Jasper Johns and Tracey Emin Limited Edition Artist Beach Towels For 2011

Works on Whatever and The Art Production Fund have just released their Artist Series Beach Towels for 2011 whose proceeds go toward funding public art. This year they have reproduced the art of only two artists (as opposed to four in previous years) on the 60" x 70" limited edition cotton towels.

above: detail from the Jasper Johns Beach Towel for 2011



above: detail from the Tracey Emin Beach Towel for 2011

The 2011 Artist Towel Series featuring works by TRACEY EMIN and JASPER JOHNS will be on view at The Standard Spa during Art Basel Miami Beach from December 2-5, 2010.

The Jasper Johns Beach Towel:

The Tracey Emin Towel:

I have blogged about these each year since they began producing them. Previous years' towels included artwork by Alex Katz, Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, Yoshitomo Nara, Elizabeth Peyton, Kehinde Wiley, Raymond Pettibone, Rob Pruitt, Karen Kilimnik, Richard Phillips, Ed Ruscha, Peter Doig and Marilyn Minter.

The 2008 Artist Series Beach Towels

The 2009 Artist Series Beach Towels

The 2010 Artist Series Beach Towels

The price continues to rise on these functional pieces of art and they become more difficult to find.




WOW (Works on Whatever): is part of Art Production Fund’s WOW project; a unique collection of everyday items designed by artists. APF invites artists to experiment with the latest commercial materials and techniques to bring art off the walls and into homes as everyday objects. WOW introduces contemporary art to a larger community, with revenues from sales supporting our non-profit mission. WOW functions conceptually with APF’s program of expanding art audiences and helps fund additional major public art initiatives. Art Production Fund (APF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art.

The 2010 Artist Beach Towels Are Here!

Once again, the Art Production Fund and Works on Whatever have come out with their artist beach towels. This year, they are only adding two to the fourth annual artist towel series, each created by acclaimed artists Peter Doig and Yoshitomo Nara.

Yoshitomo Nara:

Peter Doig:





They make great gifts for the art lover in your life, or for yourself. Each towel measures 60" x 70” (double width), is made of 100% cotton and costs $95. each. Buy them here. No longer available

• To see the 2008 artist beach towels, go here.

• To see the 2009 artist beach towels, go here.

• To see the 2011 artist beach towels, go here

The 2009 Artist Beach Towels Are Here!

It's that time of year again. And no, I don't mean Christmas, I mean the release of the latest collection of artist beach towels from the Art Production Fund and Works On Whatever.

Once again, the four limited edition beach towels will be carried by Target (online only) and also available online in two other places. Links to purchase are at the end of this post.

This year, 2009, the collection features contemporary artwork by Karen Kilimnik, Raymond Pettibon, Julian Schnabel and Ed Ruscha reproduced on large soft 100% cotton, 50" x 60" beach towels.

Karen Kilimnik:

Raymond Pettibon:

Ed Ruscha:


Julian Schnabel:

The new beach towels will be on view at the Raleigh Hotel and at the Standard Spa during Art Basel Miami Beach, Dec. 4-7, 2008.




About WOW (Works on Towels): Artist Towel Series 2009 is part of Art Production Fund's WOW (Works on Whatever) project. a unique collection of everyday items designed by artists. APF invites artists to experiment with the latest commercial materials and techniques to bring art off the walls and into homes as everyday objects. WOW introduces contemporary art to a larger community with revenues from sales supporting our non-profit mission. WOW works conceptually with APF's program of expanding art audiences and helps fund additional major civic artworks.

To see the artist towels series from 2008 and 2007, click here.

To purchase them (and they go quickly) you can buy each of the $50.00 USD towels at:
• the Standard Hotels online store here. (plus shipping)
• Or at Target online here. (free shipping now)
• Or directly from WOW -(10$ shipping) where you can find some of the others from 2007 and 2008.

100% of the profits go to support public art and they are so much fun, they make a fabulous and worthwhile gift.

Be Hip, Green & Merry Simultaneously: WOW's Vinyl Artist Christmas Tree

I introduced you to the Art Production Fund's Works On Whatever last year when I first told you about their artist beach towel series and then again , this past week when I introduced you to the new 2008 artist series beach towels.

Now, in addition to the cool beach towels, WOW has come out with this fabulous vinyl Christmas Tree wall sticker in collaboration with Wallpaper LAB and designer Marilyn Minter.


MARILYN MINTER "MERRY MERRY" TREE
A self-adhesive vinyl sticker

No more watering a dead tree, no more fire hazard, no more vacuuming up pine needles well into April. It's a truly 'green' Christmas tree: reduce, reuse, recycle this vinyl sticker year after year. Save the trees, save water, save your back from schlepping it all the way home. No religion, no broken ornaments. It's a Christmas tree for the moderately wealthy and super lazy.

Minter will collaborate with Wallpaper LAB and WOW (Works on Whatever) to create a six-foot die-cut vinyl wall-sticker that addresses the powerful and ubiquitous symbol of the season: The Christmas Tree. Minter styled a small tree with her own eclectic collection of shiny ornaments, lighting and photographing it in a way that merges crisp detail with gauzy soft-focus radiance. The photograph is further transformed on the way to the decal: the image is enlarged and an archetypical Charlie Brown cartoon die-cut shape is enforced as the template for the tree.

The self-adhesive vinyl tree can be applied directly to the wall, by either removing the paper back or simply pinning it; a boon to the space-challenged apartment dweller with a sense of humor. Each limited edition "Merry Merry" tree comes rolled in a tube with four decal ornaments and a star and retails for $180. The "Merry Merry" star can be purchased separately for $25. 1/3 of the proceeds go to support public art through Art Production Fund.


About Wallpaper LAB:

Wallpaper LAB is a publisher of limited edition artist wallpaper. Founded by Ron Keyson in 2006, WL collaborates with contemporary artists to translate their studio works into conceptually heroic wallpaper and wall stickers. From freeze framing the entirety of Douglas Gordon's video masterpiece Play Dead, Real Time to digitally super scanning Phoebe Washburn's plywood blowout Wood Wall sculpture, invited artists are challenged to pull the domestic world of wallpaper into their own aesthetic gravitational center. The inaugural exhibition at Lennon Weinberg Gallery in 2006 wrapped the entire 3000 square foot gallery space with fifteen original artist's wallpapers, the result being a seamless visual battle of the bands. Wallpaper LAB is represented in New York City by Artware Editions.

For more information and installation views please see: www.wallpaperlab.com or www.artwareeditions.com

About WOW:
WOW (Works on Whatever) is a unique collection of everyday items designed by artists. The revenues from sales go into public art. APF invites artists to experiment with the latest commercial materials and techniques to bring art off the walls and into homes as everyday objects. WOW introduces contemporary art to a larger community, with profits supporting Art Production Fund�s mission dedicated to producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Projects include: SHOW, Vanessa Beecroft, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1998; FISCHERSPOONER: LA, performance, 2001; Keith + Farrah, collaborative exhibition by Keith Edmier and Farrah Fawcett, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum, 2003; PLAN B, Rudolf Stingel summer 2004, Grand Central's Vanderbilt Hall and The Walker Art Center; Prada Marfa, Elmgreen & Dragset, Valentine, TX, 2005; Greeting Card, Aaron Young, Park Avenue Armory, 2007. APF Co-Founders : Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen, Director of Operations: Casey Fremont.

For more information please see: www.worksonwhatever.com


just the star
12 inch removable vinyl sticker- $25.00
Buy it here.


full tree kit
(1) 58 x 48 inch vinyl tree sticker (1) 12 inch star (4) ornaments

Buy it here.

The 2008 Artist Series Beach Towels Are Here!

Earlier in 2007, Target and the Art Production Fund came out with a series of four artist-designed towels. The 2007 series (seen below) was a big hit and Target sold out of all four almost immediately. As a big Alex Katz fan, I immediately bought two of his. The towels are nice and large 60" x 70" and well worth the $50.00 for which they retail.


Above: The now sold-out Artists Series of Beach Towels from 2007

Now, Target and Art Production Fund have announced the lineup of guest artists for their second-annual collaboration of fine-art towels known as the Artist Towel Series 2008.

Above: One of this years' wonderful artist series beach towels

Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Elizabeth Peyton, and Kehinde Wiley have each created a limited-edition beach towel as part of the WOW (Works on Whatever) items designed by contemporary artists to bring art off the walls and into everyday life.


Above: Jeff Koons' Balloon Monkey beach towel


Above: Cindy Sherman's Woman In Pool beach towel

They include "Balloon Monkey," "Woman in Pool," "Sidney," and "African-American Man." The 60 x 70-inch cotton towels, which will be available starting November 19 for $50 on Target.com and worksonwhatever.com, will also be the official pool towels for André Balazs' Raleigh Hotel during Art Basel Miami Beach December 5 to 9.

 
above: Elizabeth Peyton's Sidney beach towel


above: Kehinde Wiley's African American Man beach towel

Proceeds from sales will support Art Production Fund's mission to support major civic artwork projects, while half of all proceeds generated from sales of Koons' towel will also support the Koons Family Institute, a resource of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Buy 'em quick, they don't stay in stock for long.