The Noon After / Ed Hopper Re-Imagined

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Oh, hi Blog. I didn't see you there. This piece is entitled The Noon After and a 50" x 33" print of it will be on display at the Hopper House in Nyack, New York. The show is called "Hopper Re-Imagined" and will showcase work by luminaries inspired by the man himself.

The reception is this Sunday, April 3rd (3 - 5pm), and the show will be on display from April 2 - May 8. I will definitely be there.

If you aren't aware of Edward Hopper, educate yourself.

Rich Tu x Swarthmore / 03.18.11

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Sup Blog. Mark your calendars. I have been invited to speak at Swarthmore College on Friday, March 18th. Lecture begins at 4pm at the Science Center 199. There will also be a demo of my process along with a Q&A.

Also, a HUGE thanks goes out to the utterly brilliant artists who were coerced into making my ugly mug more palatable (organized and designed by illustrator/designer/assistant extraordinaire Robyn Ng), including the world famous Jayson Atienza (YG5).

Robyn Ng, Jayson Atienza, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Karen Demaio, Daniel Fishel, Daniel Hertzberg, Lorraine Nam, Clay Rodery, Zejian Shen, Dadu Shin

Apple Store SoHo, this Monday

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Hi Blog, don't forget that this Monday, January 17 at 6:30pm I'll be appearing at the Apple Store SoHo in conjunction with the ADC Young Gun series. I will discuss my range of work and have a few surprises in store as well. At this point, its looking closer to a variety show than keynote speech.

Also, I will have complementary gifts from the There Goes The Neighbor Hood concept for those that show up early. This gift is highly wearable.

See you there.

01.17.11 / Rich Tu @ Apple Store, SoHo, NYC

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Hey blog, exciting news. On Monday, January 17th, 6:30pm I'll be giving a lecture at the Apple Store in SoHo, NYC in conjunction with The Art Directors Club and their Young Guns lecture series. Their theater seats about 100 people and is specially designed for workshops and presentations, along with occasional musical performance. I will discuss my work, my thought process, and current projects. Also, there will be a Q&A afterward. I look forward to seeing you there.

Monday, January 17, 2011
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Apple Store SoHo
103 Prince Street, NYC

Free, no reservation required.

ADC Young Guns 8

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Hi Blog, so it's official. Congrats to the other 49 winners of this year's ADCYG8. I'm really amazed at the depth of this year's field and how great all these artists' are. I'm stoked to be included in the same conversation with them.

Fun fact: This is the first time that brothers have won YG (Jayson Atienza, YG6).

Opening with an Update

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Hi Blog, where have I been? I'm not sure, but I'm still here. Its hectic and insane right now, but that's the place where creativity (or just insanity) happens. I recently signed on as interim Art Director of Dagr-Nott & Associates. I've been working with them the past few months on a great project which we're in the thick of now, and I'm very excited. I will still be taking commissions, but on a case by case basis.

As for the main purpose of this post, I am participating in a gallery opening tonight at the International Visions Gallery in Washington D.C., which is hosting a show for The Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, in conjunction with Art For Life and Russell Simmons' Rush Foundation. My piece You're My Favorite 01 will be there, along with some other great shortlisted artists.


Unfortunately I won't be able to attend the opening tonight as I have much to do but it's bound to be great. Details below:

International Visions Gallery
2629 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008

September 2 - October 2
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11,
6:30pm - 8:30pm

The Manifest Equality Recap

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Hi Blog, as promised here is the Manifest Equality recap. I had my camera handy so I snapped away. Most of these pics were taken during the afternoon leading up to the VIP preview night and that evening. A lot of people came through those doors during the course of the week, and it was an amazing sight. Also, I did my fair share of celebrity watching (didn't take too many pics of that tho). It was really a pleasure having a piece in that space, as it was filled to the brim with amazing artists, many of whom I've admired for years.

Here is a write-up in Vogue about Manifest Equality.

And in a completely unrelated anecdote, I was walking my dog at 5am this morning and saw a milkman delivering milk. I found it simultaneously both odd and comforting.

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It's a Wrap: Rich Tu x Bombay Sapphire x Tokion Pt. 2

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Happy weekend Blog, here are more pics of the event at The Griffin in NYC, courtesy of the good people at Tokion. Next up is the Manifest Equality recap.

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It's a Wrap: Rich Tu x Bombay Sapphire x Tokion

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Hey there Blog, last week was insane. Here's the short story. On Monday of last week I flew to LA from NYC for the VIP preview of Manifest Equality, flew back to NYC on Wednesday morning to attend my own party at The Griffin for Bombay and Tokion, and then flew BACK to LA on Thursday to close out Manifest Equality as well as take care of some business. I got back on Monday and finally got some real sleep. However, as promised, here's a wrap-up of The Bombay Sapphire event.

I was commissioned to design a one-off Bombay Sapphire bottle. This was a challenge as I've never worked on glass before. However, I tried a couple of different methods, and discovered that custom painted decals were the best way to go. The design itself is definitely aggressive, but I have to thank Bombay for being so supportive of the arts by giving my carte blanche.

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Rich Tu x Bombay Sapphire x Tokion Magazine

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Sup blog, getting it done on a whirlwind schedule this week. Right now I'm in California for the Manifest Equality show, but I'm catching a flight back to NYC early tomorrow morning for my first big collabo with Bombay Sapphire Gin and the great people at Tokion Magazine. The event takes place at The Griffin on 50 Ganservoort St. in NYC (in the meatpacking district). I got to customize a Bombay bottle, and should have some goodies for the guests as well. Please RSVP here. Here are all the details:

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Manifest Equality

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Heads up, Blog. I recently submitted a piece to Manifest Equality's contest and just found out I'm one of the winners (which is unbelievable). Some of the judges included Shepard Fairey, Ed Ruscha, David Pagel, and even the mayor of Los Angeles. For those who don't know, Manifest Equality is a HUGE show that's going to take place in LA next week that centers on themes like social justice and equality.

As for the piece I'm showing, it's a new one, and I'll wait until the opening to debut it. However, if you're going to be in/near/around LA next week you have to go check it out. Some of the other artists in the show include Ron English, Ted McGrath, Swoon, Harvey Pekar, Gary Baseman, Jayson Atienza and a TON of others.

Fun in the Sun.

"If yall wanna party like we do..."

Hey Blog. This weekend was a non-stop party-fest of galactic proportions. Not really, but it did involve a lot of BBQ combined with looking at fireworks while sitting in traffic for the Lincoln Tunnel. July 4th was a good follow up to the festivities from Thursday. A lot of people showed up and the music was pretty great. If there's one silver lining in Michael Jackson's death, its that parties sound awesome right now.

Also, many thanks to my friend Matt Okpych who was on hand with his camera taking some shots of myself and the other artists that participated (because I wouldn't want to do it):















Great night and hopefully I'll have an opportunity to do it again soon. Till later Blog.

P.S. The Altpick Awards have begun their call for entries featuring the banner I designed, get on that.

Savior El Mundo Presents POP ART - JULY 2

Sup Blog, this has been a long week. MJ's gone, which I still can't believe. I was always a big fan, and excuse me for gushing over it but this was the end of an era. I still remember being a little kid and waiting for his Sunday night premiers of the videos off the Dangerous album. Anyway, well wishes to his family and billions of fans.

Also, I know that I promised I would show pics of the new studio, but the weather here on the east coast has been fairly terrible and I haven't been there as often as I'd like. And when I do go, I forget my camera. Oopskees.

So in the meantime, here's a flier for a show I'm participating in called Pop Art, featuring myself, Savior El Mundo, Jayson Atienza, SSUR, Jason Barletta, and Masahiro. Its going to be pretty cool, and there's gonna be a performance by the Rocksteady Crew Bgirls. Its going to be on July 2 at Die Fabrik (38 Howard St. and Broadway, 5th Floor). Doors open from 7pm to 12am, with an open bar from 7-9. Also, the event is FREE, but we'd appreciate an RSVP, so please email or phone if you plan on attending.

or RSVP here if you have Facebook

Some Pictures of Somethings

Hi Blog, quick entry today. I am notorious for not being a "photo guy" in that I rarely ever use my digital camera. Only recently have I started using it for things, like my roadtrip (photo albums available Here and Here). Anyway, here's a small number of pics from the gallery where "Let There Be Stuff" is hanging as well as the SVA portraits.





I know, I'm terrible. Anyway, that's it. I finished a piece for Business Week recently and I'll be posting that soon. Also, the Altpick Decks are here! So as Jack Donoghy would say, get yours.

An M.F'n.A. Preview

Sup Blog, its going to be a harrowing next few days. What with getting ready for the SVA MFA Illustration Thesis Show and everything. I've seen the test prints from Duggal and they look pretty great. These are the biggest I've ever worked, with a couple of the pieces being around 20x36in. I'm going to attempt a sixth piece, and hopefully I can get it printed in time before the gallery doors open on May 1st. My series is called "Let There Be Stuff", and its about a lazy deity. I don't want to say more because I want people to pull out from it whatever they want. Many thanks to Mario Hugo for his incredibly discerning eye. He was a great resource during this entire process.


Also, there's another preview up on my Altpick page (cross promotion is a good thing). Speaking of Altpick, the decks are on their way and they should be in the states by next week.

And I know that I haven't updated my main website in a while, but when the insanity of graduation recedes I'm going to do a big update. So look forward to that.


That's it for now blog, see you at the show!

No-Shows and Do-Shows

Sup Blog, loooong time no see. That title doesn't rhyme, but it looks like it should doesn't it? Anyway, this semester was pretty insane, as evidenced by my apparent inability to take out 5 minutes to fill up empty cyperspace on the World Wide Net.

For those of you interested about my life, the semester is fully wrapped up and my thesis is very much underway (I have updated my site with some pieces). ALSO, 2009's rendition of the Alternative Pick Double Deck is done and off to the printers! It was a grueling, yet absolutely rewarding process that sufficiently kicked my ass in an awesome way. I would show some pics, but it won't be released until probably February '09 so it'll have to wait.

AND I re-teamed with my sometime collaborator the OMBE Shop for a special project concerning HIV/AIDS awareness. We digitally printed 4 designs onto different types of female panties (are there any other kind?), which were then initially sold at an HIV/AIDS awareness conference. We're exploring other avenues for them, so look out. I'll have pics of those soon too.

For the final "AND", last month our Masters program over at the venerable School of Visual Arts had the annual Book Show, along with a, accompanying show for our Call of Chthulhu pieces. It was a great turnout, and many thanks to everyone that showed up to support.


This is my display for Crispy Kid. Five small framed pieces and one large free hanging piece.


Here are two attractive strangers looking at my Cthulhu display. I didn't take this picture, Y.J. Lee did... so there.

Well, that's the big update. Be back soon Blog. Bettie Page forever!