Tai Taeoalii (born July 14, 1977) is an American/Samoan award-winning filmmaker and mixed-media artist.

Biography

Tai is a Samoan/American artist with a professional art career spanning over two decades. Tai draws inspiration from his love of music, nostalgia and daily observations.

In the early 1980’s, growing up biracial in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah, Tai self-identified as an outcast. He experienced some turbulent teenage years but says he was fortunate to discover that the arts were a remedy to expressing his frustrations. Tai experimented with a variety of art-forms, including graffiti, tattoo, music & film. He did receive numerous awards for his accomplishments in filmmaking, but Tai has stated that no medium has captured and retained his affections as strongly as drawing with a ballpoint pen.

Over the last two decades Tai has curated an audience of nearly 1 million followers combined on social media platforms and has original artwork collectors all across the worlde. For much of his career he has toured the globe with his wife and two children distributing his artwork at galleries and art fairs. For years Tai‘s artwork has maintained a prominent presence in cities like Chicago, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, and more.

In the early 2000s Tai founded Weird Chief Pictures,^[1] a film and television production company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tai had been producing film and television for roughly 10 years before eventually putting his filmmaking career aside to focus on his artwork. During his film & TV production time his most notable credits include producing the Ultimate Combat Experience, 3.2 Percent and in 2008 he wrote, produced and directed his fourth and final feature film entitled Darkroom, with starring roles by Darren Dalton & David Stevens and a cameo role from Todd Bridges.

Between 2002 and 2008, under the moniker 'Weird Chief' Tai sold thousands of his original pop art paintings, which are paintings of pop icons, using stencils and spraypaint, of which it is estimated that he has sold over 5,000 original paintings across the globe, with at least one in each of the 50 U.S. states and countries such as Israel, Cyprus, Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the UK, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, South Africa, and New Zealand.^[2] to collectors.^[3] In 2009, combining urban and surreal styles, he transitioned from his pop art work to a pop surrealism style, experimenting with a mix of ballpoint pen, photography, spray paint, stencils, acrylics, marker inks, and watercolors, applied on plywood.

In 2010 Tai founded Submerged in Art,^[4] an annual charity event gathering of Art and Music to benefit The Road Home homeless shelter.^[5] In just its 3rd year, the 2012 Submerged in Art^[6] charity event received a "Best Of"^[7] award from Salt Lake City Weekly.

In 2017 Tai was invited to exhibit his solo show “thINK” at Gallery UnderTaci in Aarhus, Denmark, marking his first international solo exhibit.

In 2018 Tai was bestowed the honor of a “Matai” chief title, “Luamanuvae”, in his family's village in Savaii, Samoa.

In May 2019, Tai's animal revolt series “I Am Animal” was featured at the Moniker Art Fair in New York City through the Philadelphia gallery Analog Contemporary.

In 2019 & 2020 Tai's series “I Am Animal” had its France debut and was on exhibit for several months at all three of the SpaceJunk Art Center galleries in Lyon, Bayonne and Grenoble.

Just a month after the close of the Grenoble show the Covid-19 pandemic reached the U.S. and altered Tai's entire art career. At the hands of the pandemic, Tai's travel and show schedule was completely wiped out. He utilized the time off to finish a nearly 7-year total rehab project, turning an 1851 pre-civil war home into his own studio and gallery with rentable Airbnb loft in America's hometown Hannibal, Missouri.

The pandemic shutdowns forced closings of physical galleries that carry Tai's work across the world, prompting him to develop new ways to reach his collectors, including remote drawing classes for his audience which were called ‘Drink and Draw With Tai’. He also released a children's book, co-created with his wife, entitled “Beyond the Sea” and he developed a coffee table book featuring his drawings of tentacles, entitled “Book of Arms”.

In 2021 Tai launched a podcast and YouTube web series called DOD45 (Drawing Over Discussions) where he interviews special guests for 45 minutes while drawing a picture for them. Past guests include Sage Francis, Ceschi, Awol One, Doseone, Ron Allen, B. Dolan, Illogic, Carlos Condit, Moodie Black, Factor Chandelier, DJ Hoppa, Sole, Greg Lutzka, Blockhead, DJ Qbert, Prolyphic, Yoni Wolf, Mr. Dibbs & Slug of Atmosphere.

Art

Film & Video

Born to a middle-class family in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tai spent his childhood drawing and shooting short videos, and at 18 he went on to study film at the University of Utah, where he first made the transition to producing short films. After dropping out of college he went on to produce his first feature-length film Luck & Rat Poisoning^[17] (1995), which was heavily influenced by Kevin Smith's Clerks. After Luck & Rat Poisoning's^[18] theatrical release at Utah's historic Tower Theatre, which serves as a venue for the Sundance Film Festival, Tai produced and directed his second feature-length movie,^[19] Hustlin' a Hustler^[20] (1996), which he shot on hi-8 video, on what could be considered as a "used car" budget.

In 2001, Tai began production on his 3rd feature-length picture, but his first on celluloid (his earliest works were shot on video).^[21] Shot on Super 16mm, Twice Today, starring Don Shanks, was invited to the AngelCiti Film Festival^[22] in Los Angeles, California where it had its premier at Paramount Studios. In July 2002, Twice Today was also invited to the Real to Reel Film Festival in Shelby, North Carolina, where it won the award for Best Amateur Feature Film.

After Twice Today, Tai transitioned into television. From 2003 to 2006 Tai was hired to edit the Ultimate Combat Experience, a weekly television series featuring tournaments of kickboxing and no holds barred fighting, credited as being the first MMA show of its kind on network television anywhere in the world. After editing several episodes of UCE, Tai was promoted to a producer, where he produced and edited 52 episodes over a 5-season period.

In 2006, after leaving the Ultimate Combat Experience, Tai produced and edited commercials and promotional material for Ultimate Fighting Championship's two-time light heavy weight champion Randy Couture and Matt Lindland's training camp Team Quest and MMA event, Sportfight.

From 2004 to 2006, Tai also worked on his weekly television series called 3.2 Percent, which highlighted the nightlife, music, sports, culture and lifestyle in Utah. In corroboration with early Spy Hop Production personnel, Tai produced an 11-episode season in 2006.

Citing unsustainable financial conditions, Tai cancelled the 3.2 Percent television series, after just one season. In December 2005, Tai returned to filmmaking and was hired to produce and direct a short film for the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival, with specific guidelines. It had to be shot in 24 hours, with a budget of $99 and a running time of 3 minutes. The finished short was titled Waiting,^[23] starring David H. Stevens^[24] of Punch Drunk Love and after its premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, it was invited to screen at the 2006 Real to Reel Film Festival^[25] and the 2006 Arizona International Film Festival.^[26]

Following the Slamdance premiere of Waiting, Tai adapted the short story into a feature-length film. Two years later, Tai began production on Darkroom.^[27] Tai's fourth feature-length film, Darkroom,^[28] stars David Stevens, Darren Dalton and Todd Bridges. In 2008, Darkroom^[29] made its way through the film festival circuit, screening at the 2008 Big Muddy Film Festival,^[30] IL, Okanagan Film Festival, Canada, Big Island Film Festival, HI, Bare Bones Film Festival,^[31] OK, and the Dances With Films Festival,^[32] CA. In 2011, Darkroom^[33] was picked up by Vanguard Cinema^[34] for DVD distribution.

From 2011 to 2012 Tai edited commercials, promo videos and Episode 1 for Showdown Fights,^[35] which aired on Fox Sports Net in 2012 and is an MMA event in Orem, Utah that has featured and features professional and amateur fighters from across the country, including UFC contenders and popular up-and-comers such as Josh Burkman, Jeremy Horn, Junie Browning, Court McGee, Jordan Smith and Steven Siler.

Weird Chief Pictures

Weird Chief Pictures was founded by Tai Taeoalii in 1996. It was an independent film production company that had also expanded into all aspects of media, entertainment and the arts.^[36] As of 2013, Tai has suspended all of Weird Chief Pictures' business dealings, citing his need to focus on his recent artistic endeavors, of which he operates business now as 'Art by Tai'.

Submerged in Art

The annual Submerged in Art^[4] charity event is a gathering of Art & Music to benefit The Road Home homeless shelter. A gathering of music and art which features over 15 artists exhibiting and selling their paintings, sculptures and prints alongside DJ's, spoken word, live music performances, raffle prizes and silent auction items donated by over 30 LocalFirst Utah businesses. In 2012 Submerged in Art was honored with a 'Best of Utah' Award by City Weekly.^[37]

References