Corey Helford Gallery is proud to premiere LA native CANTSTOPGOODBOY’s newest solo show, It’s Not Glitter, It’s Stardust, opening Saturday, June 23 in Gallery Two. This is his first time showing at the gallery. The exhibit is a new experiment for the artist, finding ways to implement glitter (or as he calls it, “stardust”) as a medium in nearly every new piece—as paint, an accent, even a background.
In It’s Not Glitter, It’s Stardust, CANTSTOPGOODBOY is also premiering some never-before seen characters, including a new astronaut, a cowboy, additions to his rockstars series, and some new twists on the popular figures that have appeared in many of his works. Lions will continue to be a recurring theme.
Glitter isn’t the only new medium CANTSTOPGOODBOY is experimenting with for this exhibition: he’s going 16-bit as well. Recently, he acquired a vintage and fully operational arcade cabinet—with a joystick and buttons made for mashing. He completely refinished the outside to turn it into a top-to-bottom CANTSTOPGOODBOY artwork. But the inside got a makeover as well. One of his colleagues is a talented coder, and in a matter of two days, built a vintage 16-bit video game from scratch where players must recreate one of CANTSTOPGOODBOY’s signature artworks.
At 26 years old, CANTSTOPGOODBOY (CSGB), is making his mark in the contemporary art world. A native of Southern California, he was introduced to the world of art at an early age by his mother, a professional art restorer. His talents were recognized early but school would not prove to be the environment in which he would flourish. In high school, CANTSTOPGOODBOY was discouraged by a short-sighted art teacher, resulting in a four year hiatus.
With no formal training, he rediscovered his love for art during his freshman year of college where he became inspired both by the prominence of street art and by an art professor who quickly recognized his abilities. After one semester he transferred to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he took general studies classes while his art was sidelined as a hobby. It only took one semester at Boulder for CANTSTOPGOODBOY to realize that creating art, and not academics, is his true passion.
With a meticulous attention to detail, utilizing mixed media (vintage comics) and various other techniques which he has coined the term “RealFake.” Collaborations with companies such as Sony, Warner Bros., Serj Tankian, Atlantic Records, Coachella Music Festival, Absolut Vodka, Converse, TOMS Shoes, Sol Republic, the Audience, eOne Entertainment and American Idol to name a few, show you clearly CANTSTOPGOODBOY.