Combo Attack! Celebrating 25 Years of Street Fighter!
Round One, FIGHT!
On the night of August 3rd, hundreds of people flooded the 4,500 square foot iam8bit art space in Los Angeles that presented over 100 talented artists from around the world that featured art from the classic game Street Fighter. This art show was like no other! Featuring live music from DJ R Rated, famous Street Fighter Internet fan-videos, a huge photo booth where attendees could hadouken their friends, and a car shaped piñata which paid homage to the old games by having someone break it, while wearing giant fists.
Since Ashphord (ashi_chan) was cosplaying as Viper, she was immediately interviewed and photographed by at least 5 people upon arrival, in which we were both recognized for our work as Chocolate Covered Cosplay. As we made our way through the opening night event we ran into fellow cosplayers Jennifer Chang, who produced and acted in the popular fan film Street Fighter High; Desmond Thompson, who dressed up as Kyo Kusanagi from King of Fighters; Jesse, who dressed up as Cami; as well as Kitty who dressed up as Ibuki. We also saw fellow industry guests: John from NerdReactor.com, Shannon Cottrel who works as a staff photographer for LA Weekly and MeltDown Comics, and Sean Cordeno from MochiBytes. Everyone came out to show their support of the great art that decorated the space.
Speaking of art, the displays of creativity were Amazing! It wasn’t just ‘oil on canvas’; there were 3D mobile displays, hand stitched crafts, shadow boxes, prints, and more mixed media than we could count. Some of our favorites were “Firebreathing Elasticman from India” by Darris Maasen; “Family Time” by Chris is Murray; and “World Domination” by Aled Lewis. Each piece showed the creativity each artist used to interpret what they thought Street Fighter meant to them. It wasn’t just art, it was soul. Plus, the pieces started only at $20. The gallery will be up until August 19th at the iam8-bit gallery in Echo Park. This is definitely a great opportunity to view the astounding and unique artwork that will take you back to the nostalgia that is old school gaming.
We had such a fantastic time and you can too! This gallery holds regular spectacular parties, which are free to attend, with art for sale on site. You can also order any of their current and previous art online at www.iam8bit.com. Please check out their site for previous and current events and artwork. Thank you Nerd Caliber! C3 has truly witnessed a T.K.O.!
-Ginger Burton & Ashphord ‘Ashi_Chan’ Jacoway
Photos and video by Chocolate Covered Cosplay
