Nike Sportswear is proud to present Beautiful Losers’ MAKE SOMETHING!!, a series of community and youth-oriented creative workshops in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Working with public school art programs and youth mentoring programs, MAKE SOMETHING!! will invite local children to participate in creative workshops such as sign painting, photography, skateboard graphic design, toy design, filmmaking, tattoo art, footwear design and zine making. Workshops will be hosted by renowned artists from the Beautiful Losers “do-it-yourself” art subculture, which include Ed Templeton, Tobin Yelland, Geoff McFetridge, Shepard Fairey, Mike Mills, Todd James, Cheryl Dunn, Kaws, Mr. Cartoon and Aaron Rose. The work created in each location will form a continually evolving exhibition, which will be open to the public to view.
Nike has a longstanding relationship with Beautiful Losers, having first partnered with founder and curator Aaron Rose in 2005, which saw the creation of two limited Beautiful Losers inspired Nike Blazer Hi shoes. Rose, director of this summer’s Beautiful Losers film documentary said “Nike and Beautiful Losers share the belief that if you believe in something, then you should make it, regardless if people tell you that you can’t.”
This common belief is exemplified in the MAKE SOMETHING!! Beautiful Losers inspired Nike Dunk Hi shoes, created in partnership between Aaron Rose and Nike Sportswear Design Director Jesse Leyva. “We went back to the Beautiful Losers film documentary and pulled frame stills of what we felt were key moments in the narrative. We used these moments to tell the Beautiful Losers story using the shoes as a medium, with the end result being a collection of works of art,” said Aaron Rose.
“When we decided on the concept of using frame stills from the film, we identified an innovative digital printing technique to create this special collection” said Leyva “There are 22 Nike Dunk Hi shoes each telling a different part of the Beautiful Losers story.” Leyva will host the MAKE SOMETHING!! footwear design workshop in New York, where he will talk of the inspiration behind creating unique sneaker designs, taking his audience through each step of design creation, from research to schematics and storytelling.
Only three sets of the 22 pair collection will be produced. After being exhibited at MAKE SOMETHING!! New York and Los Angeles workshops, two of these sets will be auctioned with proceeds donated to the Children's Aid Society, who fill the gaps between what children deserve and what life has dealt them, and have been serving children for more than 150 years. www.childrensaidsociety.org
For further information on Nike Sportswear presents Beautiful Losers’ MAKE SOMETHING!!, including gallery hours and additional auction information, www.nikesportswear.com
Nike Sportswear presents Beautiful Losers’ MAKE SOMETHING!! will take place at:
* Nike Sportswear at 255 Elizabeth St, New York, NY, 10012
Featuring displays of work created and a site-specific installation by Eric Elms
* Nike Sportswear at The Montalbán, 1615 Vine St, Hollywood, CA 90028
Featuring displays of work created and a site-specific installation by Geoff McFetridge
* VASF, 1485 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117
[About Beautiful Losers]
Beautiful Losers celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural movements of a generation. In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the “establishment” art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
The Beautiful Losers film documentary, directed by Aaron Rose and co-directed by Joshua Leonard, Beautiful Losers speaks to the collective memory of the 1990’s and sheds new light on those unbeknownst to mainstream America. Beautiful Losers is an intimate and moving assessment of underappreciated yet wildly influential outcasts such as Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmony Korine, Stephen Powers, Geoff McFetridge, Thomas Campbell and Ed Templeton. Informed by their individual experiences and the generation’s “Do It Yourself” culture, these artists left an indelible mark on the worlds of fashion, music, art, design, film and ironically, sports. The story of Beautiful Losers is a retrospective celebration of their contribution to artistic independence. For trailer, please visit www.beautifullosers.com
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