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David Choe

For the American musician, see David Choi.

David Choe (born April 22, 1976)[1] is an American artist, musician, actor, and former journalist and podcast host from Los Angeles. Choe's work appears in a wide variety of urban culture and entertainment contexts. He has illustrated and written for magazines including Hustler, Ray Gun and Vice. He has an ongoing relationship with the Asian pop culture website, store, and former magazine Giant Robot.[2]

David Choe
David Choe in 2010
Born (1976-04-22) April 22, 1976 (age 48)[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationCalifornia College of the Arts
Known forPainter, murals, graphic novels
AwardsXeric Grant
Websitewww.davidchoe.com Edit this at Wikidata

His figurative paintings, which explore themes of desire, degradation, and exaltation, are characterized by a raw, frenetic method that he has termed "dirty style."[3]

Early life and education

Choe was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Korean immigrants and born-again Christians. He spent his childhood in Koreatown, Los Angeles.[4] He has been spray-painting on the streets since he was in his teens. He briefly attended the California College of the Arts.[5]

Career

 
Cover of Slow Jams by David Choe, after Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge

In 1996, Choe self-published a graphic novel titled Slow Jams. He claims to have made only 200 copies and given them away at Comic-Con[6] in 1998, hoping to interest a publisher. In 1999, he submitted Slow Jams for the Xeric Grant and was awarded $5,000 to self-publish a second, expanded edition of 1,000 which came out in 1999 with a cover price of $4.[7]

In 2005, internet entrepreneur Sean Parker, a longtime fan,[8] asked him to paint graphic sexual murals in the interior of Facebook's first Silicon Valley office,[9] and in 2007, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commissioned him to paint somewhat tamer murals for their next office.[10] Although he thought the Facebook business model was "ridiculous and pointless,"[11] Choe chose to receive company stock in lieu of cash payment for the original Facebook murals. His shares were valued at approximately $200 million on the eve of Facebook's 2012 IPO.[11]

After holding several solo shows in San Jose and San Francisco, he was offered a solo exhibit at the Santa Rosa Museum of Contemporary Art in 2005.[12] He held his first New York solo exhibit, "Gardeners of Eden," in 2007 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in Chelsea,[13] and in 2008, he had his first UK solo exhibition, "Murderous Heart," in both the London and Newcastle locations of Lazarides Gallery, simultaneously.[14]

In 2008, with Harry Kim, he made an autobiographical documentary, Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe.[15]

Vice

After being approached for his artwork by Gavin McInnes and Shane Smith, Choe was recruited to write and do artwork for Vice magazine.

Choe and Harry Kim starred in a Vice-produced web series Thumbs Up![16] which ran for three seasons. The series documents Choe and Kim hitchhiking and freight hopping across North America, from Los Angeles to Miami (season 1) and Tijuana to Alaska (season 2). Season 3 saw the duo hitching across China from Beijing to Shenzhen and the gambling mecca of Macau.[17] A fourth "season", in which Choe and Kim traveled from San Francisco to New York, was released via short form video clips on Snapchat and Instagram.[18]

2013–present

In 2013, Choe began hosting an online lifestyle and entertainment podcast with adult film star Asa Akira entitled DVDASA.

He has also become recognized for his watercolors, which exhibited in his solo show at the Museo Universario del Chopo, Mexico City in 2013.[19][20]

After receiving extensive therapy and treatment, he reemerged in 2017 with a new body of work and an exhibition in Los Angeles that presented heavy themes of trauma, self-reflection and hope for recovery.[21]

In 2023, Choe starred as Isaac Cho in the Netflix drama-comedy miniseries Beef, alongside Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. He also painted the title cards for episodes 2 through 10 of the show.[22]

Charitable works

Since 2008, Choe has dedicated many of his works to charity and has collaborated with foundations to support their local causes, including fundraising for Haiti with Yle Haiti, a foundation founded by Wyclef Jean;[23] painting with the children of The LIDÈ Haiti Foundation; and painting with children of South Central LA at APCH.[24]

Controversies

Rape comments on his podcast

Choe commented in March 2014 on his DVDASA podcast that he had engaged in "rapey behavior" with a masseuse. He defended his comment by explaining that the podcast itself is essentially a work of fiction.[25] After being commissioned to paint the Bowery Mural Wall in 2017, he was met with protest from other artists, including street artist Swoon, who issued a statement against his inclusion in the mural project. Another artist, Jasmine Wahi, co-organized a performance in front of the mural and stated "Our aim is to provoke widespread rejection of the continued normalization of rape culture by bringing visibility to the topic." Additionally, the mural was quickly defaced by graffiti artists. Choe responded by again publicly denying any history of sexual assault or rape, and by apologizing for his original podcast comments.[26][27][28][29] His comments on the podcast resurfaced in April 2023 after the success of the Netflix drama-comedy miniseries Beef.[30][31]

In the early 2000s, Choe was reportedly arrested in Japan, where he was taking part in an art show, after an altercation with a police officer. Various sources cite the year as 2003 or 2005 and state that Choe spent two or three months in prison.[32][33][34][35]

Bibliography

  • Slow Jams, self-published, 1999
  • Bruised Fruit: The Art of David Choe, Drips Inc., 2002
  • Cursiv, Giant Robot, 2003
  • David Choe, Chronicle Books, 2010. ISBN 0-8118-6953-9

Filmography

  • Thumbs Up! documentary web series, VBS.TV (2007–2010)
  • The Last Dinosaur of the Congo with David Choe, VBS.TV (2011)
  • We Are the Strange (voice of the character Rain), independent animated film by M dot Strange (2007)
  • Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe, documentary film (2008)
  • Vice, "50 Shades of Sasha Grey: How She Got into Porn & More" (appearance as Grey's friend) (2010)[36]
  • Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, "Koreatown, Los Angeles," season 1, episode 2 (2013)
  • DVDASA podcast web show, starring B-Trivia, David Choe and porn superstar Asa Akira (2013)
  • Vice, season 2, episodes 3, 6 and 11 (2014)
  • The Mandalorian, season 2, episode 1 " Chapter 9: The Marshal" as a ringside spectator (2020)
  • The Choe Show (2021-Present)
  • Beef, as Isaac Cho (2023)

References

  1. ^ a b Gogerly, Liz (2012-01-01). Graffiti Culture. Lerner Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7613-7767-2.
  2. ^ "Artists". GiantRobotStore. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  3. ^ Amanda Erlanson, Heroes & Villains, Zero+ Publishing, 2011. ISBN 0-9822461-6-1
  4. ^ Jaime Wright, "Choe Jams: The Purity of David Choe Archived 2020-11-08 at the Wayback Machine," Comfusion Magazine, Winter 2002.
  5. ^ Amanda Erlanson, "David Choe," Heroes & Villains, Zero+ Publishing, 2011. ISBN 0-9822461-6-1
  6. ^ Leatham, Thomas (2022-08-05). "David Choe, the graffiti artist that got rich from Facebook". Far Out. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  7. ^ "Xeric Foundation Comic Book Self-Publishing Grants for 1999". www.xericfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  8. ^ Daniel Chen, "David Choe Archived 2017-06-22 at the Wayback Machine," The Citrus Report, 6/7/09.
  9. ^ Denton, Nick (Dec 13, 2006). "Office decorator encouraged to draw 'cocks'". Gawker. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023.
  10. ^ Denton, Nick (May 2, 2007). "Facebook cleans up the graffiti". Gawker. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Bilton, Nick (Jan 1, 2012). "For Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "David Choe". Artnet database.
  13. ^ "David ChoeGardeners of Eden". Jonathan Levine Projects. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  14. ^ Teh, Terence (March 2008). "David Choe in the U.K." Dazed Digital.
  15. ^ Choe, David (2010). David Choe. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-6953-9..
  16. ^ "Thumbs Up!". Vice. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  17. ^ Choe, David (May 2010). "The David Choe Special Issue". Juxtapoz. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012.
  18. ^ Loyola, Bernardo (August 2013). "David Choe's Mexico City Gallery Show Features Naked Girls and Visions of Ayahuasca". VICE.
  19. ^ "David Choe "SNOWMAN MONKEY BBQ" @ Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City". www.juxtapoz.com.
  20. ^ "David Choe on His Mexico City Show and Life as a Global Street Artist - BLOUIN ARTINFO". www.blouinartinfo.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  21. ^ Calderón, Trina (1 August 2017). "David Choe's Secretive Koreatown Art Show Is Making People Feel a Lot of Things". L.A. Weekly.
  22. ^ Carpou, Madeline (2023-04-11). "What's Up With the Title Art in 'Beef'?". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  23. ^ "Haitian Girl - David Choe". 28 January 2010.
  24. ^ Recinos, Eva (22 February 2013). "David Choe, Famed Artist of Facebook Headquarters, Helps Kids Paint a Mural in South L.A." L.A. Weekly.
  25. ^ Ali Vingiano and Tasneem Nashrulla, "Celebrity Graffiti Artist David Choe Doesn't Think He Actually Raped Anyone," "BuzzFeed", 04/18/2014
  26. ^ "David Choe's Bowery Mural Targeted in Protest Against Rape Culture". artnet News. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  27. ^ "Artist David Choe Apologizes for Statements About Rape and Says Story Was Fictional". Brooklyn Street Art. 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  28. ^ "How the New Bowery Wall Commission Puts Rape Culture on Display". Hyperallergic. 2017-06-08. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  29. ^ "David Choe's Controversial Bowery Mural Tagged with Giant Letters [UPDATED]". Hyperallergic. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  30. ^ "'Beef' star David Choe slammed after podcast detailing 'rapey behavior' resurfaces". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  31. ^ Bruce-Smith, Alex. "What To Know About The Alleged Rape Controversy Around 'Beef' Star David Choe". ELLE. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  32. ^ "David Choe". RVCA Japan. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  33. ^ Silvoy, Sandra (Feb 15, 2010). "David Choe: From Japanese Prison to the White House". KQED. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  34. ^ Judkis, Maura (Feb 2, 2012). "Facebook IPO: 5 things you should know about David Choe, insta-millionaire artist". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  35. ^ Page, Samantha (2010-04-22). "Artist's trip from jail to Beverly Hills show". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  36. ^ "50 Shades of Sasha Grey: How She Got Into Porn & More," VICE, 4/25/11.
 
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