DirtyDirtyLaundry.com

If you’re not sure what the hell I’m talking about here, check out The Art of The Stain at Dirty Laundry – all of their shirts are 100% cotton American Apparel, and 10% of their profits go to the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii. The exhibition is Jesse Arneson and Chris Thomas of Seeing Red, and they welcome enquiries from anyone who wishes to exhibit their work in their own city! I’m guessing they mean your local gallery as opposed to the nearest launderette – then again I’ve seen an art exhibition held in some Victorian public conveniences in London, or was that just graffiti? Lol.

Jason Laurits gets down and dirty with (wheat) grass stained tees to prove it. See more of his work at www.plasterandpaste.com

Steve Kiyabu attacked his t-shirt with a paintball gun (sounds like fun!).

Wyeth Hansen & Ryan Dunn of Labour (www.labour-ny.com) creating t-shirt patterns from wood stains.

Roanne Adams’ (www.roanneadams.com) popsicle stained t-shirt process.

Here’s a rather gory one for you! Gutted fish t-shirts by Andrew Degraff.

If you can’t make it to the exhibition in Honolulu, you can still check out the online gallery at DirtyDirtyLaundry.com, not recommended for OCD’s :p

Dirty Laundry: The Art of the Stain in Modern T-Shirt Design

DirtyDirtyLaundry.com has been created to feature exhibits from the gallery show devoted to the concept of ‘potential’. Using common everyday stains as an integral part of the design and fashion of a t-shirt, the exhibition seeks to shift our perceptions of chance and error, and reassesses the potential of ‘the stain’ as art.

Whether it’s grass, grease, or ketchup, participants of the show are challenged to incorporate the stain into a custom designed silkscreen, converting “ruin” to “re-invention.” In keeping with a growing social trend for environmental awareness in art and fashion, Dirty Laundry attempts to assign value to everyday items atypically deemed worthless, further broadening our understanding of the ever relevant mantra, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”

Many of the artists featured at DDL are well known for their illustrative and conceptual flair in t-shirt design, some of my favourite t-shirts by this merry band of stained prodigies include:-

Damien Correll’s ‘Our Best Days Are Behind US” T-Shirt

It’s Nice To Be Nice Tee by Damien Correll

Mini Tee by Jason Laurit at Paste

Fishnets by Jason Laurit at Paste

Brooklyn Industries Type by Mike Perry

As a matter of interest I’ve come across a few other artists on the net who are making a name for themselves by staining their tees. These two aren’t exhibiting at Dirty Laundry – still they are t-shirts, and they are stained…

Meryl Smith is a fascinating artist, this is called Tea Shirt and was actually stained with tea leaves! She’s even made a label for it – very reminiscent of a Lipton’s Tea tag – which completes the concept perfectly

Now for something gross to finish off the post. I know, I know it’s ‘art’ but still… pewwww. This t-shirt is formed from armpit stained patches of old and most likely crusty tees the local Salvation Army donated (dumped on their doorstep then ran). Someone open the window (I can’t appreciate art when my eyes are streaming), and pass me that deodorant :/