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Beautiful Losers (film)
Encyclopedia
Beautiful Losers is a 2008 documentary
feature film
by director Aaron Rose
and co-directed by Joshua Leonard
. It was produced by Sidetrack Films
in association with BlackLake Productions, and stars several artists including Harmony Korine
, writer of independent cult films Kids
and Gummo
.
It premiered at South by Southwest
on March 9, 2008 and later in general release on August 8, 2008 at the IFC Center
in New York City
.
, graffiti
and underground music such as punk rock
and hip-hop. The artists discussed and interviewed in the film include Thomas Campbell
, Cheryl Dunn
, Shepard Fairey
, Harmony Korine
, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee
, Margaret Kilgallen
, Mike Mills
, Steven "Espo" Powers
, Aaron Rose
, Ed Templeton
and Deanna Templeton.
A series of interviews with these artists explains their reasoning behind their "do-it-yourself" style of street art
. As some of these artists discuss their growth in popular artistic culture they explain how becoming renowned and admired in the art world
was something that never occurred to them from their various roots in street culture, or simply creating art for themselves. As many of the artists began to be recognizable and sought after they discuss their series of commercial success: creating advertisements for popular products, designing products themselves, working in film and being hired to paint and create artwork in well known locations. The personal feelings and convictions of some of the artists and how creating work for corporations compares to their beginnings in street culture is also discussed. The film portrays the artists as outside the realm of contemporary art.
, and edited by co-curators Christian Strike and Aaron Rose, who directed the film.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
by director Aaron Rose
Aaron Rose
Aaron Rose is a film director, art show curator and writer who is a key part of the Beautiful Losers art movement, which has featured and helped notarize the work of artists such as Barry McGee, Steven "Espo" Powers, Harmony Korine and Shepard Fairey...
and co-directed by Joshua Leonard
Joshua Leonard
Joshua Granville Leonard is an American actor, known for his role in The Blair Witch Project.-Early life:Leonard was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Joann, an operator of a children's theatre, and Robert Leonard, a theater professor. He was raised in State College, Pennsylvania...
. It was produced by Sidetrack Films
Sidetrack Films
Sidetrack Films is a film production company based out of Brooklyn, New York formed by Ravi Anne in 2005. Since its formation many noteworthy and award winning documentaries and feature-length narrative films have been produced by the company.-Productions:...
in association with BlackLake Productions, and stars several artists including Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
, writer of independent cult films Kids
Kids (film)
Kids is a 1995 drama film written by Harmony Korine and directed by Larry Clark.The film features Chloë Sevigny, Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Harold Hunter, and Rosario Dawson, all of them in their debut performances...
and Gummo
Gummo
Gummo is a 1997 American independent drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. It was his directorial debut and has since become a cult film. The film stars Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Chloë Sevigny, Linda Manz and Max Perlich...
.
It premiered at South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
on March 9, 2008 and later in general release on August 8, 2008 at the IFC Center
IFC Center
IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, New York City in the United States of America. It is located at 323 Sixth Avenue, on the former site of the Waverly Theater, which was itself a well known art house movie theater...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Subject matter
The film focuses on the careers and work of a collective group of artists who since the 1990s began a movement in the art world using D.I.Y. aesthetics from skateboardingSkateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
, graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and underground music such as punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and hip-hop. The artists discussed and interviewed in the film include Thomas Campbell
Thomas Campbell (visual artist)
Thomas Campbell is a California-based visual artist whose work has appeared on the Ugly Casanova album Sharpen Your Teeth and in Juxtapoz Magazine's September 2006 issue....
, Cheryl Dunn
Cheryl Dunn
Cheryl Dunn is a filmmaker and photographer based in New York City. Her work is influenced by alternative urban and youth culture, documenting skaters, the homeless, musicians, graffiti, artists and their processes...
, Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
, Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee
Barry McGee
Barry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
, Margaret Kilgallen
Margaret Kilgallen
Margaret Leisha Kilgallen was a San Francisco Bay Area artist. Though a contemporary artist, her work showed a strong influence from folk art. She was considered a central figure in the Bay Area Mission School art movement....
, Mike Mills
Mike Mills (director)
Michael C. "Mike" Mills is an American film and music video director and graphic designer. He is perhaps best known for his independent films Thumbsucker and Beginners.-Early life:...
, Steven "Espo" Powers
ESPO (artist)
Stephen J. Powers is a New York City artist who at one time wrote graffiti in Philadelphia and New York under the name ESPO .-Background:...
, Aaron Rose
Aaron Rose
Aaron Rose is a film director, art show curator and writer who is a key part of the Beautiful Losers art movement, which has featured and helped notarize the work of artists such as Barry McGee, Steven "Espo" Powers, Harmony Korine and Shepard Fairey...
, Ed Templeton
Ed Templeton
Edward "Ed" Templeton is a professional skateboarder and a contemporary artist who resides in Huntington Beach, California. -Biography:...
and Deanna Templeton.
A series of interviews with these artists explains their reasoning behind their "do-it-yourself" style of street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
. As some of these artists discuss their growth in popular artistic culture they explain how becoming renowned and admired in the art world
Art world
The art world is composed of all the people involved in the production, commission, preservation, promotion, criticism, and sale of art. Howard S. Becker describes it as "the network of people whose cooperative activity, organized via their joint knowledge of conventional means of doing things,...
was something that never occurred to them from their various roots in street culture, or simply creating art for themselves. As many of the artists began to be recognizable and sought after they discuss their series of commercial success: creating advertisements for popular products, designing products themselves, working in film and being hired to paint and create artwork in well known locations. The personal feelings and convictions of some of the artists and how creating work for corporations compares to their beginnings in street culture is also discussed. The film portrays the artists as outside the realm of contemporary art.
Art book
The film was preceded by a published art collection titled Beautiful Losers.(ISBN 1933045302) The book was co-published by Iconoclast Editions and Distributed Art PublishersDistributed Art Publishers
D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. is an American company that distributes and publishes books on art, photography, design and aesthetic culture....
, and edited by co-curators Christian Strike and Aaron Rose, who directed the film.