"Better Than Cheesecake" Retro Pin-up Jenny Perez

Article by:
K. Rod

Styling:
K.rod and Carla A.

Hair piece by:
Monique Hernandez
Collection: MH Bird of a Feather

Photography:
Bobby Ray

Makeup:
Jennifer Perez

Hair:
K.rod

Editing:
Nick Flash & Bobby ray



Retro is defined as reviving a style that is suggestive of a style of the past. With the lack of many vintage styles, retro examples do exist but are distinct from the vintage originals. It was women like Belle Bennett, Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson and Marion Davies who
started a new vintage era the “Better then Cheesecake” movement, stating that pin ups were just that, ‘better then cheesecake’.


It wasn’t until the 1930’s that pin ups began to take on a whole new role. World War II soldiers began to use these women as a means of hope. They were viewed as famous, available and attractive women, with just the right hint of innocence. From the man’s perspective a woman should own the right to have curves and be voluptuous, thus the curved, hour glass bomb shells you see on the side of an old Supermarine Spitfire, which some would recognize as one of the best fighter planes that flew over European land back in WW2. They were what men wanted and what women wanted to be.

Now, take all that I have said about the pin up girl we used to know, and throw it out the window! Now in days a pin up is viewed as the strong independent kind that takes shit from no one! Yet, she still plays her role of being a nurturing woman. Thus, my inspiration for the shoot: Jennifer Perez, a cosmetologist from the lovely city of Miami we call home, had all of that. Our muse has wanted to be in the fashion industry for as long as she can remember. At a very young age her mother would find wall after wall smeared with her very expensive make up. At 14 she was modeling wedding dresses and putting makeup on herself. Makeup for her is like going from the “everyday mundane, to Bing Bang Pow, Superwoman!” She believes every woman should take pride in the way they look. She once told me, “It’s a certain confidence and attitude women get with just a little bit of mascara and lipstick that makes my job that much more gratifying.” Jenny’s work is her spiritual therapy, the way music sooths the heart.

This photo shoot was for the woman who wears many masks. She bakes, rides a bad ass motorcycle and still has time to kick back on her thrown and have a few bruskis.

Misfit Mix Vol.1 {Mix By Nick Flash}

After hearing about OVERTHROW's new party "Misfit Fridays" at LOUIS,
I decided to make some new mix cd's called Misfit Mixes that would have a real "Misfit" like sound to them.

I will be making these weekly, and will post them every Friday before this party.

Download it and listen to it in your car or Ipod.

Misfit Mix Vol. 1

Here is the Tracklist

1. Spooky- The Classics VI
2. Beat-Box- The Art of Noise
3. Rockit- Herbie Hancock
4. Robot Rock- Daft Punk
5. White Lines- Duran Duran
6. Roll it Up- The Crystal Method
7. Ohh la la- The Wiseguys
8. Pusherman- Curtis Mayfield
9. Beggin'- Madcon
10. Shake Me- Cinderella
11. Fancy Footwork- Chromeo
12. Ny Lipps- Soulwax
13. I Got This Down- Simian Mobile Disco
14. Say Whoa- A-Trak
15. You Be Illin'- Run D.M.C
16. Move Something-2 Live Crew ft. Fontella Bass & The Beach Boys {Nick Flash-Up}
17. Me So Horny- 2 Live Crew
18. The Girl & The Sea- The Presets
19. DJ Mujava- Township Funk
20. Dragula- Rob Zombie
21. Die, Die, My Darling- the Misfits
22.Lucifer- Jay-z
23. The Stranger- Billy Joel

Check out the Commercial for this weeks party.

retro[barbie]chic

Some of my all time favorite vintage barbie's from the early 1960's through the mod area.

out

-C

Joey Funk's Funkadelic Interview {Interview By Kristina Rodriguez}

beScene is here to bring you an exclusive interview with one of Miami's freshest new graphic artists & entrepreneurs, Joey Funk!


Check Out His Website here! JoeyFunk.com



Check Out this poster he made for our new website coming soon.



Model: Aban Sonia 
Photography: Eddy Angel
Producer: Amliv Sotomayor
Vector Art: Joey Funk

Here is an Interview with Joey Funk brought to you by Kristina Rodriguez.


1.What makes you different from all the other artists in the Miami scene?


It's mostly the style, in recent years, graphic artists have been leaning towards that abstract grungy look, I've been trying to not fall into that hole by using precision with my lines for a cleaner, tighter look. It's easy for grunge artists to get away with more because of the messy nature of the grunge art. Also, there aren't many Cuban Americans that delve into psychedelic art. I grew up around that funky beauty salon 80's art with clean lines and white skin, you know the kind you can see in nearly every old school beauty salon in Miami, I always thought It was a great style because It was so iconic during that time, women hitting up the salons, transforming themselves for the weekend wars.


2. What artist can you most relate to?


Well, my modern heroes are all comic book artists, Joe Maduerira, the late Michael Turner, Jim Lee, J. Scott Campbell, they really know how do flesh out some serious art, but that's not the kind of art I make.

I watched Yellow Submarine the other night for the first time when I noticed what the animators were doing with the use of white space and colors... I was totally blown away that the animators of Yellow Submarine used the same white balance techniques that I use to make colors more vibrant . I couldn't believe that I had done this naturally over the years while the animators of Yellow Submarine did it decades ago. I can relate more to the hippies who worked on the great concert posters of the 60's more than my favorite modern comic book illustrators.

3. What message are you trying to send through your art work?


Each piece I work on is always different, there's never really a set message, its really up to you for interpretation. I've really been into the psychedelic overtone of repeating patterns lately, I think it's just a natural evolution of the way I see the [F]Artwork moving forward. Every piece I make gets more detailed and complicated, It's just me trying to outdo myself so the public always gets something that is progressive.

4. What fuels your creativity while your a work? bands? music type? etc.


Music is a huge influence on what I do, it helps 'lube' the creative flow. In my first artist themed piece "The Haunt Of Roulette Dares" I jammed to The Mars Volta for hours, letting the music flow through my consciousness as I worked. Hours go by and I didn't even care that I had two tracks on repeat, trying to capture the images in my mind's eye through sonic mayhem of "Roulette Dares" and "Eria Tarka." Same for the Thom Yorke/Eraser piece and the other artists themed [F]Artwork, just jamming and making it happen. For the beScene exclusive, I jammed to Does It Offend You, Yeah?

5. What do you find to be most challenging when your creating pieces of art?


Choosing the colors! Lately I've been making 'Variants' of all new [F]Artwork, I'm never happy with the final colors so I make the variants to cure my never ending appetite to see different color possibilities... and they look really trippy when you mess with the more rad color combos.

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?


Honestly, I would love to have my own design studio with 3 or 4 other graphic designers working on smaller design projects while I handle the promo/marketing/advertising for the studio itself. I'd love to have a space at Art Basel as well, I'm really bad at keeping on top of registering for it, im always late due to running on Cuban time. I want to hit up San Fransisco for a few years to check out the west coast, then maybe Spain. During the Bush administration, I wanted to leave the states for good, I didn't have much faith in the States anymore. The situation has been getting better since talks of decriminalization and the legalization of medical marijuana have been floating around the country... I'd stick around for that.


7. What scares you most about the "creative community"? as in... any artists you disagree with on views, artistic abilities etc.

The thing about the creative community is that everyone always thinks they are the best at what they do, and no one will admit that. The thing is, when an artist works on something with their heart, they don't want to hear it when someone criticizes their work. I believe that egos should not have anything to do with artwork, if artists in the community collaborated more than they tried outdoing each other, we'd have some crazy awesome shit for everyone to enjoy.

I got my first piece of hate mail the other day, it was from a local Cuban artist and gallery owner from my parent's generation, which will remain nameless; It was in reference to a series of Cuban Postage Stamps designed to look like LSD Blotter art I had posted on Facebook. The woman was very heated about the "Che"
postage stamp, she went on about how ignorant I was, painting such a monster and glorifying evil for no reason. What she failed to understand was that the Cuban Postage series was more of a window to a world gone by, old Cuban postage stamps no longer in circulation, these were objects everyday people in Cuba touched and used to communicate with others. I had turned that into something more by making them appear as if they were infused with LSD, which helps free your mind of restrictions which normally bind us to reality.

I never heard from her again, which is sad because I would of loved to have read what she would of replied with.


8. Do you have an advise for anyone who wants to pursue a career in graphic design?

Yeah, stop asking me for free classes. lol but really, stick to it, don't give up! If you want to follow a career in art, do it! I told my parents in high school that I wanted to make art for a living, my aunts were pissed because they wanted a lawyer. I didn't care, I wanted to be happy with what I did... everyday. When you do what you love, you won't ever work a day in your life.


9. In the future, how do you want your art to be used for the greater good?

Greater good? I would love to help with a campaign to legalize marijuana, that's the greater good in my opinion. This lame 'war on drugs' has gone far enough, I know a lot of good people in trouble for marijuana related offenses that, honestly, do not deserve to be prosecuted because the government won't own up to another failed war.

roc on,
:://funk.out_


Check out Joey more of Joey Funk's art!!

Mirror Mirror {Photography by Nick Flash & Bobby Ray} Poem by Nick Flash

Photo's By Bobby Ray. Visit Bobby Ray Photo Art

Model: Jennifer Perez




Photo's by Nick Flash. Visit Nick Flash Photography

Model: Christina Haddad




Poem By Nick Flash:

Mirror Mirror, on the wall, show me my reflection.

Make me look as best I can, closest to perfection.

Mirror Mirror, tell the truth, It's you I will believe.

I know the only lies you tell, are in what I perceive.

Mirror Mirror, your so wise. You play up to my vanity.

When times get tough, you are the one, who helps me keep my sanity.

Mirror Mirror, your the one, who knows all of my secrets.

You know all of my flaws, but I trust quiet you shall keep it.

Mirror Mirror, it is you, who is my dearest friend.

Mirror Mirror, I look forward, to our times we spend.

You help me see just who I am, on the outside and the In.

It is you who knows that beauty lies, way beneath the skin.

Mirror Mirror, on the wall.

Fin.

Dirty Hairy & the new era of nightclub video marketing

The next biggest Thing to Hit the Nightclub Scene is Party Videos.

If your party doesn't have a rad video or pictures to go with it, in this economy, consider yourself NO Competition.

Stian Roenning and Alexis Mincolla are paving the way for nightclubs everywhere with their spectacular video recaps of DIRTY HAIRY at LIV.

They are defiantly inspiring the shit out of me.

Tonight, I, Nick Flash will be filming a video for a club I'm spinning at called Mystique. It will be the first in a series of videos I will be making for almost every nightclub event I do.


Stay Tuned for more.


DIRTY HAIRY 4.22.08 from Alexis Mincolla on Vimeo.




DIRTY HAIRY- 2.25.09 KID SIS and FLOSS from Alexis Mincolla on Vimeo.

Circus Chic- Christina Haddad {Article and Styling by Kristina Rodriguez & Carla A.}

Styling by Carla A. & Kristina Rodriguez

Article by Kristina Rodriguez

Modeling Christina Haddad

Make-up by Monique Valdez

Head Piece by Monique Hernandez

Photography by Nick Flash

Optical Engineer- Bryan Russell


When Carla first came to me with the idea of a Circus shoot I was
ecstatic. Having just graduated from the University of Art and Design,
one of my final projects was a ready to wear Circus collection (post
Britney Spears.) I automatically thought of role playing, what makes a
circus? Clowns? Ring Masters? Lion Tamers? Magicians? It’s a world of
magic, dreams, and imagination. We decided to break the shoot up into
separate looks, playing on the roles of these circus professionals.

The first look Carla and I designed was for the leader of the pack, it
was this Ring Master look that set the whole circus theme off. We took
a black vintage dress and a handmade designer head piece, made by our
talented friend Monique Hernandez, and turned the Ring Master into the
epitome of fashion.

Next, we took the Lion Tamer inspiration and turned her electric chic.
To achieve this look I used high suede boots, high wasted black biker
shorts, and a black era descent tube top. What gave this look the pop
I was going for was the vintage sequin green blazer. This vintage
piece was worn by my grandmother long ago when she roamed the streets
of Cuba in the 1950’s.

For the third look I wanted to do something fun, something that some
of us as kids loved and some of us feared. We took one of the Circus
academies tie dyed jumpsuit a red belt and turned Cristy into our
modern day Clown.

Although the Circus has many faces, we couldn’t help but to choose to
finish up our shoot with the most entertaining act of all, The Trapeze
Artist in all her glory. What made Christy so glorious you may ask?
Well, it was in up-stairs room of the Academy that I found this
fabulous one piece lying on the heap of custom-made customs.

Now I’m left with wondering… When does The Ringley Brothers and Barnum
Bailey Circus come to town?