KEY TAKEAWAYS: Paste has opened its first full retail store at 721 Royal St. in the French Quarter. Artist and filmmaker Jason Laurits founded the independent art and apparel brand in 2004. The store features graphic shirts, art prints, gifts and New Orleans-inspired designs. Laurits’ first feature film, “Loves Company,” premieres Oct. 24 at the New Orleans Film Festival. Jason Laurits Artist and filmmaker Jason Laurits has opened the first full-fledged retail store for his independent art and apparel brand Paste in the French Quarter, expanding the New York-founded business to New Orleans as he prepares to premiere his first feature film in the city. Paste New Orleans is now open at 721 Royal St. The store sells Laurits’ graphic shirts, art prints, limited-edition gifts and other merchandise, including designs inspired by New Orleans. Laurits founded Paste in 2004 after initially creating screenprinted posters to promote his performances as a musician at New York clubs including CBGB and The Continental. He later began screenprinting shirts while spending a summer in London, where he sold them at Camden Lock Market. The business subsequently expanded beyond apparel to include prints, gifts, collaborations and other artwork. The Royal Street location represents Paste’s first full retail store, according to the company.   “Paste has always been about using apparel as a canvas,” Laurits said. “Blurring the lines between art and fashion, art and commerce, is what interests me. I’ve never been interested in putting my work where people expect art to be. I’ve been more interested in putting it where it can be the most expressive.” The opening coincides with Laurits’ growing ties to New Orleans. His first feature film, “Loves Company,” was written and directed by Laurits and filmed in the city. The film, starring Rachel Dratch of “Saturday Night Live” and Jack Plotnick of “Reno 911!,” is scheduled to premiere Oct. 24 during the New Orleans Film Festival. The 37th annual festival begins Oct. 22 and is presented by the New Orleans Film Society. Laurits said New Orleans has also influenced his visual artwork. Paste has developed several designs drawing on local themes, including NOLA Spray Paint, Big NOLA Number and Drunk Cat Mardi Gras. “After being inspired by New York for over two decades, New Orleans reignited something in me and sent me off into a whole new direction of inspiration,” Laurits said. “I can’t keep up with the ideas flowing from this city into my art. The people, the history, the beauty of this city has long been a fuel for so many artists and creatives. Count me in. I love living here. I love creating here.” Laurits’ work spans graphic design, screenprinting, music, apparel and filmmaking. His designs frequently incorporate humor, popular culture and unconventional imagery, with influences that include Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Maurizio Cattelan and John Waters. The new French Quarter store gives Paste a permanent space to showcase those different parts of Laurits’ work while establishing a retail presence in New Orleans. “I don’t see a separation between the creative arts,” Laurits said. “The shirts, the prints, and the films are all part of the same creative impulse. The medium changes, but I’m still making things from the same voice that I hope makes people laugh, think, or wonder.” ...read more read less