I'm super excited about the Takashi Murakami retrospective Art Show at MoCA's Geffen Contemporary opening today. There's already been tons of sneak previews and coverage from the preview show and it looks bigger and better than I imagined.I'm a bit uncomfortable about the strong commercial presence of Louis Vuitton, though. I understand that Murakami's international success is integrally connected to his design collaborations with LV...but it's a little weird and insulting that a fully operating Louis Vuitton store is at the center of the Art Exhibit. Then again it's probably the ultimate mixing of Murakami's obsession with commercialism and branding.Here are some great pics from the show I found on the Supertouch Blog:

It was with great pleasure that we met the Mexico-based LEDY LEDY crew at the Esquina Norte Design Conference a couple weeks ago. They are currently hard at work on a line of vinyl figures that will be developed entirely in Mexico. Ledy Ledy is:MR. KONE is an illustrator based in Mexico City whose done tons of work for a variety of Mexican Magazines and publications. His blog is filled with work that demonstrates his great range of artistic style.ZOVECK'S whimsical art is both familiar and fantastic...like that wonderful dream you can't quite remember. His San-Tos statue is one of Jerry's favorite pieces, EVER!ROBOT SODA'S Arenas illustration has a crisp modern style that finds inspiration in classical animation. He's the only guy I've met whose adoration for retro Anime robot design and Tezuka surpasses my own.ESCOBAS is Mexican Wrestling's Ed Hardy. He's reinterpreting the iconography of Lucha Libre through a variety of fashion-based products and new Luchadores mask designs.Mr. Kone, Escobas, Jerry, Zoveck, Arenas, MPBUpcoming Ledy Ledy VinylMr. KoneZoveckArenas (Robot Soda)EscobasJerry, Mr. ? (w/Escobas mask), MPB

I though only Homer would do that... (thanks to ADN for the link.)

To complete the disturbing artists trilogy, here's FREDOX. He's French, he's a "collage artist" and he's unbelievably talented. You can find some of his books at LE DERNIER CRI. But be warned, after reading one of his book, your eyes will burn and your brain will never work the same way.

After talking about Maruo, it's logical to mention Joe Coleman. That guy pushed all the limits, his paintings are about serial killers, murders, deceases, rotten flesh, apocalypse and fucked-up destiny. He's one of the main artist of the lowbrow art and he could be the twisted son of Robert Williams. The first image is his –censored– poster for HENRY, PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER.

I just got back from a 3 day backpacking trip in Yosemite. Man, what a great time! This was the first time I did a "real" camping trip ("real" by my definition is one in which you poop in the woods). We did about 15 miles of hiking in 3 days. If you are in California, you definitely should check out Yosemite. Words and pictures don't do it justice. The lake you see is Ostrander Lake (where we hiked to). The other pictures were taken from Glacier Point (1 picture is Half Dome, the other are the waterfalls on the Mist Trail).