Volcomics Art Gallery, Brick Lane, London, June 28th 2007

Urban Industry went up to the launch party of the Volcomics Art Gallery last Thursday lured by free beer....and some artwork..

Volcom have released a full on comic book featuring artwork, cartoons and weird illustrations from a wide array of international artists, some of which have collaborated with Volcom on product design in previous collections...on a worldwide tour the art show dropped into London on the only European date, other shows are due in New York, LA, San Francisco and Tokyo.

Work from artists such as Michael Sieben, Matt French, Ozzie Wright, Jamie Lynn, Mike Aho, Travis Millard all featured on the night. The venue in Brick Lane was packed with the industries great and the good all making full use of the free lager...and obviously taking in the fine artwork covering the gallery walls..

Suburban Bliss at the Urban Industry Store

Suburban Bliss is a great British brand, a small label of cool and quirky artwork...we stocked it a few years back..this time Toby has delivered up a great range of really different t-shirts...a breath of fresh air in the market..

Skateboarder/artist/owner, Toby Shaull explains what Suburban Bliss is.....
Suburban Bliss is an independent clothing label based and started in London.
It began in Suburban London in my parent’s house but was conceived in
northern California. The company itself is inspired and influenced by nature, music,
art, friendship, love, dreams and independence from the ever increasingly controlled
world that we live in. The main aim of the label is to put new imagery onto clothing
and other stuff. Largely featuring my work and others like Nicola Pecoraro,
Fergadelic, French, Jethro Haynes, Nik Taylor and Simon Peplow the images
and themes are ever evolving as the company is itself

Vans Shoes Hugh Holland, Angels. Street. Skate. Seventies - Brighton 21st June

We all shot over to Brighton last night to see the Vans shoes sponsored, first UK exhibition of photographer Hugh Holland.s iconic Angels series....loads of cool pictures from the era...the free beer flowed and we checked the shots of some real, back in the day, original skatboarding, including stacey peralta. Thanks to Nick at Vans for the invite...here's some more info in the evening..

After recent first showings in Los Angeles and New York, the exhibition, entitled Angels. Street. Skate. Seventies will open at Crane Kalman Brighton on 21st June to coincide with National Go Skateboarding Day. These seminal images document the classic era of the early skateboard scene in California in the early 1970.s, with many of the images featuring the now legendary names of the sport, such as Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. Holland began documenting the burgeoning skate phenomenon in 1975 after becoming instantly captivated through a chance encounter with this group of skateboarding kids whilst driving up Laurel Canyon Boulevard, LA. Fervent enthusiasm for the energy of the counterculture quickly certified Holland.s acceptance within the community. Every spare moment was spent capturing the everyday social interactions of groups, such as the notorious Zboys from Santa Monica and Venice. It was this group of stylish, rebellious skaters that became known as the Dogtown crew, now immortalised in Peralta.s iconic documentary .Dogtown & Z-boys., and it was the Vans Era shoe, designed by Peralta and skate legend Tony Alva that became skateboarding.s first shoe and the signature style of the emerging 70.s skate scene.

Holland successfully captures the exhilaration and rebellion felt during the birth of the scene. The summer drought of 1976 especially illustrates the attitude, when the skate kids seized the opportunity to brake into and carve up the emptied California neighbourhood pools and street drainage bowls.

NEW, NEW BALANCE 1500 JAPAN LIMITED EDTIONS...

Some very nice New Balance shoes just dropped into store, the liited edition, Japan colourway 1500's....2 colours, premium materials with a great price on the original 1500 silouette...