If you’re worried about the world at large, watch this video from the opening of “The Future Is So Bright” at 666 Gallery and breathe deep.

KQED covered the event with enthusiasm, and we like what they had to say:

“The space, formerly the location of Gallery Three, is a cozy oasis the size of a walk-in closet in the seedy wilds of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district . . . Feast on Alexandra Steele’s coyote decoys, Nas Chompas’ explosive fantasy world, Mark Warren Jacques’ trippy geometry, and Timothy Karpinski’s childhood bric-a-brac.” -Emmanuel Hapsis, KQED

Also check out opening night photos here.

Since the advent of photography, traditional self portraits have fallen to the wayside. Berlin’s Circleculture Gallery has proposed a show to gauge the contemporary self portrait, calling on Kill Pixie, JR, D* Face, Jeff Soto, Word to Mother and more for their personal interpretations of the theme. We can’t help but think of Scion’s Self Portrait series that is currently on tour; it looks like the mirror is making a comeback.

Cancer is no fun, but the good people of Poketo studio know how to rally forces against it. They are holding a silent auction to raise money for the medical treatment of Justin Van Hoy, a young artist and graphic designer. Poketo says this of Justin:

“As the art director for SWINDLE Magazine, and contributor of works for artists and brands such as OBEY, Robert Gastman, Cobra Snake, and more, Justin’s distinct and captivating work has been feeding our creative hunger for years.”

Why lay victim to cancer? Spit in its face with slogans like “F%#k Cancer! We Love Justin” and “Cancer Sucks Help Justin.” We like how Justin takes the bull by the horns, as do these prominent artists donating work for the cause: Shepard Fairey, Jim Houser, Studio Number One, Skyrocket Studios, Jeana Sohn, Travis Millard and more.

Jim Houser stays loyal to his roots with this new Toy Machine deck:

Further investigation led us to Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, where we enjoyed this stop motion ditty from Jim’s studio. Although it’s a little outdated, we’re still diggin in.

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The clock’s tickin and June 5th will be here before you know it: so get on over to White Walls for a live dose of Ian Johnson.

Our August exhibition has been a big TBA for days, but now we’re ready to tell the world what’s in store. Hugh Leeman and Michael Holman will be in the house this August, bringing together pointed criticisms of American society tinged with personal history. We gathered a few words from each artist, expanding on the themes of their respective bodies of work:

“I feel roughly journalistic by painting my subjects; like a documentarian might. However painting them also carries an imperfection with it that photographing them does not have. This imperfection speaks not only of the moment I met my subjects but also of my subjects’ lives, my life, and my own limitations as an artist thereby reminding us of society’s imperfections. These paintings carry with them the hope of my subjects and I: hope to be heard, for our story to be told, and to relate to the joy in telling a story at all.” -Hugh Leeman Read more »

Babylon Falling is going out with a bang. Their final art exhibition, “The End Is Near,” opened this Thursday to a thoroughly impressed crowd. David Choong Lee took the cake with an immense tower of graphic blocks, while C3 blew us away with his immaculate microscopic drawings. Not to mention David Young’s high contrast portraits and a massive tank sporting our beloved bumper sticker, “THE LOIN.” Check out these shots below and be sure say your farewells in person before June 18th.

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Subliminal Projects gets serious in this chat with legendary French stencil artist, Blek le Rat. In his native tongue the artist reveals how he got his name, his predictions about street art, and why it’s the only medium through which he can express himself:

Directed by Stephanie Hutin and Florencio Zavala.

Anthony Lister really loves YouTube, judging by the image above and the video below. His current show at Italy’s K Gallery, “The Pain of Feeling,” runs through April and we hear that Anthony is taking full advantage of his time in the boot country. This clip shows an indoor wall piece going down:

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The man in flannel from NBC’s My Name Is Earl sure knows how to make a comeback. Jason Lee recently relaunched his skate brand, Stereo, and its new collabs promise to grab attention. Teaming with Obey to design these skate decks, Stereo is now offering four unique graphics featuring Shepard Fairey‘s artwork. Click here to snag your own.

Photo Source: Higher Order