Why buy POP VEGAS?

I was at a souvenir store on Fremont Street looking at their t-shirt designs and to see what sells. I could not believe it! I saw a Las Vegas T-shirt made in China that actually said, 'City Sin' in the collage with all these generic Vegas landmarks. Then to add insult to injury, a lady rushed up to it and told her husband it was sexy and she wanted it. I decided I could not let her purchase such a travesty of Vegas culture, and I told her about the 'city sin' translation error. She didn't mind and bought it anyway.

Am I foolish to even care? What right do I have to decide that tourists coming to Vegas deserve better? I think Las Vegas deserves better! Locals and tourists.... I have all the right to decide when something that represents the town I call home, sucks! And I feel like I have the ability to do something about it.

But is Vegas ready?

Do people really want it?

Does anyone really care at all?

I have to offer to the city of Las Vegas what I believe to be the best, most personal, most edgy, and exciting Vegas inspired designs yet! But do people really want it? Would they pay a little more for a t-shirt made in Vegas by a Vegas artist rather than made in China? Would people spend money on pop art paintings made by a local artist rather than some 'other city' artist trying to cash in on the Vegas market? Vegas give us your money! Art is reciprocal. Artists do not exist without their fans/patrons. Support local Vegas boys and we won't let you down! That is a promise that not many can deliver.

A Las Vegas Underground Urban Legend: 'Jabba The Huntridge'

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In the 90's, The Huntridge Theater in Las Vegas was an epicenter for youth subculture. Anyone who ever went to the Huntridge Theater instantly met an urban legend called 'Jabba The Huntridge', working as a security guard at the door. The name followed him through the generations of show goers for the next decade or so. Once I was in San Francisco at a party in 2002 and told some people I was from Vegas and they asked me,

"Do you know Jabba The Huntridge?"



I said, "WHAT?!?!? You know of him? I was there the night my friends named him that..."

They didn't believe me. Anyways, the point is everyone who ever went there knew the guy. Even out of state visitors, including the bands knew his name. I was laughing about 'Jabba The Huntridge' with some guys in Danzig one night on the tour bus, while trying to cock block them from banging my hot punk girlfriend. She wanted them too as I could see. But that's another story...

So it is then obvious that 'Jabba The Huntridge' is in fact, LEGENDARY!

What better way to perpetuate the man, the myth, the legend than a tribute illustration? I'm not trying to make money off of the shirt, I'm trying to reach all the people from back in the day because they are the only ones who will truely appreciate the effort. It's a way of giving back to my community, my people, my generation. That's how I feel about alot of the POP VEGAS designs, they are a way of giving back.



The entire time I'm drawing this I keep feeling bad for the man it's based on. He was enormously overweight. He sat on a chair and you couldn't see the chair. His eyes protruded out of the sockets and looked in different directions, one bigger than the other. He had to drive in a special car. He was quite tragic and kids can be so mean. So I have to ask myself, is this shirt mean and disrespectful? Am I portraying the memory of this man as a grotesque, jailbait groping (he would always insist on frisking my little sister), fat slug?? No. I am portraying the legend that the man created in the minds of youth subcultures everywhere. There is a point when the man stops and the legend keeps going. I hope he would laugh at this shirt and be proud. After all, he could have quit if he hated the infamy/name calling, right? He definately knew everyone called him that. I heard several shout outs to him a night.



In 1995, The Circle Jerks were going to play The Huntridge but the roof collapsed! The band set up in the parking lot and played to the remaining crowd of 30 or 40 people. I choose that band on the marquee for obvious reasons. This is still a draft but the final t-shirt will be made later this week!




The final print will most likey have the building in the background in a 3rd color tone bringing the forground out more.

Hottest Vegas T-Shirt of the moment?

Here's a SNEAK PEEK at the new t-shirt design called, 'SIN, SIN, SIN', part of the SPRING 2009 LINE.



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I'm working full force now to produce every POP VEGAS design we've got up our sleeve! There are about 30 Vegas designs or so, from classy to campy to just plain bad ass. We've even got a really underground Vegas reference on a t-shirt design. I want to approach The Double Down about selling it on their wall. We'll reveal more on that later... (Jabba The HUntridge!)

How to take over Las Vegas with Pop Art (Part 1)

It's a bold statement, but POP VEGAS has all the right things going for it to be the next big thing in Las Vegas and art.



Let's face it, Vegas is ready for it's own local pop artist. The last few years have seen local Vegas bands like The Killers and Panic At The Disco rise to international status, proving that Vegas isn't just a town for impersonators. Vegas has an identity, but it's still a young city in comparison to New York or even LA. Vegas needs help forging it's identity, and POP VEGAS has a vision for that new identity. In addition, we have not forgotten it's colorful past. Have you seen our Centennial button set that sent Mayor Goodman into hysterics during a press conference?

POP VEGAS is going to do to the city of Las Vegas, what Andy Warhol did to the Campbell's soup can. What better way to portray the city than with a new painting technique that picks up from where Warhol left off? We have come up with a 'new' look for the old pop art screen painting technique by combining screen printing with intense glitter/metallic paints and high gloss finishes over space age plastic canvases. A medium only possible in the last few decades and to our knowledge, not in practice by any current artists. It's so perfect for Vegas too: glitter, high gloss, metallic foils, plastic.



We'll let the paintings speak for themselves. This is another bold statement considering a majority of this confidence is based on paintings that haven't been made yet. I've produced about 7 so far, mostly learning the technique and boundaries of the new medium. But what I see in my head will dazzle and amaze when it becomes reality. And since we've planned a huge art show in late September that means it'll happen in the next few months so WATCH THIS BLOG FOR UPDATES on our successes and failures.