The latest and greatest...

Time for an update!!! Here's the skinny on what's happening of late:

1 - There is a reception for the AMAZING Muhammad Ali photos at Artworks Gallery in Pasadena this Thursday, December 8. As I've mentioned here before, the first one went so well and got so much press coverage...so come see what all the fuss is about!!!

2 - Brandon is back from tour for the month, and has decided to take time ( from his downtime) to make a trip to Monterey to give a talk and walk through of his art that is on display there. As you may know, part of his Hurley mural and other pieces from that project have been at the Museum of Monterey as part of their 'Flows To  Bay' exhibit which examines plastic bottle pollution. The talk will take place the evening of December 15. Many details to come!

3 - Ms. Janette Beckman's uber cool prints are still on display here in LA. If you are looking for an awesome gift for someone (or yourself), let's make arrangements to check them out in the flesh. And, check out her photo blog that she has been working diligently on!

Lastly - we are finally big into twitter.... follow @artduet!

That's all for the moment! Hope the holiday season is treating you well!

Muhammad Ali 1977 Event at Design Within Reach

The event was a huge success! The space looked stunning adorned with the rare photos, and the wall of Ali's competitors told it's own story, a compelling one at that. Michael Brennan is a wonderful british lad and he was over the moon to see the photos displayed. They've never been printed so it was a surreal moment for him.

Michael Brennan and Chris Forney (Artworks)

Jen in front of Ali's wall of competitors

Press coverage could not have been better: From LA to Vegas (Robin Leach's column!), boxing blogs, to the Hamptons...it was well covered!

Joe Frazier by Michael Brennan...a beautiful portrait

If you weren't able to make it, the exhibit is at DWR until this Monday... 

It then moves to its home at Artworks in Pasadena. There is discussion of a launch party there so stay tuned for that!!  Either way these photos must be seen and will be there until January for Ali's birthday...and then, who knows. They are a highly desired collection!

You can see all the event photos HERE. 

Tomorrow, tomorrow!

We are so looking forward to tomorrow's event with Michael Brennan at Design Within Reach on Beverly. This week brought a lot of great developments and press coverage of these very  special photos of Muhammad Ali and his competitors. Local write ups in LA CONFIDENTIAL and LA TIMES were fantastic and well deserved...


It's been great working with Robert at Design Within Reach, the ladies of Evolutionary Media Group, and of course our new friends at Artworks gallery. 


In addition it's great to have the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center on board, and lastly, to honor Joe Frazier we have added a special image taken by Michael Brennan to the exhibit. It's these touching and charitable parts of events & the opportunity to pay tribute to icons that makes us love to do what we do.


We are expecting many special guests and it will be a really great evening. Photos will abound, so stay tuned.

Invite for Thursday, November 10 event!

Here is the invite for next week's private event at DWR featuring rare photographs of Muhammad Ali taken by legendary British photographer Michael Brennan. It's a private event so please contact Art Duet or rsvp to the address on the invite if you are interested in attending!!! If you can't make it to the event there will be plenty of time afterward to come take a peek at the collection at Artworks Gallery.
And please take a second to scroll through these compelling pieces, all on one site HERE!

How has it been a month since the last post?

Wow, this time of year seems to get so insanely busy - this month has truly FLOWN by!

If we had to sum up what the fall has been like thus far, it would be 'going with the winds of change'.  Things keep shifting, opportunities have been popping up unexpectedly, new connections are being made ...it's been overwhelming in the best of ways.  What it comes down to is remaining open to any and all changes and seeing them as a positive...and being ready for the challenge(s)!

Muhammad Ali: 1977

We are very excited to be working with our new friends at Artworks Gallery in Pasadena on an exhibit of rare Muhammad Ali photos (signed by the man himself) by British photographer Michael Brennan. 

Ali by Michael Brennan

The image above is the main image for the exhibit -- interestingly enough this is a very often  licensed photo (i.e. Shepard Fairey and many other artists have used it)  but had yet to be printed.

The exhibition entitled Muhammad Ali: 1977  will open Thursday, Nov. 10 at Design Within Reach and it will be one of VERY few Ali exhibits to ever take place in LA. Take a sneak peek HERE...the photos carry such a strength and inspiration - and are,  of course,  so iconic.  ('Iconic' is likely the most overused word by Art Duet, yet we can't break away from it - what can we say? we are drawn to iconic imagery, OBVIOUSLY!)

Anyway, we are quite happy to announce that a portion of proceeds will go to the Muhammad Ali Parkinsons Center in Phoenix - it seemed only fitting to include them.

The exhibit is not to be missed and we will post the invite soon! 

Brandon, Artspace.com & The Hollywood Reporter

Brandon at home by Julian Castaldi

Brandon, who's been quite busy touring for If Not Now, When? found time to fit in some guest curating on a great art site - Artspace.com - his commentary is always simultaneously well thought out, yet spontaneous -  and a great read.   And then, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story on it! Click HERE. The photo we used on the site (above) was taken by our fab photographer friend Julian Castaldi so we were glad to be able to share it!

 Janette Beckman Punk Exhibit in LA!                                                          

dee dee ramone by janette beckman

Another new development is that we have a display of over THIRTY-FIVE Janette Beckman photos on display for a few months! At the showroom for the amazing Stand And Deliver high end leather line.  Upon meeting the seriously rocking designer, Corey Parks, and learning about alllll of her punk rock inspirations, it was a NO brainer to introduce her to the work of JB. We are excited to have the photos there, can't think of a better place.... and bring the images to a new audience - some photos have never been shown in LA before which is a thrill. It's by appointment - contact info@artduet.net  - come take a look!
And thank you to our friend/expert and all around great guy, Jarrad Hirschman, for the help with the install!

Art Mere / Art Pere

Below is the invite for one of the charities we are involved with - Art Mere Art Pere. Benefitting Livestrong, it was started by Brooke and Courtney Kivowitz & Jim Toth... 'Art Mere Art Pere' translates literally to 'our mother, our father" and is a tribute to Marsha Kivowitz and Jim Toth, Sr.  who lost their lives to cancer. 


We are on the Advisory Board and the event is coming right up in October! There's a great view of the art and an online auction  which can often be a way to simultaneously get a great deal on art and help a very worthy cause.


Thanks to Brandon and Jocelyn for their donations!

What's cooking?!

Summer is (kind of) winding down...well, for us it certainly is as we are shifting into HIGH gear with a HUGE announcement. Art Duet will have a downtown pop up gallery come September, with an opening being planned TBD at the end of the month. We are working hard and are so excited to present new artists, give proper attention to those on our roster, plan AMAZING events and simply be able to bring a physicality to what we have worked hard building for the past few years. Soooo announcements will abound, that's for sure - please stay tuned for all the news!!! People have asked - so, yes, it will be called ART DUET. What else? We can't wait to see the sign on the front door!

In other updates, we are on the Board for a few charities this year, all of which are people we met last year through donating and gladly offered to help out this year.  We are happy to lend art, time & support to the following and make friends along the way:

ARTWORKS benefiting the TJ Martell foundation

ART MERE ART PERE started by Brooke Kivovitz and benefiting Livestrong

PROJECT SAVE OUR SURF started by Tanna Frederick and benefiting oceanic causes

A Great Q&A with Jocelyn Marsh

With such highly detailed and unique work people often ask us about the art and mind of Jocelyn Marsh...check out this interview from the blog Working in the 3rd Dimension:

We think it sums it up quite nicely, and great photographs of her pieces as well...

Brandon in STATUS magazine!

Love this feature on Brandon and the band! Status is a very cool Asian youth culture magazine chock full of all the pop culture goodies and then some!!! Brandon is in the upcoming August issue... here are the previews:

Buy a kite, frame a kite, fly a kite!

It's a great feeling to see a project you've worked on for a long time come to fruition! Such is the case with our kite project with LACMA. We had the idea whirling around our brain for a long time and partnered with the following artists for it: Brandon Boyd, Gary Baseman, Jacob Escobedo & Jonny Fenix.  Read the info and check out the kite photo shoot from the LACMA grounds!  We love the Art Duet props at the bottom of the page.  Support the arts and buy a kite, frame a kite  - or even better, fly one!   

A little story about Janette Beckman and Jen DiSisto

Boy George

By Jen...

When I trepidatiously decided to leave the corporate record label world behind  and start Art Duet, one of the first people to reach out to work with me was Janette Beckman. Her support was a part of the "I can do this" mantra that I told myself.  Janette had shot a few bands during my time in the Art department and  we developed a natural friendship...let's call it 'love at first phone call'.  Being SUCH a big Janette fan, I was BEYOND flattered by the opportunity to work with her in another capacity. Her work strikes such a major chord with me...

The Breaks;  \'Stylin and Profilin'

My first event was  a book signing for Janette's book 'The Breaks' at Taschen in March of 2008. It was a wonderful evening, and I felt so proud that I could deliver a night that she deserved. For all of the above reasons and because of her endless faith and support,  Janette is quite special to me & to Art Duet as it evolves. She's high on my list of seriously cool people one could ever meet...

Debbie Harry

She was recently ranked fifth on Flavorwire's '10 Rock Photographers You Should Know' list. Might we add, she was the first female on the list!

sex pistols

Given her long career shooting truly fascinating people, places, and events, Janette has THE best stories. From Slick Rick to the Sex Pistols, Paul Weller to Ice Cube, you never know what Janette will talk about next.  It's never a boring conversation, that's for damn sure...As such, she just started a blog which everyone will definitely enjoy. If you love music, trends, and iconic stories, follow her blog here: http://janettebeckman.com/blog/

Beastie Boys

Updates...

A while back, Brandon designed a book cover and an insert for a short story collection entitled 'In Search Of...". Published by Codhill Press, the book was edited by our new friend Haifa Mahibir - a super intelligent and wonderful person. Here are the designs...

SO pretty...

We never posted about the Jocelyn Marsh closing reception on June 8, but it was great! It's a great feeling to acquire new friends and art fans. As mentioned in Juxtapoz, LA Canvas & STATUS.

We are excited to announce that we will working with Jocelyn on a more permanent basis moving forward.  The feedback about her work and the show have been phenomenal so we knew we were onto a good thing!

Lastly, our buddies at Blue Canvas (JImmy & Justin) did a two page spread on the Hurley events with Brandon which looks VERY cool! Funny how something that happened just a few months ago feels like forever ago already... things move at such a past pace -- it's nice to have a snapshot (or a few) to remember.

Summer has arrived!

When you're an adult, daily activities during the summer aren't very different than any other part of the work year...just a lot warmer. But luckily if you do something you love, you're not pining for childhood summers of yesteryear (ok we may have done that once this week)...

One thing is for sure, things definitely don't slow down much! We've got a few things up the sleeve for fall, which require planning NOW! One of which is that we are on the Board for a wonderful charity, Artworks, which benefits the TJ Martel Foundation. The event isn't until November but it will soon be time to gather art from varying people and places for the silent auction. The event raised $200k in its first year last year, so we were excited to be asked to be on the Board this year. You can learn more about it by viewing Artworks 2010 - the site from last year which we are currently using as a reference.

A brand new development is that we've added a closing reception for Jocelyn Marsh's exhibit. With the amazing turnout from both the opening and Artwalk, it was a no brainer. So if you didn't make it, please come by on Friday, July 8 from 7p - 11p @ Arty. Here are some more shots from the opening...

Jocelyn Marsh opening was magical!

Saturday's June 4 opening for Jocelyn went just as we envisioned - the show looked great, it was very crowded, with people closely studying and appreciating the magical details of her work.

Here are two shots of the gallery...

Thanks to John Duah for the photos! Look for more event pictures from John this week.

Juxtapoz had written about the show on the day of which was great: click HERE to read it.

We are doing another reception for Jocelyn this Thursday @ downtown Artwalk from 

6p - 10;  634 South Main Street, LA 90014. Come on by and see for yourself!!

Brandon is part of 'Flows To The Bay' exhibit at The Monterey Museum!

Brandon's 'Plastic Bottle Island' portion of the Hurley mural is on display at the Museum of Monterey.  As part of an exhibit 'Flows To The Bay', Brandon's mural and sketches will be part of the reopening of the museum and will remain on display until September 6. The timing on this was great as we had just complete the Hurley project with the correlating theme. For more info on the exhibit visit www.brandonboydbooks.com.


We are definitely looking to secure more museum exhibits with the remaining portions of the mural. It's  something everyone should see!!!

Jocelyn Marsh images...

Okey doke, we are in full blown promo mode here for June 4 event for jocelyn marsh!
Always  a super exciting time leading up to an event. and even though it's a bit out of the "normal genre" for us, we are not nervous at all...a) we live for a challenge and b)when we saw her work we felt compelled to work with her, it was that strong of a reaction! We look forward to seeing what people think!
It's great to see calendar listings in places like Hi Fructose, with more to come.


Here are a few images of her older work...the show is a blend of ALL of her work, it will be an elaborate display...

.

Inspired and Immersed...

That's our current mood! Very inspired of late (more than usual) and immersed in our next event and our artists in general.

We are currently setting Brandon's mural up on other places - if you recall, his Hurley mural can travel. A part will appear at the LACMA Artwalk next Saturday, May 14 and another part will go to the Museum of Monterey next month for their re-opening. We are currently looking for a home for the third piece (the whale!) and are taking suggestions. We are thinking globally for it!?

Jocelyn's show - Advancements in Science (Fiction) - is coming together really well, we can't wait for June 4. She is hard at work on OVER forty pieces! We will keep repeating, this is a show that must be seen in person to be believed. The details are so intricate they require a CLOSE look!  All the images for press and a media alert for June 4 can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Below is her piece 'death to the living'...

June 4 .... Art Duet Presents Jocelyn Marsh

It's been an extremely busy month/year thus far. One would call it 'hectic' but that sounds negative - everything happening is amazing. With this kind of growth you have to have your ducks in a row - and we do!

We are SO excited about our next event with Jocelyn Marsh -- entitled 'Advancements in Science (Fiction)' she's a "new" artist (not that new based upon her clientele) who truly boggles the brain and makes one wonder what goes through her mind.... she is fascinating and exciting! Her work is sculptural in all forms big and small,  and it takes a close view to really grasp the essence of the details.

We will post more about her (obviously) in the upcoming weeks. But take our word for it, this is one to seriously watch! In the meantime check out the invite above and the work below entitled "love and devotion". We love jocelyn!

What's next?

Now that things have wound down a bit since Hurley events, everyone is asking what we are up to next!  Currently we are finding the next home for Brandon's mural - in May two of the pieces will go to two different museums. If that goes well we hope to have it travel, and hopefully make it to faraway places outside of the US.


We are also very excited to announce our next event -- it's currently June TBD - in downtown LA with a new artist we have befriended, Jocelyn Marsh. We are not lying when we say it is the most unique work we think we have ever laid eyes on!  Will post pictures soon and confirm a date but her mixed media/sculptural work has got some serious style and edge, so we are super excited to work with her. Stay tuned!

Truly Amazing!

Saturday night at Hurley was nothing short of  amazing. Thank you to everyone who came and waited in line, etc. -- it was very much appreciated! And thanks to Hurley for a night that went off without a hitch. We miss our friends there already! Click HERE to check out a photo gallery and HERE to watch the video that documented the project from start to finish.

all photos copyright derek bahn

Press on Brandon's Hurley Collaboration

There has been a TON of press coverage for Brandon's project with Hurley, including the LA Times.

We had a media reception on Thursday 3.24 in Venice --- read about it here:    LIFE, Yahoo News, The Santa Monica Mirror, SPIN, Apparel News, LAIst.com. So much more to come! And the April 2 event at Hurley  in Costa Mesa will both launch the project, and also culminate what's been a fantastic experience on our end. 

We will have many interviews with Brandon posted soon. 

Brandon's mural at Hurley )( space is underway

Many people already know that Brandon is painting a mural at the gallery at Hurley for the launch event taking place there on April 2.  

Seeing the process the past few days has been an AMAZING experience on many levels. Check out some still photos here - there will be much press, video footage, and a ton of coverage but here's a preview! Honestly it's going to turn out so amazing, people from LA won't hesitate to drive to see it in Orange county, and that's saying something!

Brandon Boyd event at Hurley - April 2!

Yay! The Brandon Boyd launch event with Hurley/HOPE is right around the corner.  It's that time of preparation when it sets in when you realize that an event is JUST about to happen and you feel it in your bones. 'So excited'...Pointer Sisters style!  

In this case it's an ultra rewarding feeling since it's a project we've worked on for a long time, and it's all for a great cause -- the ocean. Read a bit about the project here in  NYLON. Scroll down for more details on the cause... TONS of press will be popping up so stay tuned --  including a commercial that was shot really well and turned out beautifully.

The open to the public event takes place at Hurley's headquarters in Costa Mesa -- they have a gallery there that has hosted shows by amazing artists such as Nathan Ota, Dalek, Bigfoot & others - Brandon is rightfully in great company as he murals the gallery walls for the launch event.

Hurley and HOPE  have been great to partner with in every way. Looking forward to April 2 and BETTER see you all there!

Janette Beckman's NYC opening is mentioned everywhere!

Not surprisingly, Janette's opening with David Corio at the Morrison Hotel in NYC last week got mentioned everywhere. She is truly one of the most press friendly people we've ever met!

Here are a few highlights: Interview Magazine,  ABC News,  Complex Magazine,  Stupid Dope.

It runs through the end of the month so get on over there!

Janette Beckman is 'Catchin The Beat' - joint show on March 10 at Morrison Hotel

Janette and her friend David Corio have a great show coming up at the one and only Morrison Hotel Gallery in NYC on March 10.

Titled 'Catch The Beat' the joint exhibition of photographs documenting the monumental punk and hip hop movements of the 70s and 80s. Expect nothing but super cool and iconic imagery on the walls. For more information visit  

the Morrison Hotel site. 

Brandon Collaborates with Hurley and H.O.P.E

We are so happy to finally announce a project that has been in the works for quite some time.  Brandon has partnered with super brand Hurley on an environmental issue close to his heart, the North Pacific Gyre AKA the 'pacific garbage patch' which is a collection of garbage -- plastic bottles and other trash that stems primarily from human consumption -- which is currently settled in the North Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. It is bigger and more serious than  you think -- please click here to read more about it.

Since it's a problem that is essentially our fault, it's also hopeful that it is within our power to fix it through education and awareness. This observation is the driving force of the project which was specifically chosen by Brandon, a lifelong surfer and environmental advocate. He has devoted much time and effort to the cause and has created a series of collaborative t-shirt designs with proceeds designated to raising awareness for an ultimate solution.

Please read more about the collaboration on Yahoo News. 

Brandon will create a mural at the  )(  Gallery and there will be an April 2 launch party at the gallery...he is in great company as noted artists such as Nathan Ota, Bigfoot, Dalek, and others have had shows there.

Keep your eyes out  for press, print advertising and an MTVu commercial spot that will highlight the project. It is always a great feeling when art can be used to benefit a great cause so we are really really looking forward to it!