Stop in Arcana: Books on the Arts this Saturday, July 30th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to celebrate the launch of The Steve Keene Art Book, with special guests Steve Keene, Dan Efram and J.C. Gabel and co-published by their friends at Hat & Beard Press. If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a signed copy, please place your order here or call Arcana at 310-458-1499.

Steve Keene is the most prolific American painter of all time, producing more than 300,000 hand-painted works via his studio / chainlink fence cage where he paints more than fifty paintings at a time.

Lovingly known for making affordable art, as well as being the indie rock cover art maker to Pavement, The Apples in stereo, and Silver Jews, Keene has long been under-appreciated for his importance to the nineties indie art and music scenes. The Steve Keene Art Book – originally conceived during his sold out 2016 show at Shepard Fairey’s Subliminal Projects Gallery – is the first art book dedicated exclusively to his work.

The book features essays by musician Hilarie Bratset (The Apples in stereo), writer Sam Brumbaugh, Elle Chang, Daniel Efram, Shepard Fairey, journalist Karen Loew, and Christina Zafiris, along with comments from Starling Keene, curators Jonathan LeVine, Leo Fitzgerald and Talia Logan, alongside a dazzling two hundred and seventy-seven reproductions of Keene’s works. Efram takes readers into Keene’s utilitarian chainlink “painting cage” for an all-access pass for a peek into the artist’s fascinating systemic technique.

The Steve Keene Art Book is co-published by Hat & Beard Press and Tractor Beam and has been made possible through a crowdfunding campaign that included hundreds of supporters – from Keene’s former hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, to fans from all over the world – who contributed pieces from their own personal collections. It is produced by Daniel Efram, edited by Gail O’Hara, editor-in-chief of the “legendary indie nerd bible” chickfactor, and designed by Grammy-nominated graphic designer Henry Owings.