White Walls is pleased to present Retrofitted and Other Forms of Vintage Futurism, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles based artist, Augustine Kofie.

The artist examines the dynamics that emerge when new elements or techniques are built upon existing material. The exhibition will include a series of wood triangle collages, medium-sized assemblages on wood, acrylic paintings and an installation. The opening reception for Retrofitted and Other Forms of Vintage Futurism, will be held at White Walls on Saturday, October 09, 2010 from 7-11 pm. The exhibit will be on display through November 06, 2010 and is free and open to the public.

With a deep interest in process and structure, Augustine Kofie creates works of intense detail centered around the order of balance. The precision of Kofie’s “drafted” art is strongly inspired by modern architecture as well as the form and shape of typography.  In his quest for balance, Kofie harmonizes opposing and contradictory dynamics in his work by setting futuristic compositions against vintage earth-toned palettes, and creating organically complex formations through meticulously structured line-work and layering.  Active in the Los Angeles graffiti scene since the mid-nineties, the artist’s work reflects his ever growing influence of street culture, the craft of deconstructing lettering, contemporary music as well as 1960’s-70’s iconography.

Retrofitted and Other Forms of Vintage Futurism, Kofie’s debut solo exhibition with White Walls, continues his exploration of the process of organization, deconstruction and form while adhering to a controlled and tuned uniformity.  In this collection the artist poses a broader range of color set against his signature earth-toned palette.  The works conveys a ”push and pull” movement through the composition of the shapes and through the enhancement of classic or found material treated with newer counterparts.  The works for the exhibition are comprised of acrylic and spray paint on canvas, found paper and mixed media on wood, and found-wood sculptures and installations.

Kofie is a self-taught artist living and working in Los Angeles.  He has shown extensively  worldwide with highlighted shows in California, New York, Basel Miami, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The artist has been featured in Juxtapoz, The Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Project Room and Studio Voice.

Press/ Observations:

My Flickr Set dedicated to the show

SF Weekly

 Edition One Hundred Presents I LOVE LA

Designed to provide beautifully packaged and produced art and photography at prices within reach, Edition One Hundred is a gallery without walls, open twenty-four hours a day in any time zone around the globe. The gallery is located at Editiononehundred

Edition One Hundred launched on June 30, 2010, with I LOVE LA, a six week exhibition curated by founder Cat Jimenez celebrating the influence of the Los Angeles art scene on its denizens, and its impact around the globe. Fusing high and low, young and old, independent and commercial cultures, I LOVE LA features local artists, from the famous to the unknown including B+, Augustine Kofie, Estevan Oriol, Miles Regis, Katie Shapiro, and Tasya van Ree. Ms. Jimenez brings them together to reveal the power of their imagination as it is made manifest for the pleasure of art collecting.

Each artist’s work is printed in an exclusive edition of 100, and each print sells for $100. All prints are signed by the artist, come with a certificate of authenticity, and are made exclusively on Mohawk papers unless otherwise indicated.

LA can be anything you want it to be. Precisely because LA is so sprawling makes it natural for clusters of communities and groups to organize and occur. From the Valley to Santa Monica and everywhere in between, there are thriving art scenes. People say that the geography divides us but I think it’s created this dynamic place of subcultures and communities where one can easily navigate within, or get to. That’s the undercurrent I get…you have to be pretty organized and determined here; there’s not much whimsy.

I LOVE LA is about the artists who chose LA, who create in LA and who help to inspire Los Angelenos and the world. These artists belong to their own respective communities. In bringing them together under Edition One Hundred, they get to belong to another community, or the first “class” of Edition One Hundred artists, if you will.

I selected artists that have inspired me, or inspired hundreds of individuals here in Los Angeles; artists that are total unknowns but are super-prolific; and artists whose fame has secured them legions of fans. The artists all have different end products, some will chose the digital path, and some will remain in the traditional photo printing technology. Some will chose to use serigraphs as their prints, and other digital reproductions, so it’s about what feels right to the artist themselves.

I am a lover of the arts, especially photography. For me, collecting is a luxury that I most often cannot afford. I, alongside many of my friends, follow many artists and hope to be able to afford their pieces in the future that are sold through galleries, but in the meantime, there is this great possibility where new technology can create a space for selling art more affordably. Every artist that I am inviting is an artist that I’d love to support and also to collect. It’s that simple.

-Cat Jimenez, Curator

My bio and Q & A are HERE.

My contribution to this series is available HERE to purchase.

+ remember, a percentage of the sales goes directly to the “InDuskWeTrust” charity, which was set up by his younger brother Rashad in 2008 to honor DJ Dusk a.k.a. Tarek Captan for three reasons: To keep him alive in our hearts and minds, to further his social activism by raising money for charities and scholarships, and finally to preserve one of his life’s works…his record collection.

The Qualities of Light is a film project curated by my good friend and collaborator Shane Sakanoi of Draftsmen and Rich Hama. I must say, after a number of years giving it up to cameras for interviews an the like, this is by far my most cherished contribution to a doc piece to date. Yes, i did have some say in the style for the film and a bit of direction and im sure that;s helping the sway of my judgement, but the guys went somewhere else with it and I’m happy for that. Music by Teebs & 4×4tracktor.

Mechanic is a line art, cut and paste collage & photoshoped image I initially created for Draftsmen in 2006. Thought that the subjectmatter fit the theme for H+R.

This will be available as a screenprint for Hit & Run’s SOUNDCRASH Summer Party on Thursday, August 12th 2010 @ The Echo in Los Angeles. I will also be spinning a set of all records in the patio section.

INFO HERE

FLYER

Blind Enamel Spray  

2010

21 x 18.5 x 3.5 inches

Acrylic ink, gel transfer and letraset type on birch.

Finished in matte satin gel medium + Found frame.

On display tform July 30 - August 30

Bad Seed Gallery

4431 Beverly Blvd

Los Angeles CA 90004

Opening night photos

The dedicated Burk Roberts.

Pro Testing My Patience 2010

8.5 x 11 inches

Sharpie & Pilot Ink illustration on aged vellum.

Photo taken from the interweb.

Pro Testing My Patience is one of 3 of my line art sketches and a refrence for one of three painting I will have on display at Mears CONTEMPORARY CORRUPTION REVISITED exhibition at Mid-City Arts Gallery  this Saturday.

Brandy Flower and I spent about a week in Melbourne, Australia in Mid April of 2010. We happened to come into some pretty perfect Autumn weather during the trip out to screen print t-shirts live as part of H+R.

The space was called 1000 £ Bend in what was call ‘The City”, but it’s their Downtown. The event, The closing reception for The Asahi SILVER & BLACK EXHIBITION. A Premium combination of art, photography, fashion & design culture. A wide range of work was displayed in an old automobile tire factory turned exhibition space/ hipster cafe. Eddie of T-World had a large hand all of this going down with the guidance of Shane of Urchin Associates. We may have printed 300 shirts in 3 hours, I think it was more. Just an awesome, professional experience overall..

Remy LBO

Peeling in the Drum Comical Cheating

Ink on Velum with Photoshop Halftones

Commissioned by Luke Mosling of Porter Records 

Porter Records Cd/Lp Release April 2010

Created this illustration late 2009 for the Porter records release for instrumentalist Remy LBO. It all went so smoothly from the initial email, to my quick turnaround on line art samples based on their interests. It was refreshing to illustrate again, especially characters. It has been some time since I’ve offered them for commercial use, but this was such a fitting project

Character Studies Zine | Edition of 40

Character studies is a long & overdue Zine for me to be producing. For those that know my history, I was rooted in illustration and character designs were my first love. It’s what lured me into painting characters on walls and eventually teaching me about my own creative side. Some of the characters date as far back to 1993, the year I started working under the moniker Kofie. I decided to keep the Zine non-chronological to show that even if there are years between drawings, there is still a tie in, a common denominator… a love for lines. Some of the faces may be familiar to some, as they are the original sketches to paintings I’ve executed on exterior walls. I was selective on my character choices here, but all in all I think this first showcase sets a good pace and introduction to some. Enjoy.

INFO:

Edition of 40, signed & numbered on back. 14 Page, 8.5 x 5.5 inch staple-bound zine with cover printed on found paper ( first 10 on ledger paper, the rest on green security paper). Your envelope will also include a sticker and a postcard from the past. Shipped from Los Angeles via USPS.

[ SOLD OUT * Thank you to everyone who made this Zine the fastest selling from the series!]

I’ll have my print on display at this Paperwork’s Lab Launch party in Venice, Calif. on the 20th of August. The above design is a snippet of the design I submitted to H+R to be printed live on t-shirts along with 2Cents, Augor, Kutmah as well as the crewand many more.

Zackey Force Funk!

Client: Rockstar Games

Project: Midnight Club | Los Angeles

Commissioned illustration to commemorate the upcoming South Central Premium Upgrade for Midnight Club: Los Angeles, a design series directly inspired by the blockbuster racing game.

Client: PlayStation 

Project: PSP-3000 Skin | Los Angeles

Commissioned illustrations for PSP hand held game systems to represent my interpretation of the city of Los Angeles.

The Flop Box just released ABC#2: 26 graffiti writers from all over the U.S. & each artist drew the first letter of their graffiti name. Limited to 300 & numbered.

Artists included: Abno, Bonus, Cecster, Dr.Sex, Erupto327, Fword, Grey, Honke, Isore, Jenks, Kofie, Lions, Mutes, Navy8, Optimist, Pysa, Qs, Ruets, Sibl, Twigs, Usuck, Vizie, Waldo, Xvae, Yetie, & Zeam. Cover Illustrations by Rime / Jersey Joe.  26 pages. 8.5″ x 5.5″. Offset printed. stapled. black and white. 70p matt cover. Snatch one up right Here.

Xtra fine point Pilot ink pen & watercolor on vellum.  I have mad love and support for this cat as much as I can. Theo took a  the original photo and it called to me, especially since this is a hair style rarely seen in print. I placed the majority of the attention on the facial hair and the sun glasses and flipped some classic illustration techniques to aged her. There are some 2″ stickers floating around of this illustration as well. 

Longhand

3 Color Screenprint with

hand Watercolor customization.

Printed on Stonehenge 250gsm

100% cotton archival paper.

Dimensions: 21x 26 Inches.

Edition of 50

Signed, Numbered, and Embossed

This is my first print with Los Angeles based Paperworks Laboratories. ’Longhand’ is a 3 color screen print + hand touched watercolor embellishments, titled and signed edition of 50. The title Longhand refers to a complete handwritten letter as opposed to shorthand like notes. The illustration mash is directly yanked from my daily notebooks, hence the spiral binding. I have been lagging on getting prints of my work available to the public, and this is an excellent and high quality start.

[ I have a few of the editions left in stock. Contact if interested] 

H+R celebrated their 3 year anniversary at The Echoplex. ‘Continental Space; 1969′ was my submission for the event. White ink printed on Black tees all night.

Limited Edition 18″ x 24″ Fine Art Screen Prints of The godfather of Hip Hop: AFRIKA BAMBAATAA In the STORE Section Now

Client: Dublab.com

Project: Dublab Positive Projection Proton Drive Identity

Jeff Madrid of TRSRHNT  & I recently completed the artwork for The Dublab Positive Projection Proton Drive. We went back and fourth digging on various images and text as well as a set of original watercolors to produce a body of work with positive & inspirational value. 

We also produced over 300 f 1-off screen printed ‘Positive Projection’ postcards and a 2009 Calender featuring artwok form various artists.

There will be a Barack Obama Fundraiser on Thursday, October 16 at the Young & Jelinek store in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. I collaborated with Toni Young of Evil Genius on a limited edition Obama tee that will be available at the show (yes, that’s the design above). I also donated a medium size watercolor for the silent auction that will be available as well as works from many other amazing artists.

INTO INFINITY is an art and music exhibition presented by DUBLAB and Creative Commons.  It is built on audio loops and circular canvases that are available online to the public for sharing, remixing, and resubmission.“EYE” We distributed white 12-inch paper circles to our community of inspired artists to fill with vibrant visions. These infinite loops are designed to shine and blow minds. “EAR“We asked our music-minded friends to create 8-second audio loops filled with any sound texture they desired. These infinite loops are designed to expand in open ears.

Pen & Ink Illustration. Color Play in Photoshop. Camu Tao was a talented cat from Cleveland,  Ohio associated with RJD2 & The Definitive Jux Crew. He passed away on Memorial day of 2008 after a long bout with Lung Cancer. Keepdrafting sends our condolences to his family, loved ones and peers of the this late, very talented producer/emcee.

2008. Pen & Ink Illustration + Photoshop. You’ve seen Toks helping out the infamous Hit + Run crew screen-printing cotton tops across America, or spinning records at various events. He didn’t ask for this, I just felt it needed to be done. 

2008. Mikosa is a hand-made limited edition publication produced in Amsterdam. For Issue 4, they produced 500 limited issues with a brown karton cover, each one folded, stamped and binded by hand, pages printed on a thick stock paper including the Mikosa Cubes, one self-to-do cube by each artist with a size of 6 cm, printed on a strong paper.  Other international artists in this issue include TIQUESTAR, EMMANUEL MALIN, SLACKER, MARI INUKAI,THE LONDON POLICE, LOK JANSEN, LEON YVMENETS, LASER 3.14 & DAMIEN CORRELL. This issue as well as past issues are available through the sight. An honor to be included. 

Sharpie & Tombow jammies.

2007

Created during Agenda Trade show, San Diego, CA. The Humanzee/ The Haunted Pangaea is ill. Collabo during downtime. Savvy. 

Client: True Radio865

Project: True Radio Promotional T-shirt Design

Ink on paper illustration & Photoshop. TrueRadio 865 commissioned this piece from me to be used as a t-shirt.  

Watercolor & Acrylic on paper

2007

Commissioned by Rime Magazine to produce a couple of  article illustrations for some of their issues. The two shown are of James Yancie AKA J Dilla as well as James Brown, both highly influential artists no longer with us physically. The Dilla piece was painted specifically for the article & James was painted live @ The Root Down several weeks before.

Ewsoe, Tommy Ruets & myself.

Sharpie & Tombow Markers on paper

2007

Agenda Trade show downtime.. I doodle, then I pass them along. Here Ewsoe/ Giga Melted & Tommy Ruets get loose, as usual. 

Layout by Jeff Madrid of TRSR|HNT

2007

Orko Eloheim | Forbidden Physics | One Cell Records. San Diego native Orko  Eloheim (Nephlim Modulation Systems) requested my services for this solo release which was intended to be a physical CD on indie label One Cell Records. From the last news I received, it will now only be a digital release. That was a bit of a sting since my man designed it based on a tri-fold jammie. I’ve mentioned many a time that i am not a pure graphic designer, so i need to enlist the experience of some of my very talented associates…. TRSR|HNT on the layout, text and conceptualization, myself on the found elements & original illustrations.

Watercolor Illustration on paper

Ink on paper

2006

I created this illustration to help raise money for Keith Tamashiro’s mounting hospital bills after he suffered a untimely brain aneurysm.  Stussy produced over 200 of  the t-shrts at no charge & they were for sale at 3 special events to help out our friend. Keith is getting well.  

Original Illustrations & Live Painting. 

Commissioned by Syndrome Studio.

2006

One of my favorite gigs to date + the first time my work was animated. The guys @ Syndrome were always interested in working with me on something and they felt this was the perfect opportunity. These cats are true supportes of my, including their own private collection of my fine art works. ‘Listen’ was filmed entirely filmed in Downtown Los Angeles,  the shoot took one day, the animation, one month. 

TALIB KWELI - Listen

Illustrations used for Labwaste 12″ release on One Cell Records.

This is the second release from the Zwarte Achtegrod album.  A 12″ with 8 remixes. When Giovani (Subtitle) first showed interest in me adding a lil something to the album I was excited. I smashed out about 4 portrait illustrations of them based on Eric Coleman’s photos & just gave Sub xerox copies. I had confidence in his design taste & gave him free range of usage, pro bono. It was a treat to see what they did with them. Both Subtitle & Thavius Beck are so naturally talented & work very well together professionally and personally. It’s always an honor to provide my services to those cats.

The ‘UP OUR SLEEVE: The DUBLAB Covers Project

Acrylic on found paper on Record Sleeve

2004

The ‘UP OUR SLEEVE: The DUBLAB Covers Project

Group Project brought to us by the fine people at Mark of the Beast/ Dublab.com

UP OUR SLEEVE: the dublab covers project is a fundraiser. Each artist donated their one of a kind creation.The sleeves were auctioned off online to support dublab’s positive music transmissions.

Commissioned Pete Rock Illustration for Urb Magazine Article

Various markers & acrylic ink on bristol board

11 x 17 inches

2003

Curious kid

Pantone Marker & Ink on paper.

2000

I began working as an illustrator for a corporate street wear line in late 1999. It was my first ‘real’ Illustration job & I was torn. On one hand I had the opportunity to work with some very creative people that I still speak with to this day. I was in a constantly creative environment. I learned so many techniques & was able to progress with my artwork as a whole. But on the other hand, I was working for a corporation based on street culture that had lost it’s way. I dedicated a great amount of hours there & they used a number of my illustrations for print & tee shirts. The whole experience changed my direction creatively. This is one of the reasons I stopped drawing characters so steadily and focused on my line work. The whole direction for Draftsmen was to almost a cleansing for myself. A fresh direction that I could be inspired by a

Various Flyer Illustrations:

Arcadia/ Pier Pressure & Chicken Scratch Ink on paper

1999

Hand Illustrated flyers was something I did on and off since 92, but there was a surge during the tail end of the 90’s. I was always inspired by old Punk show flyers I would find at record stores on the West side. They would usually be Rim Pests, Beer Nuts or Suicidal Tendencies in letter size format. For my Hip-Hop show flyers I pretty much stuck to the Dj & MC image. It gets right to the point. Arcadia/Pier Pressure was a monthly event thrown by the Gershwin Crew on the Santa Monica Pier. Chicken Scratch was an event thrown by the CBS Crew in the Mid City Area.

Kofie Technology studys/ doodles

Ink on paper.

1999

In the late 90’s my Black Books became Notebooks. It’s contents ranged form rhymes, notes, phone #’s and the occasional burner, but what was consistent were my doodles surrounding the notes and words. ‘Thought Bubbles’ evolved into their own entity’s, breaking apart and morphing. I was a major fan of Harmony Gold’s 1985 animated series Robotech (the American version of Super Dimension Fortress Macross), It’s Mecha designs & the concept of “Robo-Technology”. My ‘KofieTechnology’ was more on an organic tip though, avoiding the computer generated tech look. After Digging through all of my notebook archives, this page stood out as a catalyst for my styles to come.

Mawnstah/ 6cents mc’s

Ink on paper

1999

 A loose sketch of my boy Mawnsta of 6cents mc’s at the drafting desk of my old Beverly Blvd. studio.

Kofie Spellout + nude

Pantone markers & Sharpie ink on paper.

1999

There were a handful of powerful letter ways I was pulling off in 1999, and this is no exception. Smoking Trees to the head in my compact studio just made me get all scientific & robotic back then. Dismantling a blocky letter way & focusing on each letter so it could hold it’s own. My balance was coming together as well as my minimal & natural color pallet. This piece was never painted.

Character studies

Ball Point Pen on paper.

1998

The majority of my sketches at this time were more or less just doodles. I was growing a bit tired of them because I felt they all looked the same, or looked like someone else’s. There were really only a handful of quality character painters in Los Angeles with their own style at the time and I was set on having my own & I was my own worst critic.

Thick Block Letter style/ Kofie Spell out

Ink on paper.

1998

The deconstruction aspect of my Kofie letter ways came into play in the late 90’s after about 8 years of practice and constant manipulation. Here is a sample of a sketch that typifies this early transition. My focus was to play off of each letter individually as it’s own building per say, than gradually combine them. My points of perspective were off then, so I kept everything together by building off of an organic flow. 

Character studies

Character study

Ink and Letraset type on paper.

1995

My characters faces were always either frustrated, angry, confused or cautious. I guess it was my pent up aggression translated into mean mugs. It also has to do with the fact that there was more soul to a face with some sort of emotions going on. It gave then character and they stood out form the rest. At this time I was about 21 years of age and was working at a local office supply chain. I was living with my girlfriend & her mother at the time in a condo in Brentwood, Ca.

Public Phone

Ink and Letraset type on paper

1994

An imaginative illustration. At some point in my life I considered creating my  illustrating comic books, then realized I cant handle repetition. So, the majority of my more elaborate illustrations are almost windows into a larger, untold story. The image below was my bedroom from my parents apartment, minus the bong and bag of trees. My dad at the time owned a big rig, so i referenced one of his catalogues for the rig illustration.

Dedicated to a moving canvas

Ink on paper.

1993

I feel I still draw this way. Overly detailed line work + that lovely balance of thick & thin lines. There was/is always a balance to my illustrations in one form or another. I was about 19 years old, Bullshitting in SMC classes & drawing every day. The summer of 93′ was when I was accepted into the TPS Graffiti crew & took the name Kofie. Mecca & The Soul Brother & Black Sheep were on a constant loop in the cassette deck of my 69′ VW Bug & the city of Palms was where I laid my head.

Dedicated to the Motor Yard

Pantone markers & ink on paper.

1992.

The Motor yard was the first official yard I ever painted at. I had painted a few spots within the vicinity of the city of Palms, but Motor was the primer. Rusty cans everywhere, a burned up VW Bug, Motor Bob & new burners every other day. 

NOTE:dont use the clear masking tape to laminate color illustrations in your black books 

A case study in females

Ink on Paper

1992

Detail shot of my High School Black book. I dedicated a number of my pages to females and graffiti, my two loves at the age of 18. I wanted to throw this in page to highlight the overlapping, clustered arrow’s to the left. The think this was my first attempt at illustrating a classic Vaughn Bode Lizard.

Sal Barbier/ 1991

Ink on paper

Refrenced from Transworld Skateboarding Magazine

Junior year Black book at Hamilton HighSchool. At this point I have to have a sketchbook for art class, so the majority of my Black books from this period consist of photograph referenced sketches for class on top of my own random doodles and practicing hand styles. This illustration was of Sal Barbie who was riding for H-Street at the time. 

Scott Oster/ Referenced from Thrasher magazine