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I have been in New York for the past four days. This has been perhaps one of the most serendipitous and rad trips back to NYC in a long time. I have seen some of my closest friends, I have made some random new connections with some wonderful, solid new people that I see being able to exist in a long time dialogue with, and it has been a lot of fun being back in the humid swampy fun that is New York city during 4th of July. It has been amazing. More to come!
And found some awesome photos to share...
So the picture of C-Rayz Walz is one of the first published Illustration gigs I ever did for Def Jux Records back in 2004. Where is that guy? It is the album art for his Black Samurai E.P.
The Dave Chappelle Block Party Movie was filmed in, and the Block Party itself, my old neighborhood on the edge of Bed Stuy and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. This is one of the choice shots of Wycleff and Lauren Hill battling it out, getting reallllll emotional during the Fugees reunion bit. HISTORY was made! 2003 was a big and crazy year for a lot of things.
This is a drawing I did for the Babylon Falling Closing show "The End is Near" in 2009. It was called "KaliMonTen"... I really want to go back in this direction with some of the newer work, but as with all things it's about finding that opportune moment of balance where it is good to feel that initial discomfort to re-enter and idea from whence it becomes new and big and fun again and a totally fresh way.
Yes it is still true, at least to us, Japan is home to some of the most ridiculous English translations on clothing, but when you are there, they don't really give a shit what we think, which is awesome. They have literally taken our words and made them their own, so we get something out of it. The one that says curation really fucking cracks me up, I wonder what they were really getting at, it has to be a feeling or like a type of action they were trying to pinpoint but there probably just isn't an English word for it. HatLip is just, well HatLip. Like "Hey man what's that hat all about?" "You know homie, that's just that HatLip!!!!!!"
Something we do not have in the States, 5 century old castles with giant moats to repel all sorts of attackers from Samurai, to Ninja, to Ashigaru, to just crazy ass locals that are pissed at the government and tired of getting taxed. I think today's moats are called the Banking System, Credit Default Swaps, and Debt. I would kind of rather be a Ninja and swim across the water and scale the wall and kill the Lord and get the Princess to be honest, way more bad ass.
This woman came out of her house to talk to me, I don't think she had been outside for a long time. She was super cool.
I wish I had had a giant Kendo sword fighting cru when I was like ten years old.
And finally this is an awesome studio shot of the work I made for the SFMOMA taken by Megan Wolfe. I am going to miss Megan, she has been a bright light in the Bay Area art scene for a long time now! Thanks for all the years of hard work and being a bad ass! You will be missed. In other news I am going to New York for fourth of July weekend, expect a lot fo Graffiti pictures a lot of images of friends acting out in public....see you soon!-Felix
As I lay in my temporary bed here in Minneapolis, with the Avengers playing on Netflix, I cannot help but think of the new images and textures and stories and language I am going to create on paper soon. We will see a revisitation of ink work, figurative story telling, portraiture, and possible, oh man, oil painting and realism, definitely pencil drawing realism and loose gestural contours, in near future. I have been letting the gears grind and roll in my sub conscious, now I can feel it all bubbling up. The full moon this weekend was intense, I feel like I made it through a magnetic field and now its on.
...for work. My full time hustle is bringing me to a new city I have yet to explore. I look forward to making some new connections, checking out some new galleries, and also starting a new body of work for 2013/2014. I am pretty excited actually, this year seems to be all about travel and new experiences so I am jumping in the wind and going with it. I'll also have time to be bringing some more extensive updates on the past few months while I am there so look out for new, in depth posts on everything from Japanese Ramen Shops, my last days in Tokyo, getting ready for the SFMOMA opening, building a new installation for the up and coming Eye of the Tiger Tattoo Shop in the Sunset, and more... Much Love-Felix
Kanae in Nezu checking out the Sketchbook. April 2013.
Hello, my good friends at LeQuivive, Groundscore and Faultline have put together a Kickstarter project that is really important and relevant for Oakland right now. As a proud resident and member of the Oakland Artist Community we all need your help in making this project come through and get off the ground!!! Please, please, please donate what you can to this great cause so that we can see the visual dialogue that exits in Oakland become one of the worlds most profound community voices! This can inspire change everywhere! Donate! Much Love to Michael, Dave, Lauren, Ernest, and all the homies that are working hard on this! Please click on the link below to go directly to the Urban Renewal Kickstart Video link and donate.
...was so amazing! It feels incredible to have my first real museum exhibition up and running!!!!! Thank you to Alfonso Cosio and Renee De'Cosio for helping to make this a reality. To D Young V, Dylan Pembleton, G.U.T.S., Jaysonik, Micah at 111 Minna, Rachel and John at Fecal Face, Nastia at Hi-Fructose, and everyone, especially my parents, who came out and supported! "In Memory Of..." will be up for three months at 147 Minna Street in the SFMOMA Windows on the side of the building! Please go and check it out...a proper opening post is coming...thanks you all.
-John Felix Arnold III
Hello... Welcome to the new and improved Felixthethirdrock.com website. This is my first intro blog post while navigating and updating, so please bear with me as we fine tune everything. In short Japan was amazing, and my SFMOMA "In Memory Of..." exhibition opens this June 8th, Saturday, in Downtown SF. I will be posting a lot of info about it this weekend. Thanks for visiting and see you again soon.
-John Felix Arnold III
It has been about three weeks since my last post. Much has happened in the world of John Felix Arnold III. Much Indeed... For starters the beginning of an amazing series of features on my trip to Japan and then the subsequent SFMOMA Artist Gallery Windows Exhibition upon my return has been launched by Rachel Ralph over at Fecal Face...
http://www.fecalface.com/SF/good-stuff/5326-john-felix-arnold-iii-in-japan
Much thanks to Rachel and John for the love on my journey. And so this leads me to where I am right at this moment. I am sitting in the Virgin American terminal at SFO five minutes away from boarding my flight to LAX to then transfer to Singapore Airlines to begin my trek through my five weeks of spiritual exploration, art making, exploration, travel, and everything else that could possibly happen on this journey...I have butterflies of anticipation yet am wrapped by calm and a feeling of purpose and placement in the universe as I type this. I feel as though my whole life has lead up to this trip and I am so proud and happy to be embarking on it. I love all who are in this life, in the struggle, making things, and helping one another through this world together. I will be with as much as possible on this journey, time to board, thank you for reading and I promise to bring you coverage of an amazing journey!
Last year on Valentine's day I went on the best date I have ever been on. Then right about this week last year I went back to NYC to get crackin on a show with Christopher Burch at Littlefield, it was awesome. Just feeling positively nostalgic yet happy about the future today.
So birthday was on January 16th, at which I celebrated 33 years on this planet earth. I had a blast. I was awarded a cake at 9:15 AM at my front door by my wonderful lady and proceeded to work hard at work, and then it was on to LeQuivive Gallery in downtown Oakland. My good friends the brothers Tucci, also known as the Unstoppable Death Machines, from New York City were in town and we had organized an awesome little intimate engagement with Guy Culver and Laughters, in the form of a rock show with myself doing a live painting performance on a strange found object installation format. We had an absolute blast and it was the best birthday of all time! Thanks to everyone who made it awesome!
And I'm out...
Hello everybody!!!! Wanted to give a heads up about the cool little group show I am in tonight at D-Structure in the Lower Haight here in San Francisco. Greg Moreno from Someshine Clothing Co. has put together a line up of Someshine T-Shirt designers and some added friends for a good time. Come and hang out with us tonight, I will have some radddddd RIP ODB X Felix 3 X Someshine prints available for sale along with my mixed media pieces.
Here is the Lmtd Edition RIP ODB Print for sale at the show. They are $20. Please contact me at felixthethird@gmail.com if you are interested. They are going to be moving fast.-Felix
D-Structure is located at 520 Haight St, : SF, CA : 94117 : Opening from 8-11:30Pm
The new studio in Oakland is so AWESOME! Here is a low res photo of new work in the mix that I have just begun. Capricorn With Aquarius Rising I think it shall be called. I am all moved into the studio and locked in it to win it. Old Crow Solo show in July, lots of group shows peppered throughout the year. Things are rollin' along!
In other news, this weekend is going to be amazing!!! Friday night in Oakland is not only going to be Art Murmur, but also at Old Crow Tattoo there is going to be a group show featuring Megan Kimber and Lauren Napolitano from White Walls, it is going to be really, really sick and I highly recommend it. They have been on a roll with great shows lately.
Saturday night I am in a huge group exhibition/auction to help benefit the Luggage Store and support their future programming and artist in residence programs!!!! This is as of now the biggest bill of heavy hitting artists I have ever been involved with, and will be featuring work from Barry McGee, Maya Hayuk, Os Gemeos, The Date Farmers, Christopher Burch, Ricardo Richey, Swoon, myself, and many, many more!!! Here is the web flyer and print flyer thank you card. It is this Saturday night Nov. 5th at the Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market St. San Francisco. Tickets for general public are $40 and special $150 VIP tickets are available for a collector preview and special performance by Devendra Banhart. 
Here Are the Versions going to print for Thank You and Shout Out Postarcards...
See you there, it will be an epic experience and for a great cause. Please come out and support the Arts int he Bay Area this weekend.-Felix
This has been undoubtedly the most amazing trip and adventure of my life! We rocked the art shows, the live performance at Shinjuku JAM and I was able to experience Japan on many levels for my first time. This is a truly amazing place and I feel honored to have been helped even in the small capacity that I was able. I will be planning on coming back as soon as I can to continue the dialogue that has been started with so many amazing people, places, things, and history here. I sadly have to say that it is time to go to Narita Airport now, but here begins the opportunity to reflect and make art that communicates the process of building that has begun here in Japan. I would especially like to thank Frankie and Emi for their amazing hospitality, Kyoko (and all of her Bar USA.gi Cru), Hori, Junko, and Isaac (North Carolina stand up!) and Ichy (Ichy's Gallery) for making it all happen on the ground in Tokyo well before I arrived, Alani, Tracy, AKS, and Yoshi (the NY cru) for making Tokyo feel like home and showing me the most amazing time, Ken Minami, Chiaki, and Shinjuku JAM giving us the opportunity to rock out with a live performance (Ken's band Ken South Rock will be back in the US soon as well, they are absolutely amazing),and of course the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) for taking us all around Kansai at light speed! Art for People Art for Japan!
We just got back from Osaka and Kyoto, and are exhausted from an amazing trip, but that is for another post! Tomorrow night at Bar USAgi in Tokyo is the Final Installment of Art for People, Art for Japan!!! The first show was awesome, the Live Performance with Ken Minami from Ken South Rock at Shinjuku JAM was a hit (photos coming soon), and this will be the amazing culmination of this beautiful trip to Japan, the dialogue that has been opened with those who have been a part of the process, and building to help children orphaned by the Tsunami/Earthquake disaster! So yes, Sunday Sept. 25th Art for People, Art for Japan Final Show in Tokyo at Bar USAgi!!! There will be Live Painting from the crew, DJs, Live Music, Mad Drinks, Great People, Dancing, and a Silent Auction so you can bid what you can on the artwork that you like and walk away with some beautiful original pieces of art from the Art for People Crew! We are going hard on this one and all the proceeds will be going to Ashinaga! So come and have a blast and know you are supporting an amazing cause and future generations of creativity. See you there. Here are the flyers!!! Please download the flyers and forward them to anyone in the Tokyo area that would be interested, we want to make this a time to remember!!! Map and address are on the flyer.
Tonight Ken Minami and myself will be doing a live painting performance at Shinjuku JAM in Tokyo. I will be doing Live Painting while Ken (of the epic duo Ken South Rock) will be playing guitar, singing, doing jump kicks and rocking out!!! The show opens at 8pm and we perform around 8:40pm, so get there early and come kick it with us! Proceeds from this will be going to Ashinaga to help children orphaned by the Tsunami! This will be my first live painting performance piece with a musician so I am super excited! Shinjuku JAM is located at 歌舞伎町2-3-23 セントラルビル1F・B1 Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0021, Japan 03-3232-8169 See you tonight...
I am very proud to say that the benefit show at Ichy's Gallery on the 18th was a success. We came together through the power and love of art as a unifier and raised a lot of money to give to Ashinaga to help children who have been orphaned or affected in the disaster. This will help a whole new generation heal and build a creative voice and progress in to the future. I am so psyched to have made this happen, and want to say a huge thank you to Kyoko and the owner of Ichy's Gallery for really making this solidify and happen while I worked hard to get across the world to help. Ton's of people showed up, we ate, drank, danced, conversed, took tons of photos, and had a great time all for an amazing cause. I met people from all over the world, Japan, London, L.A., France, NYC, Taiwan, Korea, Dominican Republic, it was crazy! We made some amazing contacts and have begun to build a bigger network through "Art for People" to continue to help rebuild the place hit by the disaster and the psyche of those all over the world who were affected by such a loss. Serious Bizness be happenin here! Here are photos of the event to recap. Thanks to everyone involved to make this happen and everyone who come through to support, as well as all my people back home who have believed in me and encouraged me to go forward to make this a reality!
Alani's photos and my paintings.
Entrance to the Gallery.
Photographer from NYC, Alani Cruz
Junko's work was super rad!
Kyoko's Piece, Beautiful and Serene!
My homie A.K.S. from Pratt, now living in Tokyo!
Kyoko Kawahata, looking beautiful as always.
Andrew from Seattle early in the evening.
Detail of one of Andrew's mono prints.
More of Junko's Work
The Gallery was on the third floor of a building of the Aoyama neighborhood. Here is the view from the window, pretty impressive.
Fello wNorth Carolinian Issac Schulz.
Mikiko checkin out the work.
Yoshi Kogure in front of Isaac Schulz's work.
The Art fro People Crew! September 18th 2011 at Ichy's Gallery
Video Installation piece.
Alani and Mikiko
Isaac Muggin
Me Myself and I
Tracy Jones
AKS
Andrew from Seattle
Yasutaka Hori
Yoshitaka Kogure
Kyoko Kawahata
Tracy Jones, NY2SF2Tokyo Microscopic Giant continues
And from here on out the Show got poppin!
The future.
Kyoko letting loose!
Yoshi and AKS
The Lovely Anna Ngo!
Frankie Gee and AKS
Manabu SWAN
Champagne time with Kyoko chan!
Tracy and Natsumi
Manabu, his brother Kei, and fashion model Aska
This is the Gallery Owner with two of Kyoko's fine young friends.
Thanks again to everyone invovled, the night was awesome. And then...
...we had the most amazing Okonamyaki I have ever had! True Talk!!!
This is the next thing I must learn how to do in life! Japan is Awesome! Thank you Japan for continuing to be awesome!
So tonight we open the first of the Art For People shows in Tokyo in Minami-Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo! I am so happy it has all come together for an amazing cause and has brought together artists from Japan and the US to build a new born sense of creative community through our love of making art and our passion for life. This marks my first show and first trip ever to Japan and it has been all that and more so far! I am still in disbelief that I am here and it has all come together, but the reality is that is has and the show looks amazing! Setting up last night was so much fun and we represented, white black asian American Japanese and all of our ancestries building a new foundation for future endeavors and a way to help a future generation of Japanese children to continue this creative expansion. I saw and worked with friends from New York I hadn't seen in years, reminisced, met new friends, one of whom randomly happens to be from North Carolina, it really was an amazing surprise. Here are a few photos of the set and once again the flyer with information about tonights show. It starts at 3pm and goes until about 9pm. Arigato Gozaimasu!
Bringing the Past from the Blast and some newer paintings and some pin up figure drawings to Japan! I AM IN A SHOW IN JAPAN! Rocking it!
Alani and Kyoko hanging Kyoko's Work.
Yoshi's piece! TWNY 4 Life!
Isaac Schulz sitting under my painting. This guy is actually from Asheville, North Carolina! Kackalack Represent!
Isaac's work. I will post again and explain the whole Kreayshawn piece, it has to do with some random twitter action and it is a pretty amazing story!
Alani unveiling his new photos.
Even Tekkamaki seemed to be in Tokyo in an art store.
See you tonight. Time to go out into Tokyo again!
We arrived in Tokyo at 3:05 pm on September 14th. The time space until now has been mind blowing, inspiring, complex, intense, surreal, and absolutely amazing. Japan, more specifically Tokyo thus far, is all that and more than I ever imagined. Let me rephrase, Tokyo is far more than I ever could have possibly imagined. I cannot even begin to describe it here. (That is what my random stream of life consciousness Tumblr http://felixthethirdrock.tumblr.com is for ). What I can say is that everything for our art shows and the live performance at Shinjuku JAM is well on track and underway. The gods of art, community, and purpose have smiled upon us and I have made it to a place in the physical as well as spiritual that before now had only existed for me in dreams. Here are some photos to share with you of the amazing old school industrial paint store (very small spot) I found near Asakusa (the old Edo period center of Tokyo) where I found the majority of the supplies I will be using here, as well as food and some other random images. Updates of my fellow artists and the Live PA I am doing with Ken from Ken South Rock will be coming tomorrow and Sunday into our first show at Ichy's Gallery on the 18th. Arigato Gozaimasu! Matane'!
This paint is amazing, and was suprisingly cheap. Live Painting Shinjuku JAM here we come!
Art Supplies for the Live Show purchased so far! This store was seriously awesome and the older man that owned it was incredibly fun to try to converse with. We both spoke mostly with random words and hand motions, but we totally understood each other and were able to fully joke around and get excited about paint colors and quality and price etc... Was a really cool experience.
I want this, I want to own this and hang it outside on the exterior of my new apartment building.
Food is art! In Japan this is an understand. Master of Soba!
Someshine clothing now in Tokyo!!! Watch for my T-Shirts coming out from Someshine very soon! TWNY
Ken from Ken South Rock, strolling through the back streets of Shinjuku! A true rock hero!
