Slow Jams

David Choe hand-wrote the entire, 34-page story of what would become Slow Jams in 7 hours one night in 1996. It's a tale of love, dedication, obsession, redemption, sex, betrayal, and violence. A few years later Dave made some drawings to go with the story, painted a color cover, stole enough photocopies from Kinko's to make about 200 copies (with color covers) and gave them away for free or real cheap at the 98 San Diego Comic Con. Then some of the story was reprinted in Jordan Crane's compilation comic series, "Non".

In 1999, Dave applied for and received a $5,000 grant from the Xeric Foundation to self-publish Slow Jams as a graphic novel. Bookending the story in several color pages of paintings, full color oil painted comic shorts, writings, photos, quotes (many of which first appeared in All In The Mind zine (see my last blog)) and guest art from Ezra Li Eismont. The new cover painting was Dave's interpretation of the classic Toulouse-Lautrec Moulin Rouge interior painting. The back cover is the original painted cover of the "stolen Kinko's" edition, and the inside of the book features yet another alternative cover painting. Plus a painting that was recently used as a cover for Juxtapoz magazine (image here)

I think a thousand copies of Slow Jams were printed, many of which Dave gave away to his friends or sold for only a dollar. The cover price was 4 bucks. I remember when at Dave's exhibition at Double Rainbow (ice cream shop) in Los Angeles they were for sale on the honor system... just put your money in the cup and take one from the pile. Just recently a used copy of Slow Jams sold for $200 on eBay!

Slow Jams is not your typical graphic novel. Aside from completely unrelated art items in the beginning and end of the book, the story itself is told with typed text that is then cut and laid-out among sketches, paint splatters, handwritten notes, xerography art, and found images. There are very few panel to panel sequences and a lot of splash pages. And, of course, the spelling is terrible.

The unique graphic style combined with Dave's gift for storytelling makes this a book you simply can't put down. Dave has tried to apply this dirty comic style to popular characters like Batman and the X-Men, but let's just say that the comic industry at large wasn't quite ready for him. Dave recently told me he is going to focus less attention on fine art and more on comics and printed matter in the upcoming years and I hope that is the case.

Coming up next episode: Bruised Fruit

Dave Choe - the early years

I first met Dave Choe a few days after I moved to Oakland to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts in September of 1995. We were both teenage freshmen living in the apartment style dorms, but while I was nervous, frightened, and generally cared only for finding skate spots in the neighborhood, Dave was out all night every night having semi-criminal art adventures. He was painting stoplights blue, stealing a meter maid's ransom in quarters, defacing billboards with traditional Roman portraits, and trying to ride his bike across the Bay Bridge. He had rooftop sword fights with fluorescent light bulbs, tossed giant televisions off buildings into the street, and used the dorm's only clothes washer as a drum kit. He was also making art and collecting comics at a furious pace. The dude lived.

Somewhere during our first year he produced a photocopied zine of his and other's artwork, as well as some favorite comic and literature bits and other criminal photographs and ephemera. It was called Pilgrimage and it was sloppy and dirty and free and just crammed with creativity. It was where I first saw Dan Clowes "Art School Confidential" comic strip, which is bar-none the most accurate depiction of art school ever. Too bad the movie was so awful.

I can't find my copy of that first issue of Pilgrimage but I remember it well. I did, however, recently unearth my copy of Pilgrimage issue#2. It is 8.5"x11"about 40 pages, black and white photocopied and stapled in the upper-left corner. It is a strange collection of artwork, photos, reviews, and clipped articles and comic bits that all add up to paint a portrait of a young Dave Choe: Reckless, creative, rebellious, intelligent, crude, entrepreneurial, and absolutely fearless. "Caution is nothing but the word of cowardice..."

Pilgrimage #2 reprints an essay titled "People I Loathe, Installment 1: Artsy Assh*les", advertising clips from Aquaman the Movie, Wesley Willis, Vanilla Ice, the Loompanics book catalog, news clips and literature from the Cacophony Society (who organize the drunken Santa party crashings among other things), Dave's own attempts to market Herbal Energy pills and bootleg copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special, a plug for my zine, Mr. Nice Guy, where Dave intentionally misspelled my name (he did this because I misspelled his name in my zine when crediting him with his "Interview with a Cop" article). And my favorite part of the zine is reprints of Dave's various citations and juvenile court reports where he signs with an "X".

I think #2 was the last issue of Pilgrimage.

But then, in November of 1997 Dave produced what I consider to be one of my favorite individual zine issues of all time: All In The Mind #1. "Alwayz Free! Tons of Artists Inside! Writers! Comix & Doodles! Burners $ Sketchz Up the Ass! Check It Fuk'n Out!"

I feel very fortunate to have attended CCAC with not only Dave, but dozens of other extremely talented and creative artists in the late 1990s. So many of these artists are going on to big fine art careers, and all of them are still working hard at their crafts. I only wish that I had recognized how special a time it was with all these folks working and living side-by-side. Well, I guess Dave saw it then because he spent the first few months of the 1997 fall semester "borrowing" sketchbooks and artwork (sometimes with permission, sometimes without) from the pool of genius and making photocopies. The result is a zine featuring an amazing roll-call of young artists including David Choe, Ezra Li Eismont (who did the cover), Alex "Emuse" Kopps, John Copeland, Ako Castuera, Oki Goto, Emily Counts, Ryohei Tanaka, Jesse Rose Vala, Alex Rosemarin, Jason Deamer, Rob Sato, Joe To, Extra Matt, Rhode Montijo, Fred Sundance, and Ryan Rogers. Plus stuff from non-art school folks . All made in the legendary Art's Crab Shak on Broadway.

Soon after All In The Mind came out Dave declared he was going to be one of the greatest living artists ever and dropped out of CCAC. He then received a grant to self-publish his first comic (Slow Jams), got a solo show at an ice cream shop in Los Angeles, and then spent the next 10 years taking over the world. He currently sells his fine art for more than you can afford, he has designed shoes, shirts, prints, art books, entire group shows, toys, and mannequins. No shit, he has his own line of mannequins. He's done illustration work for everybody and their grandmother, has his own travel show, "Thumbs Up", on Vice's online television network, does interviews for Juxtapoz magazine, and has a documentary coming out about him some day called "Dirty Hands". Like I said: The dude lives.

Here's a link to Dave's website.

Coming up next blog: Slow Jams

I'm With Stupid

I'm With Stupid is a delightful collection of the bold and beautiful illustrations and fine art of San Francisco's Jeremy Fish. His art has crept into our brains via his graphics as an art director for Think Skateboards, owner and artist of the Unbelievers Skateboards, "the Big Stupid" comics in Slap Magazine, fine art shows throughout the globe, and other illustration gigs for Xbox, the SF Guardian (or one of those papers), and others. Or maybe you've had the good fortune of coming into contact with the gang he formed in 1994, the Silly Pink Bunnies. His work inspired many of his contemporaries and his pen paper style continues to evolve into sculptures and furniture installations.

The books is divided into four sections. The first consists of Fish's absurd drawings. Heavily outlined black and white creatures and scenarios mix a gigantic cast of animals, weapons, vehicles, machinery, foodstuffs, and familar buildings. A lot a cartoon tattoo imagery in vignetted spaces. Plus bonus portaits, self-portaits, and skulls a-plenty. These are objects and styles now very familiar with many artists, but don't fool yourself, Fish is the original.

The second section is some choice selection from the Big Stupid ( in full color), which was a two-page comic illustration Jeremy did monthly for Slap Magazine from 2001-2004. These were small, surreal narratives generally involving skateboarding. From a set of lungs kickflipping a cigarette over an ashtray to (my personal all-time favorite skate drawing) the f/s nose blunt spread in the "New Condiment Concave" episode. The final 7 episodes were collaborations between Fish and some heavyweight skateboard art legends like Pushead, Andy Howell, and Todd Bratrud.

The third section of I'm With Stupid is dedicated to skateboard graphics. Fish made did his first skateboard graphic with Think in 1999 and has since designed over 300 different decks for them, others, and his own the Unbelievers brand. Fish's work defined the Think brand for the new century (the post-Wade Speyer era), and he took everything a step further with the Unbelievers' graphics.

The final pages of this book are color reproductions of his fine art paintings and sculptures. These are much along the lines of his more graphic work, but with brighter colors, brushwork, textures, and layers of materials. The content is usually a blend of his characters within a layered environment or scenario. The sculptures are like Fish drawings come to life. The book ends with his work combining painting with skill-saw cut skatedecks. I remember first seeing some of those decks at Culture Cache gallery in SF (where Fish was working in exchange for a free apartment) and being excited that Jeremy was pushing his talents in new directions while still clearly working within his original framework. They were new and still unmistakable Fish.

His recent works have included several art and furniture installations (most recently at Fifty24 in SF), as well as a "get-in-the-van" art tour across the country for his 30th birthday. He has clothing and vinyl toys and even his own Nike shoe! He recently released a limited edition book from Ginko Press with Aesop Rock (with a 7" vinyl record") called "The Next Big Thing"... the book was so limited I never even got a copy of my own!

I'm With Stupid was published by Fifty24 and Upper Playground in early 2006. It's got full-color glossy pages (except the drawings section), 140 pages total, soft cover, and is amazingly affordable. Jeremy Fish currently lives and works in San Francisco, is an amazing skateboarder, has always been cool when I've met him, and is the big Don of the SPB so show some respect. Check Jeremy's website here for tons of new work, and check this blog on fecalface.com about Jeremy's trip through Germany. There are lots of blogs and photos of and by Fish on the internet so do some searching.

I'm With Stupid is available from Rowan Morrison right now (depends on when you read this) for only $19.95. You can check it out in the gallery, purchase it on our website, or buy it right now through Paypal by clicking on the "add to cart" link below (there is no link, now):

Update September - we just sold out of I'm With Stupid. I'm working on getting some more copies if possible. Check back in or check out our online art book store for updates.

In The Night Kitchen

This was probably one of the first picture books I really fell in love with. While the illustrations of Good Night Moon, the BFG, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and (of course) Where The Wild Things Are all made an impact, I think Maurice Sendak's In The Night Kitchen was, and remains, my favorite children's picture book ever. Published in 1970, the story follows Sendak's popular formula from Wild Things of a rebellious child in a fantasy land.

A young boy named Mickey floats from his bed (in a very Little Nemo in Slumberland sequence), out of his clothes, and into the surreal dream world of the Night Kitchen. There he is nearly baked into the Morning Cake by three identical, singing bakers. After declairing that he is not the batter's milk, Mickey (now wearing a suit of batter) constructs a plane from dough and flies atop a giant bottle of milk. After diving in (and having his batter clothes dissolve) he gives milk to the bakers for the Morning Cake. After crowing like a rooster, Mickey slides down the milk bottle and miagically back into his bed.

Although it recieved a Caldecott Honor for children's book illustrations, it was also censored and even banned in several states, as Mickey is naked throughout much of the book. Some conservative librarians took to painting in a diaper on Mickey with correction fluid. Sendak claims his intentions for Mickey falling out of his clothes was simply to avoid the "mess" that might be created from falling into batter.

The illustrations in this book are just phenominal. I was (and am) enchanted in particular by the cityscape of the Night Kitchen being made from cooking ingredients and kitchen appliances. My mom used to sing as the Bakers when she read the story to me (which was frequently), "Milk In The Batter! Milk In The Batter! We Bake Cake! And Nothing's the Matter!". To this day I call coffeecake "Mickey-cake". The influence the pictures in this book have on me is tremendous. The creativity of both the story and the illustrations keep me inspired.

In The Night Kitchen is still available in both hardcover and paperback in almost every bookstore in America. The Sony Metreon in San Francisco featured a Night Kitchen restaraunt as part of it's Wild Things attraction, both of which closed in 2004. The Art of Maurice Sendak (published by Harry N. Abrams: $35) is a great art book that covers the entire span of this inspirational artist's career as an illustrator and set designer.

And, for the record, Sendack's 1985 follow-up, Outside Over There (featuring goblins who kidnap a baby and replace it was one made of ice that then melts), freaked me out. Gorgeous illustrations in the one as well, though.

Welcome.

Hello there and welcome to the Art Books with Rowan Morrison blog. Rowan Morrison is a contemporary art gallery and artist's bookstore in Oakland, California. This blog will be an ongoing discussion on art books, self-publishing, zines, and other related topics. You'll find books reviews and images, interviews and discussions with artists, publishers, and other folks, my own experiences with art book publishing and selling, a couple of how-to articles, and other related topics. Plus, I plan on having links to artists and hopefully the opportunity to directly purchase books from the blog via Rowan Morrison's online bookstore.

I'm still getting the hang of blog designing, so stay tuned and I'll get more images and perma-links and all that fancy stuff coming at you soon. I hope to get lots of people in on the discussions, so if you have anything you would want to see reviewed or discussed here, post a comment or email me at info@rowanmorrison.com. In the meanwhile, feel free to check the ever-growing selection of fine art books, prints, and paper goods online at rowanmorrison.com. Or get out there into the real world and visit us in person at 330 40th St. in Oakland (Thurs-Sun 12-7).