Bill Barminski has been one of the most prolific and influential artists of the last 30 years, with work spanning the mediums of album covers, painting, sculpting, animation, music composition, video and fully-immersive large-scale installations. Curated by Scott Arundale, Castelli Art Space will host a two-night only retrospective of this one-of-a-kind artist’s career on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24, 2018 from 6pm - 10pm.

The retrospective will feature over two dozen paintings from various periods of Barminski’s career, focusing on the mid-80s and 2000s. The exhibit will also premiere a never before-seen large bronze sculpture as well as new renditions of his signature cardboard sculptures.

Just over 30 years ago, Arundale bought Barminski his first canvas and convinced him to put together a solo show, launching the artist into the spotlight of the burgeoning LA art scene. Arundale also produced Barminski’s first few gallery shows, and the two later collaborated on Baz Lurhmann’s “Sunscreen” video.

In the 90s, Barminski began to expand into even more mediums, and went on to create one of the largest and most expensive billboards ever commissioned on Sunset Blvd, began directing music videos in partnership with Chris Louie on music videos for Death Cab for Cutie, Kid Kudi and even a Viennese opera stage setting. Also of note, Barminski created the “security checkpoint” at the iconic U.K. Dismaland theme park presented by Banksy in 2015.

For over 30 years, Barminski has raised the bar of our culture's visual style in nearly every medium. Not bad for an art school dropout.

Barminski works in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, animation, music and video. He started showing his paintings in the mid 1980’s and has had over 20 solo exhibits at various galleries in Los Angeles and NYC. He continues to create and exhibit work although much of his current work is mixed media and sculpture made from his favorite material, cardboard. Starting in the early 1990’s Barminski began exploring the possibilities of digital media and video. In 1999 he collaborated with director Baz Lurhmann to create the music video for the Sunscreen Song. In 2007 Barminski teamed up with Chris Louie to form a creative company called Walter Robot. In 2009 their work was included at the Sundance Film Festival and has won several awards including Best Music Video Los Angeles Film Festival 2009. Collaborations with musical artists include: Death Cab For Cutie, Gnarls Barkley, Hodgy Beats, Ben Lovett, Kid Cudi, People in Planes, Rob Thomas and others. Other projects include one of the most expensive Absolut Artist billboards created, restaurant identity design and Billboard designs for AHA. Barminski teaches digital media at UCLA, 1997 - current.