Rapper, keyboardist, vocalist and guitarist Mike Shinoda of the rap-metal group Linkin Park, is also an artist. In 1998 Shinoda graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, with a B.A. in Illustration. It was there that he met Linkin Park DJ Joseph Hahn. Shinoda and Hahn design all of Linkin Park's artwork. In 2004 Shinoda started the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship at Art Center College of Design to benefit illustration and graphic design students. Proceeds from Shinoda’s artwork and merchandise benefit this scholarship.

"Glorious Excess", an exhibit of paintings and digital works by Mike Shinoda is currently on display at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

About the exhibit, the museum says:

"Glorious Excess is a subversive interpretation of the classic art movement "vanitas," a type of symbolic still life painting commonly executed by Northern European painters in Flanders and the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Following a central character through various facets of celebrity life, the exhibition explores the motivations behind contemporary society's fascination with fame, excess and instant gratification: from the unique perspective of an outsider on the inside of rock superstardom."

The exhibit will occur in two parts. Glorious Excess (Born) opened July 12 and continues through August 3, 2008. The second show Glorious Excess (Dies) will take place January 24 through March 22, 2009.

The image posted here is "Icon" by Mike Shinoda.

In the clip below Mike Shinoda talks to Fox News about the exhibit.

For more information visit:

Mike Shinoda's Website

Japanese American National Museum

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Related blog entry:

Paintings by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park: Glorious Excess (Dies) (August 7, 2009)

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See the Pop Life Art home page for links to the artwork of more than 100 singers, musicians, and actors.