This book is the companion to the exhibition Beautiful Losers, currently touring the US. The exhibition features US artists who have been influenced by and come from a background in the subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, music and independent film. They exist largely outside of mainstream art circles but with the increase of independent galleries their work is in constant demand and has been exhibited worldwide.
Artists featured include Barry McGee (aka Twist), Ed Temptleton, Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Spike Jonze, Phil Frost, Mike Mills, the late Margaret Kilgallen, Mark Gonzales and many more. The exhibition also serves as a retrospective celebration of artists that emcompass the spirit of these subcultures and their DIY, anti-establishment ethic, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Craig Stecyk, Raymond Pettibon and R.Crumb.
Beautiful Losers also features various essays speaking from personal experience of these artists and their relationships with the subcultures they inhabit. The book includes hundreds of examples of photographs, paintings, illustrations, installations, video stills and doodles by this group of hugely talented, creative individuals.