Evolving at fiberoptic lightspped, the Goth-Loli — or Goth-Lolita — movement in Japan is not longer just a ’style’, but an entire lifestyle, replete with outposts in other transcultural Japanese youth subcultures — punk, early American, cyber and even kimono.

Beyond even the best pages of Soichi Aoki’s Fruits — which introduced most of the world to the obsessively constructed, deeply theatrical costumes that pass for streetwear in Harajuku, Tokyo — the photographs of Masayuki Yoshinaga don’t just document the outerwear. They capture and communicate the the delicate balance of such Japanese youth subcultures — the frenzy of style, the studied poses for cameras and the surprising awkwardness when caught by Yoshinaga’s lens outside of those poses.

Partnering with TRACE magazine in celebration of our Erykah Badu and Q-Tip Art issue — free download here — the exhibition of Yoshinaga’s Goth-Loli series opens this evening in New York!

139 Norfolk Street
between Rivington and Stanton streets
New York

Celebrating 25 years of ingenious album art — the kind of design work that makes collectors fiend and eBay stocks soar — the Richard Goodall Gallery in London is opening a retrospective of Central Station, the design team that has graced tunes from Happy Mondays to the film 24 Hour Party People.

With their explosive, graphic style, Central Station not only earned spots on galleries world-wide, but also a place in the lore of Manchester’s ‘Madchester’ era for helping to define it’s fusion-heavy, indie dance-rock style.

Check out the show here, which opens today, and get more info on Central Station here.

Urban art and activism meet global humanitarianism as Limbo Fine Art Gallery hosts The Love Movement (TLM) and other prominent street/surf artists in a show entitled The World at Large / / Love Without Borders to benefit the International Humanity Foundation (IHF).

The Love Movement’s works combine political messages angled to wake up one’s conscience with a philosophy of “love is the way”. And they actually get down to do the hard work of producing art for humanitarian projects and raising funds through art shows and T-shirt sales to purchase school supplies and to build a community well in a village in Benin, Africa.

This time, TLM has joined forces with IHF for the education and empowerment of kids abroad, demonstrating that art combined with social consciousness has limitless possibilities. The World at Large /// Love Without Borders will showcase an amazing lineup of internationally-shown artists: Michael De Feo, Wolfgang Bloch, Alex Knost, Tyler Warren, Ben Brough – 33, Andrew Sarnecki - Hippytree, Hovin Wang, Paul Lefevre – Polish, Micke Tong, Thundercut, Abe Lincoln Jr., eight-year-old Reece V., Meredith Ambruso, Guy Quezada, Jon Ho, Karen Jones, TLM, as well as TRACE’s own Lichiban (yours truly) and Jelsen Jargon, who recently shined on our blog.

The opening reception of The World at Large / / Love Without Borders is Saturday, May 17, 2008, from 7pm to 12am at Limbo Fine Art Gallery, 1432 University Avenue, San Diego. All proceeds to benefit IHF. The show runs from May 10 to June 1, and is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. Interested parties can contact Limbo at 619.316.2239 to arrange a private viewing.

For more information, please visit this, this or this!

‘Malibu cruising music’ is one of the best descriptions of Cali’s latest Hip Hop sensation Shwayze. Shwayze brings a new feel to West Coast Rap, with his indie/alternative vibe and laid back lyrics. Accompanied by the vocals and acoustic guitar of Whitestarr front man Cisco Adler, Shwayze brings a chill “summertime in the life of a stoner” edge to a sound that could be reminiscent of Gym Class Heroes.

The self-proclaimed “only Black kid in Malibu” uses his self-titled debut album to discuss the good life in his hometown, which proves to be a nonstop party. Filled with hot girls, dope lyrics and an acoustic guitar, Shwayze gets the point across that he’s in it to have fun.

Shwayze first met up with Cisco during a Whitestarr performance in ’05 at Malibu Inn. He jumped on stage and started freestyling while Alex Orbison played drums in the background, and since then he and Cisco have been working together to produce something fresh for the Hip Hop scene. Shwayze gained much attention with his live performances and will be appearing in this summer’s Warped Tour, which kicks off on June 20th in Pomona, California.

In the meantime, catch Shwayze tonight at Crash Mansion in L.A.

For more information check him out here.