THUNDER GIRL

December 11, 2025

Marika and I first met through my girlfriend, Sasha Fierce, on our first official date. We were sitting at the fancy/sexy Corner Bar in the LES with a couple of overpriced hot toddies (I wanted her to think I had money). It was December, and the 2024 Spotify Wrapped had just dropped, so we pulled ours up. My list consisted of Joeyy, Chief Keef, Marlon Dubois, Xaviersobased… and Marika’s lineup mirrored mine. Sasha lit up as she compared our top artists and insisted we hang out that night.

A few hours later, we were climbing the stairs to Danny Cole’s colorful studio and apartment, swapping music and stories. Marika has a rare kind of gravity. She’s as kind as she is cool, and she talks to everyone like an equal. I’ve brought all types of people around her: Older people, younger people, jocks, art people, graff heads, corporate folks, gamers, and family etc... they all find a way to connect with her. That’s part of why our friendship formed so naturally. Not long after meeting, we started talking about making a book.

Production and Words: Mike Brewer
Artist: Marika Thunder
Publication: Canned Planet

For the next nine months, we met regularly at her mother’s sunlit studio in Williamsburg. "Thunder Girl" grew out of those visits. It pulls from both old and new work: paintings, photos, memes, stray sketches, and scribbles from rehab. Together they form an honest, messy (in the best way) portrait of her life. The book has range. Some pages are serious and revealing, others are unhinged and fully fried. That push and pull became the heart of the project.

Our sessions were full of tangents. Marika’s archive is massive, and we’re both easily distracted. We ended up creating a kind of assembly line. She’d slide something across the table, and I would photograph or scan it. Every piece had a story, and we had fun figuring out how they spoke to one another. Once everything lived in InDesign, we spent weeks moving spreads around, searching for the right rhythm, the right order, the right chaos.

We hope you enjoy checking this project out. We’re having a release party on December 11th from 6-9 at Reena Spaulings Gallery, 165 E Broadway, NYC. Come hang out, chat with us, and flip through a copy. <3

Art

Paul McCarthy: Power in the Provocative

I do what I want—what I believe in. We’re living in a pretty extreme time, and when people say my work is getting more extreme, I think that just reflects the world around us. I’m simply moving with the current.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, McCarthy’s beginning in the art world stems from proximal radicalization. After moving from Salt Lake City to study in San Francisco, McCarthy's work as an artist has always embodied this radicalization. Street-wise, known for being one of the most

“dangerous” artists in Los Angeles, this exhibit encapsulates that at its forefront. The artworks present provocative, scattered drawings and paintings that promote freedom from systematic censorship in the exchange between creator and receiver. His art style is distinctive in its intention of visibility over technicality, as seen in his limited color palette and intentionally imperfect techniques, but radical imagery.

McCarthy speaks about his artistic process as though the outcomes are inevitable and incredibly natural to him, given the current state of the world. Living in times of constant uncertainty has blurred the lines of media censorship; almost everything we consume is shaped by it, raising questions such as: Why was this said? Why was this created? Who is this for? Paul McCarthy’s work deconstructs this. His drive to create authentically and follow what feels natural to him results in art that inhabits the visual extremes of human experience, with the spirit of contestation serving as an added layer to the experience.

Art

The Wedding Written In Stone

April 27, 2026

Sten Studio walks down the aisle to couple with Alcova for Milan Design Week. Set within an abandoned cathedral where vows once echoed, The Wedding is a sculptural installation hosting a symbolic marriage between feminine and masculine, soft and stone, fluidity and structure. Rocks are fossilized fusions of their own ancient surroundings, built from eons of crashing waves or explosive magma. Love is based on divine circumstances, built through trials and tribulations. Love is much like stone in the way it takes form through time and pressure, relying on the invisible higher powers forcing the gravity of unity. The Wedding reflects on this permanence. The space materializes elements that are usually fleeting - light, flowers, ceremonies, romance. Registry gifts include a custom carpet courtesy of Verdi, floral arrangements from Hamish Powell, and scents brewed by Penhaligon’s, all coming together to build the intimate world.

Photos Courtesy of Ramona Balaban

Sten Studio specializes in stones and crystals as decorative interiors, expanding on natural, Earthly beauty in man-made environments. Alcova temporarily transforms raw, abandoned, and unique urban spaces into immersive hubs of design, innovation, and heritage. The featured collection revitalizes the cathedral for a final reception celebrating life and all its momentary yet abundant bursts of joy.

Art

All Silk Roads Lead to Gucci

April 23, 2026

The silk road once dominated the Asia-pacific and cultivated economical prosperity with the purest textiles, a contrast to the modern, oversaturated market of cheap goods. Gucci has never been a cheap name, and their craftsmanship could be mistaken for that of another century. The Art of Silk, curated by Demna from the Gucci Archive in Florence, pays homage to the house’s journey with silk. Ten scarves reimagine archival designs of flora, animalia, and nautical prints - motifs of the primordial garden of Gucci. These limited-edition pieces were birthed in Calabria in collaboration with Nido di Seta and Ongetta. The fine Italian silk encapsulates more than Gucci’s reputation, but the tradition of mulberry cultivation. The project revives a once-thriving silk supply chain, recovering abandoned land, fostering employment in communities, supporting small farmers, and powered by renewable energy. It’s a production that innovates how tradition, community, and sustainability can stay preserved in the contemporary world.

In addition to this heritage preservation, the campaign represents Gucci’s contribution to the world of art and education. Two exclusive flora scarves were created for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, celebrating its opening of the new David Geffen Galleries. Available exclusively at the LACMA Store and the Gucci Beverly Hills flagship store, the designs pull inspiration from Vittorio Accornero’s 1966 illustrations. In partnership with the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze, selected student paintings of each scarf will be displayed at the Gucci Rodeo Drive store in LA. Gucci supports these participating students through scholarships, reinforcing the house’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of creative talent. The Art of Silk bridges the old and new world, breathing life into past traditions and future endeavors.