away with it… as usual.

Writer Of “Boondocks” Spoof Was Former Tyler Perry Staffer?

GALLERY: Casting The Boondocks Movie

Disney travels down south to the Big Easy for their latest animated feature

The Princess and the Frog represents two firsts for the studio that Mickey Mouse built: it’s Disney’s first hand-drawn animated feature since 2004′s Home on the Range and it’s the first cartoon to feature a predominantly black cast.  Based on the classic fairy tale about a slimy amphibian that puts the moves on a hottie princess, the film takes place in ’20s-era New Orleans and follows Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), the daughter of a wealthy family living in the city’s famed French Quarter.  Her cushy life is turned upside down by the sudden apperance of a talking frog with a crazy story to tell.  Apparently he used to be a flesh-and-blood human being until a curse transformed him into a four-legged puddle jumper.  The only thing that can cure him is the kiss of a beautiful woman, i.e. Tiana.  But when she actually locks lips with the frog…well, watch the trailer to see what happens next.  Due in theaters in December, the movie’s vocal cast also includes Terrence Howard, Keith David and Oprah freakin’ Winfrey.

Apparently Wu-Tang Clan is something to f’ with.

Artist Logan Walters has taken some of the Clan’s most heralded album covers and remixed them with Blue Note Records style art. Check out the gallery below and let us know what you think of the new flips! 

Source: Street Level via SlamxHype

Brooklyn playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer for her play, Ruined, yesterday. This is only the second time that an African-American woman won the prize for drama, the first being Suzan-Lori Parks for TopDog/Underdog, which starred Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright in 2001. The prize comes with an $10,000 award.

Ruined is a story of young women who have been raped and brutalized in the Congo’s decade-long civil war. The play premiered last year at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and traveled to the off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage I, where its run has been extended for a third time to through May 10.

The play stars Phylicia Rashad’s daughter, newcomer Condola Rashad, as Sophie, a rape victim whose genitals have been mutilated. Read more about the star-on-the-rise here.

For the past year, 32-year-old artist Titus Kaphar has been prepping for “History in the Making,” his solo exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, which opened April 3rd. The painter recently purchased a house in Connecticut, where he earned his M.F.A from Yale, and renovated his garage into a studio space. He and his wife also just welcomed their second son into the world. These days, keeping work close to home is a priority because Kaphar is a family man on a tight schedule.

The Setup
“This is my first solo show of this size. A year ago, they flew me out to see the space and we talked about the setup. Then I figured out what works best: Just make the work and stop thinking.”

Letting Go
Kaphar relied heavily on curator Sandra Jackson-Dumont. “You have to work with someone you trust. You have to have a good idea of their vision because then you can let them do that.”

Negotiation
“Four months ago, Sandra came to narrow down what would be included.” Some selections were obvious, while others were not. “There’s a nice piece that I had to pull out. I have conversations with it, like, ‘You figure out what you want yet?’ and it’s not saying. So I’m waiting. [I also ended up] including things I never intended on showing.”

Methodology
Kaphar’s work is more than painted canvases—he shreds them, crumples them into balls and stitches them together. “If I’m feeling hyped, then it’s time to deconstruct or do a drawing. If I’ve got that focused energy, then it’s time to paint.”

Time Management
With a small family and a budding career, Kaphar doesn’t play. “I get up at 5:30 A.M—my newborn doesn’t sleep—then I get my two-year-old up at 7:00 A.M., make breakfast. At 9: 30 A.M., I come into the studio and my here until 7:00 P.M. All that romantic ‘Ah, I gotta wait to be inspired’ kind of thing is gone.”

Since 1998 youth from all over the world have come together for Brave New Voices, a competition that unites youth from all walks of life through their love of language. Spoken-word poetry has become the medium that has made poetry relevant to young people in a way that would make Shakespeare jealous.

This past year Russell Simmons, the mogul behind HBO’s Def Poetry, set out to track eight teams of teenagers from across the country as they fought their way to the national finals in Washington DC. “Brave New Voices” fuses the heat of a poetry slam competition, the beauty of art and the struggle of life into one compelling series that you won’t want to miss.

The six-part HBO series is narrated by Queen Latifah and is scheduled to debut on April 5.

-Lukas Brekke-Miesner

The self-proclaimed “best rapper alive,” Lil Wayne rocked a momentous performance for MTV’s Spring Break ’09. His controversial jump from rap to rock star made for a blazing performance of “Prom Queen,” his new leading track off of his upcoming album Rebirth . Wayne once again displayed his guitar skills while his band shook the crowd on stage in Panama City Beach, Florida.

-Jeremy Clayton

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Daughter of Mrs. Huxtable herself, Condola Rashad stars in the Off-Broadway play Ruined which just opened and has already received an extension through April, with hints of a Broadway upgrade. The young Rashad takes on the difficult character of Sophie, a Congolese woman raped with a bayonet, leaving her genitals mutilated, and left for dead. The play is getting rave reviews from critics, and comparisons to her mother’s recent Broadway takeover (Raisin in the Sun) are abound.

Theater that takes on tragic topics such as war leave viewers cold and disinterested in our entertain us! society but Rashad’s performance makes up for it, grounding the horrors in a survivor with a soul too large to silence.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times says: “Portrayed with a masterly blend of delicacy and resourcefulness by Ms. Rashad, Sophie is something more than a passive, beautiful victim.”

Keep your eye on this young beauty.

New York’s Soho district was alive with art lovers on Wednesday evening. Celebrities, art enthusiasts and a who’s who from the city’s art scene gathered to attend Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s 2009 Gold Rush Awards. The multi-media fundraising event, hosted by MTV’s Sway and presented by artist and foundation co-founder Danny Simmons, honored music and art program founders Beverly Bond and Sonja Okun, and writer/ curator Franklin Sirmans. Notable guests Grammy winner Estelle, actor Jamie Hector, and photographer Jamel Shabazz socialized while rapper Talib Kweli and DJ Cassidy rocked the evening’s music.

This was supposed to be another great moment for Shepard Fairey, the LA-based artist who has been on top of the world these days. His portrait of Obama made the cover of Time as well as the Smithsonian, becoming a global symbol of change. For the past two weeks, Fairey has been preparing for his first solo museum exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

In the end, this week just sucked.

First, the Associated Press accused him of stealing photographer Manny Garcia’s 2006 image of Obama (above left), which Fairey admits to using. AP claims they own the image copyright and are suing him for credit and compensation. You’d think those portraits meant big bucks for the artist, but Fairey claims he never made a cent from it, and all proceeds somehow or another funneled back to the campaign. He claims that he has altered the image into a work of art using the defense of “fair use.” That’s a legal concept that allows exceptions to copyright law based on how much of the original image is used and what the new work is used for. He has since counter-sued, saying he has transformed the photo into a ”stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates a powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message.”

Heavy, right? But that wasn’t enough. Then, dude was arrested.

Fairey was arrested on two warrants of vandalism by the Boston Police. What would normally merit a $100 fine became a huge ordeal, with several police officers staking out the ICA, waiting for the artist to show up for his opening night reception. As he pulled into the museum’s parking lot, cops surrounded the taxi and pulled Fairey from the car forcefully, ordering his wife and two friends to sit on the curb.

Not cool.

Anyway, the man keeps getting press and I keep writing about him, so cool or not, he’s doing something right.

Just an add-on: Obama wrote dude a letter after the election which I placed below. I love the line: “Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign.” (Love Obama!)

Brooklyn’s McCaig-Welles Gallery keeps doing what it does best: 1) gathering top-notch graffiti artists for quality exhibits, and 2) throwing the best opening night parties. Melissa, owner/curator, is a friend to all aerosol addicts ensuring that at any given reception you may meet Logik One or Cope2 while sipping a brew.

The latest show, “All That Glitters Is Gold,” is a group show featuring graff greats CRIME 79, Can2, Carlos “Mare139″ Rodriguez, Chris Smith aka “Subtexture,” EWOK5MH, Indie184, LogikOne and many more. (In other words, real deal cats.)

Opening reception is this Saturday at 7. Be there…

Graff giants Pose and Ewok from MSK/The Seventh Letter collaborate on this video spot for Australia’s “first” spraypaint, Ironlak. It was shot in the Cream City skate park in Milwaukee, and will be used as part of Ironlak’s ad campaign. (Whatchu got Krylon?)

These guys are respected for a reason, look at the detail on that burner.  

You may remember Chicago artist Nick Cave from Brian Keith Jackson’s “30 Americans” feature in the latest issue. His “Soundsuits,” named for the sound they create when they’re worn, are extensions of the artist’s work in fashion and dance. Cave studied and danced with Alvin Ailey before launching his own fashion line and boutique. To see those elaborate “Soundsuits” in motion is a marvelous experience (see video below), one that enables you to fully understand what the work is really about. Fusing elements of the ritualistic and the fantastic into living sculptures, Cave’s colors and compositions erupt as if a painting flared out into the third dimension.

At the Jack Shainman Gallery in NYC through February 7th you’ll find a small army of still soundsuits, almost muted, lined up on a pedestal waiting for someone to climb in and take them for a whirl. Created from found materials, woven hair, beads, etc., these bold works are impeccably ornate and detailed. Makes me want to see what world this garb would be worn in.

Also on view are Cave’s more “traditional” (not really) sculptures that further explore issues of race and identity.

If this thing existed in real life, you best believe that I’d have two of them parked in front of my crib and ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Or fly me to Nantucket should I need to get away from it all.

Sculpted in 1977 by artist Patricia Renick, the “Triceracopter: Hope for the Obsolescence of War” is supposed to show how “ancient” the notion of war has become.

Ironically it’s as appropriate now was it was in the 1970s.

Hopefully when scientists start cross breeding weapons with animals (even extinct ones!) it’ll turn out something like this.

Via: Gizmodo

Martha Cooper is not reinventing the wheel with her latest exhibit, “Street Shots,” merely diggin’ in the crates. The difference between her and other photogs on the same beat is Martha’s files are DEEP. This show covers 50 years of her work.

Featured are images from legendary graff bible, Subway Art—which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a deluxe reprint—as well as her five other photography books. Also on view are peeks at her latest title, Going Postal, which focuses on taggers who use postal stickers to lace the city.

“Street Shots” is up through February 13th at LA’s Subliminal Gallery

Brandt Peters hasn’t brought his work to New York in a minute, but that doesn’t mean he’s not on our radar. His first solo show on the West Coast, “Cackle Factory,” is set to open next week in Los Angeles at Gallery 1988. Most often using oil paint on wood, Peters’ subjects tend to be deviant little cartoons with expressive eyes. They are beautiful, but odd, and often seem to have their innocence challenged while their alter-egos are glorified.

The same day as the opening, Peters will be launching an all new one-stop-shop website that will feature his upcoming plans and projects for 2009. We’ll have to be patient though, as the byproduct of his MINDstyle collabo has yet to drop—the two paired up to create a Serv-O-matic mini figure line—and his latest Peacemaker vinyl character will only debut at New York’s Comic Con. He’s also promised to bring his “Slap Happy” series into animation. For now, the “Cackle Factory” will have to do. Peters claims that the exhibition title is actually a 1940’s slang term for an asylum, so we can expect that the menagerie of characters to be presented this time around are certifiably insane.

-Danielle Cheesman

Head over to Cubeecraft and browse through a lengthy list of your favorite pop characters—from the ’60s version of Batman to our new super-prez, Barack Obama—and follow the easy steps to print, fold, and construct your little friend.

The list of characters offered is pretty amazing. There’s Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper, Spider-Man and Venom, Indiana Jones and a fertility idol, Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees, Mulder and Scully, Two-Face and the Joker, Pee-Wee Herman and Chairy. And every week they drop someone new for your desktop collection.

If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s some characters on there that may test your patience…

Gotta love a brilliant design scheme. Better stockpile your office’s printer paper.

New Ancient Structures is a two-man show in Philly’s Space 1026 featuring hometown hero A.J. Fosik, known for his insane sculptures (I guess they’re sculpture, they are 3D), and Andrew Schoultz, a San Fran painter who creates a storm of colors on the canvas. The two have collaborated to create an installation that is pretty trippy—with  bears bursting through the walls and laser beams bouncing throughout the gallery space—that stems from both artists’ shared love of comics, street art and pop surrealism. Exhibition closes on the 30th, so don’t sleep. Definitely not the same old, same old…

Israeli street artist Know Hope’s exhibit at the Ad Hoc Art Gallery in Brooklyn is straight-up amazing. He is known worldwide for pieces that focus on one set of stringy characters, which are featured scaled down and drawn on cardboard for the gallery. His illest street work are his lanterns (pictured above) where he inserts a candle into a temporary sculpture on the street.

With his latest show, titled “The Insecurities of Time,” Know Hope continues to obsess over time and the ephemerality of his medium. Fusing gallery skills and street edge, the work is somber, hopeful and fresh.

Gallerist and writer Nicola Vassell shares some of her photos from the MoveOn.org and Manifest Hope Exhibition in Washington, D.C. The show, which was organized by Shepard Fairey and Yosi Sergant of Evolutionary Media, celebrated the Inauguration of President Barack Obama and the emergence of a new age of enlightenment in America. Here are some of her flicks from this groundbreaking exhibition.

To add to Mary’s Obama swag roundup from yesterday, the indefatigable Shepard Fairey presents a commemorative plate set sold exclusively at The Future Perfect. The limited-edition set, one red plate, one blue, runs for $89.

(Is this guy smart or what? Cha-ching!)

My points of reference for the fisheye lens effect are as follows: any Busta Rhymes and/or Missy Elliott video, circa the 1990s, and the Stanley Kubrick film ”Clockwork Orange.” I thought the usage of this was a passing trend, really. A gimmick in amateur photo/filmography. But soon, thousands of distorted images will be seen on ceaseless display here in New York, so something’s gotta give, right?

The current Lomography showcase at the MoMA Store should be enough to fulfill those interested in the “don’t think, just shoot” philosophy. After all, they’re selling exclusives like the Diana F+ camera reproduction; similar to the 1960′s model, with capabilites including multi- and pinhole shots, panoramas, and colored-gel filters. However, in the theory behind hipster photography, there can never be too many photos morphed by blur and over-saturation so, on Saturday, January 24, the Lomographic Society (yes, that’s real) will be meeting at the MoMA Design in SoHo to begin the tour of three Lomography exhibitions going on at the MoMA Stores other locations. They’re allowing participants to borrow loaner cameras and shoot to their content along the way.

On January 27, the Lomography Gallery store will officially open in Greenwich Village and will serve as the home of the largest LomoWall in North America. It will be comprised of 35,000 hand-picked and hand-mounted photographs collected through an online submission call to Lomo-lovers around the world asked to show New York through their eyes and lenses. It will be a destination point for weekly workshops, teaching techniques, guest speakers, parties, and of course, exhibitions. On the retail front, expect a wide range of analog photography products, and limited edition cameras that will allow even the most novice of photo-takers to create increasingly charming imagery. After all, with such small size, simple controls, and the ability to turn low-lit settings into intentional environments, a Lomo has the potential to be carried (and used) any day, anywhere.

There is a trademark to every image shot with a Lomo camera. There’s an optimism that comes with catching the uniqueness of a moment, a “happy accident,” and a candid approach to everyday life. That kind of attitude should never be a passing trend.

Tour: January 24. 11am-1pm. Soho MoMA Design Store. 81 Spring Street.

Opening: January 27. 41 W. 8th Street.

Check out the public photo lab here.

- Danielle Cheesman

Elizabeth Alexander will read a poem for the Inauguration of Barack Obama this morning. She will be the fifth poet selected by a president: JFK chose Robert Frost, Jimmy Carter chose James Dickey, Bill Clinton had Maya Angelou for his first swearing-in and Miller Williams for his second. Alexander has been applauded as the perfect selection by Obama by many, as her work is both intellectually complex yet stays true to her roots.

Alexander was born in Harlem in 1962. She attended Yale, where she is now a professor and will assume the role of Chairship over the university’s department of African American studies later this year. She received a BA at BU, and a PhD from University of Pennsylvania. Alexander’s father was an adviser to Lyndon Johnson and secretary of the Army, her mother is a professor of African American history at George Washington University. Her brother works along with Obama on his transition team. Alexander has two children. She has five published books of poetry, one of which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. Her work has been featured in listless poetry collections.

The poet, as a tiny little one-year-old was in a stroller with her parents close to the Lincoln Memorial when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech. Some 45 years later, she will preside over a crowd that shadows even King’s, with literally the whole world watching the African American president sworn into office, and recite her verse as a blessing from which we as a country can begin again.

***

The following is a letter she wrote late last year concerning the honor our new president has bestowed upon her:

“Words matter. Language matters. We live in and express ourselves with language, and that is how we communicate and move through the world in community.

President-elect Obama has shown us at all turns his respect for the power of language. The care with which he has always used language along with his evident understanding that language and words bear power and tell us who we are across differences, have been hallmarks of his political career. My joy at being selected to compose and deliver a poem on the occasion of Obama’s Presidential inaugural emanates from my deep respect for him as a person of meaningful, powerful words that move us forward. And as his campaign was a movement much larger than the man himself, I understand that as a country we stand poised to make tremendous choices about our collective future. The distillation of language in poetry, its precision, can help us see sharply in the midst of many conundrums.

This is a powerful moment in our history. The joy I feel is sober and profound because so much struggle and sacrifice have brought us to this day. And there is so much work to be done ahead of us. Poetry is not meant to cheer; rather, poetry challenges, and moves us towards transformation. Language distilled and artfully arranged shifts our experience of the words – and the worldviews – we live in.

This is only the fourth time in our history that a President has featured a poet at his inaugural. I hope that this portends well for the future of the arts in our everyday and civic life.”

-Elizabeth Alexander
December 2008

Prepare for the deluge of coffee table books that have the words “Barack Obama” on their front cover in 2009. Just as ridiculous as some of the memorabilia that have our new President’s visage stamped to it, I cannot wait to see what publishers will think up to cash in on our first African-American President. Quick to the plate are three publishers with a solid product.

HarperCollins presents Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, edited by Dr. Deborah Willis with an essay from Kevin Mirada of the Washington Post. Willis is a professor of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She pulled together images from various sources: from professional photojournalists to students on cell phone cams at the various rallies. The result is a well-orchestrated, somewhat familiar, visual ride through the man’s campaign.

Powerhouse Books presents Yes We Can, shot by award-winning photograher Scout Tufankjian. Noted to be the only photographer to have followed Obama from the very beginning of the campaign to its victorious end, the book is a very personal view of the man and his inspirational effect on the people around him.

Triumph Books offers a little bit more with The Rise of Barack Obama, shot by Pete Souza, covering Obama from his first day in the US Senate through the Pennsylvania primary. Souza, the official photographer for former President Reagan, has accompanied Obama to seven different countries including Russia, Kenya and South Africa. Alongside the images, many unpublished, Souza includes personal notes from that moment to lend an added depth.

Seems like the peeps at Legoland California couldn’t wait for the president’s inauguration day so they “pre-created” it for themselves. Think of how much time went into making this model…

Graffiti has always been used as a vehicle for political expression. This past election, the illest street and graff artists came out in droves to support President-Elect Barack Obama. While street art is, by its very nature, ephemeral, these works will somehow remain…

Irvine Contemporary houses the mega-exhibit Manifest Hope: DC on view through the 19th. Manifest Hope applauds the artists and activists who brought us to this moment, while emphasizing our need to continue to be vocal in the political realm.

Partnered with Shepard Fairey and Obey, Manifest Hope gathered some of the sickest artists out there right now for this limited-run event. By far the most ambitious art exhibit this year…

Included: David Choe, Ron English, Mark Jenkins, Sam Flores, Apak, Tes One, Travis Millard, Tristan Eaton, HAZE, Kenji Hirata, Maya Hayuk, Decoy, Chris Stain, BLACKBOOKS, and many more.

Thinkspace Gallery in LA, known for hosting quality West Coast Lowbrow exhibits, changes its pace this month hosting a sick East Coast group show titled “From the Streets of Brooklyn,” curated by the good folks of Williamsburg’s Ad Hoc Art. The show features 40+ graff and street artists who call Brooklyn their home. Included: AIKO, Dan Witz, Swoon, FAILE, Robots Will Kill, Skewville, Stikman, Graffiti Research Lab, Bast, Faro, Gaia, and many more.

The show’s on through February 6th, so check it out.

Award-winning illustrator James Jean is dreamy. His art is an OxyContin cloud in a clear winter sky. The fluid lines, vibrant color and fantastic subject matter combine melancholia and poetry. Fashion designer Miuccia Prada was so inspired by Jean’s work that she used his art on dresses for her Spring/Summer 2008 collection and has displayed his pieces in her flagship stores across the world. This winter Jean returns to personal projects, culminating in his first solo show on January 10 at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York.

GIANT: Do you work from home or a studio?
James Jean: The studio is part of my home. I have a door I use to shut away distractions such as pets and women.

What’s your typical day like?
JJ: I start around 10 [am], work like hell until 10 [pm]. I’ve worked longer, but I’m trying to have more fun and some social time.

What made you aware that you needed some downtime?
JJ: The long fingernails and jars of urine tipped me off. Your work can be wistful.

What’s the happiest you’ve ever been?
JJ: I’m even-keeled; one guy actually said I always seem sedated. I don’t have highs or lows. I’m focused—like a laser beam.

How do you work?
JJ: I plan everything out and have a sketch to work from, but there’s also a lot of improvisation. The last 20 percent of a painting is the most important. This involves destroying what’s there and coming up with some new idea or element that creates that final feeling of magic.