SF Mixtape ~ a group art show

The show has come and gone. The day seemed to go so fast, which is strange considering there was about 143 pieces to get up on the mobile walls, and that it was a 7 hour event. Lots of good people came out, and if I talked to you at thelastcat table, thank you for listening and for being there. And to everyone who came out that I didn't talk to, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed the show. Because I was so busy at the table (I completely underestimated how busy i'd be), I didn't get to take the amount of pictures I'd have liked. Alas... However, here are a few pics some friends took. Some select pieces from the show will be making their way online this week as well, definitely check it out.

SF mixtape - a group art show - August 8th, 2014 @ 111 Minna gallery

Happy to announce the upcoming show, SF mixtape - a group art show.
A talented bunch of artists, music by some great DJs, and some tables with some awesome stuff for sale.
Save the date.

A thursday in June - Snapbacks, shirts, zines, prints, and stickers

It took longer than I planned, but the long awaited store update is here.

There's Deth P. Sun shirts, as well as some extremely limited zip hoodies as well. The image used is from two pages of his zine, When Night Comes. For me, these 2 pages spoke volumes in terms of storytelling, mood, technique, and overall DethPSun-ness. I immediately fell in love with these 2 pages, and I wanted to join them together, and try and create the darkest Deth shirt I could. The red on black made sense, and I'm extremely pleased how it came out. The zip hoody was a shout out to the zine, with both images separated while unzipped, and coming together zipped. Shirts are $25, zip hoodies are $45.

The logo snapback came out better than I could have imagined. The embroidered logo sits center on a black Yupoong classic snapback. They've got a green underbill, and are all tagged with thelastcat tags.
$30 each.

Aaron Jupin is a young artist out of Los Angeles. I first learned of him through the magic of Instagram. His art finds a middle ground between abstract and cartoon, blending new and old, and creating an entirely new artistic entity. I was able to get a few of his latest zine, which are all hand screenprinted. Behind the Cartoon Curtain is 10 pages of looking at the cartoon backgrounds we take for granted, through the artistic lens of Aaron Jupin. $15 each, edition of 30.

Akari Tachibana is a close friend and extremely talented young lady. While her main artistic field is fashion, her drawings and paintings that derive from her work are art pieces in themselves.
Three of her drawings have been made into screenprinted vinyl stickers. High quality, long lasting, and beautifully detailed, you can have all 3 for just $3.

Lastly, we've got some Zachary Sweet prints for sale. Zachary Sweet hails from the bay area, and is one of the hardest working artists out here. Constantly cranking out high quality art, his imagination knows no limits, and seems to flow freely and effortlessly from his head to his hand to the paper.
Four drawings of his have been made into giclee prints, and can now be purchased on the site.
Only $10 each, these offer a nice glimpse into the strange imagination of  Zachary, and reveal his humor, his talent, his technique, and his dedication to his art.

And thats today store update. There will be alot more coming in the next few weeks. Original art, prints, a special summer shirt, and in August, the annual TheLastCat event. More details coming.

Deth P. Sun and Ferris Plock coming up.

It took a little longer than I'd hoped, but the first batch of 2014 will be here soon.
Sorry about the delay, had some things going on!
The website will be getting a new look, theres going to be ton of new zines, artwork, stickers, shirts and hats going up in the next week.
And I'm extremely happy to bring two new shirts to The Last Cat from two good friends, Ferris Plock and Deth P. Sun.
Both are bay area artists, both are pretty awesome dudes, and both are two of the most talented artists working out there today. These guys are pros, they've been doing this for awhile, and I'm honored that they've let me work with them to get these done.
We've got the Ferris Plock Garphyn shirt, in two color ways, burnt orange on athletic blue, and maroon on athletic grey. Both shirts are triblends, very soft and comfortable. Heres AK rocking the blue shirt.

And then theres the Deth P. Sun's When Night Comes shirt. Taken from two pages of his zine of the same name, its printed in blood red on black. I wanted to make the darkest Deth P. Sun shirt I could, and I think I did pretty well. Theres also a zip hoody version of this as well, but its very limited, so we'll see if I offer it up for sale or not.
Heres AK wearing it.

And as I mentioned, there will be a lot of art and zines coming up online too, from artists including Brendan Monroe, Joe To, Albert Reyes, Aiyana Udesen, Aaron Martinez, Jonathan Gregg, Evah Fan, Matt Furie, and more. Stay tuned.

Last Batch of the year - starring Matt Furie, Steven Weissman, and Mark Head

Very pleased with this last batch of product, being able to work with and old friend (matt furie), a new friend (mark head), and an artist that I've been a fan of for years and years, the great Steven Weissman (a new friend now too). Check out all the new product at the shop: thelastcat.com And theres also some new colorways too, of the Kirin shirt and the pothead shirt. Theres also a new sticker pack thing i'm gonna do, a way of spreading all the cool vintage stickers and art product I accumulate over the years. This is my way of just sharing the wealth.

Headed to Japan, new stuff coming soon

The Last Cat is going to Japan! It's been awhile since my last trip out there, and this time I'm bringing a lot of samples and goodies, so be on the lookout for me. I'll also be looking for new products and new artists to work with, so if you know either I might be interested in, give me a heads up!

Also, we're rounding out the year with several new shirts, which I should be able to give sneak previews on soon.

Matt Furie, Steven Weissman, and more, coming soon....

Sean Boyles - the Cyclorilla Lives

Sean Boyles is a San Jose art legend. He may not admit it, but the guy has so much history within the art community of San Jose you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wasn't familiar with him or his work.

He and his lady, Roan Victor, own The Arsenal, an art supply shop that, uniquely, is run by actual working artists. Because of this, The Arsenal actually feels different and functions different than your typical art supply shop. The items in the shop are chosen based on function, not cost. And thats function gained through experience, an attribute that most clerks or owners in an art supply shop can't attest to.

Sean is a member of the old Crab Shack crew, out of Oakland. Some extremely talented artists lived together while going to the California College of Arts and Crafts, and they lived above Arts Crab Shack on Broadway. Included in this amazing bunch were Sean, Joe To, Rob Sato, Ako Castuera, Ryohei Tanaka, and David Choe.

Sean has always surprised me at the high amount of work he can produce, and at a consistently high level. It seems like every week he has some project he's doing, some live painting event to participate in, some mural piece to finish. You'd think a guy running his own business would take it easy on his own personal art, but its like he's actually increased his output. I was very pleased that he included The Last Cat art show in his schedule and I asked him a few questions related to his pieces, and about him and the shop in general.

thelastcat: So how long have you been in San Jose? I'd assume your whole life.

Sean Boyles: Pretty much. I lived in Oakland for about 6 years, that's how I met Joe, Dave, Rob, Ako, and Ryohei. But there's no place I've lived longer, or would rather live. I grew up here. It's home.

thelastcat: Tell me about the Cyclorilla. How did you come up with him? Does he have a back story?

 Sean Boyles: I started painting them a few years back because they made me laugh a little. I was painting a bunch of monsters and zombies, and I remembered this painting from that thick-ass-heavy art history book they make you buy in art school. The guy's name was Odilon Redon, and he painted a giant, dorky looking perv, cyclops, creeping out behind a hill, spying on a naked lady sleeping. It made me want to paint a giant cyclops, but I made it more beastly and less pervy, and still kept it dorky. It sort of came out like King Kong, but it had bright white male tits(well really more nipple than boob), and a matching beer belly. That was the godfather to the cyclorillas.

Sean Boyles: I like to think of them as being part of the planet of the apes mythology. When the monkeys get smart enough to start running the joint, they'll explore their cave monkey days, and come across some one eyed gorilla paintings, and since humans are stupid filthy animals, they'll figure a monkey painted them, and I'll be in the ape art history books.  probably as an unknown monkey, because I always forget to sign my paintings.

thelastcat: How long has The Arsenal been around? What gave you and Roan the idea to open it?


Sean Boyles: San Jose has some things going for it. There's a drive in, a couple good flea markets, some good people, a lot of artists...but it's always had shit for art stores. There's a michaels and Aaron brothers here and there, and there's this other corporate chain store, but they're based out of palo alto, so they're overpriced, uppity, and for old hobbyist. Me, Roan, and other artists would always go up to Berkeley, Oakland, or San Francisco to buy non generic art supplies. See when you're an artist or creative person from San Jose it's harder for you. The city doesn't really have a rich history of supporting artists, or have a ton of venues like San Francisco. There aren't a bunch of affordable live work, studio spaces, or artists communities like in Oakland. But there's a ton of talent here. I mean there's over a million people. So as an artist you have only a few options. Option one: deal with it, meaning take occasional trips to Oakland, San Francisco, or Berkeley.
Option two: move.
We chose option three: build your own, support your own community, make our city the way we want it. All my favorite San Jose people are doing the same thing: making our own galleries, our own shops that sell what we like, our own clothes, music, whatever. When people say "San Jose sucks, there's nothing to do, I'm moving to the city", I always think, cool. You won't be missed. Go be entertained in the city, or wherever. This city isn't for everybody. It's for people who take what they need, and make what they want.

thelastcat: Why did you guys start doing art shows at The Arsenal?

Sean Boyles: It's funny, when we first opened we never wanted to do art shows. There was already too much to figure out, and too much to do opening and running an art store. I've been tired since 2011. That first year was my least productive year as an artist. I think what's changed is, we're trying our hardest to make the store great, but with us just doing it on our own, it's going to be a marathon. So on our way to growing our store to meet our vision, we can do other things we're good at: teach classes, print shirts, host pop up shops, and have art shows. We also have some good people around us. Regin, Roan's sister knows the system better than all of us, and Augie can do anything. He's helped build walls and shelves, painted signs, and knows his art materials.

The thing I like best about our art shows is that there's no pressure to seek out the next big trend. We don't have to count on selling out our shows to pay the bills. The art store is for that. This gives us the freedom to show artists we like based entirely off of their work. So far the art shows have all been busy and the art sales have been good. We're proud to be hosting The Last Cat Art Show, and I can't complain, I got to be a part of it.

The Last Cat and The Arsenal were recently able to collaborate on a mural in SF. The Last Cat sponsored it, and let Sean Boyles (with the help of Joe To) do his thing on the massive 15ft tall 18ft wide wall.

Its in Taber Alley in the South Park area of San Francisco, off of 3rd street.

Defintely go check it out on the way, take a pic in front of it, enjoy it. We'll be working on some more projects too, so you'll see some other murals soon.
Sean Boyles work can be seen right now at The Arsenal, and online at:  http://www.thearsenalsj.com/show-catalog/
Email me at luke@thelastcat.com if you're interested in a piece.