Guillermo Scott Herren (aka. Prefuse 73), an Atlanta artist of Catalan and Irish/ Cuban descent currently working in Spain, composes vaguely jazzy experimental hip hop tracks so beguiling they emit a strange sense of déjà vu. I remember the first album Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives with a story of my own, sitting on the roof of a college apartment during the slowly cooling early autumn, Prefuse slinking through the living room from the outdoors, in an oversized sweatshirt and bare feet. Something in the way Herren produces allows his music to feel both fresh and comfortable at the same time.

Prefuse 73 comes off much lighter than hip hop studies by similar artists Madlib, Danger Mouse and GirlTalk; almost Ibiza beachy at certain points. But make no mistake. His subtle musical repertoire makes for compositions far more far more substantive than the average gamine + electronica = eargasmic construction of comparable lounge and house. His music bares striking similarities to the speckled collages adorning his album covers: a classily psychedelic mix of harmony, texture, and balance.

Herren’s fourth album under the moniker Prefuse 73, Preparations, has a slightly more orchestral feel than his earlier work as he lends his classically trained instrumental ear to the P73 alias. The merger makes him a wise choice for the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Whitney Live series. The series showcases a new pairing of cutting-edge performers each weekend in addition to “pay-what-you-wish” Friday admission to the museum itself. Prefuse will play as part this June’s Wordless Music series with “adventuresome chamber music from the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME)” and Jad Abumrad (Host of WNYC’s RadioLab) appearing as the MC.

Friday June 20

Whitney Museum

945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street
New York, NY 10021

For more info, click here

What do you get when you cross a French filmmaker and a closet jammed with shoes and books? The neat freaks and green-thinking among us, relax- for Mr. Brainwash, better known as MBW, it is only fodder for his art.

MBW has spent the last nine years attempting to make the ultimate documentary about graffiti art. While filming, MBW began putting his camera aside and making art of his own, displaying a Banksy-esque predilection for coloring on the walls. Graduating from a few hand drawn stickers to giant billboard sized paste-ups, MBW has become one of the most prolific street artists in California.

MBW’s first exhibition, “Life is Beautiful,” opens in Los Angeles this week, running four days in a former Hollywood studio complex. The exhibit features more than 300 paintings, sculptures and prints, alongside installations made from 100,000 of the aforementioned shoes and a life-size recreation of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” MBW also does his own take on graffiti, Andy Warhol and icons of American pop culture- neither Marilyn Manson, Michael Jackson nor anyone in-between, are spared his aerosol treatment.

For more information on Mr. Brainwash’s show, click here

Also, be sure to check out the opening reception, Wednesday, June 18, 7P-11P: the first 200 people walk away with a hand finished limited edition print by MBW himself.

Life is Beautiful
June 19 - 22

CBS Studios
6121 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

txt_Shawn Lawrence James//ph_Rahan Cotterel

Styling others for a living requires a special charm, external instincts, and an unlimited reservoir of influence. British-born stylist Nasrin Jean-Baptiste is well-noted for refreshing herself with the latter and here, she chats about the mechanics of making people look good.

Name: Nasrin Jean-Baptiste
Age: hmm?
Born: in the 80’s
Based: London
Occupation: Fashion Stylist and Consultant www.nasrinjeanbaptiste.com

Background: I was born and raised in London by two Haitian parents. I have always had a dual sense of cultural identity. The concept of different-ness and being open to our many diverse cultures will always be a point of intrigue and something to embrace.

My fearless, non-conformist mother would never bat an eyelid when I would come home with bright yellow hair or the most horrific outfits I would make out of ripped up t-shirts, bleached denim jeans and florescent ribbons. So being open, coloring outside the lines and self-expression came quite naturally and is reflected on my approach to life, work and my appearance.

Favorite Brands: I am a very fickle brand follower. You’re only as good as your last collection, so I go season to season falling in and out of love with designers – but British designer Ashish has stood the test of time as I have been a huge fan since his first s/s collection in 2005. Lashings of sequins, beading and knitted enmeshments is divine and he somehow combines it with enough wit and edge to make me feel like a lady.

Luella Bartley and Danielle Scrutt are new favorites. I love their interpretation of Britishness and Youth Culture. Up and coming designers Timothy James Andrews and Pam Hong will prove to be significant future talents. Oh, and I can’t not mention Vivienne Westwood for her menswear.

What inspired you to become a stylist?: I have always enjoyed the idea of creating alternate worlds and hyperreal personalities. Whether it is in print or film, styling allows me to explore these mediums. Being able to interpret and manipulate garments like an artist’s paint pallet and using them to convey a story, message or to even make someone feel the same excitement I do when I see a shoot that inspires me is the reason why I’m so passionate about styling!

(More!)

(more…)

Tuesday, June 17, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby St, South of Houston)
Francisco Goldman and David Lida on Mexico City and Latin America

David Lida (First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capitol of the 21^st Century) talks with Francisco Goldman (The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?) about Mexico City and Latin America Tuesday at Housing Works.

Thursday, June 19, 6:30 – 8:30pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Joseph O’Neill (Netherland) in conversation with Pantheon editor Deborah Garrison

A post 9/11 novel based in New York has a lot of opportunity to falter, but I’ve heard good things about Netherland. It’s the story of a European man living here and dealing with all that entails, having ambiguous feelings about his adopted town. Joseph O’Neill has written two other novels and a family history and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic Monthly. Thursday he’ll talk with his editor Deborah Garrison about fiction and the editorial process.

Thursday, June 19, 7:00pm
BookCourt (163 Court Street in Brooklyn)
Nam Le (The Boat) with Liza Monroy (Mexican High)

Nam Le, author of the much-talked-about and much-acclaimed debut collection of short stories The Boat, is in town to do a few events. He was born in Vietnam and raised in Autstralia, and the short stories in this collection range from the semi-autobiographical story about a character name Nam struggling to complete his master’s at Iowa to stories based in Colombia and Tehran. It’s on my to-read pile. If you can’t make it Thursday, you can check his website for more events in New York and elsewhere, here. You can also read the short story “Tehran Calling” online at fivechapters.com. Thursday he will be reading with Liza Monroy, whose first novel is Mexican High, of which you can read more about here.

Dj Spinna and Bobbito are once again serving up a night to remember with Stevie Wonder classics, twists and remixes. Although the duo is known very well for teaming up with KieStar Productions for various dance parties through-out the year, the most buzzed about event hands-down is Wonder-Full, a tribute to genius of Stevie Wonder.

Last November, Stevie Wonder came in the flesh to the party, making fans and late night dancers lose their minds and dance as if their lives depended on it! Word on the street is that he may again make a special appearance on Saturday, so don’t miss this event!

Doors  for this event at the Hammerstein Ballroom open at 10pm, but the Stevie jams continue to pump into the early morning — just in time for pancakes.

Tickets Available at Fat Beats (406 6th Avenue);Pieces (671 Vanderbilt Ave); Academy Records (415 East 12th Street); Harriet’s (293 Flatbush Avenue); Addy & Ferro (672 Fulton Street).

“Tr: To Drink and To Penetrate Jubilantly,” Jean Faucheur

Every time I turn a corner into a bookstore, at least a dozen new graffiti books threaten my faith in this form. Ostensibly “art books,” these publications simply flood shelves with terrible photographs of mediocre wheatpaper posters and wall-scrawls as empty as the cans that were wasted on them. Art book? No — and it undercuts the value of graffitti to give these paperweights that pretense.

Then there are the gems, few and far between. Graffiti Paris, available this month from Abrams, is not exactly a gem, however. It suffers from the kind of documentary, head-on photography that leaves the graphic in the frame but little else, decontextualizing the work from the neighborhood that produced it. Especially in Paris, where geography permeates identity, that context is key.

But Graffiti Paris is still one of the better books out there. Paris is full of strong, living, fighting and politicized graffiti and Fabienne Grévy, the art historian and photographer who created Graffiti Paris, has a great eye for picking the quality pieces off a wall overrun by quantity.

As Grévy notes in the introduction, Graffiti Paris includes photographs taken over the last 15 years. The project’s priority was to preserve a record of Paris street art from the 1990s and late-80s, street art that will soon be worn away. In other words, the point here was never to make an “art book” exactly and, as a record of some of the best graffiti to grace The City of Lights in the past decade, Graffiti Paris is really rather good!

June 14th is certainly a day you should mark on your calendars in regards to art. Two events will be taking place, The Art of Digging and the Sonic Visual Arts Expo.

The Art of Digging will be going down at theLightGalleries in Costa Mesa, California. The event, which pays homage to the advancement and progression vinyl culture, brings awareness to the discrediting of music artists due to the increase in downloading. The event will include vinyl art and rare wax displays, live performances, record sales and exchange, and a special guest DJ. For more information click here.

Those on the East Coast can enjoy the Sonic Visual Arts Expo in Hamden, Connecticut that evening instead. Unlike The Art of Digging, this event focuses on the more conventional means of visual arts. Here, artists will be displaying and selling their work, along with a vast number of music acts. The headlining performances will feature Stephanie D’Ranged and Hellfire Graffix. Click here for ticket and location information.

Before pulling on that mask and shaking the spray can in preparation for greatness, before gracing the walls of countless buildings in efforts to share your vision and voice with the public, before any work of art there is a beginning. But there is rarely any documentation of these beginning stages and the intricate processes of the influential Graffiti genre.

Seeking to correct this are Sacha Jenkins — creator of Ego Trip Magazine and the White Rapper Show — and David Villorente, who have compiled Piecebook: Secret Drawings of Graff Writers, a book of sketches and rough drafts done by graffiti artists such as Dondi, Lee, T Kid, Lady Pink, IZ The Wiz, Kel 1st, Seen UA, Ali, Daze, Skeme, Noc 167, Cey, Part TDS, Don 1,West, Caine One, Mare, and many others.

On June 12th, Sacha Jenkins in collaboration with acclaimed artist Chino BYI and 10 Deep will put the book on display in a gallery reception for its release. The event takes place at Reed Space in New York City from 8-10pm.

For more information on how you can attend click here.

I’ll admit it — I know it has been years since Bleach was the hot anime to be up on, but I still watch it.

So, just in case there are others out there who, like me, have not yet otherwise acquired fansub versions of the latest Bleach film, Memories of Nobody, check out the limited New York Premiere at Union Square tonight and tomorrow night.

Tite Kubo, Bleach’s creator, will be on hand both nights and tonight, June 11th, the films producer and character designer will also be speaking.

Bleach: Memories of Nobody
Wednesday, June 11th and Thursday, June 12th
7:30pm
Union Square Stadium 14
14th Street and Broadway, New York

“Remember that time you were wasted and thought it would be a good idea to get a tattoo on your leg of Maury Povich shaking hands with Sasquatch, but your friends talked you out of it at the last second? Well, some people don’t have friends.”
– No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever

Traditionally, people use tattoos as a means of self-expression. Most times, this self-expression comes off as artistic and thoughtful. However, others just get way out of hand and come across strange as hell. Aviva Yael & P.M. Chen went on a year long crusade scoping out tattoo conventions and studios throughout the country in order to find the most random, comical, strange, terrifying, and downright out of this world tattoos.

What they found helped to create the gem that is No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever. The book contains countless images of all sorts of tattoos accompanied by hilarious captions. Each page makes for a laugh out loud moment, and solidifies itself as a must read.

Check it out here.