The launch of the K1X “4-E” collection is highlighted by a limited artist series of unique K1X basketballs. Four distinguished icons from the realm of graphic art were asked to unleash their creativity and go one-on-one with the hoop culture’s most fundamental ingredient: the basketball. Marok (Water), Bill Mc Mullen (Fire), Mode2 (Earth) and Frank 151 featuring Stay High 149 (Air) brought their usual a-game and interpreted one force of nature each. All four balls are strictly limited to 444 units and available at selected retail locations only.

We start today by giving you an exclusive first look a the K1X x Marok Basketball from the series. Here below an interview with Marok about the project and his design.

More detailed images of the basketball follow after the jump.

Circleculture Gallery in Berlin recently opened their new Self-Portraits by Contemporary Urban Artists exhibition.

The idea of this exhibition is to approach the historical theme of self-portraits and to bring it into a contemporary art context. A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 1400s that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work. With better and cheaper mirrors, and the advent of the panel portrait, many painters, sculptors and printmakers tried some form of self-portraiture… In this respect it is an interesting and new experience to show the vision of the “self-portrait” by contemporary urban artists from all over the world.

Participating artists included JR, Marok, D-Face, Jaybo, Jeff Soto, Aaron Rose and many more. The exhibition runs until July 4th.

A detailed look at all works on display at the gallery follows after the jump.

Once again Berlin based artist Marok has worked with Colab Eyewear on a couple of new frames. For Spring 2009 he created two new models – the M1 and the Superstring.

The M1 comes as a metal frame with clear inspiration from vintage eyewear. The colors are simple and the branding as well. Inside the frame you can read Marok Racing. On the outside you can find a subtle Colab logo and the M1 model name.

The Superstring frame comes with a more vibrant all-over design on a white plastic frame. The sunglasses feature a pink Marok tag logo on the outside.

Expect the new Colab x Marok Sunglasses to land in stores soon.

Many detailed images of both new models follow after the jump.

Nike 1World Air Force 1 Marok Interview from HighSnobiety on Vimeo.

Not long ago we presented to you the Nike 1 World Air Force 1 designed by Berlin based artist and publisher Marok. The shoe is certainly one of the more subtle ones in the 1World line-up, therefore we wanted to catch up with him, to get some more information on the project, as well as the sneaker design.

Check out the Marok video interview here above!

This past weekend saw the release of the Nike 1World “Marok” Air Force 1 release, created by artist and Lodown publisher Marok. For the occasion the artist worked with Nort Berlin on the release and created several artworks for the store.

Have a look at the Nort Berlin Marok make-over after the jump.

We give you an exclusive first look at the upcoming artist collaboration with Marok from Berlin, as part of the Nike 1World project. After Kaws, Krink, Questlove, Michael Lau and other high profile collaborations, Berlin based artist and publisher Marok will be releasing his collaboration in December.

Nort Berlin will be releasing the sneaker on December 13th. Marok will be there for the launch, so mark your calendars.

Check out our introductory feature to the Nike 1World Marok Air Force 1 here.

More news to come on this project soon!

Recently we reported about the Nike Sportswear pop-up shop that opened in Berlin. Aside from products, Nike is also hosting exhibitions in the space. For the occasion Nike worked on the "5 Icons, 5 Remixers" project, where five local German artists each worked on one of the five icons in the Nike Sportswear campaign. Here we preview the first outcome from the project.
Mirror, a young Berlin label, worked on the AW77 hoodie and gave it some reflective features. Marok worked on the Air Force 1 and created large scale artwork. He will also be participating in the Nike 1World project later this year. Sarah Illenberger created a Dunk sculpture (here above) and Ariane Hosemann created a series of photographs of the windrunner. Last but not least, the 5th icon, the Air Max 90, was paid homage to by overall 8 European musicians. From Germany Rampa and F.R. participated in the "1990" song. The track will be released next month and selected record stores. The artwork of the track was shot by Shawn Mortensen.
Head on after the jump to check out the entire series of artworks out of the "5 Icons, 5 Remixers" series.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, LACOSTE has commissioned 11 Berlin artists to create artworks inspired by the brand’s iconic 12.12 polo and crocodile logo. Gallery 12.12 includes sculptures, installations, collages and video-installations by Dirk Bonn, Peter K. Koch, Maria Neumann, Peter Langer, Marok, Igor Paasch, Paul Snowden, Daniel Tagno, Anne Sofie Vistven, Kassandra Becker and Tofa–each installed in one of the 11 windows of the prestigious KaDeWe Department Store in Berlin. The art is available via silent auction online at www.lacoste.com/1212berlin with the artists splitting the proceeds equally with the youth charity StreetUniverCity Berlin e.V.
Here above you see the contribution of Marok to the project. All the others you can view here.

A little while ago we reported about a new German culture site – Artschoolvets. Beginning of the month they have now also launched a Designer/Artist T-Shirt Series. Mostly local, but also some international designers and artists created t-shirts for the portal. The outcome is a line-up of overall 23 t-shirts. The designs are very diverse, so everybody should find a good match.
Participating artists included Marok (above), Jody Barton (above), Skism, Paze, Daniel Josefsohn, Mirko Borsche, Studio Anti and many others – all in all a very strong line-up.
All t-shirts are now available in limited quantities in the Artschoolvets Online Store. Make sure to have a look!

We reported about the recent release of a book by artist Marok. Now the artist launched the book at Beams T Japan and along he made a t-shirt. Both the t-shirt and the book are now available.
After the jump more pictures of both.