Trevor Chowning
Encyclopedia
Trevor Chowning is an American pop artist known for his extensive use of unique materials and strange objects in his work. Paintings have featured precious metals such as gold or silver leaf, and have included everything from antique hummingbird feathers, genuine diamonds, animal bones and obsolete pieces of NASA spacecraft among other things.
's band and MTV celebrities among others. He is widely credited with reviving the career of Cash's band after the singer's death. His TV and film career spans projects such as "Lone Star" for Fox TV, with other projects for Universal Studios
, and Doug Liman
of Hypnotic (Director of Swingers, Go, Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith). Chowning acted as casting director for the Victor Buhler film "Chaperone", which later won the Martin Scorsese
Director's Award and was nominated for an Academy Award.
Child's Costume" which was originally censored at the World of Wonder gallery but later placed back on exhibit. His "Damien Hearse" homage to Damien Hirst
was a large model hearse cast in metal and covered with over 3,000 rhinestones. Chowning's 2008 body of work included a silver leafed painting of the James Dean
death car for the "DepARTed" gallery show and a revealing look at Madonna for the "Dial M for Madonna" group show, both in Hollywood, CA. An art show celebrating the American election opened in Los Angeles in October 2008 titled "Hollywood D.C.- Lights, Camera, Election!" and showcased some of his newer work.
On January 20, 2009 the artist revealed his Inauguration Portrait of Barack Obama
titled "Inspiration". The painting featured an optimistic President Obama in the foreground, with an ethereal Abraham Lincoln
laying a guiding hand upon the new leader's shoulder.
replica made from a real Peanut M&M paved in real diamonds and presented beneath a glass dome.
His close friend, the actor Daniel Franzese
has curated several art exhibits in Los Angeles and has included Chowning in every show to date. Franzese's interest in Chowning's art began when the artist gifted him with a small handmade ornament featuring the likeness of the rapper Notorious B.I.G.
holder of "¥£$", the combination of monetary symbols for the Yen, British Pound, and United States Dollar features in his artwork in a series of prints and posters. One of his original paintings featuring the slogan utilizes gold leaf for the symbols and is studded with thirty genuine diamonds.
As of 2009, Chowning is a supporting artist of the Aspie Art project that benefits artists who have Asperger syndrome
, a condition on the autism spectrum
.
, Alexi DeLano among others. He also worked closely with NASA club founder, Scotto, hosting a weekly night at NYC's club Carbon, the same venue that was hosting Michael Alig
's club night at the time of his arrest for murder, as depicted in the film Party Monster. AB Audio was distributed as a Warner Bros. Records
subsidiary label.
He is the Los Angeles liaison for the Indiana Media Industry Network (IMIN), an organization that worked to successfully pass a tax incentive bill to aid filmmakers wishing to shoot in his home state of Indiana. In March 2005 he accompanied actor Sean Astin
, an IMIN supporter, to Indiana where the star spoke at the Statehouse and met with the Governor to gain support for the bill.
Chowning was born on December 18, 1982.
Early Career
Before picking up the paintbrush, Chowning worked in the New York City music scene and as a Hollywood talent manager and producer representing Johnny CashJohnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
's band and MTV celebrities among others. He is widely credited with reviving the career of Cash's band after the singer's death. His TV and film career spans projects such as "Lone Star" for Fox TV, with other projects for Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, and Doug Liman
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric "Doug" Liman is an American film director and producer best known for Swingers , The Bourne Identity , Mr. & Mrs. Smith , Jumper , and Fair Game .-Early life:...
of Hypnotic (Director of Swingers, Go, Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith). Chowning acted as casting director for the Victor Buhler film "Chaperone", which later won the Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
Director's Award and was nominated for an Academy Award.
Notable Artworks
He was noted in 2007 for his controversial art piece "Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
Child's Costume" which was originally censored at the World of Wonder gallery but later placed back on exhibit. His "Damien Hearse" homage to Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
was a large model hearse cast in metal and covered with over 3,000 rhinestones. Chowning's 2008 body of work included a silver leafed painting of the James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
death car for the "DepARTed" gallery show and a revealing look at Madonna for the "Dial M for Madonna" group show, both in Hollywood, CA. An art show celebrating the American election opened in Los Angeles in October 2008 titled "Hollywood D.C.- Lights, Camera, Election!" and showcased some of his newer work.
On January 20, 2009 the artist revealed his Inauguration Portrait of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
titled "Inspiration". The painting featured an optimistic President Obama in the foreground, with an ethereal Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
laying a guiding hand upon the new leader's shoulder.
Exhibitions
Diesel Jeans of Italy sponsored his three-month solo exhibit at their Portland, OR store. It was Chowning's longest running exhibition to date and featured over a dozen original works, including a Fabergé eggFabergé egg
A Fabergé egg is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. Most were miniature eggs that were popular gifts at Eastertide...
replica made from a real Peanut M&M paved in real diamonds and presented beneath a glass dome.
His close friend, the actor Daniel Franzese
Daniel Franzese
Daniel Franzese is an American actor. He has worked in film, TV and theater.Franzese was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, the son of Denise and Ralph "R. J." Franzese, a lounge singer...
has curated several art exhibits in Los Angeles and has included Chowning in every show to date. Franzese's interest in Chowning's art began when the artist gifted him with a small handmade ornament featuring the likeness of the rapper Notorious B.I.G.
Trademark
Trevor Chowning is the creator and trademarkTrademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
holder of "¥£$", the combination of monetary symbols for the Yen, British Pound, and United States Dollar features in his artwork in a series of prints and posters. One of his original paintings featuring the slogan utilizes gold leaf for the symbols and is studded with thirty genuine diamonds.
As of 2009, Chowning is a supporting artist of the Aspie Art project that benefits artists who have Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
, a condition on the autism spectrum
Autism spectrum
The term "autism spectrum" is often used to describe disorders that are currently classified as pervasive developmental disorders. Pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise...
.
Pre-art life
Chowning worked as an A&R representative and label manager for AB Audio in New York City before relocating to Southern California. While with AB Audio he signed former Death Comet Crew founder Shinichi Shimokawa, Grammy Award Nominee Larry TeeLarry Tee
Larry Tee is a New York City-based DJ, club promoter, and music producer who coined the musical genre term Electroclash and helped launch the careers of such artists as RuPaul, Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner, Peaches, W.I.T., and Avenue D, and has collaborated with Amanda Lepore and Princess...
, Alexi DeLano among others. He also worked closely with NASA club founder, Scotto, hosting a weekly night at NYC's club Carbon, the same venue that was hosting Michael Alig
Michael Alig
Michael Alig is the co-founding member of the Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by long time best friend James St. James and Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
's club night at the time of his arrest for murder, as depicted in the film Party Monster. AB Audio was distributed as a Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
subsidiary label.
He is the Los Angeles liaison for the Indiana Media Industry Network (IMIN), an organization that worked to successfully pass a tax incentive bill to aid filmmakers wishing to shoot in his home state of Indiana. In March 2005 he accompanied actor Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
, an IMIN supporter, to Indiana where the star spoke at the Statehouse and met with the Governor to gain support for the bill.
Chowning was born on December 18, 1982.