David Choe and Shepard Fairey Apple iPhone Apps

START MOBILE has created a FREE mobile art gallery application for the iPhone. The mobile wallpaper gallery features images of the ‘painted rooms’ at the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco, designed by some of the world’s premier emerging and underground artists. “We founded START MOBILE to bring NEW ART to a NEW MEDIUM, and the iPhone provides an unprecedented opportunity to do just that,” says John Doffing, the founder of START MOBILE.

START MOBILE’s first mobile art gallery for the iPhone features exclusive images of the ‘painted rooms’ at the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco, delivered as mobile wallpapers directly to the picture library of the iPhone. The mobile art wallpapers are optimized for display on the iPhone, and all the images can be ‘flipped’ to reveal additional information about the artists and their artwork, including links to their respective websites and galleries. “If you are in a real-world art gallery or museum and you see something special, you can learn more about it by reading the placard,” observed Doffing. “We attempted to imitate this experience within the context of our mobile art galleries for the iPhone.”

START MOBILE galleries for the iPhone also include a unique PICTURE FRAME feature. Simply tap the PLAY icon on the toolbar within the application, and the iPhone is transformed into a digital picture frame which cycles through every image in the gallery at five-second intervals. The START MOBILE PICTURE FRAME over-rides the auto-lock setting on the device, so users can enjoy an arty slideshow while the iPhone is docked and charging.

The final screen in the ART HOTEL GALLERY application can be ‘flipped’ to reveal a MOBILE COUPON for a special discount on a week’s stay at the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco. Artists featured in the first START MOBILE gallery for the iPhone include Shepard Fairey, David Choe, Sugarluxe, Tricia Choi, Apex, Casey O’Connell, Punkadelik, Buff Monster, Terrance Hughes, Peat Wollaeger, Kelly Ording, Jet Martinez and Chor Boogie. Over the coming weeks, START MOBILE will launch additional START MOBILE applications for the iPhone, featuring exclusive mobile galleries from the world’s leading artists and brands.

This is a similar concept to the mixtART mobile phone wallpaper service that launched last year. I don’t have an iPhone, but I’m eager to check out the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco sometime. It’s got painted rooms by Buff Monster, David Choe, Jeremy Fish, Jeremyville, Peat Wolleager, Sam Flores, Shepard Fairey and many others. Has anybody ever stayed here???