ARTIST NETWORK

RAIF ADELBERG

2010-2011 Monument Snowboards 777

Location: n/a, n/a

Profile

Raif Adelberg
February 2, 1968, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The story of a set of a dozen wax donuts made by a NY artist and given to Raif by his mother on his 10th birthday begins to make complete sense once you let yourself be a part of his world. “My mother wore fashion and my father manufactured it” is how most sentences begin when you ask him how he got into design.

Adelberg has long since been an advocate of the arts and advocate for all forms of creative endeavours. He accredits the ‘pop’ culture and contemporary art world for a significant part of his inspiration even in his fashion business. Adelberg was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, raised in Vancouver until age 12 at which point made Hawaii and Palm Spring his home where his formative years took place. Adelberg currently resides in the North shore mountains in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In 1998 Adelberg breathed new life into Vancouver’s cultural slumber when he opened the first modern boutique focused on life, style, fashion, music and art, Twentyfour. After several years of what seemed like an ongoing school of education, it became a challenge for Adelberg to now one up his own work and see if his audience who had just began to catch on would move with him. Adelberg followed this success with many other endeavours. One pinnacle point of his artistic views was the creation of Made- The Magazine and Gallery.

Made became a significant focus of his attention, bringing art from around the world to Vancouver. Here, he used the print format, Made Magazine, as a ‘platform’ per say for all artists; new and old, known and unknown.  Adelberg along with a few co-creators, spent months at a time travelling and searching for unknown artists, up and coming artists, disappearing artists and artists that he simply felt should be viewed. Taking a new approach to print medium, and partnering for the first two issues with Patrik Andersson, peer, friend and Art History Professor at The Emily Carr Institute of Art, and independent writer Judith Steedman, collectively with a few others, the first issue was published, creating a stir and frenzy amongst those who knew and those who didn’t.

In the Artists usual manner, Adelberg took things one step further and brought the publication to the global market where the books were sold to museums, art galleries, specialty book stores and influencer boutiques from around the world, allowing a new audience to see the talent. The entire format from inception to distribution that he had created brought global recognition to many new artists today, something that Adelberg always felt was important and currently continues to do. Shortly thereafter, Adelberg introduced Made Gallery. Following each published book with an exhibit. Bringing international artists to Vancouver and sharing the artist’s vision and Adelbergs vision to those who came and saw. Adelberg and the Made Gallery became eponymous with the popular culture art movement in Vancouver.

Adelbergs own path in not only art but in fashion has brought him across the world and back, collaborating his efforts with a few independent artists and labels to large corporate entities. This allowed Adelberg to show his own work and share his vision to those he chose. The artists well known and sought after large canvases started to become more recognized via his alternate established work mediums, most notoriously in fashion, which then exposed him to commissioned work. In 2003 Adelberg opened his first exhibit, EasyRides, in San Francisco, California with the Recon Gallery, owned and operated by artists and cult phenom’s Stash and Futura.

Adelbergs vision had decidedly lead the path for many others to follow. Here is where he decided to take a huge leap into the fashion world and open Canada’s first and foremost, independently owned fashion store, Richard Kidd. With a very thought out vision, he attacked this venture with no restraint and created a world renowned store offering people brands and labels only then found in Europe or Asia, some of the highest level, quality designed fashion in the world and giving them a 6000 square foot, 42 foot high, glass emporium to be showcased in. Alongside these collective labels, Adelberg rested his own footprint of fashion with his own private label, Richard Kidd. Building the brand image with supportive efforts from Barneys NY, Maxfield LA, Colette Paris, and so the list went, Richard Kidd the store and the brand and the artist and the designer took on a whole new, underground cult movement in the fashion business.

To encompass Adelbergs work into one idea or concept would be impossible. He uses many different mediums, and is inspired by many different things. One may find his work to be overtly sexual, explicit, dark, comedic, sartorial, aggressive, insulting, risky, politically incorrect, or politically correct. “It’s just what I see or what I want to see.  I like to see things come to life, I like to listen and see others reactions, I have so many ideas and I just do what I enjoy.” R. Adelberg.