Emerica & Toms Skateshop present; Ed Templeton - 'Drinking the Kool Aid'  Ed Templeton (1972, Orange County, USA) is hard to pin down. At once professional skateboarder, owner of skateboard company ToyMachine, photographer, illustrator and painter, Ed’s work merges these activities on a level and democratic field of subculture art. With origins in the skateboard and punk scenes, his work reflects the DIY aesthetic and endeavor of these cultures, which is furthered by having no formal training as an artist. Templeton’s use and mingling of multiple mediums (painting and/or writing on photographs, etc.) demonstrates his non-hierarchical approach, whilst his subject matter in turn reflects an non-judgmental perspective of his surroundings. With subject matter not only delving into his personal relationships, but also seeking the outside streets and the activities surrounding the skate culture, Templeton reveals a phantasmagoria of images contextualizing a broader vision of contemporary youth culture. Templeton has exhibited internationally at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Museum Het Domein (Netherlands), and Kiasma Museum (Helsinki), as well as participated in the influential Beautiful Losers exhibition and feature film. Currently there is also a huge (his biggest one to date) Ed Templeton exhibition at the S.M.A.K. Museum in Gent, Belgium (for more info see www.smak.be). Ed Templeton’s exhibition at YOUR:OWN is a personal chronicle that serves as a mirror for a broader reflection on what it means to be human. 'Drinking the Kool-Aid' opens on Thursday 6th May from 18.00 to 20.30. The show takes place from Thursday 6th May until Wednesday 19th May 2010. Admission is free. Official opening: Thursday 6th of May YOUR:OWN Gallery Oude Waal 35 18:00/20.30

Agenda: 26/03: Gijs Kast (NL) 09/04: The Things We Are (NL) 23/04: Lasse Netterstrom (DK) 06/05: Ed Templeton (USA) 21/05: Panik (UK) 04/06: Stefan Glerum (NL) 18/06: Lennard Schuurmans (NL) 02/07: Lil' Shy (FR) 16/07: Joe Holbrook (UK)            (closing exhibition) Contact: YOUR:OWN Oude Waal 35 1011 CC Amsterdam info@your-own.nl Opening times: Monday - friday 10.00 -18.00