Upper Playground is pleased to present the HATI Premium T-shirt by master wood block carver, illustrator and installation artist, Dennis McNett.  For his debut with Upper Playground, the artist  shares with us his signature ‘wolfbat” design and introduces us to the world of HATI:

“The wolf is Hati, who chases the moon throughout the night. He is son of Fenris, the great wolf who devoured Odin on the battlefield during Ragnarok. The patterns represent kinetic energy from the moon and the wolf that pores from them both.” -DM

These T-shirts are printed on 100% premium pima cotton. Color printed with reactive dyes to ensure lasting quality and softness that is unmatched by older technologies like dye sublimation or screen printing.  Feel free to drop in our Fillmore store to check these Premium T-shirts or purchase them online HERE.

 

 

FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil has officially started and for a limited time, Upper Playground will be throwing in one of these special edition soccer balls with all purchases over $100. Designed by either Sam Flores, or Brazilian, Herbert Baglione, they are available only while supplies last.

Mexican American artist Favio Martínez, a.k.a. Curiot, is based in Mexico city and has become one of the most recognized street artists of his generation. His unique style with references to traditional Mexican folk art, is defined by fantastical figures of pre-Hispanic characters that come alive in colorful fusions of bodies and unlikely creatures. These figures called “curiotis” arise from his inspirations found in ancient cultures and reflections over our consumption and pollution of the environment. Curiot’s work has been shown in galleries such as La Crema, La Mano Gráfica, Baseveintiuno, David Alfaro Siqueiros, MACAZ Museum, Museo Arte Moderno, MUJAM , Centro Cultural Border, Thinkspace Gallery of L.A. and the FFDG of San Francisco. He has taken on multiple mural projects in Mexico, USA and Europe along with other renown artists from around the globe.

Hi latest works will be exhibited in Mexico City at Fifty24SF‘s sister gallery, Fifty24MX, titled ‘The creation of NIRAK’TUH’. For more information visit: Fifty24MX

“The creation of Nirak´tuh is the most recent exhibit of artist Favio Martínez “Curiot” (Michoacan, México) presenting a series inspired in the element of fire as a component of the duality of Creation – Destruction. In this new series, Curiot creates a collection of characters lead by Nirak’tuh, the sun god, who announces a new cycle in the history of the planet. The bodies of these deities are conformed by intricate structures that unveil pyramids, animals, sea flora, stone effigies, embroidery, lava, cactuses, sacred geometry and several ornamental elements that complement each other with knitt and other material compositions. This is how the creation of Nirak´tuh presents a group of archetypical creatures that reveal in their nature infinite universes that can be discovered layer by layer through the eyes of the spectator.” – Fifty24MX

Here’s a sneak peek of his show:

 

For fans of Curiot, check out our Upper Playground x Curiot collaboration tee available here.

Upper Playground is proud to announce a new line of Premium Tees that will be released in collaboration with various artists throughout this year.

Our first release is the Descanso da Alma T-shirt by Brazilian artist, Herbert Baglione.  These Premium line of Tshirts , made with 4.8 oz. interlock 100% Pima cotton, uses one of the most innovative technologies to deliver high quality, all over print products to our fans.  The superiority of Pima Cotton is recognized by its extreme softness and durability from its composition of long staple fibers that sets it apart from other cottons and is generally agreed upon as the best cotton in the world.

In addition to its excellent fabric, these t-shirts are printed on with special reactive dye inks that give these t-shirts a superior level of colorfastness compared to traditionally screen printed t-shirts.  This means these line of Premium Pima T-shirts are made to last with long durability in color vibrance and the graphics will never wash out.

4.8 oz. interlock 100% pima cotton.

Lay flat collar.

Double needle construction.

Check out this and other products by Herbert Baglione here.

 

Artist David Choe is working on releasing limited edition books that are related to his last major installation and show in Mexico City  titled ‘Snowman, Monkey, BBQ’.  Each book will come with a print and an etched wooden box. Some of these boxes will be hand embellished and even hand painted by the artist. No announcement of when these books will be available have been made yet but they are planned to be released within this year.