Pomona Street Artist Alleges That Odd Future Stole His Design
Did Odd Future intentionally jack Campbell's design? It's impossible to know; the group's manager, Christian Clancy, called the issue a "nonstory" in an email but declined to respond to requests for an interview. Perhaps the group members saw the images and reproduced them subconsciously, without even realizing they were doing so. (In fact, it remains unclear whether Odd Future members put together the designs themselves or if it's done by someone outside of the collective.)
Then again, their 2011 photo book, Odd Future: Golf Wang, includes a photo of the group on Fairfax, under a street sign covered in Campbell's cat-head stickers. Collective member Earl Sweatshirt wears a shirt that says, "Bad artists steal from good artists."
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In any case, already burdened with school debt and other problems, (felony probation for vandalism, a mother with cancer), Campbell decided to back off the case. "As much as I wanted credit for creating the cat-head art phenomenon, I was afraid to end up with another bill I couldn't pay," he says.
Though discouraged, Campbell remains determined to catapult his street art into a brand, continuing to seek out new galleries and retail distributors for his work. He concludes cheekily: "It's just about finding new ways to represent the feline species out on the streets."
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