Upper Playground is proud to announce the release of a new design by Artist, Josh Ellingson, now available online at www.upperplayground.com.

Josh Ellingson creates unique designs and illustrations for brands, publications, and galleries worldwide. His artwork is often described as graphic and bold, drawing inspiration from world of pop-art, technology, and the absurd. He releases this week, The Burger Walrus design along with a few questions we threw his way:

1) Is there a story, special message, or feeling your are trying to convey with your tee design?

I was trying to find the hidden pathway between terror and hunger. Can something be both majestic and absurd simultaneously? Also, I like hamburgers and walruses.

2) What was your all time favorite tee shirt you ever owned?

I’ve had a lot of great tshirts. I think my favorite was from San Francisco Polka/Punk icons “Polkacide”. It was a skull and cross-sausages. I wore it ragged and then bought another one. It’s totally destroyed now too.

3) What do the words Upper Playground mean to you?

When I first heard about “Upper Playground”, I thought it must be a skate park or a record store. There were just these giant photocopies pasted up around town with a walrus on it. It was mysterious. Then, when the store opened on Fillmore I was like, “Oh, these are some nice sweatshirts!”. So, the art comes and goes, but I was really struck by the quality of the clothing. So, when I think about Upper Playground my first thought is that it’s going to be warm and it’s going to be mysterious.

Upper Playground, as I’ve come to understand it, is now a well curated gallery cleverly disguised as a clothing store. Instead of canvases, the spotlight is on hoodies and tshirts. They’re taking the art world to the cleaners, literally.

Anyone who knows f**k-all about t-shirts will tell you that the greatest tie-dyed animal tees in the world come from the legendary brand known as “THE MOUNTAIN”.

 

We at Upper Playground respect this level of accomplishment in the T-shirt world (game recognize game), and have proudly embarked on a collaboration with the grand champion of animal tee shirts. Introducing the Upper Playground x The Mountain “Walrus Face” collaboration. Wear this T-shirt and think “two great tee brands joined forces so that I could wear this epic Walrus Face tee” and somehow the world is suddenly a better place to be.