Each year, Burlington, Vt.'s South End neighborhood (where JDK's headquarters are located) puts on one of the most innovative and boisterous art exhibitions/festivals in New England. JDK, in its ongoing relationship with Art Hop, throws open its doors for all sorts of events and shows. In 2009, the studio hosted Totem, a showcase of the various printed artwork-design-celebrations-declarations of Justin Fines and Steven Harrington.
Though separated by a continent (Fines is based in New York City, Harrington in Los Angeles), the two artists share a visual camaraderie rooted in suburban Americana, youth culture, and a twenty-first-century attention span combined with an appreciation for twentieth-century design. Both artists create work that is unafraid to bear its lineage, while stubbornly refusing to be anything but personal. And each works with a handful of personal "totems" that tend to pop up and surprise in all of their creations.
Totem debuted on September 11, Art Hop's opening night, at the JDK Gallery. The event featured performances by BLOWTORCH and Barbacoa and an open skate ramp. The show ran through September 26.
