Beautiful Losers (film)

Infobox Film
name = Beautiful Losers


image_size =
caption = Release Poster
director = Aaron Rose
Joshua Leonard
producer = Jon Barlow
Rich Lim
Noah Khoshbin
Chris Green
writer =
narrator =
starring = Thomas Campbell
Cheryl Dunn
Shepard Fairey
Jo Jackson
Chris Johanson
Margaret Kilgallen
Harmony Korine
Geoff McFetridge
Barry McGee
Mike Mills
Stephen Powers II
Claire E. Rojas
Aaron Rose
Deanna Templeton
Ed Templeton
music = Money Mark
cinematography = Tobin Yelland
editing = Lenny Mesina
distributor =
released = March 1, 2008(SxSw Festival)
runtime = 89 min
country = flag|United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.beautifullosers.com/
amg_id = 433053
imdb_id = 0430916

:"This article is about film/art exhibit by Aaron Rose and is unrelated to the book by Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers.""Beautiful Losers" is a 2007 documentary feature film by director Aaron Rose and co-directed by Joshua Leonard. It was produced by Sidetrack Films.

It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2008 [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Beautiful Losers World Premiere At SXSW | date=2008-02-20 | publisher= | url =http://www.sidetrackfilms.com/news/beautiful_losers/article/254/ | work =Sidetrack Films | pages = | accessdate = 2008-04-01 | language = ] [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Beautiful Losers | date= | publisher= | url =http://2008.sxsw.com/film/screenings/film/F11038.html | work =South by Southwest Festivals | pages = | accessdate = 2008-04-01 | language = ] and later in general release on August 8, 2008 at the IFC Center in New York City.

ubject Matter

The film focuses on the careers and work of a collective group of artists who since the 1990s began a movement in the art world using D.I.Y. aesthetics from skateboarding, graffiti and underground music such as punk rock and hip-hop [ cite web|url=http://www.sidetrackfilms.com/films/beautiful_losers/ |title=SIDETRACK FILMS / Beautiful Losers |accessdate=2008-04-01 ] . The artists discussed and interviewed in the film include Thomas Campbell, Cheryl Dunn, Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Steven "Espo" Powers, Aaron Rose, Ed Templeton and Deanna Templeton.

A series of interviews with these artists explains their reasoning behind their "do-it-yourself" style of street art. As some of these artists discuss their growth in popular artistic culture they explain how becoming renown and admired in the art world was something that never occurred to them from their various roots in street culture, or simply creating art for themselves. As many of the artists began to be recognizable and sought after they discuss their series of commercial success: creating advertisements for popular products, designing products themselves, working in film and being hired to paint and create artwork in well known locations. The personal feelings and convictions of some of the artists and how creating work for corporations compares to their begins in street culture is also discussed.

Art Book

The film was preceded by a published art collection titled "Beautiful Losers."(ISBN 1933045302) The book was published by Iconoclast Editions and edited by co-curators Christian Strike and Aaron Rose, who directed the film. [ cite web|url=http://flux.net/who-is-aaron-rose |title=Who is Aaron Rose |accessdate=2008-04-01 |last=Wells |first=Meg |date=2008-03-14 |work=Flux.com ]

Traveling Museum Exhibition

Along with publication of the book was a collabrative traveling museum exhibition, which itself was one of the settings and subjects for the film. The exhibit is a large scale group exhibition featuring the artists from the film as well as others, and which continues to tour around the world. [cite news | first=Sarah | last=Valdez | coauthors= | title=Thrashers and taggers: "Beautiful Losers," a traveling exhibition that includes established, emerging and accidental artists, examines an esthetic sensibility inspired by various subcultures, from skateboarding to hip-hop | date=2005-01 | publisher= | url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_1_93/ai_n8590992 | work =Art in America | pages = | accessdate = 2008-04-01 | language = ] Opening in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Contemporary Arts Center in March 2004, the exhibition is currently in Europe through 2009. The exhibition was conceived and produced by Iconoclast, where founders Christian Strike and Aaron Rose also acted as co-curators of the exhibition, and as the editors and publishers of the book.

References

External links

*imdb title|0430916|Beautiful Losers
* [http://www.beautifullosers.com Official site]
* [http://www.iconoclastusa.com/projects/current.html Official site for book and art exhibit]
* [http://www.iconoclastusa.com Iconoclast official website]
* [http://www.curbsandstoops.com/blog/?p=14 Beautiful Losers on Curbs and Stoops]