TNT (THURSDAY NIGHT THING) EXPLORES URBAN LEGEND, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2010, FROM 7 TO 10 PM AT MCASD DOWNTOWN

Popular nighttime program will feature new Viva la Revolución exhibition, artist talk and film by Dzine, live music by WAVVES, and more

July 26, 2010

San Diego, CA— On Thursday, August 12, 2010, TNT (Thursday Night Thing) returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s downtown location with a dynamic evening of live music, art-making activities, and interactive performances themed around the new street art exhibition, Viva la Revolución: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape.  Viva la Revolución, which opened July 18, features works -- both in the Museum’s downtown Jacobs Building galleries as well as at public sites throughout downtown -- by 20 international artists from 10 countries, including Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Os Gemeos, Invader, Barry McGee, Dr. Lakra, JR, Swoon, and Dzine, among others.

Viva la Revolución artist Dzine will be present to participate in a Q&A about his work currently on view in the galleries. Exclusive to TNT, Dzine’s film, “Posse” will be screened throughout the night. TNT-goers also can enjoy live music by WAVVES and an interactive art-making activity by San Diego native/multi-faceted artist Mike Maxwell. Plus, MIHO Gastrotruck will be parked at the Museum, serving their handmade, farm-to-table street food.

TNT admission is $10 for the general public, $7 for students, and free to MCASD Members. Limited pre-sale tickets can be purchased online beginning Wednesday, July 28 at www.mcasd.org.

MCASD Members are invited for a special one-hour preview from 6 to 7 pm, which includes an insider’s Members-only curatorial tour of the exhibitions and exclusive opportunities to engage with the artists’ works.

Dzine’s practice explores inner-city subcultures reflecting the inventive forms and creative ingenuity employed by groups around the world as a platform for identity, aesthetics, and creative expression. His customized bicycle, Return of the Crown Prince (A carriage for Haile Selassie) is “tricked out” to the extreme—the overload of accessories, sound system, gold decorative elements, brass knuckles, and customized upholstery have rendered the vehicle useless; it cannot be ridden. Stylistically, Return of the Crown Prince draws from the Chicano Low-rider tradition, while Untitled (Custom Pedicab) – a tricked-out pedicab commissioned for Viva la Revolucion – looks at the custom of decorating cycle rickshaws, a mode of human-powered transport common in Asia. Both vehicles address a sense of identity related to the aesthetic values and traditions from which they derive.

During TNT, Dzine’s short documentary film “Posse” (2010)—about Benjy Melendez, founder of the Ghetto Brothers, the 1960s community organization and Nu-Yorican soul funk band—will screen on a loop throughout the evening on the Museum’s outdoor plaza. Produced and written by the artist, “Posse” was originally created for Dzine’s installation POSSE, as part of the exhibition, Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York. The film is inspired by the full-length feature film Flyin’ Cut Sleeves, produced and directed by Henry Chalfant and Rita Fecher, and features footage and interviews from the same film. www.dzinestudio.com

San Diego-based artist Mike Maxwell is known for creating dreamy, boldly colored illustrative works that feature his signature stone-blue face figures. For this TNT, Maxwell will be creating an interactive environment for visitors to directly engage with the urban landscape and find creative ways to share their voice and make a mark on their society. www.mikemaxwellart.com

San Diego native Nathan Williams is the man behind WAVVES, a band that continue to generate buzz with the upcoming release of its new album, “King of the Beach”(out August 3 on Fat Possum). Featuring more polished, pop arrangements than the fuzzy, distorted punk of 2009’s acclaimed album “WAVVVES”, Pitchfork.com describes “King of the Beach” as “a punk record in attitude” and “resplendently colored, owing as much to Orange County skate-punk as it does to the Beach Boys”. www.myspace.com/wavves

About TNT

TNT was launched in August 2002 as a monthly event on the first Thursday of every month. The last monthly TNT took place in April 2009 before going on hiatus due to the effects of the economy on the Museum. TNT returned in November 2009 and March 2010 as a quarterly event held in conjunction with the opening of major exhibitions at MCASD’s Downtown location.

Funding for MCASD programs comes from The James Irvine Foundation Arts Innovation Fund, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency, the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program, and contributors to MCASD’s Museum Fund. In-kind support for TNT is provided by 91X, San Diego CityBeat, and Stone Brewing Company. Institutional support for MCASD comes, in part, from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.