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Once upon a time - the 1990s, to be exact - there existed on Manhattan's Lower East Side a storefront gallery populated by young street artists.

Or, as one of the artists says in "Beautiful Losers," Aaron Rose's documentary look back at the gallery he ran for 10 years, "It wasn't really a gallery. It was more of a party space . . . for rich bored kids."

Rose catches up with 11 of the gallery's alumni and alumnae - punk rockers, hip-hoppers, graffiti artists, skateboarders - who have gone on to bigger and better things.

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Aaron Rose never set out to be a filmmaker. An artist and writer, he is also the founder of New York's Alleged Gallery, where he served as curator for 10 years. He co-curated the large-scale museum exhibition "Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture," which led to a book of the same name. And now he is the co-director (with Joshua Leonard) of the documentary Beautiful Losers, opening in New York Aug. 8. The film shines a light on the craft and inspiration of some of the most creative and influential artists of the last 20 years--including Harmony Korine, Ed Templeton, and the late Margaret Kilgallen. Rose, who now resides in Los Angeles, spoke to Back Stage about the origin and future of his moviemaking career. On picking the artists featured in the film: "We interviewed 70 people for the film, and only 12 made it in. We created a character profile for everybody.

By Aaron Hillis

He's designed scarves for Marc Jacobs and the iconic cover of Air's "Moon Safari" album, directed music videos for Moby, Pulp and Blonde Redhead, helmed two features to date (the Sundance hit "Thumbsucker" and the SXSW doc "Does Your Soul Have a Cold?"), had graphic art exhibitions and commissioned ad campaigns all around the globe, and played with members of Cibo Matto and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in the short-lived '90s East Village supergroup Butter 08. If people still confuse prolific artist-filmmaker Mike Mills with the R.E.M. bassist of the same name, it's because it's easy to believe the same man could've done it all.

Mills features prominently in NYC gallery curator-turned-director Aaron Rose's "Beautiful Losers," an entertaining doc celebration of the D.I.Y. talent (Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Ed Templeton, the late Margaret Kilgallen, et al.) who took part in Rose's titular museum exhibition.

• Anarchists of the traditional art form, I'm looking forward to catching this docu: an in-depth look into (just under a baker's dozen or so of) artists that remain, for the most part, incognito from the mass recognition/acclaim. Not surprisingly, I'm only familiar with a trio of names (those associated for their contributions to the film world), but I'm sure this grouping of social misfits, who made the stomping grounds of the urban jungle their own canvases will incite plenty of interest. Jeez, I regret not spending more time developing a certain side of my brain. Beautiful Losers follows a loose-knit group of likeminded and creative outsiders in the 1990s who found common ground at a little NYC storefront art gallery. Rooted in the Diy (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, these individuals created art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Featuring Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen,

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