"Branded" Summer SMoCA Nights June 19, 2008		Print This Page Email This Page

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA] presented the 2008 Summer SMoCA Nights "Branded" on Thursday, June 19, from 9:00 p.m. to midnight.The event launched the premiere of SMoCA’s summer 08' exhibition Branded and On Display. To accompany the opening, SMoCA tipped its hat to the consumerism that colors our lives and leisure time. The Museum encouraged those in attendance to embrace our media-infused world by flaunting favorite brands and logos during the event. The evening’s fashion show featured Phoenix-based designers Jes Switaj and Devani Weaver with wearable art by artist Bobby Castaneda and dynamic hair and make-up styling by Dolce Salon & DoCo Damask.

The event’s highlights included a live outdoor performance by Valley favorite, Peachcake—the band that takes costumed antics on the stage and happy electro-pop revelry to the next level. Peachcake was followed by a mesmerizing fire dance by Mali, a former Cirque du Soleil performer and new transplant to the city, straight from Spain. Inside the Museum, DJ dk.strickler honed his fusion of organic and tech elements for the fashion show. dk’strickler, best known for spinning groovy blends of deep and funky house, synthesized an eclectic mix to best communicate the pulse of the runway fashion show.

Guests mingled and cooedl off from the heat in SMoCA’s galleries while glimpsing into their future with expert tarot readings by the famed clairvoyant, OZMA and seeing all three new summer exhibitions: Branded and On Display, Pae White: “Lisa, Bright & Dark,” and Pushing Paint Around: selections from the permanent collection. *[Lisa, Bright and Dark, a novel by John Neufeld, 1969 ©SG Phillips.]

Visitors were able to also catch a satirical feature on consumerism and brand choices by Portland artist Modern Conditions of Production (MCOP), on view in the Museum lobby,. And, for all those who love to shop, the event boasted one-of-a-kind products in the Museum Store specially created by the evening’s guest fashion designers and artists including silk-screened ties, bags and hand-painted, graffiti-inspired shoes.

Dress designed by Jes Switaj. Photo by: Claire Warden.

Runway crowd. Photo by: Claire Warden