home : press

START SOMA press archive: 2003  |  2004

 
JUXTAPOZ
November / December 2005

JUXTAPOZ included an AMAZING six-page feature story on START SOMA + the Hotel des Arts.
 
ALARM
Fall 2005
ALARM MAGAZINE recently included a great piece on the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:
 
In the superb documentary, Phillip Johnson: Diary of an Eccentric Architect, there is a moment when the esteemed eponym, nearing 90 years of age, describes to the camera how he prefers to enjoy a nebulous aluminum Frank Stella sculpture on his property in New Canaan, Connecticut. Drawing his thumb and index finger close, Johnson tells of imaging himself very small, so small that he can climb inside the piece and explore the myriad ridges and outcroppings tucked within. With a childlike glee that belies his years, the iconic designer discusses his desire to be in art, not just near it. Hotel des Arts, opened in June 2004 on the edge of San Francisco's Financial District, would be Phillip Johnson's kind of place. Over the past year, Willy Wonka-esque (START SOMA) founder John Doffing has invited emerging local and international artists to use 26 of the hotel's rooms as blank canvas/installation space.  The results range from the hand-made valentine's card sweetness of Kelly Tunstall's painted rooms to the lunatic fringe of Anthony Skirvin's every-last-detail recreation of a paranoid hermit's wilderness shack.  Basic in accomodation and reasonable in price, you can view the rooms online before booking so as to match the mood of your trip with an appropriate room.  Coming to the City for a romantic weekend?  The sweeping elegance of teh Sam Flores room should do the trick.  Really want to lose yourself in an environment?  Become so subsumed in the totality of May Hayuk's "Vortex" you begin to check yourself periodically to see if you too have become illustrated.  A few of the rooms are garish to the point of rankling and others are a bit sterile, so choose wisely.  But don't worry: with new rooms every four months and 25 unpainted rooms left to go before rooms are recycled into new displays, there will be lots of opportunity to get into some new art... 
 
Nitevibe
October 28, 2005

Nitevibe included a nice plug for our PROPAGANDA 2.0 art show: 

Freedom of expression is under assault, and START SOMA is determined to do something about it. A disturbing trend of controversial art work and entire art shows being shut down has developed, and artists are feeling the chill of de facto censorship in the land of the free. In response, Propaganda 2.0 is a show with only one aim: to collect and display as many controversial works of art as possible. These pieces have been persecuted for everything from anti-government messages to 'misuse' of corporate logos and cross political and cultural boundaries. In addition to the very large collection to be put on display, Friday night's free opening will also feature a variety of live performances, including beatbox legend Radio Active, Ean Golden, Tom Thump, Soulside, The Evolution Contol Committee, a crazy political mix from LA's DJ NAZ, and a live performance from legendary street poets CAI. Tonight is Propaganda 2.0's only stop in SF before heading to LA and across the country. Support freedom of speech and see this show!
 
Art Business
October 28, 2005
Art Business included a nice review + photos from the PROPAGANDA 2.0 opening at the Blue Cube.
 
Flavorpill                                  
October 28, 2005

Flavorpill included a nice plug for the PROPAGANDA 2.0 art show: 

Sometimes it seems the only thing in San Francisco more ubiquitous than artists are loudly voiced political opinions. Two years ago, Propaganda 1.0 merged the two, displaying artworks with views ranging from ultra-conservative to every kind of radical. With a string of gallery closings as an impetus, START SOMA called for submissions from anyone with a political opinion to express. With hundreds of works from around the world, the messages conveyed in the current exhibit are just as diverse as our city. Propaganda 2.0 appropriates the phrase "They Hate Our Freedom" as a subtitle for this year's show, compelling the viewer to wonder, "just who are they?"

 
mediabistro
October 28, 2005
mediabistro included a nice plug for the PROPAGANDA 2.0 art show.
 
JUXTAPOZ
October 26, 2005
Juxtapoz included a nice review + photos from the GROUP SHOW opening at the art hotel. 
 
Art Business                    
October 26, 2005
Art Business included a nice review + photos from the GROUP SHOW opening at the art hotel. 
 
SF GATE ART BLOG
October 26, 2005
Matt Petty included a nice review + photos from the GROUP SHOW opening at the art hotel. 
 
FecalFace.com
October 26, 2005
John Casey included a nice review + photos from the GROUP SHOW opening at the art hotel. 
 
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE | A Celebration of Street Art
September 6, 2005
The Wooster Collective included a nice plug for the upcoming PROPAGANDA 2.0 art show.  
 
Oyster Magazine
September 2005
The global fashion magazine Oyster devoted TWO photo-packed pages to the Hotel des Arts in their most recent issue.  One on the hotel itself, and one on the opening for PAINTED ROOMS 3.0.  According to the former, "...artiste de la mode get to paint hotel rooms - carte blanche - in one of the best cities in the world...the hotel hand-selected an eclectic bunch that runs the gamut from well-known graffiti artists to dainty illustrators and even some unknown talents."  And according to their review of the opening, "at the opening of the third batch of painted rooms at the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco, dim sum was gorged and cocktails were thrown back as masses of kids and high society types came to romp from room to room, making their way from party stop to party stop, checking out the painted rooms by Maria Gillespie, MISK, Eric Orr, Kelly Tunstall, MATZU, Maya Hayuk, and Anthony Skirvin.  DJ Tom Thump kept the flow going as the crowd scribbled on walls..."
 
SF STATION
September 2005
SF Station included a nice feature story on the HOTEL DES ARTS.  According to the article, "the Hotel Des Arts has carved out a niche for itself in the city's boutique hotel market by allowing emerging artists full artistic control in painting a number of the hotels' rooms. The local talent is particularly well suited to large-scale wall painting. Graffiti art has a strong presence in the area and mural painting is widespread and well supported in San Francisco..."
learn more
 
Design Week
August 25, 2005
The leading design publication in the UK, Design Week, included a GREAT feature story on the upcoming launch of START MOBILE.  According to the article:
If John Doffing has his way, a broad spectrum of the public will soon be exposed to provocative street art, designed to fit in your pocket. He talks to Yolanda Zappaterra about his vision for mobile phones
John Doffing is a man on a mission. It began in 2003, when he decided it was time to change the way art was delivered in San Francisco. Rather than using stale peanuts and bad wine to lure punters to art in hushed galleries, Doffing hit upon two ideas: Start Soma, an art gallery dressed up as a club, and the Hotel des Arts' Painted Rooms, hospitality more akin to exhibition space. So successful have they been that Doffing, an art enthusiast and hi-tech entrepreneur, has decided to broaden his scope and go global. With Start Mobile, launching this week, he aims to bring underground and emerging art to mobile device users worldwide. It's a simple and compelling premise: mobile users select the image they want, then pay $1.99 (£1.10) to download the image optimised for their device. It's theirs to keep, licensed for single use. And for each download, the image's creator receives at least 33 cents.
Doffing's criteria for inclusion of art and artists was broad - artists from around the world, spanning street art to photography to abstract work to mainstream Pop art, were invited to submit work - because, he believes, the broader the mix, the greater the appeal of the venture. 'I want the work to be eclectic, aesthetically meaningful, compelling, thought-provoking, interesting, fun and whimsical.'
His enthusiasm is persuasive, but there is scepticism from elsewhere. For instance, the Association of Illustrator's on-line discussion forum cites issues such as tiny royalties, slow payment or non-payment in new media and, crucially, a lack of belief that people will pay to download images on to their phones. But Doffing is bullish: 'There are two billion cell phones currently in use in the world today, and they're not all owned by 14-year-old boys! The images can be sold over and over again. And there is no limit to the art we can offer.'
East London street artist Adam Neate, one of Start Mobile's illustrators, is equally enthusiastic. 'It's a nice opportunity to have my work pop up in some different media formats, although mine may not be as timeless and classic as certain loopy frog images,' he jokes. And Jon Burgerman, another illustrator on board - a D&AD Silver Award Nominee who has worked for a wide range of clients - agrees: 'I see it as a good opportunity to display some new work on a fairly new format,' he says. 'Also, it means making my work available for download for American networks, which it hasn't been before.'
 

 
In a world in which print formats are contracting, this need to find new formats and markets is crucial for illustrators, and not just from a financial perspective, says Burgerman. 'You need to be flexible enough to be able to adapt your practice for new outlets, otherwise you'll miss out on opportunities and will ultimately be left behind. New formats and outlets throw up new problems, which can in turn drive innovation,' he says. Neate agrees: 'The Internet has long since lost its Wild West image of entrepreneurialism. Things have levelled out and people have become wise to seeing what things work as strong and useful technology-based applications. Combining this with strong design and content can often make for a successful mix.'
If such formats drive the need for illustrators and artists to learn new skills, that's no bad thing either. As Neate sees it, 'A modern illustrator who can use Photoshop should have no restrictions in learning to use Adobe After Effects. Programmes like this can add an extra dimension and meaning to your work.' And once you have the skills, you're in the position to, as Doffing concludes, give people 'compelling new art that can fit, quite literally, in a pocket'.
'Art in this context is no longer atoms. It is not oil on canvas or spray paint on a wall. It is bits, ones and zeroes. The storage and display mechanism at this point is a cell phone, but in a few years, this could be linked to flat panel displays in the home. New art becomes increasingly fluid relative to how it is displayed, possessed, and enjoyed. This is pretty interesting stuff - at least to me.'
Looking at the wide and great range of work available at Start Mobile and then at the decidedly dull interfaces of most mobile devices, you have to agree with him.
 
Frommer's 2006 San Francisco Travel Guide
We just received word that Frommer's is including a photo of Kinsey's painted room at the Hotel des Arts on the back cover of their 2006 San Francisco budget travel guide. 
 
SFist                  
August 19, 2005
START SOMA organized a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club entitled Graffiti: Urban Scrawl or Artistic Freedom?, and SFist included a nice review of the debate. 
read the story!
 
Graffiti Archeology
August 17, 2005
  
START SOMA organized a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club entitled Graffiti: Urban Scrawl or Artistic Freedom?,  and Graffiti Archeology included a nice review of the debate. 
read the story!
 
San Francisco Chronicle             
August 13, 2005
The San Francisco Chronicle included a great FEATURE STORY on the painted rooms at the Hotel des Arts.
 
Mesh Magazine                               
August 2005
Mesh Magazine included a nice feature story on our current artist in residence, Casey O'Connell.
 
Eyeon | Emerging Art Journal           
August 2005
START SOMA's current artist in residence, Casey O'Connell, was the featured artist in the inaugural issue of eyeon, and her work was showcased on the cover.   
 
ArtBusiness                    
August 3, 2005
ART BUSINESS included a nice review of the the PAINTED ROOMS 4.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: Best show yet of artist-painted rooms at Hotel des Arts. You really oughta come see this place where almost every room is a complete work of art. Even the New York Times did a story on it in early July...
see the pictures!
 
The Ice Cream Man                          
August 2005
The PAINTED ROOMS 4.0 opening was featured on the Ice Cream Man's website.  
 
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE | A Celebration of Street Art
August 3, 2005
The Wooster Collective included a nice plug for the opening of PAINTED ROOMS 4.0.  
 
FecalFace
August 2005
FecalFace.com included a great feature on the PAINTED ROOMS 4.0 art show, including DOZENS of pictures.
 
Gizmodo
August 1, 2005
Gizmodo included a great interview with Jonathon Keats about his conceptual art installation in the Hotel des Arts.
 
gridskipper
July 28, 2005
gridskipper featured Jonathon Keats' room in the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: The Hotel des Arts does indeed go nuts with various artists commissioned to do over individual rooms, and they’re permitted to take the widely practiced idea bit further than more restrained boutique design hotels. But a new … er, level has been reached with the room assigned to SF artist Jonathon Keats, who installed “a solid brass camera in the double-occupancy room that will create a single photo exposed over a duration of one hundred years...
read the article
 
About.com
July 28, 2005
About featured Jonathon Keats' room in the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article, Bay area artist Jonathon Keats created a work of performance art that will have the occupants of a room in downtown Hotel des Arts undoubtedly, well, performing. Keats installed a solid brass camera in the double-occupancy room that will create a single photo exposed over a duration of one hundred years...
 
The New York Times    
July 10, 2005
The New York Times featured the Hotel des Arts in a article entitled Hotel Rooms Where the Art Is the Walls, Not on Them. 
According to the article, "Travelers sit and stare at the walls at the Hotel Des Arts in San Francisco, and that's the idea...the luxury is in having a gallery of underground art at your doorstep, on your door, and, in some rooms, dangling over your head...."   And the article actually plugged the opening of Painted Rooms 4.0 in August! 
 
San Francisco Magazine               
July 2005
San Francisco Magazine featured the Hotel des Arts in its annual BEST OF THE BAY issue.  According the the article: "The Hotel des Arts, a hotel-gallery hybrid,  boasts rooms painted by emerging and world-renowned underground artists, such as Shepard Fairey and Sam Flores.  The amenities may be rustic (half the rooms share bathrooms), but the walls are worth it.  Located downtown in what's come to be called the city's French Quarter, it's near all the action, especially on the nights when the hotel hosts an opening reception.  Make sure to request one of the 26 painted rooms , or better yet, one of the suites, like Kelly Tunstall's or Brian Barneclo's - they make perfect party spots..."
 
BPM Magazine
July 2005
BPM included a feature story on our Painted Rooms project at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:

"If you're used to staying at the Four Seasons, this place is gonna suck," warns John Doffing with a laugh. In this case, the head of START SOMA gallery means his words as high praise. He’s talking about the Hotel des Arts, San Francisco’s first and only "art hotel." Pretension holds no reign at the Hotel des Arts, which is cheap enough for backpackers and budget travelers, yet hip enough to attract the likes of the infamous Mobb Deep and the Arcade Fire when they roll through town. Visitors shouldn’t expect mints on pillows, but they will get a wholly unique experience: a hotel where the art isn’t merely on the walls, the art is the walls.

The Hotel des Arts functions as a live-in gallery space, in which almost 30 of the hotel’s 51 rooms (with more to come) feature the floor-to-ceiling handiwork of emerging artists from the Bay Area and beyond. The concept was born in 2004, when the hotel’s owners approached START SOMA gallery to curate art shows at their newly renovated property. But Doffing, who had recently been showcasing graffiti writers and large-scale muralists, had a much bigger idea. Figuring it wouldn’t be beyond the call of duty for those used to bombing the sides of buildings, he invited artists to take spray cans and brushes to the hotel’s walls themselves.

Last September, Hotel des Arts presented the first in a series of shows entitled "Painted Rooms," featuring rooms transformed by Sam Flores, Apex, David Choe, Kelly Tunstall, David DeRosa and Vulcan. Response to the show was overwhelming, prompting the Hotel des Arts to commission 22 more rooms over the next six months, with work ranging from the whimsical illustrative birds and robots of Damon Soule to the curvilinear cyber-fantasies of French flier designer Punkadelik. And there’s more on the way: this August, the hotel plans to unveil new rooms by Obey creator Sheppard Fairey, Los Angeles-based street artist Buff Monster, skateboarder-cum-actor Jason Lee and others.

As accommodations go, the hotel itself is more funky than fancy (it’s not unlikely for housekeeping or noise complaints to be met with a shrug from the front-desk staff), but that suits the younger clientele just fine. These days, the Hotel des Arts is booked solid almost every night of the week, and reservation requests for rooms by specific artists are becoming more common (Apex and Sam Flores are most popular). For aficionados of urban art, staying in one of the painted rooms is, in effect, the visual equivalent of surround sound.

According to John Doffing, the hotel represents a revolution in the way art is seen and enjoyed. "I’m anti white walls," he maintains. "I’m anti quiet, polite spaces. I’m not interested in creating another art gallery with a few overpriced paintings hung on perfectly lit walls. We are not constrained by typical notions of what an art show should look like—or where it should be located! We are simply trying to bring NEW ART to the widest possible audience."
 
Atomica Magazine                                                  
July 2005
In conjunction with our Video Game Art Show, ATOMICA MAGAZINE included START SOMA in an interesting article about the convergence of Video Games + Cinema.  According to the article:

On a cool night in San Francisco, the buzz in the air is palpable. Thousands of people come for the opening night of a show curated with the explicit goal of exploring the connections between video games and NEW ART. Trendy, impossibly thin women and venture capitalists rub shoulders with the art establishment. First time collectors make purchases that reminded them of their childhood and current hobby: video games. The brainchild of John Doffing, a well-known gallerist with roots in video game production tools, the show is a tremendous success...John Doffing is the first to suggest that his show raised more questions than it answered. His focus was, “how a dozen emerging and underground artists reflect video game icons and iconography in their art. We simply didn't have time to explore broader questions of correlation and causality, not to mention the profound implications of what we were showing.”  For Doffing, the tie between games and cinema is one of convergence between multiple trends and technologies...
Atomica Magazine Website
 
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE | A Celebration of Street Art
June 2, 2005
The Wooster Collective included a nice blurb on the new rooms currently being painted in the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:

San Francisco's Hotel Des Arts keeps getting better and better. The latest group of artists to paint rooms includes Buffmonster and Dave Kinsey who did his room last weekend.  Next up in June to paint rooms: Tes One, BASK, Urban Medium, and a giant mural in the courtyard from the entire AWR crew, including SABER and NORM. In addition, Mark the Cobra Snake is going be be doing a bathroom...
see the pictures!

 
 
FecalFace                                  
June 2, 2005
FecalFace.com included some nice pictures of the new rooms currently being painted in the Hotel des Arts.
 
San Francisco Magazine  
June 2005
San Francisco Magazine included a feature story on our Painted Rooms project at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:
 
Hotel des Arts is the city's most recent, and radical, experiment in artistic infiltration. Over the past year, half of the 51 rooms have been given to an artist to do with as he or she pleases. Some have taken six weeks, brushing in elaborate scenes fit for a Victorian parlor. Others have bombed the walls in 24 hours, as if the cops were waiting around the corner. The only quality the artists have in common is the confidence of John Doffing, an Internet entrepreneur whose enthusiasm as a collector has led him to curate shows in spaces ranging from abandoned SoMa lofts to the basement at City Hall and whose zeal has compelled all the artists at Hotel des Arts to contribute their work in exchange for exposure. Of which there's a lot. By arrangement with the hotel owners, Doffing has opened unoccupied rooms to the public...
 
MESH MAGAZINE
June 2005

MESH MAGAZINE included a feature story on our Painted Rooms project at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:

Right around the corner from San Francisco’s couture shopping mecca Union Square lies Hotel des Arts, a boutique hotel that specializes in showcasing emerging and underground artists from around the world. While much of the hotel’s collection of edgy urban art hangs in the hotel’s narrow spotlighted hallways, the novelty of Hotel des Arts is found within its Painted Rooms, where curator John Doffing has commissioned a variety of innovative up–and–coming artists to conceptualize and design each of the hotel’s 51 suites. With full autonomy to do whatever they like (except paint the carpets) Hotel Des Arts’ concept rooms are a dream project for artists who are used to dealing with compromise en route to making a living at being creative. “You get a key to a room, you lock yourself in there for however long it takes to finish, and no one says shit. You can’t ask for much more than complete control,” declared Anthony Skirvin, whose Room 307 was recently unveiled....
read the article
 
Elemental Magazine
June 2005
Our friends at Elemental included a GREAT article on the Louis Vuitton controversy at the Hotel des Arts.  In an article entitled LOUIS VUITTON VS HOTEL DES ARTS, they had this to say:

It’s easy to say that you wouldn’t roll over on the artists when the detectives are at the door. Magazines have been raided after featuring graffiti artists, investigators demanding that the editors hand over government names and contact info for the writers. In every case, the law is on the side of the magazine. You don’t have to give up shit. Knowing that and acting on it can be two different things. Giving up a couple of names to get the cops out of your doorway before they start searching for other "contraband" can seem like an easy answer. But you’re only selling yourself out.

Then there are those who refuse to be intimidated. They know their rights and are willing to stand and fight for them, even if it is on principle alone. One such man is John Doffing, curator of the much lauded Painted Rooms in San Francisco’s Hotel des Arts. The Painted Rooms project invited a group of artists to create original works out of each of the guest rooms in the hotel. They were given absolute freedom to transform the space. One of these artists was painter Tim Gaskin. When Tim was finished with Room 404, a bold portrait of Madonna stood over a familiar designer pattern, including an enormous "LV" in electric blue. Word of the ongoing exhibition in the working hotel spread as far as the offices of Louis Vuitton. The company’s lawyers presented a Cease And Desist letter, including a request for the artist’s address and phone number, to Hotel des Arts owner Richard Singer, who responded to the letter by doing absolutely nothing. Singer and Doffing not only agreed that the artwork was not going to be removed, they agreed that the idea that a multinational corporation like Louis Vuitton would think they could dictate the expression of an artist like Tim Gaskin was particularly offensive.

"Removing the LV trademark from the walls of the hotel would necessitate destroying an original piece of fine art," says Singer. "Works of artistic expression are clearly protected by the First Amendment, and we absolutely refuse to be censored by a multinational corporation and their teams of lawyers."

"We are taking a stand here," continues Doffing, "to protect the chilling effect that such corporate intimidation could have on emerging artists and their creative freedom."

It’s quite a stand, and a very important one given today’s political climate. Louis Vuitton may have dozens of lawyers and a fat bank account on their side, but Gaskin and Hotel des Arts have one up on them – the law. No amount of money will silence our Constitution as long as strong people stand up for their rights...
 
The Ice Cream Man                          
May 31, 2005
The Hotel des Arts was featured on the Ice Cream Man's website. 
 
ArtBusiness.com                              
May 27, 2005
START SOMA curated the fourth floor of the Design Center for the annual ArtSFest Gala.  We showcased over fifty local emerging artists, and the event was exceptionally well-received.  Plus, two of our favorite emerging artist collectives in San Francisco were jointly honored with the ArtSFest NEW ART award! According to the ART BUSINESS review of the opening:

The ArtSFest Gala, occupying all four floors of the San Francisco Design Center Galleria Atrium, culminates a month-long citywide celebration of the arts, both visual and performing. Dozens of visual artists have work on display, performers perform, and awards are awarded. Award recipients include Rene di Rosa for Hugest Bigtime Bay Area Art Guy Ever...the photo folks at Hamburger Eyes (it's about time), and the Gestalt Collective muralists. The fourth floor is devoted to urban art, and that's where most of the action is-- as usual. The urban art scene, though not formalized, is pervasive and growing, and consistently attracts large amounts of attention. It's quite the phenomenon...
 
Nitevibe 
May 27, 2005
Nitevibe included a nice plug ArtSFest + the START SOMA floor. According to the article:

ArtSFest, San Francisco's most eclectic celebration of the many forms of artistic _expression, is throwing a massive benefit gala. Painting, sculpture, spoken word, photography, graff, all this and more will be on display at the SF Design Center for you to enjoy while the sweet sounds of Groovus, Sutro, and others provide a soundtrack as entertaining as the art. There'll be a special award presentation honoring Rene di Rosa, founder of the di Rosa Art Preserve. An entire floor of the Design Center is curated by START SOMA and features the work of Hamburger Eyes and the Gestalt Collective, who are receiving a special New Art award from Chronicle honcho Phil Bronstein. This is a great chance to get out and get a little culture, or maybe just impress your date, all while having a great time.
 
ArtBusiness.com                              
May 26, 2005
ArtBusiness.com featured our Plasticfucker FACE THE MUSIC art show, and included some nice photos of the opening night's festivities.  According to the article:

Los Angeles artist Plasticfucker (aka Doug Murphy) has all the ingredients necessary to ascend the ranks of the art world, the popular art world in particular...he's got the persona, his art's quick and easy, everybody gets it, it's commercially viable, it's got an instantly identifiable look-- approaching trademark-- and he can make plenty of it and keep it affordable (small portraits for only $65). In other words, it's complete gratification all the way around...
 
 
Nitevibe 
May 26, 2005
Nitevibe included a nice plug for the Plasticfucker FACE THE MUSIC art show.  According to the article:

Doug Murphy, better known as Plasticfucker, is one of the West Coast's hottest emerging artists. He's bringing his special brand of accessible pop art to SF for the very first time, and the coolest art crew around is welcoming him in style. An all-star lineup of local DJ talent throwing down everything from jazzy house grooves to eclectic mash-up madness make this a night to remember. Make sure you get there early to catch Mix Master Mao (aka Mei Lwun) at 8; his Nelly/Lynyrd Skynyrd mash Sweet Home Country Grammar just got some pub in Time Magazine, of all places. Cover is free, but bring a little cash, you might bag an original piece of art for less the $70.
 
BPM Magazine                             
May 2005
The Video Game Art Show, held in conjunction with the 2005 Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, was featured in BPM magazine.  According to the article, entitled ART, GAMES AND VISION: 

As San Francisco played host to the annual Game Developers Conference, Blue Cube played host to a video game art show. No, ample-waisted patrons were not subjected to a series of White Mage character depictions or a collection of various dragon wings. Instead they were greeted with the pop art efforts of Mars-1, Tim Gaskin, David DeRosa, Plasticfucker and more.   

Curated by gallery owner John Doffing, whose iconoclastic START SOMA gallery has hosted dozens of art shows over the past two years, the show transcends the typically staid and pretentious 'wine and cheese' openings. Atari controllers, black on bright playful colors, and a Simon electric game broken into four squares (both by David Derosa) are smaller pieces. But Tim Gaskin's 4X4 ft Lara Croft, emblazoned with the Eidos Logo, is definitely a scene stealer. Looming above the staircase, the buxom video game vixen left many of the escort-challenged males mesmerized. And while surreal typography artist Misk's (aka Sandro Tchikovani) work reflects nothing of the games he plays, his bio mentions his favorite game is Halo.

In addition to the art and LAN games, made possible by Senet Entertainment (makers of custom made gaming furniture, also considered art by some), this art show featured the Suicide Girls. Adding another hint of Goth is the only "video game" art in the show: framed prints of an art-rich game called Darkwatch, donated from the San Diego-based game developer. The vampire-horror meets the wild, wild west screams with stylistic visuals. "I enjoyed seeing our functional art pieces, which were mostly design concepts created for the game characters environments, displayed alongside some of the more expression driven works by artists like Plasticfucker," says Meelad Sadat from High Moon Studios." "Shows like this make me feel as if the concept of video games influencing or creating true art has moved beyond niche books and the occasional media trend article."
learn more
 
San Francisco Examiner   
May 4, 2005
Christopher Caen included his thoughts on the Louis Vuitton controversy at the Hotel des Arts.  According to Christopher:
 
...the First Amendment protects artistic expression. Tim Gaskin and the crew at the Hotel des Arts are discovering otherwise. In the rollicking madhouse that is the hotel, one room contains murals drawn by Gaskin that feature his usual flurry of hypnotic colors and pop symbols. One symbol in particular caught the attention of the lawyers at Louis Vuitton, which is now threatening all sorts of nastiness in the form of a cease-and-desist letter.

Now, this I have a hard time understanding. How exactly is a decorated wall in a room competing with or infringing on the copyright of a handbag? Then again, I am not exactly up to date on the latest in fashion. However, I do remember a certain soup can painted by Andy Warhol that didn't seem to trigger the same response. And I also find it amusing that the same company that is getting all grumpy about the hipsters getting a hold of its logo is the same company that had Japanese artist Takashi Murakami slapping little cartoon hands on that same logo.
 
 
 
Confused? So am I...
 
Josh Spear | The Pulse of Cool       
April 28, 2005
Josh Spear included a great overview of the Louis Vuitton controversy at the Hotel des Arts.  According to Josh:
 
If I had a Cease and Desist order from Louis Vuitton, I'd probably be a little scared-- but not the folks at The Hotel Des Arts in San Francisco. Remember that hotel? Packed full of customized rooms from floor to ceiling by some of the worlds most promising young artists. One of the painted rooms (pictured here) was done by Tim Gaskin--a mural juxtaposing a celebrity icon, Madonna, with a logo from Louis Vuitton. The work is a critique of consumer culture--and personally I think it's great. Louis Vuitton's "Anti-counterfeiting Director Of The Americas", what a mouth full, ordered a cease and desist, stating the hotel needs to "“remove all infringing depictions of the LV trademark from your walls". So what did the Hotel des Arts decide to do? They went ahead and exercised their first amendment rights and decided to have a special showing of the room, from May 2nd-May 6th. Way to go guys!
 
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE | A Celebration of Street Art
April 28, 2005
The Wooster Collective included a nice blurb on the Louis Vuitton controversy at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:
 
In the last few weeks we've written a lot about the Painted Rooms project at San Francisco's boutique hotel, Hotel Des Arts that was put together by START SOMA. To date almost 30 rooms have been hand painted by some of the best emerging artists in the world. David Choe, Logan Hicks, Maya Hayuk, Eric Orr, Sam Flores... have all painted amazing rooms at the hotel. It's a project that we think is fantastic, as it gives artists a terrific platform for their work.

Well it seems that Louis Vuitton is not as much of a fan of Painted Rooms as we are. The company's "ANTICOUNTERFEITING DIRECTOR OF THE AMERICAS" has just served the hotel with a cease and desist letter telling them that the series of hand painted floor-to-ceiling murals by San Francisco pop artist Tim Gaskin violates their LV trademark because the artist incorporates the LV logo into his artwork.

LV demands that the hotel .... “remove all infringing depictions of the LV trademark from your walls”. The letter further requests the "name and address" of the person who created "each mural painted", and threatened legal action for "trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and trademark dilution".

While we're not lawyers, and legally we have no idea who's right, we're incredibly impressed that the Hotel des Arts is fighting for the artist in this case and is not simply painting over the walls the day they got the letter which is what most people would do when faced with legal action for a company like LV.

Hotel des Arts' Richard Singer said in a statement that we just read - “Removing the LV trademark from the walls of the hotel would necessitate destroying an original piece of fine art, and that is NOT something we are even going to consider,” “Works of artistic expression are clearly protected by the First Amendment, and we absolutely refuse to be censored by a multinational corporation and their teams of lawyers”.

Good stuff. We'll be interested to see how this plays out.
 
gridskipper
April 26, 2005
gridskipper just featured the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:
San Francisco’s boutique Hotel des Arts is not being cutesy with the name. It really is an art hotel. It initially commissioned 16 of its rooms to be custom-painted by artists like David Choe and David DeRosa, among others; recently their second wave of painted rooms was completed by upcoming artists like Josh Feldman Bryan Dawson, and Maya Hayuk...
 
San Francisco Chronicle 
April 13, 2005
Leah Garchik broke the story on the Louis Vuitton controversy at the Hotel des Arts.  According to her scoop:
 
A lawyer's letter has been received by Tim Gaskin, who painted a room at the Hotel des Arts in homage to Madonna and Louis Vuitton. The Vuitton enforcers saw the room pictured in Women's Wear Daily, did not like the use of the company logo, and are demanding a repainting...
 
Josh Spear | The Pulse of Cool
April 22, 2005
Josh Spear included a great overview of the Painted Rooms project at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article, The custom boutique hotels around the world all took notice to the Hotel des Arts in the heart of San Francisco's downtown Union Square when it launched last year. Last year they showed their project called "Painted Rooms" at the "art hotel" with 16 custom painted rooms from people like David Choe and David DeRosa, among others. This year they've come back adding an additional dozen more rooms including painted rooms by Josh Feldman, The Vinyl Killers, Bryan Dawson and Maya Hayuk. Their roster of top notch underground and emerging artist created rooms is totally impressive--and the sky is the limit here--they say watch out for future painted rooms from folks like Shepard Fairey (Obey), and Dalek...
 
WOOSTER COLLECTIVE | A Celebration of Street Art
April 21, 2005
The Wooster Collective included a nice blurb on the Painted Rooms 3.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article, The other evening, the Hotel Des Arts in San Francisco launched a new set of artist painted rooms, put together by START SOMA. The new collection of rooms have been painted by a group of artists that include Maya Hayuk, Eric Orr, Punkadelik, Klutch + The Vinyl Killers, MATZU, MISK, KENJI, Maria Gillespie, Anthony Skirvin, Bryan Dawson, Josh Feldman, and Kelly Tunstall...
 
SFist                  
April 15, 2005
Another blurb from SFist on the Painted Rooms 3.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: The Painted Rooms show we announced on the site yesterday seems to have been a smashing success -- there certainly were a lot of hipsters onhand, as well as some less hip people that looked in the buying mood (God bless them)...Kelly Tunstall's work and room were fan-f**king-tastic. We also loved the big cartoon acrylics of Isis Rodriguez. And the international art collective Vinyl Killers had up a huge series of painted 12" LPs, and the quality was pretty great across the board. Tom Thump's still got it, by the way.
 
Hotel Chatter
April 15, 2005
Hotel Chatter, a hospitality industry website, included a nice plug for the Painted Rooms project at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: The Hotel Des Arts threw open their doors las night and let the public gawk at their now thirty rooms which have been recreated by some of the scene's hottest emerging artists.  A room at the 51 room Union Square boutique can be had for under $100...if you are a fan of art, this could be a unique experience.  Hotel Des Arts promises the opportunity to sleep in the middle of floor to ceiling art at an affordable price...
 
ArtBusiness                    
April 14, 2005
ART BUSINESS included a nice review of the the Painted Rooms 3.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: The third installment of artist-enhanced guest rooms at Hotel des Arts. Need a mural? Tired of mono-color rooms? Wall paper too frou-frou for you? Try this. My guess is that a number of these artists will make you a wall for not that much more $$ than a painting contractor would charge to paint it eggshell white. Hotel Des Arts is well on its way to becoming a significant contemporary urban art collection...
see the pictures!
 
FecalFace                                  
April 14, 2005
Over a hundred photos from the Painted Rooms 3.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts - from one of our favorite art websites in the world.
 
SFist                  
April 14, 2005
SFist included a nice plug for the Painted Rooms 3.0 opening at the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article: The Hotel des Arts, a boutique downtown, will be throwing open their doors to the public to view the now thirty rooms that have been covered in the liquid whimsy of some of the scene's hottest emerging artists...It's all being arranged by local indie artist clearinghouse START SOMA. Groove Merchant's Tom Thump will be providing the musical accompaniment to your tippling and touring...
 
AOL Black Voices
April 2005
In an article entitled Big City Getaways with a Twist, AOL included a nice plug for the Hotel des Arts.  According to the article:
 
WHERE TO STAY: San Francisco is known for trendy artists, and the hippest place to catch their work is the Hotel des Arts. Most of the art on the walls is for sale, because the hotel does double-duty as an art gallery. Call ahead and reserve one of the “Painted Rooms” -- where ultra-hip graffiti and murals by famous artists cover the bedroom walls...
 
TRIGGER MAGAZINE
April 2005
Trigger Magazine's feature story on Eric Orr included a nice plug for his painted room at the Hotel des Arts.
 
7x7 Magazine
April 2005
Our friends at 7x7 featured some nice pictures from the tsunami relief fundraiser + art show we hosted earlier this year.  According to the article:
 
Since tragedy struck Southeast Asia last December, San Francisco's Good Samaritans have stepped up to the plate with one tsunami relief party after another...Terra, SOMA's little-known but very chic nightspot, was hopping on February 5 when OUTreachSF sponsored Turning the Tide, an LGBT cabaret show, dance party, and silent art auction organized by START SOMA to benefit the Rainbow World Fund...
 
San Francisco Chronicle 
March 28, 2005

The inimitable Leah Garchik included a nice blurb in her column about our most recent PAINTED ROOMS art show at the HOTEL DES ARTS.  According to the piece:

Everybody's a Renaissance man. Jason Lee, actor, painter, designer and former professional skateboarder, is painting a room at the Hotel Des Arts, part of a 34-room, 34-artist project to be unveiled April 14. The rooms, recently featured in Conde Nast Traveler, are often painted at night, when the place has turned into "an impromptu emerging artist party hotel,'' says John Doffing...
learn more
 
San Francisco Examiner
March 10, 2005

The inimitable Christopher Caen included a great plug for the Video Game Art Show in his most recent column.  According to the article:

...the hipsters are also remembering the good old days with a video game art show at the Blue Cube tonight. What, exactly, is a video game art show? It consists of game images collected, altered and redeployed in ways no one has thought of. Think of it as the artistic version of sampling. I was looking over the goods and saw images from none other than Tron, Disney's 1982 attempt at computer coolness. Big blocky computer graphics and big blocky human performances. They couldn't quite pull it off then, but look at it now. Cool as cool can be. They just had to wait long enough for the old to become new again...
learn more
 
The Video Game Art Show
March 10, 2005
The Video Game Art Show, held in conjunction with the 2005 Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, was featured on literally dozens of gaming websites + blogs from around the world. 
learn more
 
ArtBusiness.com                              
March 10, 2005
ART BUSINESS included a nice review of the Video Game Art Show opening.  According to the article: Art show in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference 2005. Two floors of entertainment plus special video game area on floor two plus art all over the place. The Blue Cube third floor, not open to the public, is a combination think tank and educational resource for upstart entertainment industry moguls and mogulettes, focusing on video, music, performance and visaul arts. The Cube's worth keeping an eye on...
 
Nitevibe
March 8, 2005

Nitevibe included a nice plug for The Video Game Art Show.  According to the article:

 

Whether it's protecting the world against Space Invaders or guiding Super Mario to the princess, video games and their signature graphics have become icons of our popular culture, especially in the Bay Area. The open minds at START SOMA know this and are celebrating their second anniversary with a show featuring over 100 pieces relating to video games. Thursday's no cover opening event is more than a trip down memory lane, it's an epic party with beats being laid down by NoMe, Tom Thump, Kelly Tunstall, Chris Sia, Soulside and Wiseproof, a networked gaming lounge, tons of giveaways, and even a special appearance by the always delectable Suicide Girls. Art + vids + beats = a unique evening, indeed...
 
PaperCity
March 2005
In an article on the San Francisco 'spring art scene,' PaperCity featured a whole bunch of really fancy art galleries, AND START SOMA - observing that we showcase 'up-and-comers in a hipster hideaway'.
 
ArtBusiness.com
March 3, 2005