The show is entitled “I Want my Music Video Art Show”, the theme being pretty self-evident right there in the title. This awesome show, curated by the fantastic Chris Marrs Piliero and David McDowell, will feature several amazing artists, each picking one of their favorite music videos to pay tribute in his or her respective art style.

I chose “Land of Confusion” by Genesis, mostly because it scared the hell out of my as a child. I’d seen the video countless times and the Spitting Image puppets had an amazingly disturbing quality of grotesqueness that was (and is) beautiful in its own unique way. Plus, a little bit of political satire for a video that’s still pretty relevant even today.

Land of Confusion
Acrylic on paper, mounted to wood panel, resined.
13.5″ x 19.375″ (2011)

*NCW*

I’ve finished a new painting for another upcoming pop culture show at G1988: LA, this time paying tribute to Garbage Pail Kids.

For those that didn’t grow up in the 80s, the Garbage Pail Kids were an awesome collection of illustrated trading cards/stickers made by Topps, created as a blatant mockery of the super popular insipid Cabbage Patch Kids. The cards were all illustrations of twisted, gross and cutely disturbing pudgy characters meant to show a dark side of the Cabbage Patch Kids. I was a ridiculously HUGE fan of these, and remember spending many dollars at both the corner 7/11 and the local ice cream truck on each magical pack of five GPK cards. I can still taste the inedible “gum” each pack came with, which on more than one occasion actually shattered a tooth upon chewing. The old joke was to collect the gum and chew up the cards, as it was probably much healthier for you.

As I finished up my painting, I was struck by the surreal nature of the experience. I grew up the aforementioned HUGE fan and remember drooling over the amazing art, crazy characters and awesome sense of humour in this collectible art set. To be making a painting of one of the cards for a show actually sponsored by the company that made the original cards is just mind blowing at times. I never imagined as a kid, running after the ice cream truck to buy a pack of stickers featuring gross characters, that one day I’d be painting one of my own.

Here are the original reference cards (all GPK cards came in two versions: same image, different name):

And here’s my version:

Zack Unzipped
Acrylic on paper, mounted to wood panel, resined.
14.25″ x 21″ (2011)

The opening reception is 7PM on Friday, September 2 at G1988 Gallery, the Los Angeles location. I’ll see you at the show! And, because I just couldn’t resist, how awesome would it be for this to come to pass? I’m not sure Topps would approve, but it just might blow my mind if it actually happened. For your nostalgic enjoyment:

*NCW*

Here’s a recently finished painting for the upcoming “Anicomically Correct” show at Distinction Gallery, this Saturday, July 9th. The reception for  goes from 6-10PM, and I’ll be there, hanging out and chatting. The show is loosley based around comic-related art in conjunction with the San Diego Comic Con, which I can talk about more later. Full show details below:

It was especially rewarding, as I had originally started a different painting which I ultimately wasn’t feeling. I gave that one up, wanting to really just have fun with the painting, and a few days later, this was born. There’s nothing like the feeling of being okay with giving up on something that isn’t working, refocusing, and creating something else that you really can find joy doing, and ends up more resolved, better and more fun to work on than your previous effort. This was a fun piece to do, and if you were following my tweets on the Twitter, you got to see the painting evolve over time. Here’s a couple of those shots, pardon the terrible iPhone quality. Enough rambling. Enjoy “Overflow.” For purchase inquiries, please visit the Distinction website or contact Melissa Walker.

EDIT: See the painting and purchase online here.

And the final:

Overflow
Ink and acrylic on paper, mounted to wood panel, resined.
18.5″ x 22″ (2011)

By the way, keep an eye out for prints, available soon!

*NCW*