Charlie Becker

FAILE "Savage/Sacred Young Minds" ran at the Brooklyn Museum from July 10th – October 4th, 2015. In addition to the featuring the The FAILE & BÄST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade, and many new paintings, "Savage/Sacred Young Minds" brought back Portugal Arte's FAILE Temple and a marble version of Wolf Within. The piece Becker was most proud to work on was FAILE: Fantasy Island,  he used his own daughter, Audrey Becker, as his reference and inspiration to bring the well-known skater girl graphic to life (All photos courtesy of Faile.net)

For Cleon Peterson's Poison exhibit with Library Street Collective, Becker sculpted and produced three pieces. (At the time of publishing, only two have been released. The pieces where sculpted by Becker and reproduced in porcelain, the limited edition production of which Becker managed. Each porcelain sculpture was released in three colors, signed and numbered by Peterson.  The released pieces are The Marcher (12") and The Horseman (14.5") All photos courtesy of Cleon Peterson

Two bronze sculptures commissioned by Shepard Fairey for his Power & Glory exhibition with Jasper Johns at the Halsey Institute in Charleston South Carolina. 24" high, cast bronze, combined digital and hand sculpting.

Becker, Mike Murphy and Geoff McFetridge were the three artists asked to be part of Los Angeles' inaugural New Years Eve  event at Grand Park LA. Becker's LA installation was seen by all of the 20,000 guests at the hugely successful occasion. Serving as the backdrop to many Angelenos' new year photographs and documented many times over by the media covering this momentous evening for the city of Los Angeles. Photo Credit for  last photo in this gallery: Yosi Sergant

FAILE's  The Wolf Within in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The enormous sculpture is based on the original sculpt created in clay at 1/4 scale. Story on Hi Fructose and on Arrested Motion. Deeper story on Vandalog.

Faile's "Temple" temporarily located in the middle of Lisbon Portugal's Praça dos Restauradores Square.  Scuba horse fountain replicated in marble and the relief sculptures and tiles produced in ceramic covering the outer walls.

Originally sculpted for the artist collective FAILE to be a giveaway toy with a pair of sneakers they designed for Asics, the 5" Bunny Boy figures that remained soon reached the collectible designer toy market. FAILE made a limited number of custom painted figures, including a Black Bunny Boy sold exclusive on Wooster Collective. Soon the Bunny Boy was reproduced in Bronze, and later, in marble, at 4 feet high. It has become an enduring symbol for FAILE.

Private commission, 2013.

Another of Faile's iconic images, the Scuba Horse. Produced in a limited edition Bronze reproduction of the 12" high sculpture, selling out in 1 day. It was later reproduced for the Faile Temple in Lisbon for Portugal Arts.

The Banksy Rat was originally intended to be installed on the street  sculpted for street art legend Banksy, but instead, it debuted at the breakout show in LA September 2006. The increasing value of Banksy's work, difficulties with the installation and the realization that no one interacts with their environment on the streets of LA, all conspired to keep this piece behind gallery walls. Additional work for this show done on Venus sculpture.

The Art of Chase: Remember Who You Are. Collaboration with Chase to translate his work into a sculpture for his solo show, at the LA Contemporary gallery. Three editions: cold cast in bronze, nickel and fluorescent pink resin. approx. 10 inches high.

Artist assistant on the sculpting of Charles Ray's "Boy With Frog" The first reproduction was made of white fiberglass and installed at the Punta della Dogana in Venice, Italy, and was later  moved to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles when the final steel sculpture was completed and brought to Italy. Photos courtesy of Burgenshenker, ArtsBeatLA,  NY Times and LA Times.  And more great images here.  

Sculpture for the Panorama 3 show at Jonathane Levine Gallery, Sept 6 2008. 134 artists were given a 7" x 5" board to explore as they wished, with the one stipulation that a horizon line for continuity run across the piece near the bottom, linking them all together as they are butted next to each other to form one very long piece. Materials: Polymer clay, false teeth, doll eyes on board, 7 x 5 inches.  Press from the show: SPD, The Art Collectors and Juxtapoz. The Jonathan Levine Gallery  

Collaboration with Rich Jacobs. 2005

Asked to help bring the work of Aakash Nihalani off the street and into a gallery setting. His work primarily consists of public installations using paper artists tape. Taking 4 of his designs and using a water jet cut in 1/4" aircraft grade aluminum, then powder-coated in black, available in his signature fluorescent colors as well. Nihalani still wanted an element of his tape pieces in the show, so crumpled up entire rolls of his tape,coated them in UV protective resin for permanence were included in the show. Photos by Aakash Nihalani/Carmichael gallery

"Evolution" was part of the Chinatown Soccer Club's TMWRK art show hosted by Nike's 255 Elizabeth St Lab in NYC.  It is inspired partly from real events . “I was watching this older man at the field where we play. He was wearing these flimsy little slippers, and just schooling the younger players. Next thing I knew he was playing barefoot. I was inspired! Another day I got so frustrated with my soccer shoes I took them off and played barefoot, too. It was a great feeling. I have since had the privilege of playing with him, and he has my utmost respect. I now know him as Kang. ” Perhaps coincidentally, Nike later produced a television spot with a strikingly similar theme, seen here.

Miniature Busts of Charles and Ray Eames, sculpted for David Weeks and Lindsey Adelman's company Butter NYC. Charles and Ray Eames are perhaps two of the most important American designers of the Twentieth Century, responsible for some of the most iconic furniture designs to date.  Sculpted in 1/6 scale and hand cast in a porcelain composite, edition of 25.  

Manifest Equality - Paper Dolls. Giant wheat paste Paper Dolls welcomed the guests at the entrance of the Manifest Equality show in March 2010. The temporary exhibit in LA featured work by street artists Robbie Conal, Swoon and Shepard Fairey, and illustrative painters Barry McGee, Gary Baseman and Elizabeth McGrath. The show, spearheaded by Yosi Sergant, focused on the civil rights issues brought on by the passing of Prop. 8.

Sculpture made for Giant Robot's "Year of the Ox" show on Mar 14 2009 at the GR2 store. A newborn baby ox emerges from the shriveled hull of last year's rat-pod. Materials: Polymer clay, plastic, watercolor & acrylic paint, natural materials.

Manifest Hope: Say It Loud. Sculpture commissioned by Yosi Sergant of Evolutionary Media Group for the Manifest Hope Show in DC, coinciding with the inauguration of President Obama first term. Representing the power of art to enact change, "Sat it Loud" will adorned Yosi's office at the White House while working at the National Endowment for the Arts.

Dime Bag 3 Show: Which Way is Up? Curated by Jordin Isip and Rodger Stevens, July 2009. Though shown sideways in a 3 x 3" ziplock bag, it can be oriented either direction and read as a different face whichever way is up. Materials: Polymer Clay, false teeth, plastic, fur, acrylic & water color paint. Featured in New York Magazine as Number 24 Also features other great artists:  Rich Jacobs (#8), David Weeks (#21), Melinda Beck (#15), Ian Adelman (#18),  Georgie Stout (#28). Photos from the opening. More Press can be found here.  

Sculpted for artist group FAILE to be a piece of vinyl "graffiti," the idea was to glue these up on buildings like gargoyles. A keyhole was molded into the back so it could be mounted on the wall at home, too. The biggest challenge in sculpting this deep relief was to have it look correct from all angles, as the difference in perspective from one side to the other was quite severe.

In Fourth grade I tried my hand at sculpting the human form for the first time. My hero at the time, Leonardo DaVinci, (the mutant turtles hadn't been invented yet) seemed the logical choice. He had a great nose. But for some reason the piece just fell flat to me. It "needed" something. So along came the finger. Voila! I recently went to the Getty Museum for the first time, to check out a show on Leonardo Da Vinci's Sculpture. I didn't really know about his sculpture, and actually, there wasn't much there. Most of the show was about the great 24 foot high bronze horse sculpture cast in one pour... the one that was never completed. It's good to know I'm not the only one who has projects left unfinished.