Red Bull Canvas Cooler Brings Out the Talent
I looked forward to Red Bull’s Red Bull Curates: Canvas Cooler for months before it began. Seeing posts by artists and fans made me even more excited not so much for the competitive aspect, but just for the sheer talent joined under one roof. The show took place at Factory West and the locale was beyond capacity quickly leaving tons of art fans — shout out to the guy with the glitzy, gold bowtie and all the courageous girls in stilettos — waiting outside for quite some time.
As expected, the night was packed, the Red Bull and vodka was flowing, and the outfits were creative – and the art didn’t disappoint. Many previously featured CARTWHEEL artists — including but not limited to Man One, Septerhed, Mear One and more — showed off their artistic finesse on the small coolers. There were creative designs, some twisting around the cooler and even reaching the top (which had me constantly standing on my tip-toes). I especially liked the presence of many street artists — Sand One, 2wenty, Blinky, Vyal One and more — who I first saw working in the street. They started off using the city as their canvas and I was happy to see a big name like Red Bull recognizing their raw talent.
As familiar figures from both street and gallery worlds mingled, Lisa and I walked around snapping photos. Check out some highlights below from the show. Viewers were encouraged to vote for their favorite work. James Haunt and White Buffalo took the top honors which they will participate in a Red Bull show at Art Basel in Miami later this year. Check out the photos from Thursday night.
Top: detail from James Haunt’s cooler; all photos by Eva Recinos and Lisa Derrick
detail, Vyal’s cooler
detail, Allison Torneros’ cooler
Allison with her cooler
detail, Man One’s cooler
James Haunt with his cooler. Haunt’s late cat is featured in the lower left corner, in white.
detail, 2wenty’s cooler with changing, colored lights, reminiscent of LAX
detail, Annie Preece’s cooler
Man One with his cooler
detail, Septerhed’s cooler
Jill Knox with her cooler. Knox wrapped, then painted string to recreate mug shots of Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra and Martin Luther King, Jr. Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ arrest record was featured on the front.
detail, Blinky’s cooler. Blinky, like 2wenty did not want his picture taken.
From left to right: Sand One, Vyal, Annie Preece and Allison Torneros
The line outside
Me about to take a picture of James Haunt