punks not dead…

This weekend, on January 15th from 8-11, I will have the opening of my first solo photo exhibition at the beautiful Known Gallery on Fairfax in Los Angeles.

I have been working tirelessly on this collection of images and installations, and my friends Brendan Lynch and Sage Vaughn will also be showing work in the Project room. I got a good look at the final prints the other day before they were sent off to the framer and I can’t begin to say how excited I was to see the body of work all together in its final stages. It was a mix of pure joy and excitement as tears almost filled my eyes as we rolled open the images, one by one, my face grinning ear to ear as each passed by. The gallery is beautiful and the installation is going to be amazing. Please come out and hang, have a drink, find me, say hi, and enjoy the night with a bunch of us.

Thanks to EVERYONE for all the support, including everyone who checks this site out. Below are some words describing the motivation for this collection of images.

“The ocean is and always has been the epicenter of my existence on this planet. I am an aquanaut on a thruster in this ever amazing and boundless liquid energy. I have optimized and streamlined my life to ensure maximum time gliding across water. Every choice and relationship, all decisions and waking thoughts (and most dreams) are influenced and infused by the pull of the tides, the whiff of an offshore breeze, and the lucid corduroy lines gracefully stampeding
towards the coast.

I go to the sea to surf, to bond with friends or to be alone, to let out aggression or to find inner peace. The moving ocean is my solid ground. The moment one stands up on a board, propelled by a wave racing across the sea, one is only aware of the present – nothing else. I have never found any other way to achieve that absolutely pure and meditative mindstate.

Open Space is my expression of the state one falls into while floating weightless off shore, looking out to sea, hoping and waiting for the next set. Troubles are isolated far away on the unreality of land, while you are free in the truest reality of water. It is a timeless unspoilable state that cannot be ruined, not even by the angry local that may be slashing your tires and waxing your windows simply because he doesn’t want to share some waves. To a surfer it’s an understandable
act of necessary evil to keep an ungoverned subculture in form, and from it breaking into full bore beachblanket-bingo havoc.

Open Space is a collection of images, collages, and installations that evoke the balance in my life.”
Cheers,Keegan

Click for full invite and Press Release. MEDIA ALERT – For Immediate Release
FOR MORE INFORMATION/MEDIA CREDENTIALS/SHOW CATALOG PDF:
Casey Zoltan, Curatorial Director / KNOWN GALLERY info@knowngallery.com

KEEGAN GIBBS: OPEN SPACE
with INSTALLATIONS by SAGE VAUGHN and BRENDAN LYNCH
Opens to public: January 15, 2011
Runs: January 15 – February 5, 2011
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 15, 8-11pm

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036
310-860-6263 info@knowngallery.com

KNOWN GALLERY PRESENTS “OPEN SPACE” PHOTOGRAPHER KEEGAN GIBBS’ FIRST SOLO SHOW

Keegan Gibbs has traveled all over the world in his role as one of the principal photographers for the Seventh Letter graffiti crew, so it is only natural that the Known Gallery chose to host his debut photography exhibit. Known Gallery director Casey Zoltan comments “I really respect his work ethic and his dedication to capturing the moment at any cost.” Fear has no place when shooting images of the renowned Seventh Letter artists in action fifty feet above ground at 2 AM whilst dodging headlights and billy clubs. Likewise fear has no place while shooting film in the treacherous and sometimes deceptively peaceful oceans of the world, the featured subject of this exhibit called OPEN SPACE.

Keegan, an avid lifelong surfer, explains his attraction to the water and the concept behind the large format prints in OPEN SPACE: “The ocean is the epicenter of my existence on this planet. I am an aquanaut on a thruster in this ever amazing and boundless source of liquid energy. For me every choice and relationship, all decisions and waking thoughts (and most dreams) are influenced and infused by the pull of the tides, the whiff of an offshore breeze, and the lucid corduroy lines gracefully stampeding towards the coast. Open Space is a collection of images, collages, and installations that evoke that balance in my life.”

ABOUT KEEGAN GIBBS: Born in a family of artists, Keegan Gibbs was literally skateboarding and bicycling while still in diapers (his parents have video to prove it). Raised by the ocean, this aquatic biped found the best way to express his love of all things salt water, was through photography. When not shooting, his main goal is to surf as much as he possibly can and to find the hollowest tube, the longest wave, and the most crackable lip.
ABOUT SAGE VAUGHN:
b 1976 in Jackson, Oregon – Lives and works in Los Angeles – Goofyfoot
Solo show at Lazarides opening May 5, 2011
(sagevaughn.com)

ABOUT BRENDAN LYNCH:
Education
School of Visual Arts, BFA 2009
Selected shows
2010, Press Release, Martos gallery, New York, NY
2010, While it Lasts, Still House studio, New york, NY
2010, Volume, AT1 projects, Los Angeles, CA Curated by Andrea Neustein
2010, Worth, 211 Elizabeth St. , New York, Ny
2010, Objects that love you back, 211 Elizabeth St. , New york, NY
2009, Still House, Rental Gallery, New York, NY
2009, The Open, Deitch Projects, Long Island City, NY
2009, MIXTAPE, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY
2009, New Deal, Art Production Fund, New York, NY Curated by Matthew Moreveck and Kyle Thurman
2008, Here Goes Nothing, The National Arts Club, New York, NY
(www.groodstuff.tumblr.com)

ABOUT KNOWN GALLERY:
Founded in 2003 by Casey Zoltan, instigator of the world renown art collective,
The Seventh Letter. After curating major traveling art tours in Italy, France, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Spain and the US,
Zoltan decided to settle in his native Los Angeles. Known is a 5500 sq ft space with gleaming white floors in the heart
of the Fairfax District. (knowngallery.com)

TheSeventhLetter.com | RVCA.com | LAWeekly.com

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
310-860-6263

Hours during shows:
Wednesday thru Saturday: 12 – 7pm
Sunday: 12 – 6pm

I was pretty sick and then busy for a bit. The other night I felt semi-better and went out and shot a few clips of Logan skating. Music by King Crimson. Check out some of the sweet skate vids he makes HERE.

My friend Jack.

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Check out Jack Greer’s new photo blog.

All the following photos were from a trip I took to NY in October/November of 2008. I also shot a series of photos of him giving tattoo’s. Click on the category “tattoo journal” for more photos of him handing out ink to friends for practice.

A week or so ago I went up in our local mountains to a semi-secret little skate park to skate and shoot some photos. Above, Russel Hamm.

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Shooting skating with film is kinda rough, especially if someone isnt paying for your film processing, scanning etc… About half of the images are shot on film, the other half on my 5D mkii. As usual, I like the film ones heaps more. Color corrections are kinda all over the place, couldnt really decide what sort of treatment I liked.

Russel Hamm

Reece Charcoal

Jeff Spiegel

Reece Charcoal

Someone I know has been there…

We sessioned this gap for a bit, shooting with my 70-200 at around 200mm. El Jefe Spiegel.

This was shot with a 50mm. Notice the shitty focus job. Was pretty hard to catch it right when I was shooting with such a shallow DOF.

Reece.

Russel.

I finally got around to getting a few rolls of film developed. Here are a few in New York. I forgot how much I like shooting black and white film.

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Jack giving Carlos a Tattoo.

Pigeon bird gang.

Architectural photo?

Jack giving out another.

Skate tourist in Tompkins with a map of the city.

My brother and his fiance who live in brooklyn.

This is probably my favorite shot from the rolls I got developed. Pryce Holmes at the strip club ledge. West side.

DJ Roktagon Andrew Brown.

Well, this is my 100th post. Not that it is of any real significance, but I figured it a time to look back at some of my old posts and try to find a collection of my favorite images from this journal. I havent updated my portfolio site in some time, ever since starting this blog, so it was an exercise to see if I can put some of them into my portfolio which I am updating right now.

101st post will be coming up tomorrow. Guess I just didnt think I would keep up with it. Thanks for checking it out. All the comments and feedback and views are what motivate me to keep posting.

Here are 100 somewhat random images. Click to enlarge.

My last day in NY in the bottom of Manhattan. Click for

Some of these are shot on film on Mike’s contax, hence the reason for taking a little while to post these, waiting to get scans back from Mike.  The rest are shot on my Canon 5d with a 24mm prime. Really annoying to put the two together. Makes me want to only shoot film ever.

World Trade Center

I wish I shot more skating while I was out here.

At some point I want to do a collection of images of mistimed shots and awkward bails. Here is a funny one where if you didnt know what was going on before (to the right of the crop) its a pretty odd sight.  Check out JOCK GREER.

On this next divider on Delancy you can see some white bondo where people have put there to help bridge between the gap in the metal.