The sixth annual Crazy 4 Cult group show opened this past week; the big change is that this time around it is in New York. There is a new lineup of artists with a good mix of new and returning favorites. Looking around the net there are stories of the long lines, people camping out to see the show, and an overall amazing night of art and cult movie entertainment. Just a handful of the artists that graced the show this year are Aaron Jasinksi, Allison Sommers, Casey Weldon, Cate Rangel, Chris B Murray, Dabs Myla, Fred Harper, Jason Edmiston, Lora Zombie, Sam Wolfe Connelly, and Travis Louie.
Tag: gallery 1988
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Sistine Pop by Joshua Budich
On August 2nd, Gallery 1988 in Venice opened a three person show with new work from Jeff Boyes, Joshua Budich, and Jay Shaw. While it’s a good show, the work I was most interested in was the Sistine Pop series of prints by Joshua Budich. Taking inspiration from the Renaissance, an area of study for Budich, he looked at the Sistine Chapel, specifically the sloping areas in which the Prophets and Sybils reside. 6 screen-prints, each one 18″ x 18″ were created with the layout drawing from Michelangelo’s masterpiece, and the figures pulled from Budich’s love of pop culture and toys. It’s an amazing idea, and not only does Budich’s style work perfectly for this series, but I am not wanting to see the an entire Sisten Chapel style re-imagining by the artist. If you check out the artists website you can see some detail shots, and even a sketch of one of the pieces (here).
See the Full Show here: Gallery 1988: Venice
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The Butcher Kings @ Gallery 1988
On October 6th, Gallery 1988 in Melrose opened a duo show with Alex Pardee and Skinner under the moniker of the “The Butcher Kings”. The two artists took aim at pop culture and created over 80 works of art that were not only offensive in some cases, but were quite brilliant and make this show a must see. I have always been a fan of pushing art to the edge; art should move people, make them think, make them laugh, and make them offended if need be. The works in this show feature characters from many cartoons, movies, comic books, and various pop culture icons. Some of the titles in the show feature the kind of wordplay that seems easy to come up with such as Karate Kid N’ Play, and M.C. Hammerhead, and I know quite a lot of people do this with friends and in daily situations. The idea here is that these two artists took it past joking in the halls and at work, and made a cohesive full show. It looks as though Skinner might have a bit more work on view, however Alex Pardee came up with some pieces that really defined the show such as C3PeeHole and ElephantMan-At-Arms. Head on over after the preview and take a look at the rest of the show.
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Garbage Pail Kids @ Gallery 1988
On September 2nd, Gallery 1988 in Melrose opened a new themed group show, this one with work inspired by the Garbage Pail Kids. I remember when the collectors cards first came out in 1985, and kids went insane for them. The biggest draw for me was the art, and it’s the one thing that made the concept of this show exciting. There is a huge amount of work available in a variety of mediums, as well as limited edition prints. It was great to see what each of these artists would bring to show; would they make a painting styled like the classic cards, or opt to make something new and unique in design. There is a good mixture of both, and I am happy to see works styled like the cards and some that are not. It helps to break up what could have become too much. There is some amazing work in this show, seen below are some paintings by Allison Reimold, Dave MacDowell, N.C. Winters, and some killer prints available from Rhys Cooper. Take a look at the preview images and then over to the website for the full show.
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Nathan Stapley’s “Same Gang” @ Gallery 1988
On August 26th, Gallery 1988 in Venice opened the latest solo show of Nathan Stapley. Entitled “Same Gang”, Nathan created 20 watercolor paintings with pop culture icons as influence. “Greaser Party” below features characters from such movies as The Outsiders, Grease, and there is even Lenny and Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley. There is a few paintings setup like these large group portraits, and a few smaller ones that have a “VS” vibe to them, much like the “Great Showdowns” series by Scott Campbell. Overall, “Same Gang” is a great show, and it’s fun to see how many of these pop culture references you can get on the first look. Head on over and check out the full show.
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“Mr Breakfast” by Chris B Murray
Chris B Murray has just released a new painting that will be featured in another tribute show hosted at Gallery 1988. The show is dedicated to Pee Wee Herman, and will feature art by a huge list of artists. Chris tackled the “Mr Breakfast” character seen in the first scene in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and managed to make an amazing image any Pee Wee fan would love that’s also a little creepy at the same time. It has to be those bacon lips. For all those interested in the process of artists, Chris added some process photos over at his blog. I would love to see a video of Chris painting, much like Eric Fortune has done in the past (here).
Check out the process shots here: Chris B Murray Blog
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Ken Keirns “Alone With Ghosts” @ Gallery 1988
The past weekend some really great shows opened up, with Craola’s “INLE” group exhibition opening at Gallery 1988, and Ken Keirns latest solo show at the Venice gallery. This latest show from Keirns is entitled “Alone with Ghosts” and features 14 new oil paintings. Ken has such an amazing style, the figures in his work are becoming more intense. Compared to his early works, these latest paintings have this “smokey” or Sfumato look to them. Make sure to check out the full show.
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Preview: “INLE” group show curated by Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins @ Gallery 1988
Opening March 11th at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles is a group show curated by artist Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins. The show entitled “INLEâ€, will feature over 100 artists drawing inspiration from Richard Adams’ award winning book, WaterShip Down, and more specifically the Black Rabbit of Inlé. The list of participating artists is nothing short of breathtaking and will include work by: Aaron Jasinksi, Alex Garcia, Alex Pardee, Amy Sol, Anthony Ausgang, Annie Owens, Attaboy, Audrey Kawasaki, Bob Dob, Brandi Milne, Brain Despain, Buff Monster, Camilla d’Errico, Carrie Anne Baade, Charles Wish, Chet Zar Chris Ryniak, Christian Rex Van Minnen, DabsMyla, Dan May, Dan Quintana, Daniel Danger, David Choong Lee, Eric White, Jason Limon, Fred Harper, Gris Grimley, Jon Beinart, Steven Daily, Jeff McMIllan, Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez, Joshua Clay, Joshua Keyes, Kevin Peterson, Kris Lewis, Logan Hicks, Luke Chueh, Mark Bodnar, Martin Wittfooth, Matthew Bone, Meggs, Michael Page, Mike Mitchell, Molly Crabapple, Naoto Hattori, N8 Van Dyke, Nome Edonna, Roland Tamayo, Ron English, Sas Christian, Skinner, Skot Olsen, Tara McPherson, Jason D’Aquino, Jason Maloney, JAW Cooper, Jeff Soto, Jeremy Fish, Joe Ledbetter, Joe Vaux, Travis Louie, Yosuke Ueno, and many more, if you aren’t already blown away.
Skinner also created a timelapse video showing the creation if his INLE painting, and also giving fans a look into his working process. Check it out Here. The Gallery 1988 blog has an interview with Craola that gives an in depth look at the inspiration and inner workings of this show, check it out Here. Take a look at some of the preview images, and then keep your eyes peeled for the full show.
