REST IN POWER, JUSTIN VAN HOY
Our friend, Justin Van Hoy passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He had been through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and then a bone marrow transplant in 2009. At the time, his friends held fundraisers and donor drives around the country in his support. People came out by the hundreds to support him and his wife, Holly, through a difficult time. Justin certainly didn’t have a lack of supporters and friends willing to give anything to help him, which strengthened his bond with everybody he knew. He had a way about him, soft spoken and unassuming, he was genuine in a town where that is a rarity.
He was selfless in his contributions to the art community. Not only was he a talented artist, illustrator and art director, he had a natural ability in networking within the right circles and connected artists to collaborate. This was his thing, he finally found his calling in curating, and with the help of his partners, opened THIS GALLERY in Los Angeles in 2010. The time he spent working with Roger Gastman a R.Rock opened his eyes to the world of publishing, adding yet another skill set within his portfolio. He often worked on book layouts with Gastman, but eventually ventured out on his own to culminate his last and final release, Milk and Honey: Contemporary Art In California which was released on November 3rd, 2012. Please support and buy his book here.
Since the early days of OBEY Clothing, he’s always been an art contributor. His style was a lot more organic and vintage-ish which was a great contrast to Shepard’s signature style, diversifying our T-shirt collection every season. In 2007, we brought him into the Clothing office to help out with catalog design. It took a few drafts, but after a couple days, he nailed it. To this day, we still use elements he designed for us in our catalogs, look books, and website. He was such an integral part of our growth here, and we can’t thank him enough on the work he blessed us with.
Please visit his site, he would love the increase in Web Traffic !!!
Some words from US here at OBEY Clothing…
PUBES:
“The last time I saw Justin was at his book release at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. It was such a monumental night for him. Hundreds of people had come out to support the event. It was a sort of homecoming and in retrospect I’m so happy so many friends were there. Justin was hitting a new level in his career and this book basically curates so many of the relationships he had built since moving to California.
Justin, I’ll never forget you kindness, your ability to always be so uplifting even in your most challenging times. You deserved the best in the world and you are an inspiration to people in your approach to life, you certainly made the most of your time with us.”
ROAM:
“I randomly met Justin on a lurking mission at Shepard’s office when I started interning at OBEY Clothing. At the time, I was kind of thrown back at his appearance (no disrespect). Here’s this dude, sitting at a normal sized desk with his arms and legs so awkwardly angled, he reminded me of a daddy-long-leg in front of a matchbox. Memory, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the very first time we even said a word to each other ended up being an hour long conversation. It was like we were childhood friends, catching up as adults, explaining what we did professionally, what was going on personally, what we liked, what we hated, and all that in between. He listened to my bullshit, and I listened to his… Thinking back, we had some great banter back and forth, me being the fucked-up, negative smut-peddler, and him as the positive, rational bloke. Together, we schemed on projects and made an effort to see each other if we were in the neighborhood.
Throughout his battle with cancer, we spoke about it, but it was never a bum out like you’d expect it to be. It was just something that he had to deal with, and being that positive dude, he just wanted to hang out and enjoy life. We loved eating at the Oinkster together, I kept him up-to-date with the L.A. Beat Scene & Rap Mixtapes, he kept me in the loop with the Gallery and all his Artist friends, and most of all, our ladies got along…. A flawless formula of friendship, if you ask me.
The thought of Justin gone brings me to tears I can’t hold back. Justin, I will always remember our chat and hug at your book release, I am (and have always been) so proud of you, my friend. You’ll forever be missed.”
– PUBES & ROAM (MIKE T, Jon Furlong, Chris Broders, and everybody at OBEY Clothing)