In anticipation of her show in São Paulo, Upper Playground will release a collection of t-shirts featuring art by Thais Beltrame. The collection is comprised of two pieces by Beltrame, Bird L and Mother’s Backyard. The pieces feature the intricate line-strokes and sparse coloring that have become characteristic of Beltranme’s art.

Beltrame is a member of the ‘Famiglia Baglione’ art collective, and has shown her art in the United States, United Kingdom and Brazil. The Brazilian native’s art speaks to childhood memories and conveys emotions of those memories with her simple line-strokes. The collection is Beltrame’s first venture in apparel, and is available exclusively at Upper Playground online and retail stores in men and women sizes.

Image Layout by C_Rocka

Being that this is the Art Radar column, I had no other choice but to write a little something on one of my favorite artists: Takashi Murakami 村上 隆,! With his bornday just passing it reminded me of how often I try to add him into the mix all the time. What can I say? I’m a major fan of Superflat and his colorful world of cartoony fantasy wonderland.

Murakami is a prolific contemporary Japanese artist who works in both fine arts media, such as painting, as well as digital and commercial media. He blurs the boundaries between high and low art.  He appropriates popular themes from mass media and pop culture, then, turns them into thirty-foot sculptures, “Superflat” paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies. Not to mention his work with Louis Vuitton, Kanye West and even has exhibited some of his works at the Palace of Versailles in France, filling 15 rooms with his sculptures. Notoriety much? So I would just like show some love to one of my favorites, Takashi Murakami. Again, happy bornday!

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Upper Playground and FIFTY24SF Gallery are pleased to announce London-based graffiti, conceptual, and fine artist INSA’s first solo exhibition in San Francisco opening on February 3rd, 2011. The exhibition is appropriately titled, MORE. Within the new body of work in MORE, INSA explores themes of aspiration and expectation, wants versus needs, and happiness versus success in his most comprehensive study to date. Using exaggerated symbols of sexuality representing the commodification of both everyday life and underground subcultures, INSA examines the illusions of seduction while employing his own iconic brand of aesthetic allure to draw the audience in. INSA’s new work revels in lurid excess, embracing the insatiability of consumerism and highlighting the duplicity of morality and enjoyment.

When: February 3 (opening) at 7PM
Where: 218 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94117

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Typographer, art director, designer, teacher, and father (what a catch)! Kevin Lyons never stops! Colette presents his first solo exhibition in France, with a selection of recent work: original paintings, prints, vinyls (with Bodega ), etc… His latest book, Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (&Press) is available now!

A new collection of drawings depicting cute funny monsters, quotes, snaps and one-liners that Kevin Lyons has collected and saved over the past few years. Printed in a purple spot color on off-white paper.

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A celebration of our anxieties pertaining to the body, identity, and nature: “In the Kingdom of Charisma” is a multi-media exhibit created during a three weeklong residency at Ever Gold Gallery.  Through installation, video and images created by growing crystals, organisms and media collages, Chris Ritson represents the nuances of how we construct an individual identity distinct from the vast cosmology that animates our lives.

When: Thursday, Feb 3rd, from 6-9pm. Show runs until Feb 26th
Where: Ever Gold Gallery 441 O’Farrell St. SF, CA, 94102

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THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN GRAFFITI is packed with over one thousand photographs—the majority of which have never before been seen—from more than two hundred photographers, most of whom also created the artwork. The authors have spent the better part of the last four years interviewing key figures in the graffiti world throughout America—from the bedrock cities of New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles to more than twenty metropolitan hotspots, including Chicago, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, and Seattle. Approximately 90 percent of the art in this book has never been published, and was sourced directly from the artists who lived the scene, giving the book a raw street vibe as authentic as the history it documents.

Featuring interviews with more than five hundred key artists and exclusive behind-the-scenes stories gleaned from over four-years’ worth of interviews, THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN GRAFFITI unveils the entire scope of American graffiti history, from forgotten street legends to the present-day stars: from TAKI 183 to IZ THE WIZ to SANE AND SMITH; from Barry “TWIST” McGee to REVOK; and historical figures, including for the first time, the story behind the WWII legend KILROY WAS HERE. Authors Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon provide an insider’s perspective on the most popular trends and styles that have dominated the scene for the last fifty years, revealing the story behind the culture that spawned today’s street artists.

To pre-order THOAG click here.