Visual Texture » Design We Like

Wilco @ The Warfield

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:30:51 +0000

On Sunday, January 29th Wilco made its return to San Francisco proper for the first time in 4 years to play The Warfield, the first of three sold out Bay Area gigs. This was my first time seeing Wilco and was greatly impressed by the musicianship of the band and the sweet vocals of frontman Jeff Tweedy.
I photographed the show and my shots were published in Hidden Track, you can see them here.

The poster for the show was designed by Heads of State.

CRB @ GAMH

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:53:02 +0000

In December 2011 Chris Robinson Brotherhood played a four-night run at San Francisco’s legendary Great American Music Hall to cap off a year of touring with his new band. After two memorable nights of extended jams and Chris’ brand of blues psychedelia, the band moved into night three with a big surprise. After rocking the first set with the full band, Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead came out to fill-in on bass duties for the whole second set. The set included a fair amount of Grateful Dead tunes peppered between CRB originals.

I photographed the evening and my photos were published on the music magazine Hidden Track, you can check them out here.

San Francisco artist Alan Forbes designed the posters for the four-night run.

Lost At E Minor

leefenvisual — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:12:07 +0000

My website was just featured on a blog I was recently turned onto, Lost At E Minor. Featuring inspiring art, illustration, photography, music, fashion, film and more, it’s the cure-all if you’re seeking creative inspiration. Pop culture is always changing, Lost At E Minor is keeping step.

Stephen Wiltshire – Illustrator savant

leefenvisual — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:10:49 +0000

At the age of three Stephen Wiltshire of London was diagnosed with autism. Living within the walls of his own mind Stephen developed his love of drawing, first animals, then London buses and eventually cityscapes. Stephen, now 35, draws entire panoramic city-scapes from memory after only a 20 minute helicopter ride over the city. Stephen just finished a panorama of New York City at Pratt Institute which is just stunning.

To check out video of Stephen drawing his masterpieces and images of his amazing portfolio visit his website.

Phat Beets

laina — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:15:56 +0000

Applause for great packaging, minimalist design, and letting the product name do the heavy lifting.

As seen at Whole Foods in Berkeley, CA.

Check out ricks’ picks.

American Artifact World Premier at The Red Vic

leefenvisual — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:23:21 +0000

On Saturday, June 20th, following TRPS Rock Art by the Bay at Ft. Mason, Merle Becker’s documentary American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art, had it’s world premier at The Red Vic on Haight St. in San Francisco. The movie is a must see for any rock poster collector or fan. Not only are you seeing poster artists in their studios talking about their craft, you also get a solid history lesson about the rock poster evolution from Elvis to Pearl Jam. Visit americanartifactmovie.com for the screening schedule.

I took some photos outside the theater while waiting in line and also during the Q&A segment after the screening. Below are some of my favorites.

Merle Becker and Ron Donovan

Invader: Top 10

leefenvisual — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:48:10 +0000

This is a video promoting the French artist Invader’s solo show at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in Manhattan next month. Invader is known for creating art out of tiles and Rubik’s Cubes to replicate vintage 8-bit video game characters. His website is also very fun and worth a look.

[dailymotion id=x9ek87]

Raw Meat On the Doorstep

leefenvisual — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:13:42 +0000

Mike Shine creates paintings on driftwood he finds in the sand and rocks on beaches he surfs at. An advertising art director during the day, Mike escapes from being a desk jockey the only way he knows how to, he retreats to his cabin in Briones, CA and makes art. “The Shack” as it is affectionately called, is part art studio, part art gallery and part home. The entire cabin is covered in his art, either hung on the walls or murals covering the walls. Mike’s art is rooted in carnival imagery and colors from a time long since gone. He’s influenced by Faustian imagery and stories and likes to paint with a lot of people around.

Mike recreated his lovable “Art Shack” for The Museum of Craft and Folk Art’s Inside/Outside: Artist Environments show and recently sat down with skateboarding legend and successful filmmaker Stacy Peralta for an interview which was turned into a mini-film called Raw Meat On the Doorstep. Whether you are familiar with Mike Shine’s art or not, this film is worth watching for a peek inside the Art Shack and Mike Shine’s creativity.

::leefenvisual:: art show at Hermosa Salon

leefenvisual — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:13:36 +0000

Selections from my Montreal Doors and Vehicular Style of California series will be showing at Hermosa Salon on College Avenue in Berkeley. The show opens Monday, June 1 and will be up for all of June and July. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and check it out. Hermosa is located at 2703 College Ave, Berkeley 94705.

Tasty Texture

laina — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:01:52 +0000

The culinary arts are (and some could say the same about performing arts) challenged in my opinion by the fact that you can’t take it with you and gaze upon it the same way you can say, a painting or photograph. Sure, you can return to the restaurant or use a recipe to try and relive a sublime foodie experience, but ultimately once it is consumed the experience is over.

So perhaps menu collecting is our attempt to take the culinary experience with us. When the food is digested and the meal is just a memory we still own a piece of it. But, it has become more than just a vehicle to recall the meal, it is visual texture in and of itself. Especially in a day and age (and place) when so many restaurants create seasonal or even daily menus, each one can be considered a piece of art, or at least an artifact of the experience. There is almost as much to deconstruct about the menu as there is about the meal–the typeface, the size, the alignment, the graphic elements, the paper quality, etc. And well, these are things we talk about here at visual texture.

Here is a smattering of our collection. The hope is to one day create a tabletop or kitchen wallpaper out of our favorites.