Bio
Eddie attended the School of Visual Arts in New York and graduated from the California College of Arts with a BFA in photography/interdisciplinary fine arts in 1991. He began his artistic career as a photographer, working first for the New York Times and later countless magazines, record labels and ad agencies. 15 years later he has morphed into one who counters the all-pervasive nature of commercialism in public spaces.
Since 2005, his wheat-pastes and stencils can be found throughout public spaces in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Miami. Eddie's work first began to garner national recognition when his street art began incorporating images of Barack Obama throughout the 2008 Presidential election. His growing popularity landed him attention on internet blogs, features in six published books, and participation in the "Manifest Hope Art Gallery" shows at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and at the Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. His designs have been transformed many times over, from stickers, album and magazine covers.
Of his work, Eddie states, “Some people view what I do as vandalism. I assume that their objection is that I alter the landscape without permission. Advertising perpetually alters our environment without the permission of its inhabitants. The only difference is that advertisers pay for the privilege to do so and I don’t. So if you’re going to call me anything, it is more accurate to call me a thief.” His work has been featured alongside Hush, Blek Le Rat, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Keith Haring, and Kaws in the Indoor Mural show at 941 Geary in San Francisco, the Arts Fund Expo at Art Basel Miami and Digard's "Urban Contemporary Art" Auction in Paris. In August of 2011, Eddie completed an 80 ft mural in Little Saigon San Francisco chronicling the Vietnamese Diaspora. In 2012 Eddie participated in Pow Wow Hawaii and created an all encompassing post-apocalyptic installation with D Young V and Hugh Leeman at Hold -Up Gallery in Los Angeles.
Eddie took on the role of curator at lOAKal gallery in Oakland CA in December of 2012. In 2013 Eddie worked closely on collaborations with D Young V creating several large scale public mural projects and a 2 man installation "Memento Mori" in San Rafael CA. His curating extended to Ian Ross Gallery in San Francisco where he curated "Made in China" a group exhibition where contemporary artists had their work hung side by side with counterfeits produced in an oil painting factory in China. Through 2014-15 Eddie began traveling to Europe and Asia creating street pieces for Paris and Thailand. He finished off the year with 2 collaborative murals with D Young V in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for Dreamers Art Festival. His work has also been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post and the Chicago Tribune.
Solo Exhibitions
“Nothing Lasts Forever” 1AM • San Francisco, CA • August 2015
“Atavisms” Ian Ross Gallery • San Francisco, CA • August 2014
"Eddie@ Google" Google Campus • San Francisco, CA • April 2010
Baxter & Cooke "Filling Space" • San Francisco, CA • January 2010
"Untitled" 440 Brannan • San Francisco, CA • July 2009
Selected Group Exhibitions
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“Winter Blues” Go Gallery • Amsterdam, NL • January 2016 “No Commissions” curated by Swizz Beatz • Miami, FL • December 2015 Dreamers Art Festival 2015 • Playa del Carmen, MX • November 2015 “Kaaboo Del Mar” 111 Minna Gallery • San Diego, CA • September 2015 “Attack The Block” One Space, Damien Roman Fine Art • NY, NY • September 2015 “Urban Contemporary Art Auction” Digard Gallery • Paris, France • October 2014 “Carpe Diem” Loakal Gallery • Oakland, CA • April 2014 “New Works” with D Young V and Hugh Leeman 111 Minna Gallery • San Francisco, CA • February 2014 “Winter Group Show” Ian Ross Gallery • San Francisco, CA • December 2014 “Made in China” Ian Ross Gallery • San Francisco, CA • November 2013 “Urban Contemporary Art Auction” Digard Gallery • Paris, France • October 2013 “Memento Mori” with D Young V Artworks Downtown • San Rafael, CA • September 2013 “TVOT” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts • San Francisco, CA • June 2013 “Shared Secrets” Ian Ross Gallery • San Francisco, CA • June 2013 “Visions and Reflections Gauntlet Gallery • San Francisco, CA • April 2013 “Asylum” Pop up gallery • Oakland, CA • May 2013 “Carpe Diem” Loakal Gallery • Oakland, CA • December 2012 "Epilogue" with D Young V and Hugh Leeman, Hold Up Art • Los Angeles, CA • September 2012 "Oakland Now" Loakal Gallery • Oakland, CA • August 2012 "Summer Group Show" Spoke Art • San Francisco, CA • August 2012 "TV of Tomorrow" Yerba Buena Center for The Arts • San Francisco, CA • June 2012 Pow Wow Hawaii 2012, Loft in Space • Honolulu, HI • February 2012 "LA vs WAR II" The Vortex • Los Angeles, CA • September 2011 "Mind Control" Peep Show Gallery • Los Angeles, CA • August 2011 "A History of Queer Street Art" SomArts Cultural Center • San Francisco, CA • June 2011 |
"ArtPadSF" Phoenix Hotel • San Francisco, CA • May 2011 "Sniffin Glue" New Puppy Gallery • Los Angeles, CA • April 2011 "The Indoor Mural Project" 941 Geary Gallery • San Francisco, CA • April 2011 "Rise Japan" Gallery Heist • San Francisco, CA • April 2011 "Warhol Re-imagined" Project One Gallery • San Francisco, CA • March 2011 "UNO" Hold Up Art • Los Angeles, CA • February 2011 "Political Poster Jam" Oakland Museum of California • Oakland, CA • February 2011 "Urban Osmosis" Lopo Gallery • San Francisco, CA • January 2011 "Broken Meter" White Walls Gallery • San Francisco, CA • December 2010 "Winter Group Show" White Walls Gallery • San Francisco, CA • December 2010 "The Arts Fund Expo"- curated by White Walls - W Hotel South Beach • Miami, FL • December 2010 "6 on the 12" W Hotel South Beach • Miami, FL • December 2010 "The Bridge is Over" Lopo Gallery • San Francisco, CA • November 2010 "Truisms: A Tribute to Jenny Holtzer" Space Gallery • San Francisco, CA • October 2010 "Marxist Glue" Hold Up Art • Los Angeles, CA • October 2010 "1st Fridays" Raw Gallery • Oakland, CA • September 2010 "TOSAT" Toronto Street Advertising Take Over • Toronto, Canada • August 2010 "A Decade with No Name" EBX Gallery • Oakland, CA • August 2010 "Borrowed Spaces" Hotel Biron • San Francisco, CA • July 2010 "Raw" Raw Gallery • Oakland, CA • July 2010 "Outbound" Secession Gallery • San Francisco, CA • June 2010 "Manifest Equality" • Hollywood, CA • March 2010 "Manifest Hope" Irvine Contemporary • Washington D.C. • January 2009 "Manifest Hope" Andenken Gallery • Denver, CO • August 2008
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Selected Bibliography
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Paris Street Art • Claude Degoutte, 2016 The Outlaw Bible of American Art • Alan Kaufman, Last Gasp, 2016 Stay Up Los Angeles • G. James Daichendt, Cameron + Company 2012 Designing Obama • Scott Thomas, Post Press 2010 San Francisco Street Art • Steve Rotman, Prestel Publishing 2009 Hope, A Collection of Obama Posters and Prints • Hal Elliot Wert, Zenith press 2009 Art for Obama • Shepard Fairey and Jennifer Gross, Abrams Image, 2009 Design for Obama • Steven Heller, Aaron Perry Zucker and Spike Lee, Taschen 2009 SF Weekly “Wall Art at Walmart: Two New Exhibits” August 2015 Huffington Post “Atavisms": Eddie Colla Examines Survival Instincts in a Disintegrating World” October 2014 BelleSF “Eddie Colla” April 2014 Huffington Post "Exposing The Creative Process" April 3, 2014 Empty Kingdom “Dave Young, Eddie Colla and Hugh Leeman at 111 Minna” February 17, 2014 The Microscopic Giant The Revolution Will Be Advertised:David Young V,Eddie Colla,Hugh Leeman(Part 2) February 10, 2014 East Bay Express "When Corporations Want Profits, They Don't Ask for Permission" January 8, 2014 The Phoenix Times "Wal-Mart Rips Off Banksy, Thierry Guetta, and Eddie Colla" December 4, 2013 Hi Fructose "Eddie Colla Combats Plagiarism with New Street Art Piece" December 3, 2013 |
Buzzfeed "Walmart Marketplace Sold An Artist’s Stolen Work And Called It Banksy’s" December 2, 2013 Buzzfeed "Walmart Marketplace Sold An Artist’s Stolen Work And Called It Banksy’s" December 2, 2013 Huffington Post "Chinese 'Counterfeits' Battle Contemporary Artists For The Chance To Be Art" October 25, 2013 Los Angeles Times “Street artist murals to promote ‘Fruitvale Station’ hit some walls” July 4, 2013 The Marin Independent Journal “Eddie Colla and D Young V contemplate disaster in Marin exhibit” August 28, 2013 Acclaim Magazine - Interview - May 2012 ABC TV Featured art on "Switched at Birth" June 2011 Hi-Fructose "An interview with Eddie Colla" May 18, 2011 The Huffington Post "Street art bites back" April 22, 2011 Hi Fructose "In the streets with Eddie Colla and D Young V" December 21, 2010 The Huffington Post "Marxist Glue- It's sticky" November 9, 2010 Los Angeles Times "Artists given Showcase for their wheat-paste work" October 27, 2010 New York Times "Street art moves onto some new streets" May 8, 2010 Juxtapoz "Categorizing Eddie Colla" July 24, 2009 Chicago Tribune "Barack Obama Pop Art" January 7, 2009 Los Angeles Times "Graffiti takes the presidential race to the streets " August 23, 2008 |
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