Carmichael Gallery | Like Father, Like Son | October 1 - 29, 2011

Estevan Oriol

From hip-hop club bouncer to tour manager for Cypress Hill and House of Pain in the late 1980s and early 1990s to the internationally celebrated professional photographer, director and urban lifestyle entrepreneur he is recognized as today, Estevan Oriol’s talent, fame and success only continue to grow. 1992 saw the beginning of what quickly grew to be an influential relationship with best friend, fellow Soul Assassin associate and now world-famous tattoo artist, Mister Cartoon. Together, they created the increasingly lucrative and high-profile Joker Brand Clothing, just one of Estevan’s ventures in the clothing industry, which range from Not Guilty, produced with Everlast, and his solo line Scandalous to his eponymous line with Upper Playground. In 1995, however, Eriberto gave his son a camera, and what began as a means of capturing life on tour led to a career that has snapped up images of everyone from gang members and graffiti artists to hip hop stars and Hollywood celebrities.

Select galleries and institutions that have exhibited Estevan’s work include Rivera Gallery, Los Angeles, Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles, FIFTY24SF, San Francisco, FIFTY24PDX, Portland, Lab 101, Los Angeles and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in whose highly acclaimed, controversial blockbuster exhibition Art In The Streets his work contributed an integral depiction of Los Angeles’ part in the worldwide evolution of graffiti, street art, skater, tattoo and related countercultures. In 2009, Italian print house Drago published LA Woman, a 112 page, hardback book that celebrates a decade of Estevan’s provocative, sensitive and alluring documentation of the city’s less-photographed female population. 

Highly sought-after for both high-profile commercial projects and private commissions, celebrities photographed by Estevan include Xzibit, 50 Cent, Kim Kardashian, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dennis Hopper, Mena Suvari, Dr. Dre, Blink 182, Eminem, Adrien Brody, Forrest Whittaker and Juliette Lewis. In addition to shooting campaigns for companies such as Cadillac, Nike and Rockford Fosgate and directing new media projects for My Cadillac Stories, MTV and Apple Computer, he has designed album covers and/or directed music videos for artists such as Eminem, Cypress Hill, Blink 182, Snoop Dogg and Tech N9ne.

Estevan and his work have been profiled in Rolling Stone, Complex, FHM, GQ, Details, Vibe, The Fader, Mass Appeal, Hypebeast, Juxtapoz, High Snobiety, Daily du Jour, Fecal Face, Risen Magazine, Acclaim Magazine, tasj magazine and The Source, amongst numerous other national and international print and online media outlets. 

He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

(c) Estevan Oriol