IAM8BIT Entertainment System Opens Friday in Los Angeles!

"Robot Rock" / 12 x 16" / acrylic & collage on canvas 

This week marks the opening of iam8bit Entertainment System. Being the annual flagship, video game-themed exhibit of the iam8bit gallery, this show promises to be a real treat! My submission is the above piece, dedicated to Rockman (aka Mega Man). It was totally inspired by the epic summer after the 7th grade, when I spent days on end trying to beat Mega Man 2 on the old school Gameboy. DAMN, were those games difficult. Even for the insane reflexes of an adolescent!

I actually began this painting back in 2008, as part of my series of pieces dedicated to Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda & Donkey Kong. The rough collage, drawing & underpainting of "Robot Rock" (previously titled "Mega") sat in my studio, untouched for 5 years. That is, until this group exhibition gave me a renewed purpose to see it through to completion.

iam8bit Entertainment System features 80 artists from around the Earth, fulfilling their retro gaming fantasies. The opening reception takes place Friday, June 7th, from 7-11pm. For more info, visit www.iam8bit.com.

"I own the first Nintendo Power, with the maps of Zelda, help me conquer in an hour!"
- Dave C.

IAM8BIT/Call Of Duty Office Mural Video

Those coolest of cool kids at iam8bit have done it again! This project was under wraps for the longest time, but the cat is finally out of the bag.

Last winter, they brought me on for a monstrous project - painting a giant mural dedicated to the Call Of Duty video game series, in the offices of the game's developer, Treyarch!

The hallway mural is approximately 70ft long, with each patch of wall depicting scenes from the different installments of the world-renowned first-person shooter -- from the North African desert campaign & Allied invasion of occupied France, to the clandestine operations of The Cold War & the zombie onslaught featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops!

Being the media-savvy gang that they are, iam8bit put together the awesome video above, showing off the finished work. I also have lots of still photos from when I painted this beast, and will have them posted soon.

"War is the BOOM of impending doom. War fills history books & fills tombs."
- David C.

"8-Bit Champions" Paris Art Show

The Autumn Society recently invited me to participate in their first exhibition in Paris, France -- 8-Bit Champions! I submitted my collage & acrylic piece "Super," inspired by the original Super Mario Bros arcade game.


You may remember this painting from IAM8BIT in Los Angeles circa 2008, as well as the recently released SUPER IAM8BIT art book. Long story short, "Super" just happened to be the required size for the show (12" x 12"). It seemed demanded by kismet that I pack up my little Fire Mario, and ship him off to join the fracas in France.

The Autumn Society presents:
8-Bit Champions
La Flaq Gallery
36 rue Quincampoix / 75004 Paris, France
*opening reception Thurs, Sept 15 @ 7pm*
More info online

If you live in the Paris area, stop by the opening reception and show some European love!

"We got the mother & the kids. We got the guy & his date. We all gettin' mad. We all gettin' late."
- Dave Crosland, aka King Gum