Seth Bogart (artist)

Bogart grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where his father was a lawyer and his mother was a nurse.[7] In high school, he started playing the guitar[8][9] and created the punk zine Puberty Strike.[10][11][12][13] He later produced the zine Psycho No. 1 Fan.[14][15][16]

When Bogart was 18, his father committed suicide.[17][18] He moved to Oakland, California shortly thereafter.[7] At 19, he went to beauty school,[3][19][20] and later, in 2006, he co-founded the salon and vintage clothing store Down at Lulu's on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.[4][20][21]

Bogart joined Oakland-based electroclash band Gravy Train!!!! as a backup dancer under the name Hunx shortly after its inception in the early 2000s. He soon began writing songs for the band and performing as the band's singer and guitarist.[9]

In 2008, he founded Hunx and His Punx,[22] a garage punk band,[23] which changed its lineup in 2010 and was renamed to Hunx and His Punkettes. After this lineup disbanded in 2011, Bogart sold Down at Lulu's.[24]

In 2012, Bogart released a solo album as Hunx titled Hairdresser Blues,[25] and, in 2015, Bogart came out with an eponymous solo album under his own name.[26]

Bogart relocated to Los Angeles in 2013,[24] and, in 2014, he started streetwear label Wacky Wacko.[4] Initially, it was to be a record label, until he lost interest in that idea.[10][25] The line grew in popularity, and could be seen on Miley Cyrus, Tavi Gevinson, and Kathleen Hanna.[27] From 2014–17, the label had a store on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park.[10][28][29]

Bogart has also collaborated with fashion house Saint Laurent.[3][30] Director Hedi Slimane was a fan of Bogart's work,[27] and used his drawings in a Saint Laurent fabric pattern[30] and a song by Hunx and His Punx in a promotional video.[31]

In 2011, Bogart and longtime collaborator Brande Bytheway launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a TV show.[32][33] Hollywood Nailz launched as a web series in November 2012,[34] and was likened to a "bizarro '80s Public Access-style variety show".[35]

In May 2018, World of Wonder launched the web series Feelin' Fruity, a variety show which starred Bogart,[4] and was inspired by Disneyland's Toontown and Pee-wee's Playhouse.[36] It featured such guests as Alice Bag, Kate Berlant, Tammie Brown, John Early, Cole Escola, Manila Luzon, and Allison Wolfe.[36][37][38]

Bogart began taking classes at ArtCenter College of Design in 2013,[25] and began selling ceramic versions of familiar objects—including perfume bottles and grooming supplies—at the Wacky Wacko store shortly thereafter.[39]

In 2014, Los Angeles art gallery 365 Mission included a painting by Bogart in a group show,[40] and, in 2015, 365 Mission gave him a solo show, in which he transformed the gallery space into The Seth Bogart Show, an immersive experience that displayed sculpture, paintings, ceramics, and video, as well as served as a performance venue.[41][42]

Nino Mier gave Bogart a show in their Los Angeles gallery in 2018. Entitled Lick, it transformed the space into a sex shop, and included paintings and ceramic pieces by Bogart.[1]

In 2019, Chicago's Soccer Club Club gallery hosted 100 Toothbrushes, a solo exhibit of 100 ceramic toothbrushes by Bogart.[43]

Bogart is openly gay.[7][22] He came out to his friends while in high school, and to his mother when he was eighteen.[7]

• Official website