We are sure you all now about David Choe and what went on with his shares of Facebook stock he received back in 2005 for painting the social network’s offices. In case you missed that news, it turns out his stocks are now valued at 200 million US dollars. Barbara Walters linked up with the artist to talk about the deal in this clip on Youtube (ABC is not allowing embedding, so click the link here). While hanging with the artist, Walters also took a moment to get up with a spray paint can. (Source: TheWorldsBestEver)

Here above you see a print that artist David Choe produced for Howard Stern. It will go on sale soon with all proceeds going to charity. Now let’s get to the real news though. After the news came out that David Choe was paid in Facebook stock in 2005, for painting murals at the then startup’s office, and with the upcoming Facebook IPO around the corner, everybody was of course eager to hear what the artist had to say when coming on Howard Stern’s radio show yesterday. Some interesting things about the 4th richest living artist came out in the lengthy interview.

Listen to all the sequences here below.

More after the jump.

Last week we reported about David Choe being paid in 2005 in stock by Facebook, for painting murals in their offices. That stock might become worth 200 Million USD, after Facebook’s IPO and official stock market listing. Complex took a look at the richest living artists, and it is interesting to see where Choe ranks in there now.

Here is the complete list:

1. Damien Hirst – 1 Billion USD
2. Jeff Koons – 500 Million USD
3. Jasper Johns – 300 Million USD
4. David Choe – 200 Million USD
5. Andre Vicari – 142 Million USD
6. Takashi Murakami – 100 Million USD
7. Anish Kapoor – 85 Million USD
8. Antony Gormley – 50 Million USD
9. Gerhard Richter – 40 Million USD
10. David Hockney – 40 Million USD
11. Cindy Sherman – 35 Million USD
12. Richard Prince – 30 Million USD
13. Andreas Gursky – 30 Million USD
14. Chuck Close – 25 Million USD
15. Georg Baselitz – 25 Million USD

For background on each one of the artists, check the full article over at Complex.

In 2005 artist David Choe, whom we often report about here on Highsnobiety, was asked by Facebook to paint their headquarters at the time. With the filing for IPO by Facebook, it turns out that painting the offices of the then Internet start-up, will make him one of the richest living artists one day.

This week Facebook announced that they will be going public in the near future. Along with the filing, they had to reveal the current ownership state of the company. In 2005 David Choe chose to be paid in stock rather than cash and it looks like that stock will be worth 200 Million USD, if Facebook will be valued on the open stock market at the estimated 100 Billion Dollar mark.

“In 2005, Mr. Choe was invited to paint murals on the walls of Facebook’s first offices in Palo Alto, Calif., by Sean Parker, then Facebook’s president. As pay, Mr. Parker offered Mr. Choe a choice between cash in the “thousands of dollars,” according to several people who know Mr. Choe, or stock then worth about the same.

Mr. Choe, who has said that at the time that he thought the idea of Facebook was “ridiculous and pointless,” nevertheless chose the stock.

Many “advisers” to the company at that time, which is how Mr. Choe would have been classified, would have received about 0.1 to 0.25 percent of the company, according to a former Facebook employee. That may sound like a paltry amount, but a stake that size is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, based on a market value of $100 billion. Mr. Choe’s payment is valued at roughly $200 million, according to a number of people who know Mr. Choe and Facebook executives.”

You can read the full New York Times article on what happened here.

For the new Giant Robot curated “Zen Garage” Exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in Los Angeles, artist David Choe painted an entire Scion Monster Truck. The exhibition opened 2 days ago and will run until February 13th.

Take a further look at the truck after the jump.

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the making of the David Choe Machete poster seen here. Machete hits theaters Friday!

We already showed you Danny Trejo lowriding together with Mister Cartoon last week. In other Machete related news, we can preview today the art by David Choe and Mister Cartoon created exclusively for the film.

“SA Studios selected world-renowned artist David Choe to contribute an original piece to the promotion for the upcoming film, Machete (releasing this Friday, September 3rd). Choe’s unique spin on the film’s poster features his infamous art bubbles that has a life of its own. Inspired by the iconic face of Machete star, Danny Trejo, Choe’s contribution is a stunning blend of the artist’s unmistakable personal style that we all know and love.

In addition, infamous tattoo artist/muralist Mister Cartoon also contributed brilliant Machete-inspired artwork in tribute to their longtime friend, Danny Trejo.”

Check out the other work of the two artists for Machete after the jump.

Upper Playground has teamed up with Japan’s Good Smile Company to become the official distributor for David Choe’s “Munko” Vinyl Figures. The “Munko” line of figures comes in three unique sculpts: Munko, Munkosaur, and Munkette. Munko, is offered in 3 colors and 2 extremely realistic textures. Munkosaur comes in 3 color ways with one in a concrete texture. And Munkette comes in 3 unique color ways. The figures are available in a set of all 12 toys and individually by blind-box. Now available through UP.

Detailed images of the “Munko” toys follow after the click.

Rad Collector puts us onto David Choe’s limited-edition Hammerhead Decks released through Giant Robot. Both “Untitled Portrait” and “Ignored Prayers” are limited to 50 pieces each and are now available here.

The much anticipated new David Choe exhibition, “Nothing to Declare”, opened its doors on April 23rd at Lazarides Gallery in Los Angeles.

“Driven by an unquenchable thirst for life, Choe saps every possible drop of experience – good or bad – out of his remarkable adventures. From incarceration in a Tokyo jail to hitchhiking down the Mississippi River via paddleboat, freight train hopping city to city and hunting for dinosaurs in the Congo jungle, David weaves these encounters into his work projecting a dramatic and fantastical, often sexually explicit, vision of the world he so lustfully inhabits.

Choe sculpts and paints in oils, acrylics, crayon and mixed media. His credibility as an ‘artist’, albeit one inclined to utilise public spaces every so often, is hardly in doubt. Influences flow through comic book culture to gothic art, impressionism and the surreal. The content of Choe’s work is equally complex and in contrast to the slick, succinct, populist messages of some of his contemporaries. The fictional military heroes of GI Joe wield boomboxes above Arabic slogans; hip young metropolitan ladies whisper their cruel conspiracies; seedy delights beckon from behind pretty vistas; grown men scream for ice cream; absurdist animals rope humans into their incomprehensible schemes. On the street, base titillating yet supposedly ‘tasteful’ advertising becomes doctored with intestines and tribal fetishes, echoing the sensual abyss of de Sade. Pictures titles include I Fuck Nerds. Equally, Choe’s figurative and collage work displays sensitivity and intricacy rarely matched by Manhattan’s girly fashion illustrator set. We should be grateful, not offended, by the insights into Choe’s potent imagination and agenda; and the alluring, intricate slag smelted from its process of reconciliation.”

In this new exhibition the artist shows a very impressive line-up of new works. Included are sculptures, paintings and much more. The large space of the gallery is entirely dedicated to his new body of work.

Lazarides in Los Angeles
320 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

The exhibition is open until May 23rd. Luckily Brandon Shigeta passed by the exhibition and documents it in detail.

Many images from the David Choe “Nothing to Declare” exhibition follow after the jump.