David Choe
Long famous for his fine-art work which has garnered the respect, admiration and adulation of institutions, museums, high-profile collections and fans around the world, David Choe is just as competent in front of a camera as he is on a canvas.
Working in multiple forms of media with a deeply engaged audience in the hundreds of thousands, Choe is one of the few fine artists to ever successfully make the jump from the museum world to the media world, with his only two network appearances being the extremely successful and high profile shows Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) and VICE (HBO). On the former, Choe was a featured guest and on the latter Choe served as both host and interviewer for multiple episodes; both shows went on to win Emmys that year for Outstanding Informational Series, with each episode that featured Choe being the most watched and commented episodes of that program’s season
Previous to these two network appearances, Choe translated his visual prowess for multi-platinum album covers (Jay-Z & Linkin Park: Collision Course) into directing well-regarded music videos for Dan The Automator (Gorillaz, Deltron 3030) and other musical artists. In addition, Choe provided the voice for the lead character in the breakout Sundance Film Festival hit We Are The Strange (2007) and was an integral part in the beginning days of VICE Media Inc.’s transition from traditional print media into more engaging video work where he collaborated on and conceived of two of the company’s most popular Internet shows: The Vice Guide To Travel and Thumbs Up!, the latter of which he served as the writer, director and star. Additionally, Choe provided further essential involvement in the form of composing music and creating graphics, animations and art campaigns for all the shows he was involved with.
His popularity and personality are proven to draw audiences. In 2012, Choe was dubbed “the prince of all media” by Howard Stern after appearing on his show where he went on to become one of the year’s most popular new guests; while a documentary about his life (Dirty Hands) became the most attended film at the Los Angeles Film Festival the year it premiered and further garnered multiple sold-out showings at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
From comics and books, to apparel and music, to films and television- everything Choe has been a part of has proven its success many times over. And just as Choe proved his commercial viability with his fine-art contributions to a diverse list of clients such as Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Sony Pictures, Fox Searchlight, Warner Brothers, CBS, Converse, Levi’s and Vanity Fair, he is once again proving his commercial viability as an immeasurable asset in other forms of media in front of the camera.