A Minute With Kol-Bee
Hi! This is a newsletter about artists I like.
I began acquiring art through some friends that worked in galleries. I started small, working on a limited budget, for stuff I could afford. As time passed, my collection grew, and it was exciting to watch many of the artists I'd collected go on to bigger shows and critical acclaim. My goal with this newsletter is to make a digestible resource for anyone interested in artists that are making great (and still affordable!) work, whom you haven't heard about... yet.
While living in Los Angeles for about 12 years or so, it was hard to not see the brightly colored posters across Southern California for various concerts/raves/sports events/ etc and it took me a bit to figure out who and what Colby was.
They operated for about 65 years and collaborated with all the heavy hitters of contemporary art ranging from Ruscha to Ruppersberg. One of my all time favorite exhibition posters is this one.
What was one of my favorite shows while living in LA was the one that For Your Art produced on the history of Colby shortly after they shuttered their business in 2012. The show opened in 2014 and was excellent. More on that HERE.
And a big shoutout to the Blogfather / man of exquisite taste / true creative ….who turned me on to so much great stuff I don’t even know where to begin. He started a collaboration with Colby in 2008 with this excellent print:
So, now we have Kol-bee and love the work they are doing and they are working with great artists and putting out great work at a very reasonable price. Good stuff for sure!
Can you talk about how Kol-bee came to be and your vision for this new iteration?
K: Both of us (Henry Fey and Pedro Alejandro Verdin) have been fans of the original Colby Prints for years. We both grew up in Los Angeles and had a deep appreciation for its history in the visual landscape of the city. We both attended the San Francisco Art Institute where we constantly referred to In the Good Name of the Company, the book archiving some of the most notable prints. We decided to start this project because we wanted to see new prints, we wanted this tool to be available for artists again and to make them affordable for people to collect.
How did you link up with Cali-Dewitt and can you talk about his “Do You Feel Safe,” print? ** I bought one and very pscyched!
K: We’ve always loved Cali’s work and think he’s a phenomenal artist. He’s been a huge staple in Los Angeles as a visual artist and organizer and has a very authentic vision. We reached out to him and luckily he accepted the invitation to work with us. He made a few prints with Colby when they were still in operation so it was a real treat for us to have him make something for this project.
The print text comes from an album title by the Los Angeles band Sin34. It feels really fitting for the project and they came out beautifully.
When and what is the next artist collaboration?
K: We have a few pieces coming down the pipe line by artists Jaime Munoz, Chloe Maratta, and Juan Capistran. We have more prints in the works, but we’ll save some surprises.
****Jaime’s is OUT NOW and it rules! BUY BUY BUY BUY.
Who would be some artists you would like to work with in the near future?
K: We’re open to working with as many people as we can. It seems like each week we think of someone new and add them to our list. There’s so many artists that we admire and it would take us another week just to jot down all of our dream picks.
What are some key takeaways you took from Colby to now be of use for Kol-bee?
K: The accessibility is the big takeaway for us. Seeing the prints out in the wild on electrical poles throughout the city felt so welcoming, anyone driving or walking could be exposed to prints that communicated a message. You don’t have to go into a gallery or museum to see something special, the works presented themselves to you in a very generous way. We’ve kept the tradition going by placing prints around town. We get really stoked when people send us photos of prints they ripped down and have placed in their homes.
What’s a typical day in the office look like?
K: It’s a lot of talking. Talking to artists, talking to each other, and talking to USPS to get the prints out. The best days are always bringing the prints to the artists and seeing their faces when their designs come to fruition.
Can you share some pics of the studio?
K: We don't have pics of the studio but I've attached images of our past prints.
Who should we have on next?
K: Our friends over at In Sheep Clothing are always up to cool things. In San Francisco our buddies run a great wine bar called BAR PART TIME, they’ve made really cool objects and merch. Sonya from ComeTees is always blowing us away with her work and clothes and she made the inaugural print.
Kol-Bee