ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The Savannah College of Art and Design announces Face Value, the debut museum exhibition for leading-edge visual artist Gary Lockwood, also known as Freehand Profit, showcasing more than 30 of the artist’s elaborate deconstructed works made from rare and highly coveted classic sneakers.
Inspired by his lifelong love and affinity for hip-hop, graffiti, and anime, Lockwood began deconstructing rare, expensive, and collectible sneakers into intricate masks in 2010, a dynamic exploration borne of his innate love for sneaker subculture and graffiti artists, who often use respirator masks when creating their work. Since then, Lockwood has constructed more than 200 masks, typically fashioned from a single pair of shoes, “sampling” or “remixing” the sneakers’ raw materials. With these works, the artist seeks to expand the boundaries beyond the public’s traditional perception of sneakers, positioning them as sacred works of art.
Retaining the markings and style of the original shoes — including the Nike Air Max, Travis Scott Jordan 1s, Yeezys, glow-in-the-dark Doernbecher Jordans, Nike SB Dunks, and ASICS — the fantastical, three-dimensional masks engage ideas of real and perceived value. Lockwood’s works are homages to the emcees, DJs, graffiti artists, and b-boys who laid the foundation for hip-hop and sneaker culture.
Lockwood’s sneaker masks have gained a cult following among sneaker enthusiasts, athletes, rap and hip-hop artists, and collectors from across the world — notably among them Kevin Durant, Method Man, DJ Skee, Strange Music, and Iman Shumpert. The artist has also collaborated with adidas, Def Jam, Nike, Versace, Champs Sports, and others.
Face Value features an array of works borrowed from international collectors and is the artist’s first museum showcase. The exhibition coincides with the announcement of SCAD’s new sneaker design minor, driven by student interest and alumni success in the field. The minor will propel graduates to the top of a growing, lucrative market with enhanced professional credentials.
SCAD students from the university’s top-ranked degree programs — including accessory design, fashion design, animation, fine arts, graphic design, advertising, and fibers — will have the opportunity to engage with Lockwood through a slate of exhibition tours, master classes, and other programming.
On view at SCAD FASH April 19–Sept. 11, 2022, Face Value is curated by Rafael Gomes, director of fashion exhibitions.
“I am very excited to bring Face Value to SCAD FASH and Atlanta. The show celebrates more than a decade of dedication — boarding on obsession — and reunites us all with the best sneaker mask work from collectors around the world. This exhibition is a chance to explore these works individually and as a whole, and look forward to the insights we form together."
Gary Lockwood
aka Freehand Profit
"We are thrilled to showcase Freehand Profit's incredibly thought-provoking work at SCAD FASH. This exhibition will be an electrifying exploration into the artist's tribute to sneaker culture, hip-hop, graffiti artists, and the world of anime, and is sure to excite our students and the community."
Rafael Gomes
Director of fashion exhibitions at SCAD FASH
About Gary Lockwood
Artist Gary Lockwood (b. 1983, Milwaukee, Wisc.) discovered his passion for hip-hop during his formative years living in Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area. This passion became the motivator for much of his artistic practice. In 2006, Lockwood moved to Los Angeles where he worked as an artist and designer in the music industry before initiating a year-long project called MASK365. Inspired by Noah Scalin’s Skull-A-Day project, Lockwood designed or assembled a mask every day, a creative sprint that birthed the first sneaker gas mask in 2010 — and from which Lockwood’s Freehand Profit persona emerged. Since then, Lockwood has built a brand around his distinctive artistic output of more than 200 masks. His unique re-appropriation of iconic sneakers has piqued the interest of serious collectors, aficionados, and brands including Nike, adidas, Cadillac Europe, Puma, Reebok, Champs Sports, and Foot Locker. Lockwood holds a B.F.A. from Corcoran School of Arts & Design.
SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film celebrates fashion as a universal language, garments as important conduits of identity, and film as an immersive and memorable medium of popular culture. Situated within SCAD Atlanta, the museum presents dynamic exhibitions, captivating films, and enticing events that mine the rich and storied legacies of fashion history to inspire contemporary designers and future innovations. Supported by the university’s strong global presence and connections to renowned contemporary fashion designers, filmmakers, and creative professionals around the world, SCAD FASH is an integral part of the SCAD educational experience.
Like the award-winning SCAD Museum of Art, SCAD FASH serves as a creative resource for students of all ages and a wellspring of inspiration for visitors. Through programming that engages the university’s broad array of academic disciplines, SCAD FASH offers diverse exhibitions, films, installations, performances, and events to enliven and inspire the greater community year-round. Each program is designed to engage and appeal to visitors with varied backgrounds and interests, from textiles and jewelry to photography and film. Past exhibitions have featured the work of designers Ruth E. Carter, Azzedine Alaïa, Pierre Cardin, Carolina Herrera, Mary Katrantzou, Guo Pei, and Oscar de la Renta. Photographic exhibitions have featured the work of Albert Watson, Jonathan Becker, Bill Cunningham, and Omar Victor Diop. Exhibitions are accompanied by curated film series that complement programming. Past films include Pierre Cardin: Le Futur, The First Monday in May, Funny Face, The Leopard, and Ovation for Oscar, among others.
SCAD: The University for Creative Careers
SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 15,700 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 120 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD is No. 1 in the U.S., according to Art & Object’s 2021 Best Art Schools ranking, with additional top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more. Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. For the past four years, 99% of SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 10 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more.