Thursday, November 29, 2012

MORE FREE PRINTS! "Gratitude Adjustment" Sale!



We love you. All of you. Whether you are a returning customer, or someone who just bought a "weird thing" for your friend, someone who bought something as a joke, whether you just gaze at the site to see what we have in hopes of buying something someday, or even someone who twitters from your Boost mobile about how bad we suck, we love you.
But sometimes I fear that because of our busy schedule, we don't say "I love you" enough. I mean, with the amount of support that we have gotten over the years to grow into whatever goofy monstrosity we are now, it's physically impossible to thank everyone enough, but we really need to thank you MORE. In fact, it's a general consensus around the Zerofriends studio that we need a GRATITUDE ADJUSTMENT!

So this weekend that's gonna change! Starting Nov 30 at noon pacific time and continuing through Sunday Dec 2 at 11:59 PM, we are having an additional "GRATITUDE ADJUSTMENT SALE" on top of our store-wide Brown Thursday sale that is currently going on.

"How could you possibly thank us via a web-store?" You ask?
Well, in lieu of our huge Brown Thursday sale last week, where we offered a free limited print to the first 400 people to spend $25, which sold out in 24 hours, we are offering a new little extra thank you to those of you who missed out on that opportunity.

This weekend, and this weekend ONLY, starting FRIDAY NOV 30 at NOON Pacific Time, and ending on Sunday, DEC 2 at 11:59 PM, ANYONE who spends $25 will get this FREE signed, limited exclusive "Gratitude Adjustment" Holiday Variant 8x10 print, which will never be available aside from this weekend promotion. That's right. Not just the first 400. ANYONE throughout those 3 days to spend $25 will get this print for fucking FREE!!!
Please note that there is no need to "ADD" the free print to your cart, nor will you get a notification that you got it. We are on the ball. If you spend over $25 any time during this promotion, not including shipping, you will be automatically sent a signed print. The end:)


But wait, there's an epilogue! If you decide that you want to spend more, anyone who spends $150 or more will get a FREE signed Limited "Holiday Sack Man" 11 x 14 signed limited print while supplies last (they are limited to 100, we have about 40 left). Same rules apply.

And to those of you who stay after the credits, here's some bonus footage for you. This week we cleaned out the warehouse to get ready for the sale and we found a stack of prints that we had NO idea were still available! One of my favorite prints ever and one of the greatest collaborations I have ever got to work on was this collaboration with one of my favorite directors Edgar Wright in conjunction with his Triple Feature screenings of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Those 3 movies are brilliant, Edgar is fantastic, and he pushed me to make this print crazy, and I love it. It was limited to 400, and we were positive that they all sold but we found a stack of them this week. All signed, and numbered, by me.
And on SALE during this weekend! Only $35 (regularly priced at $50 after this weekend)
Buy one, and get a free 8x10! Not bad. For reals. I'm sorry, trees!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Robert Bowen's "UNNATURAL SELECTION" Opening Soon




Time Flys.  While it's hard to believe that it's already time to announce a new show at our Oakland Gallery, it's one we're certainly excited about.  This month, longtime friend and incredible painter Robert Bowen will be featuring a series of new paintings that differ slightly from his past work.  He writes: "This series of paintings is a bit of a departure from some of my pop-culture driven images of the past.  (Not to say I won't return to that, but this is where I am at for the moment.  I see both plaguing my future.)  All the paintings in this show are of an animal nature, depicting birds, insects and sea life, several of which are from my Lucky Strike series that combines animals with mechanical elements or engine parts.  There is a certain tragic beauty about these malfunctioning hybrid creatures, and I cannot look away.  They are a constant source of inspiration." Come check it out! UNNATURAL SELECTION New works by Robert BowenOpening Reception - Saturday, December 8th, 5pm-8pm ZeroFriends Gallery - 489 A 25th Street, Oakland CA The First 45 people to show up for the opening reception will receive a free print, signed and numbered by Robert Bowen. (Only one print per person.  You must be in attendance to receive the print.) To view more of Bowen's work, visit his website RobertBowenArt.com In the meantime, enjoy a sneak preview below:


 


In case you missed it, Alex had the opportunity to interview Bowen as a featured artist for the August 2012 issue of Juxtapoz.  If you want to learn more about Bowen's process, inspirations, or how much of an inspiration he is to us here at ZeroFriends, read the article below!

As a Lincoln Continental, Odd Nerdrum & tentacle fetishist with a healthy diet of Play-Doh, Christian Brothers, Salvadore Dali, Sid & Marty Kroft, exploitation movies & Jimboys tacos, Robert Bowen had one of the most unique and shocking approaches to art that I had ever seen in the late 90’s time. Simply put, he painted what he wanted and how he wanted. That was it. And he was completely unapologetic about it. It baffled me! In a time when alternative art was beginning to become marketable at the smallest level and everyone, including myself, was trying to paint what OTHER people would like, hoping that one of our super edgy half-assed big-pants, big-hands characters with spray cans would be the next big thing, Robert was publicly painting flowers with vaginas and deformed blobs with dental problems. It fascinated me, and it changed the way I approached my art. Since that time, over 15 years later, Robert remains one of my best friends and artistic influences, and has exhibited his often hilariously unsettling paintings around the world, his technical skills with acrylic paints have been improving exponentially piece by piece, while his attitude remains the same. He paints what he WANTS to paint. Plain and simple.
I sat down with Robert for a friendly chat in his studio on a sunny summer afternoon, not much different from the day we met. Here is an excerpt from that interview:
One of the things I find fascinating about your paintings is that they give a lot of life to icons and symbols that usually only exist in 2 dimensions.
For the last 5 or 6 years in fact, I have viewed your paintings as “Pop-Culture Still Lifes”. Is it safe to say that pop-culture fascinates you? 
Definitely, I’m a self proclaimed “T.V. Baby”. Movies, Music, music videos, shitty reality T.V. I was totally one of those kids whose baby sitter was the T.V. Not that I didn't have any friends or didn't play outside. I did all the normal things kids do, but when I was inside my eyes were glued to the T.V. Soaking it all in. 
Television often has a reputation of stripping people of their creativity, but that’s obviously not the case with you because your paintings are extremely imaginative. Has pop-culture always been a part of your life?
As far as I can remember it has. Movies, music, television, I've always loved all of it. I was the kid in the Michael Jackson jacket recreating scenes from E.T. and the Star Wars movies. I always wanted to be Han Solo.
Really?? Me too! Well, I wanted to be Boba Fett, so we would have been mortal enemies, but whatever.
So a lot of your early work was very surreal, often times a collection of imaginative, heaping organic masses that conveyed a lot of mixed emotions to the viewer. Your newer work conveys the same mixed emotions, funny yet sadistic, sad yet resilient, etc. but the emotions are conveyed via pop culture icons. When was the transition into actually incorporating pop culture into your paintings?
A lot of that earlier stuff was probably a direct result of my art school rebellion. They wanted me to paint figures and still lifes, so instead I painted giant visceral organic blobs with spikes, protruding bones, teeth and vaginas. It was really pleasant and beautiful stuff! While all that was fun and all, it wasn't fully me, there was something missing. It seemed natural to incorporate things that were fascinating and already plaguing my psyche. That’s when pop culture started creeping in. 
A lot of these icons repeat in different capacities over the span of 3 or 4 of your paintings. Is there a conscious decision to continue exploring these icons from the beginning?
Maybe not from the beginning, but sometimes I feel like either I maybe didn't get it right the first time, or we have some unfinished business. Or the fact that I might have just needed to do it bigger and better.
Speaking of bigger and better, your subject matter varies a lot, but you have incorporated a hefty amount of iconic Disney elements and characters into a lot of your larger paintings and even some sculptures. Disney characters aren’t traditionally associated with deformities, puking and vaginas. Why do you choose to incorporate Disney characters into your paintings as opposed to other cartoons?
Walt Disney’s creations are some of my earliest memories. Contrary to what most people may think when they look at the way I may paint some of those characters, I love all that stuff. It’s fun to me to paint those icons in a style that fits into my subconscious wasteland.
In addition to just pop-culture, you’ve adapted a lot of seemingly random and mundane objects into your paintings over the course of a few years. In particular, items like the chattering teeth, seagulls, and bees. Is there any significance to these items in your life?
I’ve always thought some of the simpler creatures that we overlook on an everyday basis need a little more attention, so I sometimes work them into a painting perhaps doing something a little extraordinary, like puking a rainbow, wearing a mask, or stealing a little magic stone. I want those creatures to feel special! I think they need to have fun too. The teeth thing? That’s a whole different story. They are basically the physical manifestation of my social anxiety; the awkward joke; the courtesy laugh. The teeth represent the need for me to find humor in some of the uncomfortable social situations I find myself in. I purposely paint each one different. They are far from perfect teeth and ugly for a reason.
There is definitely a lot of humor in your paintings, but there are also some hard emotions portrayed as well. Is it that particular anxiety you mentioned something that fuels your need to create? Or is the art used to counteract those emotions?
It’s a bit of both. I feel the anxiety may be what fuels my need to create, as it’s hard for me to get out of my head sometimes, if that makes any sense. Sitting and taking time to slow myself down and create is very calming for me. So in that way it’s used to counteract certain emotions, but at the same time it’s those emotions that are sometimes the catalyst behind the painting in the first place. It’s a wonderfully vicious cycle.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

HOEKS ONE IS THE WAYCOOLEST


As a child, my parents always encouraged me to play with toys that, in a way, forced creativity. Construx, Erector Sets, K'nex, Lincoln Logs, Capsela and most memorably, LEGOs. With each one of these sets of toys, there were two options as to how to play with them. You could meticulously follow the instructions and use them to build what they were "intended" for, like an airplane or a castle and be totally stoked that you built a castle. OR, you could accidentally piss on the instructions, light them on fire and then flush them down the toilet and sit there staring cluelessly at a pile of random shapes and screws, with the only remaining option being "Make something out of this pile".

The latter is what I often chose.

One of the things that I always loved about that approach was that it encouraged me to think outside the shape and imagine what other uses a "rectangle" or a "saucer" could have. That type of thinking recently emerged when mobile app-developer FRANKY AGUILAR and myself were knocking around ideas for a new art-based iPhone app a few months ago. The result was a creative art-based iPhone app called WAYCOOLER .

On the surface, Waycooler is a silly app where you can add weird eyes and mouths based on my artwork to your photographs to make your photos "way cooler". However, when we created it, and what we were HOPING for, was that once users got used to the simple interface and got bored of just adding 7 eyes to their dog, that some creativity would be jostled out of people and they would actually start seeing these eyes and mouths as OTHER SHAPES and start creating brand new artwork and FULL ILLUSTRATIONS using nothing but noses, mouths, hands, etc.

In a way, we wanted to make a digital version of LEGOs but with an artistic and creepy twist. What soon followed after the app got released a few months ago was INSANE.


Almost immediately, the art that people were creating using only the iphone app was appearing online (search #waycooler and #waycoolerest on instagram) and blowing my mind in ways that I couldn't have even pictured. Artists were sharing photos with each other, building on each other's pieces, challenging each other to outdo each other, and so forth. It's awesome.

But one artist, named HOEKS ONE, has caught my attention numerous times. I don't even know how he does it, but he is using the WayCooler App and his iPhone to create some insanely creative work.

HOEKS ONE, part of the Bay Area-based GroundSick Music collective and the apparel company Twenty Four Karat has created all of these renditions of iconic pop-culture characters using ONLY the free WayCooler app. And as a bonus he did the same with the Halloween questionnaire that I was passing around for Juxtapoz last month. And it's one of the coolest feelings I have ever had. Word! Thank you.

(All pieces on this page created by HOEKS ONE)








Waycooler 1.1 UPDATE!

For a lot of reasons, this November is different than last November. In fact, even though last November was one of the coolest months I experienced in my life, this November seems to already be WAYCOOLER!

Speaking of things that are WayCooler while segueing into a subtle but necessary advertisement , my FREE iPhone app (coincidentally called "WayCooler") just got it's first official udate! WayCooler now joins most other relative things in history because it now has a POINT. As in... WayCooler Version 1-POINT-1 is now here, and features more NEW FREE creation assets, as well as some reorganization of the assets and some minor software/user tweaks.

So for those of you who are still in the shadows of confusion, and are sitting there thinking "Dude, thats supposed to be a decimal, which doesn't seem to have a point, so what is the point to this free app?" Let me try to explain quickly.

In real life (or IRL as the teenage internet scientists refer to it) in order to make yourself way-cooler you need to do something crazy like don an ALF mask and a vintage Joy Division shirt and instagram a stupid picture of yourself pointing at the shirt with the caption "THIS just happened". However, NOT ANY MORE! Because with my free WayCooler iPhone app you can make ANYTHING #waycooler with just a few swipes and taps of your lanky digits.

It's pretty self explanatory once you open it and start playing with it, so give it a try. It's FREE! You can DOWNLOAD IT HERE. Android version still in the works!
If you need some more convincing, check out this explanatory video directed by my favorite champion corgy-racer STEPHEN REEDY



And here are a few screen shots and creations that you can make with the new updated 1.1 super version of #WAYCOOLER (built and created by myself and 99centbrains






Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving from The Unirkey

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It's time again to tell the true tale of a legend....

In true Thanksgiving spirit, behold the legend of my 3rd favorite (not so famous) mythical beast, the UNIRKEY:





If the X-men were real, my Grandfather's Great-Great Uncle Randy would certainly be a part of the team. Instead of being a cool super mutant though, he's just kind of a...well...mutant. He suffers from a disease that allows him to age, but doesn't allow him to die. At all. He looks kinda like how the guy at the end of Indiana Jones looks when he chooses poorly, except for like, he's alive. And awesome. I don't see Uncle Randy much anymore as he seems to like going to Egypt a lot since he says he fits in there better and gets to play funny pranks on tourists where he lays down in sarcophaguses and then jumps up and scares people. He's hilarious.

One of my favorite stories that Uncle Randy used to recite to me when I was little was about his third favorite mystical creature, the Unirkey. He said that in 1621, the Pilgrims begged the Heavens for a turkey big enough for the 53 of them to feast upon to celebrate their harvest. To their disbelief, a 240 pound wild turkey fell from the sky right onto the serving platter on the middle of the giant dinner table.
"GET IT!" yelled the head pilgrim. But the turkey was too quick. It clawed its way off of the table and soon had a band of hungry pilgrims chasing it into a small patch of forest. Little did anyone know, a once-in-a-lifetime event was happening in the forest at that very moment: A 6-eyed Unicorn who lived behind the rainbows was bathing in a waterfall in plain sight. The unicorn sensed the fear in the giant turkey from the sky, and acted accordingly. The unicorn exploded out of the waterfall, ducked his neck down, swooped up the turkey, flung him onto his own back, and galloped straight through the band of Pilgrims, piercing almost all of them with it's majestic horn. After the Unicorn bolted into the sunset, no one heard from, saw, or mentioned that incident again. Until years later, in the middle of the same patch of forest, on Thanksgiving, behind the waterfall, someone saw something. It was giant. It resembled a turkey...but with six eyes...and a breathtaking horn. And it seemed to be....glowing. When the man approached the magical beast it had vanished. More sightings were reported behind waterfalls all over the world over the years, all occurring on Thanksgiving. Rumor has it that the giant turkey and the unicorn were quite smitten with each other, and that this mystical Unirkey is their love-child. But what does it want? And where will it strike (a pose) next? No one knows, but if I were you, I would pay close attention to any form of flowing water on Thanksgiving, as you might be in for a surprise.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone

As I'm sure you have noticed from your multiple feeds, that I am having a huge online sale starting TONIGHT at Midnight (pacific time) full of slashed prices, new items, and FREE prints. 

However, my company Zerofriends is not the only independent art/clothing/comic company that's having a sale and doing our best to compete with the diminishing small business economy with the ultimate goal of being able to continue offering fun, unique, and often times awesome alternative products to the larger companies that are taking over the world.

So please keep that in mind when you are shopping online, or braving the mobs outside this weekend. There are so many cool independent art companies, clothing companies, etsy stores, and even kickstarter campaigns to contribute to as alternatives to the traditional gift giving of $5 DVDs at Target. I'm sure you've seen some cool shit on the internet by some rogue weirdos this year. Remember them. See what they have. And support, even if it's just with a comment that says "Good job, yo!"

I'm sure I speak for everyone except Vincent Gallo when I say We All Appreciate Your Business.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Word.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

BROWN THURSDAY IS ALMOST HERE!

We here at ZEROFRIENDS are proud to announce our Fourth Annual BROWN THURSDAY PRINT GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA! AKA "FREE PRINCE DAY!"


What's the best thing about running an online business during an economy like this? I mean, aside from the overwhelming number of PHP Groupies and Hypertext chicks that flock to us because of our integrated shopping cart coding? Well, the best thing about this type of business is that we can have a huge Black Friday Sale ON A BROWN THURSDAY and get this SHIT goin' EARLY!!

Details below:


That's right, an entire day before some of you hoarders line up at Wal-Mart to get a free pair of the wrong sized shoes when you buy a 30 dollar LED flat screen and a Hunger Games Blu Ray for 4 dollars, you can ON-LINE UP at Zerofriends.com and check out, alongside BRAND NEW PRODUCTS, the new (temporary) slashed prices on a few Different Signed Limited Giclee Prints, all of our 8" x 10" prints and 5" x 7" prints are on sale, as well all of our t-shirts!
Sale officially starts MIDNIGHT PACIFIC TIME on Weds night / Thursday morn (Nov 22)!

Step by step instructions without illustrations:

1. Go to ZEROFRIENDS.COM, where, at the time of the sale, we will be putting up brand new t-shirts, new girls' shirts, new prints, restocking our hoodies, and more! (you can see previews below!)

2. Look around at some of the BRAND NEW PRODUCTS and take a look at some of the sale items.


3. Take notes. Smile


4. Starting On Brown Thursday, Nov 22, (Officially starts midnight Wednesday night at midnight Pacific Standard Time) Purchase ANY combination of items equalling $25 or more (it doesn't have to be one of the sale items) and recieve, along with your order, ONE free 8" x 10" signed & numbered print of Alex Pardee's "Master Blaster: The Winter Edition" Painting (limited edition of 400)!*


4.5. Purchase ANY combination of items equalling $150 or more (it doesn't have to be one of the sale items) and receive, in addition to the free 8" x 10", a FREE 11" x 14" signed and numbered print of Alex Pardee's "Holiday Hug" Painting.

5. EAT MORE FOOD!

*Limit of ONE free print per HOUSEHOLD. While supplies last.


Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you from all of us here at Zerofriends.
See you invisibly there!

(below are just previews. not everything is available just yet, but even on the products that are, if you want to get a free print you should probably wait or something! Good advice!)

Monday, November 12, 2012

Skinner's new Webstore is now up and RAD!

One of my favorite human/artist/owl-lovers/shadow-man/gay-activists/parasite/werewolf/trekkie/occultist-power-rangers in the world has a brand new web-store opening RIGHT NOW with all new shirts, glow-in-the-dark posters, limited art prints, toys, patches, and other stuff only demon-hippies can appreciate. That man....is SKINNER! And although some of the shirts might look like they are printed with high-quality screenprinted inks, they are probably printed with Skinner's new patented "TYE-DIARRHEA" printing process.
So take a few moments to check out SKINNER's new "CRITICAL HIT" store and start making your Christmas list early to make sure you get all the delicious chest-morsels that you can get in time for the holidays.
And if you are a regular customer over at Zerofriends, please note that as of now, ALL OF SKINNER'S apparel will be available on HIS NEW STORE, "CRITICAL HIT"

 
And we JUST got an update from Skinner himself about the launch of his site and he said this:
 "I mean, we are selling things now, and it's going good you know."

"Purple Ranger"

Hey Fun, I would like to introduce you to Adventure....

"PURPLE RANGER" T-Shirt Now Available Exclusively online at ZEROFRIENDS

Sunday, November 11, 2012

In(ternet)stagram!


Looks like the internet finally caught up with our phones! If you don’t already follow me, and like to point and laugh at completely serious and not sarcastic photos of transvestite Pooh-bears, Bigfoot calls, lots of goo, grown men playing dress up, Zerofriends antics, and Chloe and I making a mess of everything, then follow me now on the web HERE or on your little Instagram phone device things at @alexpardee