The Lightning Bolts Art Show, presented by Nike 6.0, has aligned with the Athlete Recovery Fund for a final exhibit Dec. 11th- Dec 14th at the historic Montalbán Theater in Hollywood. Original works from over 40 artists will be exhibited than auctioned off online to raise money for ARF to aid injured action sports athletes. The online auction will begin Weds. Dec. 10th at 8:00 PM and end Weds. Dec. 14th at 2:00 Pm. For info on contributing artists, an online gallery, and to submit a bid for original art visit www.athleterecoveryfund.com/lightningbolts.

Head to the jump to learn more about the exhibit and check more of the work.

Saturday auctions at Phillips de Pury & Company offer some stellar lots at relatively low cost estimates. This coming Saturday urban and contemporary art, design, photography and vinyl toys share the stage. Artists ranging from Takashi Murakami to Jeff Koons (with Faile and Invader mixed in) are represented. On the design end, furniture from Marc Newson stands along the masters of modernism. Don’t miss it if you are in New York this weekend.

Selections from the sale after the jump.

A rare chance to scoop a pair of DVS sample sneakers. The Defgrip x DVS shoe auction features a sample of a Carson model developed by Defgrip. The collaboration is still on, but the base model has changed, making these all the more special. Proceeds go to aiding BMXer Mike Aitken and his family following a traumatic injury.

Good shoe, good cause.

Further details of the Defgrip x DVS after the jump.

Inspired by the Beautiful Losers film documentary, this collection of Nike Dunk Hi shoes was created by Nike, to celebrate Nike Sportswear and Beautiful Losers’ MAKE SOMETHING!! workshops. Starting September 25th at 7pm EST, the collection will be auctioned in collaboration with eBay Giving Works to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going to Children’s Aid Society, who fill the gaps between what children deserve and what life has dealt them, and have been serving children for more than 150 years.

This collection of 15 shoes is one of only 3 sets produced and will not be available at retail. Each shoe is US size 9. The collection will be exhibited at Nike Sportswear at The Montalbán from May 8th through May 17th, when the auction will conclude. A second collection, belonging to Nike Archive, will also be exhibited during these dates at select retailers in New York.

Next Monday and Tuesday (9/15 and 9/16) Damien Hirst’s much anticipated Beautiful Inside My Mind Forever hits the auction block at Sotheby’s London location. Groundbreaking, in the sense that Hirst is skipping the traditional gallery market and going a, as he puts it, more democratic route. The sale is sure to bring in some large sums. And that, to be honest, takes some of the democracy away. 

Sotheby’s description of the sale is as follows — "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, a major auction of works by Damien Hirst, will include an important series of new pieces which have been created over the past two years, including monumental formaldehyde sculptures; paintings which expand on the artist’s classic themes such as butterflies, cancer cells and pills; exquisite new cabinets and insightful preparatory drawings."

View some selections from the Beautiful Inside My Mind Forever sale after the jump.

On October, 1, Phillips de Pury & Company is hosting the first auction of hip-hop jewelry. Pieces owned by the likes of Missy Elliot, 50 Cent and Lil’ John are set to hit the block. A major highlight is John’s record breaking "Crunk is Dead" pendent. 
Ostentatious jewelry is somewhat of a hallmark of mainstream hip-hop culture. The one up-manship, and ultimately craftsmanship that goes into many of the pieces is rather incredible. A question the auction may answer is – Could this become a major collecting category?
The elements are there. Strong provenance and back story. Artistic (if not tasteful) productions. Connection to historic events… there’s even some pieces from Pac and Biggie’s adversarial years in there.
Part of the proceeds will benefit Rush Community Affairs.

Not long ago we presented you the Nike Beautiful Losers Dunk Hi’s, which utilized anew technology by Nike, that made it possible to project hi-resolution images directly onto the sneaker. The outcome was a series of Nike Dunk Hi’s, featuring scenes from the recently released Beautiful Losers movie documentary. 
Now Nike is getting ready to auction off the Dunk Hi’s. A total of 32 pairs will be auctioned off on eBay between August 24th and September 21st, 20

• 8 auctions starting on Sunday August 24th at 12am EDT. 1 unique pair per auction. Week-long auctions ending at 11:59pm on Sunday August 31st EDT. 

• 8 auctions starting on Sunday August 31st at 12am EDT. 1 unique pair per auction. Week-long auctions ending at 11:59pm on Sunday September 7th EDT. 

• 1 final auction starting on Sunday September 14th at 12am EDT. 1 full set of 16 pairs. Week-long auction ending at 11:59pm on Sunday September 21st EDT.

The winning bidders will be contacted immediately. Footwear will be shipped by November 1st 2008.

The Dunks are currently exhibited at the following locations:

255 Elizabeth Street New York, NY
THE MONTALBÁN 1615 Vine St Hollywood, CA
Open only to legal residents of the U.S., who have reached the age of majority. Payment must be received within 72 hours of each auction’s end. Nike will donate the total selling price for each auctioned item to Children’s Aid Society, 105 East 22nd Street in New York NY 10010, to help fill the gaps between what children deserve and what life has dealt them.
Now have a look at some more Dunk Hi’s out of the line-up, after the jump.

Every once in a while there are some really interesting auctions going on and that is also the case today. The original Back To The Future Hoverboard is being offered. The starting bid is set at 30′000 USD. 
"Michael J. Fox “Marty Mcfly” hero Mattel hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II & Part III. (Universal Pictures, 1989, 1990) This is one of the hero Mattel Hoverboards used by Michael J. Fox in his most famous role as “Marty McFly” in the Robert Zemeckis classic 80s trilogy, Back to the Future. Two styles of Hoverboard were made for and employed in the film – lightweight boards of styrofoam construction and thick and durable wood-based props – this example is the latter, and is recognized as the best example of all wood Hoverboards to have survived the rigors of filming." Via Gizmodo.
If you recently got the McFly Hyperdunk, then this might just be the right addition to the collection.
You can participate or just watch the auction here.

We reported over the last weeks about the Fragment Design x Nike Tennis Classic Panda Pack,which Hiroshi Fujiwara designed right after the earthquakes in China. At the time he had already announced that the sneakers will be auctioned off and the money given to charity in order to support Chinese earthquake victims.
The shoes are now up on the Japanese auction site, thus we can show you some detailed images of both the black and the white colorway.
The auctions you can find here and here.
Detailed images after the jump.

After the recent pop culture auction at Phillips De Pury & Company, we see now a major auction house also moving in this direction. Christie’s is about to hold their pop culture auction next month.
"Christie’s Pop Culture auction slated for Wednesday, June 25th 2008 @ their Rockefeller Center location features a wide variety of entertainment collectibles. Mixed in with the movie, television and comic collectibles are several designer toy lots . In addition to Amanda Visell’s custom 20" Gnome Eating Bat Munny (est. $3000 – $5000) and Sket One’s 20" Kong Dunny (est $3000 – $5000), there are several other lots that caught our eye. Sucklord is represented with four lots including a great Gay Empire Attack! display (est. $1500 – $2000) shown above (Image: Christie’s ).

Beyond the custom pieces, there are several production figures up for launch — including a lot of 3 full unopened Dunny sets : Dunny LA, Colette, and Tattoo ($2000 – $3000). There are several other Dunny lots as well — Gary Baseman, Deph and Huck Gee (HMNI) . Joe Ledbetter collectors will be interested in the Mr. Bunny lot ($1k – $2k) as well as his "The Defender" painting ($3000 – $5000)." Via Vinylpulse.
It is great seeing artists and designers that we feature on a daily, appear in this more serious art environment. It seems like interest outside of our niche market is starting to pick up. More info on the auction and everything that will be auctioned off, you can check here.