All Posts tagged toy shows

Crazy 4 Cult Customs Turns Tinseltown into Toys

Gallery1988 really lived up to its meta description of “the nation’s number one destination for pop-culture themed artwork” this past weekend by presenting a double dose of cult craziness across its two California galleries. In Los Angeles, the 3 G show featured 2D art inspired by Ghostbusters, Gremlins and Goonies. Up here in San Francisco, G1988 tasked artists with an extra dimension. Much like how The Cosby Show spun off A Different World, on Saturday night, the successful Crazy 4 Cult series gave birth to the first Crazy 4 Cult: Customs. When’s the last time you walked around a gallery and could identify the inspiration for a work of art and/or the artist? [Above, left to right: The Big Lebowski by Cristina Paulos, The Nightmare Before Christmas by Reactor-88 and Back to the Future by Task One.]

Crazy 4 Cult: Customs merges the usual suspects of the toy customizing scene with regulars on the gallery’s roster. As a result, we get treated to seeing a small, sword-wielding Kill Bill sculpture by Ken Keirns and a rather excellent forlorn Precious Moments version of Eraserhead by Paul Barnes.

The thinking outside the (TV) box award goes to textile artist, Ellen Schinderman, and her embroidered pillow triptych tribute to Heathers. Having a cushion cross-stitched with “corn nuts” or “mineral water” is like sending a secret signal that only a small percentage of people who sit on your couch will understand. The sheer joy of their recognition would completely outweigh all the furrowed brows, though. Seeing Heathers represented here made me wish another artist had tackled it figuratively, in addition. Ken Keirns is the obvious choice (I swear he’s painted Winona before for a G1988 show…). Because I just happen to know a talented toy artist who can recite the entire Heathers script, I hereby nominate Jon Knox to handle this matter in Crazy 4 Cult: Customs 2. (The show is expected to become an annual attraction!)

Working in 3D gave the artists freedom to create their works using the full 360 degrees. While Ellen’s pillows display different quotes on each side, Jen Rarey used the opportunity to give us “clean” and “blood-spattered” versions of Shawn of the Dead.

Jeremiah Ketner creatively used both sides of a DIY Mad*L toy to render distinct characters from The Professional. If art is an investment, this is two for the price of one!

One of my favorite aspects of these kinds of shows is seeing how different artists interpret the same subject.

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Feel That Hot Pink Fuzz!

Saturday is shaping up to be a night of vivid colors and nontraditional art shows in San Francisco. Plan your night with enough time to catch Skinner’s This Fear You May Know at White Walls and then head over to Giant Robot, where an international trio of plush artists have come together for Hot Pink Fuzz. The opening reception (with at least one of the artists present) kicks off at 6:30, and the show runs through September 8th. Artist bios courtesy of GR-SF.

Miss Muju is one half of artist team Muju, based in St Ives, Cornwall, UK, who has been making and exhibiting handmade Muju Toys since 2004 alongside her partner Mr. Muju. Mandalas are a recurring theme in her work, as is the symmetry of natural forms. “I love to work in vibrant colors and create fades of color through intricate felt patterns,” she explains.” For the show, Miss Muju is making one giant mandala figure and a collection of much smaller characters that are connected to the felt sculpture in color and theme.

Monyomonyo is a sewing artist based in Tokyo, Japan. She has liked to sew bags since childhood, started creating plush toys in 2005, and had her first exhibition in 2007, in Ebisu, Tokyo. In addition to making gallery work, she has made costumes for dancers, collaborated with children, and made movies. With inspiration from “traveling” and “pictures and stories of festivals, ceremonies, etc.,” she is making plush toys, masks, and other surprises. This will be her first American exhibition.

Seattle-based Snaggs was inspired by stuffed Nauga Monsters from the ’60s to become a felt artist. Her rainbow-colored body of work, which includes “paintings,” dolls, and pillows, has a retro modern style that combines the handmade quality of craft with the sensibility of clean design. For Hot Pink Fuzz, she is creating felt cereal boxes. She says, “The packaging of anything from my youth, from cereal boxes and candy to Halloween costumes, was never serious. Half the time they didn’t make any sense, yet they were still effective.”

Melt Down Tonight at SOYAL Gallery

Fire and Ice Eyezon by Mark Nagata & Custom Edward the Gator by Bwana Spoons

I love a toy show with a theme. I’m especially excited about Melt Down, the first group show at SOYAL, the Scottsdale gallery co-owned by Artizona artists Emmett Potter and Spencer Hibert. The show came about as a way to create a cool art space for desert-dwellers. “It’s hard to get people out to shows, because they just don’t want to leave the nice AC of their houses,” said Emmett. “We wanted to create an environment that would be comfortable and fun to be at for people that made the effort to come out.”

Bomb Pop Parade by Emmett Potter

The show’s title, Melt Down, is a double entendre: “We wanted the feel of a winter storm meets the brutal AZ heat,” Emmet said. “Plus we all kind of have a meltdown in the summer out here.” Here in the Bay Area, it’s not even that hot, but just looking at these images makes me feel cooler. (Time to take off my nerd glasses…)

Fire and Ice by The Sucklord

SOYAL is certain to be a new force in the Scottsdale art scene, and Emmett hopes Melt Down will provide a “broad range of what to expect from SOYAL in the future”.

Yeti Jr. by Andrew Hadle

As for the fantastic artist roster, Emmett puts it: “Spencer and I are really lucky to have so many super rad friends and artists that are in the show. It’s going to be a blast!” A blast of cold air?

Mini Wolves by Cupco

Ready for the lineup? Bwana Spoons, Le Merde, David Horvath, Sucklord, Martin Ontiveros, Koji Harmon, Andrew Hadle, Grease Bat, Brian Flynn, Josh Herbolsheimer, Oliver Hibert, Spencer Hibert, Jeremyville, COPE 2, Mark Nagata, Bigfoot, CUPCO, John Black, Naoshi, Kristin Bauer, Emmett Potter, Piper Ferguson, Tara Logson, MonstreHero, Miss Lotion, KILL, Grant Wiggins, Tripper Dungan, Steve Agin, Mykil Zep and Beak.

Snowbird Return Ceremony by Bigfoot

There are a lot of snowy treasures in this show for sure. The guys are all really stoked about this original handmade Cousin Flatwoodsey by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim. It looks like Cousin’s riding Reverse Ugly on a Killer! (And that’s a sentence you need to really know your toys to understand…)

Cousin Flatwoodsey original handmade UGLYDOLL

I seriously wish I could teleport to this show, which kicks off at 7PM tonight as part of Scottsdale’s Art Walk.  There are over 30 artists working in multiple mediums all united under the Melt Down concept. Besides being among cool artwork, SOYAL is keeping it chilly with snowcones, ice sculptures, drinks and food. And oh yeah, the work will be available online here after 10PM tonight. Big ups to SOYAL and all of the artists involved in the show!

EKL Bear by Tara Logsdon & Matter Cruncher by Le Merde

If you’re reading this and you have a blog or a Facebook page or you Tweet or whatever, please spread the word about this show!

Reporting Back from Friday’s Blamo Show

Remember how badly I wanted to see the Blamo Toys solo show at LA’s Toy Art Gallery? Well, I couldn’t get from SF to LA on Friday, but thankfully, I’ve got a good friend and fellow blogger in the area. Julie Wolfson went by TAG about an hour prior to the opening reception and took these great shots of Spencer painting the wall. You can see some of my favorite photos below, and there’s more on Julie’s Flickr set. If you need a freelance writer in the LA area for arts, culture, food and more, Julie’s your girl.

Speaking of girls and Blamo Toys, serendipitously, I was at Amybean’s house for a BBQ last night, and guess what I found? Vintage Blamo toys from at least 5 years ago. Amy said she found them in San Francisco and fell in love immediately. (No, these figures do not live on this Wedgewood stove normally.)

Back to LA’s Blamo Toys show. I love how the following picture shows toys made out of resin, wood and brass all in a row.

Packaging is another thing that Blamo does exceptionally well. Boxes always feature silkscreened imagery and other hand-made flourishes. Read the rest of this entry »