Event Details

“Degrees of Separation”, is Julien’s Beverly Hills’ inaugural art presentation of over 50 new and never-before-seen original works from today’s biggest names in the vanguard of Contemporary Art, Photography, Street Art and Music today, with the exhibition and sale opening on Friday, June 25th through Wednesday, June 30th at Julien’s gallery in Beverly Hills and online at www.DegreesOfSeparation.art.

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Some of the most popular figures in today’s collaborative creative community scene in Los Angeles and artists from streets and studios all over the world, who are leading the underground art to major art movement, will be represented including Blek le Rat, RISK, Estevan Oriol, Billy Morrison, WrdSmth, Plastic Jesus, Meg Zany and Dave Navarro & PADHiA (Duel Diagnosis). Each artist will unveil five to ten original new pieces created during the lockdown of 2020 and this year’s ongoing pandemic exclusively for the exhibition, heralding the reopening of Los Angeles as the destination of cutting-edge art and culture.



In celebration of the “Degrees of Separation” each artist has with one another, the exhibit will showcase a sensational collection of paintings, graffiti art, photography, sculpture and beyond in various sizes, shapes and forms that were created through either direct collaboration with one another or inspired by the powerful influence that the aforementioned musicians and artists have had on one another as well as their creative connections that have made a profound impact on the world.

A mix of the artists’ hanging, installed and interactive works will fill over 10,000 square feet of Julien’s famed Gallery in Beverly Hills.

One of the highlights is a painting created exclusively for the exhibition by a collaboration between Kelly “RISK” Graval, the Godfather of the West Coast Graffiti movement, and Billy Morrison, visual artist and renowned musician. The large scale painting of a butterfly with dual flag wings of the Stars and Stripes & Union Jack was created at The Risk Rock Studios compound, a two-acre artist studio, sculpture workshop and print shop that has become a major creative hub for Southern California which RISK had built as a meeting place for creatives, much like Andy Warhol's "Factory" in New York, where some of the world's biggest visual artists, musicians and actors have come through its doors.

Billy Morrison said, “Both RISK and I have painted the image of a butterfly in the past to signify change and rebirth. So when the time came to collaborate on a piece for ‘Degrees of Separation,’ that image seemed perfect. Using my image of the dual Stars and Stripes & Union Jack flag wings, RISK’s use of color and technique exploded the work into a large-scale painting that provides the basis for the collaborative nature of the show.”

“This is an extremely important exhibit about how artists influence each other,” added RISK.



Another notable work comes from musician, activist, and street artist, Dave Navarro & Los Angeles-based street artist, designer, and writer, PADHiA, collaborative partners in Duel Diagnosis, whose creation of an immersive and giant deconstructed cuckoo clock to house their fine art pieces will be unlike anything seen before.

According to the artists, the cuckoo clock is a symbol of innocence, childhood, time, and mental disorganization. Upon entering the installation, the viewer loses sense of rules, scale, and time and steps into a world that is more how Dave and PADHiA imagine it. The artists added: “It’s a world where perhaps life is not about what things seem like on the surface… where we must remain trapped fearfully conforming to fit the narrative of “normal”. A world where we are free to assign our own meaning to our stories and decide for ourselves what is enchanting.” Navarro, considered one of alternative rock's most revered guitar heroes, blasted onto the music scene as a founding member of Jane's Addiction, with which he recorded four studio albums as well as a former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He’s also a popular television personality from his shows Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave with former wife, model and actress Carmen Electra, singing competition shows Rock Star: INXS and Rock Star: Supernova with model and actress Brooke Burke and most recently as the host of the hit show, Ink Master.

The artist known as Plastic Jesus will present a number of his newest works and resurrect his most infamous creation, a life-size fiberglass sculpture of a golden Kanye West reimagined as an Oscar statue. Plastic Jesus x Ginger’s (Joshua Monroe, whom with the anarchist group INDECLINE created the five naked Donald Trump statues, one of which was sold at Julien’s Auctions) piece titled “False Idol - Kanye West” made headlines around the world and caused a stir in its public installation on Hollywood Boulevard near the site of 2017’s Oscar ceremony (photo left). It will be available to be sold for the first time at the exhibition ($30,000). One of Plastic Jesus’ new pieces “The Art of Noise” a mixed medium built on real Fender guitar will also be a highlight.

Other highlights of the exhibition and sale include: RISK’s works including "Risky Big Boy" a unique fiberglass sculpture with spray paint accent (photo below right); "PGFY Neon" a double sided "Neon Finger" that hangs from the ceiling made of acrylic, spray paint, crushed abalone and surfboard resin on "Metallic Tissue" panel of recycled spray cans, license plates and road signs; Billy Morrison’s “Rock N Roll Suicide” an unframed mixed media, acrylic, spray and resin on wood panel and “Time Out” framed acrylic and spray on canvass; WRDSMTH’s “KISS,” an unframed acrylic on canvas; and more.

A series of original works by the Godfather of stencil art, Blek le Rat, will be exhibited at Julien’s Auctions- the first time an exhibition and sale of the street art legend to take place in North America in over three years. Blek’s “Lost Paintings” went missing from a San Francisco Gallery in 2012 and were recovered from an abandoned church in Florida in 2019 (seven years after they disappeared). Blek le Rat’s acrylic and spray paint on linen works, "San Francisco Streets", “Can't Kill The Revolution" and “Last Wedding” from the “Lost Paintings” series will be displayed and offered for sale. Blek le Rat was the first artist to use stencils as a form of street art. His rats stenciled all over Paris in the early 1980’s were the inspiration for artists such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey. The "Lost Paintings" series represents an important period from Blek and originally included his master painting "Great Tango".

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ABOUT 232 AM PROJECTS

2:32 AM Projects has curated over 50 Gallery Exhibits in the United States and Canada. In addition to producing the award-winning documentary, “Saving Banksy”, 2:32 AM has done brand projects for Google, Spotify, The NFL, Indian Motorcycles, Monster Energy Drink and Gibson Guitars. The company has supervised over 60 public mural projects in North America, including three of the five largest public murals ever done in the U.S. and Canada.

ABOUT VIVE LE ROCK INC.

Vive Le Rock Inc. is the umbrella underneath which Billy Morrison creates fine art paintings, limited edition prints, merchandise, music and events. V.L.R. INC embraces the independent spirit of Punk Rock and collaborates with artists and creatives that have a like-minded energy.

ABOUT BLEK LE RAT

Blek le Rat, widely considered as the Godfather of modern Street Art, was the first to use stencils for silhouetes on the street. He studied engraving and architecture at Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He would leave his mark in the world’s biggest museum, the urban landscape through his life-size stencils. Inspired by graffiti he had seen on a trip to NYC in 1971 and a stenciled portrait of Mussolini from WW2 which he had seen in Italy in his childhood e sprayed small black rats running along the streets of Paris in 1981. The rats made him quickly known in Paris but it was only two years later, with the silhouette of an Old Irish Man, that Blek and his stencils became recognized all over France. Blek feels very close to his characters and always tries to link them to the environment in which he is working. The interaction created between the image, the space and the beholder is essential to understand Blek’s approach. Blek has been investigating the urban space for over 39 years and still continues to inspire urban artists all over the world.

ABOUT RISK

Kelly “RISK” Graval is the Godfather of the West Coast Graffiti movement. He was the first Graffiti artist to paint train cars, freeway overpasses and billboards. His desire to put his work on dangerous, highly visible spots was called “Going to the Heavens”. Over the past two decades, RISK has become a force in the international art scene. Exhibiting in major Museums - LA MoCA, California Museum of Art and Long Beach Museum of Art. RISK’s work can be found in major galleries in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Miami and San Francisco. He has collaborated with Aerosmith, Bernie Taupin and Michael Jackson.

ABOUT ESTEVAN ORIOL

Estevan Oriol is an internationally celebrated professional photographer, director and urban lifestyle entrepreneur. Beginning his career as a hip-hop club bouncer turned tour manager for popular Los Angeles-based rap groups Cypress Hill and House of Pain, Estevan’s passion for photography developed while traveling the world. With an influential nudge and old camera from his father, renowned photographer Eriberto Oriol, Estevan began documenting life on the road and established a name for himself amid the emerging hip-hop scene. Nearly 20 years later, Oriol’s extensive portfolio juxtaposes the glamorous and gritty planes of LA culture, featuring portraits of famous athletes, artists, celebrities and musicians as well as Latino, urban, gang, and tattoo culture lifestyles. He has photographed Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper, Ryan Gosling, Chloe Moretz, Marissa Miller, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Floyd Mayweather, and others. He has also produced shoots for internationally acclaimed photographers such as Ellen von Unwerth for Sang Bleu and Luca Babini for GQ Italy. In addition to shooting campaigns for companies including Cadillac, Nike, Dickies, Montejo, and Footlocker. As well as directing media projects for My Cadillac Stories, MetroPCS, MTV and Apple, Estevan has designed album covers and/or directed music videos for artists including Eminem, Cypress Hill, Blink 182, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit. Estevan has more recently elevated his mastery with directing/ producing his first full length documentary LA Originals on Netflix that peaked at the #4 spot overall in popularity and has become the #1 watched documentary on the platform. This has led to more directorial projects that include a Cypress Hill Documentary that was recently acquired by Showtime and will make its debut in the upcoming year as well as executive producing a scripted TV series for STX. His work has been showcased in select galleries and institutions—such as Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives, Mesa Contemporary Art Center, Petersen Automotive Museum, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles’ Art in the Streets exhibit—concluding with a best-selling books of his work: LA Woman, L.A. Portraits, And This Is Los Angeles capturing the dangerous gangsters, Lowriders, Musicians, Celebrities, L.A. Lifestyle and alluring beauty of women shot in his uniquely provocative and raw style. His photography has been featured in Complex, FHM, Juxtapoz, GQ, Vibe, Rolling Stone and other publications, with appearances on popular television shows such as, CNN’s Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, CNN’s Street Food-Roy Choi, HBO’s Entourage and Last Call With Carson Daly.

ABOUT BILLY MORRISON

His rise from homelessness and drug addiction on the streets of Los Angeles, to being in seminal rock band, The Cult and now playing guitar for music Icon Billy Idol since 2009, is a fantastic and inspirational story. Billy Morrison has already packed five lifetimes into his journey and for the past few years his Fine Art has been creating waves and providing discussion among his many clients, adding another arm to his forward momentum. Morrison has been a long-time collector of contemporary art, owning pieces by Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Jamie Reid, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, RISK and many others, and for the past few years has put brush to canvas himself and created his own fine art works. Morrison considers himself fortunate to be able to express himself creatively on canvas as well as through music. His provocative and thought-inspiring statements embrace concepts of duality and mixed metaphors, and his use of color and mixed media has been embraced by serious art collectors. Jane Fonda owns a portrait painted by Morrison, Shepard Fairey owns a Clockwork Orange piece, top LA Restaurant owner Craig Susser commissioned a piece that hangs inside his restaurant ‘Craigs’ in Los Angeles, he has collaborated on works with Lincoln Townley, Plastic Jesus and RISK, and Morrison has a piece from his Butterfly series hanging in The U.S. Capitol.

ABOUT DUEL DIAGNOSIS (DAVE NAVARRO AND PADHIA)

Duel Diagnosis, by Dave Navarro and PADHiA, is a thought-provoking project consisting of fine art, street art, impactful installations, apparel, curiosities, oddities, objets d’art, rare goods, fantastical spectacle, analgesic perspective, boldly inclusive ideas, and subversive counterculture. The project dispels society’s narrow margin of what is considered acceptable, normal, and pretty... and shines an enchanting light on the honest, deeper truths of the human experience. The Duel Diagnosis Manifesto: To be human is to struggle sometimes. Happiness is not always a choice. Sometimes the sun goes away, and you can’t even find the spot where it used to be. Shame has never saved anyone. Instead, we celebrate. We unify. That is the sh*t that saves people. We all have our struggles, disorders, traumas, misadventures, flaws, and defects. We are not set in concrete summarized by some shitty one-dimensional label. We are human, fallible, covered with bruises, affected... we are also healing, evolving, and each uniquely beautiful. We celebrate honesty. Realness. We wear our humanity proudly. We find beauty even in things that seem destructive because we know we are all just doing our best. We are compassion. We are humor at the ridiculousness of it all. We are a reminder in the darkness, that the depths of one’s depression is equal to one’s capacity for joy as the light that follows darkness is always more expansive. We imagine a world where the things you have been through make you special and gifted instead of marked and worth less. A world where our stories are not baggage but instead treasure, badges of honor... living testaments of Heroism.

ABOUT WRDSMTH

WRDSMTH is an LA/UK-based street artist who aspires to inspire others on a daily basis with colorful and wellchosen words crafted into indelible thoughts and phrases that he paints/pastes onto walls around the world.





ABOUT PLASTIC JESUS

Plastic Jesus is a Los Angeles-based street artist that specializes in bold stencil and installation work, inspired by world news events, society, the urban environment, culture and politics. His critically acclaimed work combines humor, irony, criticism and unique opinion to create art that engages on many levels. Often questioning the norms in society Plastic Jesus confronts our compliance of culture and current affairs. The artist uses scale and contradiction as a means to highlight issues and opinions that often go unquestioned. The aesthetic appeal of his work combined with the engagement produces an addictive mix that challenges our acceptance. Plastic Jesus is not about revolution, he is not a anarchist but would like to see some changes around the place. His work is more about shining a small light into some of those dark corners of society. His work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, ABC News, Huffington Post, Gizmodo, Buzzfeed, The Sun, The Daily Mirror, LA Times, LA Weekly, The Daily Mail, MSNBC, The Daily Telegraph, Complex art and Design, Time, Us Weekly, USA Today and many more. The Smithsonian Institute also features art by Plastic Jesus.

ABOUT MEG ZANY

Meg Zany’s artwork is comprised of lively messages paired with playful imagery to bring optimism to urban streetscapes, media campaigns, and home commissions alike. Widely known for her public service campaigns, including (not limited) Courage Has No Gender, All Women Are Warriors, and It’s an Equality Thing —Zany spreads these messages on a global scale through her sponsored travels. Meg Zany believes that art is a vital piece in selfcare, equality, and the rise of community in neighborhoods and households. Zany’s art can be found on building walls and in homes around the world. As guest speaker and among multiple media outlets, and publications including Facebook HQ, Zany has attracted collaborations with artists and brands around the world. Her global reach allows for fellow creatives and brands to leverage extremes for a deep reach of audience. Meg Zany has a unique relationship with multiple non-profits and helping to raise capital for charity. Her philanthropic allegiance is tied to green initiatives, reducing homelessness, and inspiring youth.

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