As all of the creative talents who contributed to the opening exhibition of The Gallery on 4th did such a spectacular job, we thought it would be a good idea to take a quick look at each of them individually over the next couple of weeks. But who to start with? In the end the old standby of alphabetical order sounded like the simplest solution. Sort of. But as some artists had numbers for names and some go by first names only and some fell under group names, it all got a bit blurry. So here we go with the graphic artists, in somewhat alphabetical order, according to first names.

Coenie Sutton

His hometown is Aroab in Namibia. He likes animals, malva pudding, green and brown, old desolated towns, trees and old people. He is a nice young guy with a list of achievements surprisingly long for one who only graduated last year. These include the Award for Excellence in Information Design in 2006 (UP), co-winning group project for Cell C in 2007, overall best student in Information Design, 2007 and graduating with distinction in Information Design, Class of 2007. Impressive. And did I mention he’s a really nice guy?Go to his Flickr page for more, or see the work he did for us in the store or our online gallery.

Joh Del, Illustrator and graphic designer

Joh Del is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Johannesburg. He does “small jobs, and big jobs, as long as it allows me to stay true to my style and I get rewarded as a professional.” He has contributed to many South African magazines including: One Small Seed, Loslyf and Insig and has also worked as a fulltime designer for Stage music magazine and SL magazine.
Find out more at http://www.johdel.blogspot.com or see the work he did for the launch in our gallery.

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Courtesy of Warren van Rensburg, who-was-there photos with an edge. Here are just two – check out the rest on our Flickr Gallery.

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Hamburgers, hotdogs, popcorn and doughnuts… Food from The Land of the Free - and The Land of Nike, of course - fitted in perfectly with the big, bold and bright mood of the night.

The opening of a Nike store in a suburb like Melville in a country like South Africa could not be an understated sushi and champagne affair. It was loud and lovely; we were inspired, impressed and intrigued (and some of us even got slightly inebriated on free flowing Heineken and Strawberry Daiquiris.)

The action took place on three levels, literally and figuratively speaking: art, fashion and music distributed over three floors. Ground level was dedicated to design, dancing and social lubrication; first floor to photography and fashion while the rooftop offered fresh air, a view of Melville and a giant golden moon (the real one).

The collaborators (see list on the left) were selected for their unique take on life, love, art, the universe and everything, as well as their ability to convey that view in surprising yet substantial ways. In such company it is nigh impossible to single out any contribution, so watch this space for the next couple of weeks for more info on each of the artists and their work for the launch. (In the meantime, you could check out their own web spaces, by clicking on the links on the left.)

Check back here later today for the pictures…

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It’s the day of the launch and everything’s running unnervingly smoothly. Shopfitting’s done, artists confirmed and the drinks are on ice.

Even the list of collaborators for this evening reads like a who’s who in SA’s new school of cool:

DJs Soosh, C-live, Georgeous The Beatbox and the gorgeous DJ Zinhle as well as ultra-hip Sweat X will making the music and setting the mood. Richard de Jager, Lisa Jaffe, Petro Steyn, Sibu, Katherine Mortner and Luke Radloff are our fabulous fashion people. And the art and photos of Stefan Naudé, Marcii Goose, Coenie Sutton, Joh Del, Love and Hate Studio, Kronk, Liam Lynch, Warren van Rensburg, Chris Saunders, Ross Garrett, Sabelo Mhlangeni and Xandre Kriel are guaranteed to stir up thoughts a and feelings even the most passive observer.

Yip. There’s not a glitch in sight and I don’t like it. A bit of power-shedding would be very comforting right about now; better the devil you know and all that. But as we’ve got a generator on standby even that won’t be too much of a mission.

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This site is dedicated to the Gallery on 4th in Melville and the Nike BE TRUE philosophy. (And anything cool or quirky that fits in.)

Gallery on 4th is based on the pop-up store concept (e.g. the Nike pop-up store in New York). Sure it’s a shop, but even though it’s coupled with the launch of the Dunk in South Africa, the object of the exercise is not simply ringing up sales.

Pop-up stores usually end up as much more than mere retail outlets. Made all the more captivating by their fleeting nature, they tend to become transient hubs for those who subscribe to the cultural, sub-cultural - or even cultist – messages of a product. The relevant adjectives would be temporary, spontaneous, surprising, accommodating, useful and relevant. Appropriate verbs would be discover, inspire, transform, hang out, try out and relax.

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