Heroes & Villains

[commandax]

The Heroes & Villains project is the brainchild of photographers Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho. It has been exhibited at Corey Helford Gallery, Shooting Gallery, and at the Beyond Eden Art Fair.

Four years ago, photographers Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho teamed up for a behind-the-scenes exploration of the rising stars of the popular art scene they saw thriving around them in Los Angeles. Since then, they have developed a collaborative project which not only investigates and chronicles these artists and their confederates around the world, but also brings them to life and captures the essence of their character. The talented artists portrayed in this project display their work not just in art galleries, but also in advertising and design, with comics and animation, on the face of the city and in the underground scenes that visually influence every aspect of our lives.

The project is nearing completion, and will be published as a coffee-table style photography book when it is finished. The book will be a cross-section of the new contemporary art community, with interviews, bios and essays about the movement to add context to the portraiture.

Here are some shots taken today of the Heroes & Villains project at the Beyond Eden Art Fair, in which an LA-centric selection of the portraits was displayed.



















Roman's process installation in the video room, one of the coolest things at the fair...












Kozyndan contact sheet:




Sylvia Ji Polaroid:






Luke Chueh & Thomas Han contact sheet:


Nate Frizzell, Tessar Lo, Yoskay Yamamoto & Scott Belcastro Polaroid:


Natalia Fabia contact sheet:


Roman, feeling overwhelmed by the all the adulation he received this weekend...

[jemappellekat]

I already have my pre-order locked in, right?

[sleepboy]

Roman's pretty rad. Like seeing artists in a different light.

Here is their blog I think:

www.society6.com/studio/HEROESVILLAINS

[ally]

roman is very humble, and im happy to have met him. i loved their installation, and i wanted to take everything home with me. cant wait for the book! my favorites were ryden, shag, audrey and seonna

[virtu]

The Liz McGrath triptych is my favorite.

[jemappellekat]

This is going to be great...

[sleepboy]

Roman & Tatiana & Luke Chueh

[commandax]

OK, the time has come. The Heroes & Villains book, a collaboration between myself and photographers Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho, is finally finished and available right now at Zero+ Publishing.

Heroes & Villains includes portraits of over 100 artists, plus my essay and interviews with David Choe, Audrey Kawasaki, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, James Jean, Blek le Rat, Ron English, Saber, Chaz Bojórquez, Molly Crabapple, Liz McGrath, Tiffany Bozic, Seonna Hong and cartoonists Anders Nilsen and Kim Deitch.

It's a lovingly produced, gorgeous coffee-table book designed by the talented Blaine Fontana, in a very limited edition of 1,000. You can read more about it, and order your copy here.

[sleepboy]

Nice... How do I get the "special" edition?

[commandax]

Jun 20, 2011 8:06:50 GMT -8 sleepboy said:

Nice... How do I get the "special" edition?

If you're interested in reserving one of the 20 "deluxe special editions," write to Kirk at [e-mail] .

[svenman]

good to see this finally get released.
congrats amanda.
who are your interviews with?

[commandax]

Jun 21, 2011 12:15:26 GMT -8 svenman said:

good to see this finally get released.
congrats amanda.
who are your interviews with?

Thanks, Sven! The interviews are with Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, David Choe, Audrey Kawasaki, James Jean, Saber, Blek le Rat, Liz McGrath, Tiffany Bozic, Ron English, Chaz Bojórquez, Molly Crabapple, Seonna Hong, and cartoonists Anders Nilsen and Kim Deitch.

[LeBasse Projects]

i got my copy...and signed by Roman and Amanda too!

[jujurocs]

Reserved the "special" edition, earlier today..

[commandax]

Just got some details on the special edition:

The Deluxe Edition is being created in a clamshell box with three photos - signed and numbered - Lori Earley, WK Interact and Gabrielle Bell (12 x 10").

Edition #1 - 10 is $350.
Edition #11 - 15 will sell at $450.
Edition #16 - 20 will sell at $550.

The clamshell editions will ship in about two weeks.

[commandax]

Roman and Tatiana were just interviewed about the book by the L.A. Weekly.

[LeBasse Projects]

Got my book! Can't wait to get mine signed on Thursday, Sept 1st @

LAUNCH LA
125 East 6th Street

See you all there I hope.

[sleepboy]

Highlight for me was meeting Matt Groening and getting a sketch. I was going to ask for some more minor character that he probably never sketches but went with Bart lols. More pics here.

Also any word of a NY signing?

[epicfai]

Sept 4, 2011 17:49:05 GMT -8 sleepboy said:

Highlight for me was meeting Matt Groening and getting a sketch. I was going to ask for some more minor character that he probably never sketches but went with Bart lols. More pics here.

Also any word of a NY signing?

that groening sketch is pretty damn awesome, sleep!

[sleepboy]

Oh, that one is not mine haha. I got a Bart. I guess I'll post it up eventually...