Cool Hunting

Uniting a great cause and an all-star roster of artists, Lance Armstrong's Stages exhibit benefiting Livestrong debuted at Paris' Emmanuel Perrotin gallery last week. The show consists entirely of commissions from both lowbrow artists and blue chip veterans alike—Kaws, Dzine (pictured above with detail shots after the jump) and Christopher Wool (pictured below right, click image for detail), to name a few—who Armstrong and Nike CEO Mark Parker hand-picked and tasked with incorporating the color yellow and either touching on Armstrong or cancer in the work.

The upshot, while heavy with bicycle symbolism, runs the emotional gamut from Ed Ruscha's characteristically tongue-in-cheek "Vital To The Core" (above left) to current art darling and recent Yale grad Rosson Crow's lurid Texas bike show scene (below). We stopped by the opening, shared an air kiss with our friend and participating artist José Parlá and interviewed Eric White about his touchingly personal homage to his mom, "Foyer," which metaphorically interprets her experience battling oral cancer twice.

Inset with golden-hued bubbles that frame a forest setting, White's black-and-white image of '40s-era film actress Hedi Lamar posed in a cold marble interior touches on the transformative nature of cancer—physically, spiritually and otherwise. (Pictured below.) For the New York-based artist, participating in the show was a meaningful experience as well, "To be able to create a piece that's basically a tribute to my mom and to her struggle with it personally is incredible," he shared with CH. And how does he feel now that the show's opened? "Now I'm just thinking about Lance and hoping that he can do it."

Stages will travel to NYC after Paris (see details below) and rumor has it Miami will be next. Running concurrently in Colette's store windows, a companion exhibit of artist-designed bicycles that Armstrong has ridden in various races will be auctioned In New York to benefit the cause along with the artworks.

See more images, including work by Kaws, Shepard Fairey, Andreas Gursky, Yoshitomo Nara, Raymond Pettibon, Richard Prince and more after the jump.

Stages
Through 8 August 2009
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
76 rue de Turenne
75003 Paris map
tel. +33 (0) 1 42 16 79 79

Andreas Gursky: "Tour de France I" (Click image for detail)

Shepard Fairey: "Jessica"

Kaws: "The End"

Raymond Pettibon: "No Title (From the ends)"

Dzine: "The Tipping Point"

Geoff McFetridge: "Even the Simplest Shapes Wish to Become Logos One Day"

Yoshitomo Nara: "Fire"

José Parlá: "Untitled (Dedicated to Dr. Alan Berkman)" (Click image for detail.)

Richard Prince: "I’m Not Coming Home"

Tom Sachs: "Lance’s Tequila Bike for Girls"

Aaron Young: "Burnout (Pour on the Coals)"