The Museum of the Weird

The "Museum of the Weird" show which pays tribute to legendary Walt Disney Imagineer, Rolly Crump, opened last night at Creature Features in Burbank, California. Rolly Crump is a big inspiration of mine, so I was honored to be part of this show and create artwork based on one of his unrealized projects for the Haunted Mansion (my absolute favorite theme park attraction). 

I created three pieces for the show. The first two were my own extrapolations based on Rolly's sensibilities of exhibits that could have been found in the Museum of the Weird had it come to fruition. These were a collection of non-existent simulacrum beetles. 

Above is "African Tribal Mask Beetles" collected by the Crump Expedition, 1934. 3-D cut apaper collage. 

Below: "The Mephistopheles Beetle" Also 3-D cut paper. 

My third piece was based directly off of one of Rolly Crump's sketches for the Museum of the Weird, "Aquarium with Ghost Fish" 3-D cut paper collage.

I really enjoyed making all of these and plan to continue with the simulacrum beetles in the future.

Coming This Saturday...

Art for the Popeye Show Now Online

All of the artwork created for the Popeye 85th Anniversary show, "Strong to the Finnich" at Hero Complex is now online for viewing and/or purchase. You can view it here.

Art For the Joss Whedon Show Now Online

The artwork created for the Joss Whedon show at Gallery 1988 (West) is now available to look at and purchase online. You'll find it here.

Joss Whedon

The Joss Whedon show opens tonight at Gallery 1988. The opening reception is from 7-10PM, arrive early as there will no doubt be a long line. Joss Whedon will also be in attendance.

Here are the two cut paper pieces I created for the show.

"The Sugarplum Fairy"

"I Dare You To Make Out With That Moose Over There"


Both pieces were based on Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Opening Tonight

I have work in two different shows which open tonight in Los Angeles. 

First up is "Strong to the Finich" celebrating 85 years of Popeye. This show is taking place at the Hero Complex Gallery  located at 2020 South Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034. The opening is being held tonight from 7-10 PM. You can see some of the gorgeous artwork here. You can view my piece by scrolling down to the previous post. 

Also opening tonight is the Joss Whedon show at Gallery 1988 (West), located at 7308 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. The opening reception is tonight from 7-10 PM. Joss Whedon will be in attendance, so be sure to get on line early and call the Gallery for further information. This show runs through September 27, 2014. I'll be posting images of the two pieces I made for this show later today.

Popeye

Here's the piece I did for the Popeye 85th Anniversary show which opens at Hero Complex tomorrow night. This is a 3-D cut paper piece.

Ask Me Anything #43

As always, the first Monday of the month means it's time for "Ask Me Anything."

You can ask me any questions you'd like, whether it's about my work, opinions, influences, favorites, least favorites, or anything else you think I might have an answer for. Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14,  #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19,  #20,  #21, #22,  #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, #38, #39, #40, #41, and #42.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.

Now ask away. 

The Morlock Machine

Here's my piece, "The Morlock Machine" which was made for the Monsterfinks show currently running at Creature Features in Burbank, CA. The piece is 3-D cut paper and is based on George Pal's classic movie, The Time Machine (1960). For purchasing information, please contact the gallery.

Monsterfinks

The Monsterfink show opens in just a few hours at Creature Features in Burbank, California. The show, which I'm part of pays tribute to the crazy world of 60s hotrod culture and its intersection with exaggerated cars and far out monsters. 

I was very excited to be part of this show since I ate this stuff up as a kid as it started to fizzle out by the early 70s. This alternative car culture had its roots in the ugly face artwork artwork of Basil Wolverton and the car and caricature creations Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, as well as the kustomized kar creations of George Barris. These horrific figures and vehicles came in the form of Weird Ohs, Nuttymads, Odd Rods, Rat Fink, Lindy Loonys and others. 

This world of monsters and cars has stayed with me and has inspired two comic book series I'm currently developing. It also led me to create my own monsterfink which I will post tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a look through these precursors to the Wacky Races. 

Upcoming Gallery Shows

The Creature from the Black Lagoon show at Creature Features ends its run tonight, but if you are in Southern California, you have a number of opportunities to view some of my cut paper collage work in person in the coming month. 

First up is Monsterfink, also at Creature Features, paying tribute to Weird-Ohs, Nutty Mads, Rat Finks and their kin. The show opens August 30, 2014 and runs through September 7. 

On September 5, 2014, Gallery 1988 will open it's tribute show to Joss Whedon, who will be attending the opening in person. It's sure to be packed, so be sure to contact the gallery for information on attending the opening. 

Also opening September 5, 2014, is "Strong to the Finich" celebrating 85 years of Popeye. This show will be held at the Hero Complex Gallery .

On September 13, 2014, Museum of the Weird will open at Creature Features. This show celebrates the work of renowned Disney imagineer, Rolly Crump (who will be there in person on opening night) and the work he created which was originally intended as a walk through feature at the end of the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. This show runs through September 28, 2014. 

I won't be able to attend any of these shows in person, but my artwork will be there. I hope you will too.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Here's the piece I did for the Creature from the Black Lagoon show at Creature Features. It's 3-D cut paper and has already sold. The show runs through August 24, 2014. For more information scroll down to my previous post, or visit Creature Features.

Tonight

The Creature From the Black Lagoon 60th Anniversary Show opens tonight at Creature Features in Burbank, CA. The Opening runs from 6:00 - 10:00 PM PST. The show itself runs through AUgust 24, 2014. The exhibit will feature rare, original production artwork from the classic 1954 film as well as other memorabilia and original artwork from the following list of artists, which includes myself:

Mark Alfrey, Zac Amendolia, ARF!, Zach Bellissimo, BigToe, Tara Billinger, Julie Bossinger, Andy Carey, Anthony Carpenter, Brian Crabaugh, Jesse D'Angelo, Ricardo Delgado, Haig Demarjian, Erika Deoudes, Frank Dietz, Adam Dougherty, Amanda Duchow, John Cody Fasano, Thomas Fernandez, Jason Flink, Christine Geasey, Tim Gore, David Grasso, Kenneth J. Hall, Robert Heckman, Christopher Hertrich, Mary J. Hoffman, Emma Julia Jacobs, Tom Killeen, Dave Krocker, Jimmy Lenoir, Ama Lea, Bob Lizarraga, Rebecca Lord, the Mad Masker, Danielle Manning, Chris Mason, Patrick Mathews, Woody Miller, Ken Mitchroney, Jordan Monsell, Ian Paul Montelongo, Alexander Morales, Ken Morgan, Jonathan Morrill, Robert Negrete, Michelle Nyree, Doug P'Gosh, Tim Polecat, Alex Quintero, Sam Randazzo, Todd Rex, Brian Romero, Mireya Romo-Bowen, Eric Rose, John Rozum, Bill Rude, Stephen Sandoval, Chad Scheres, John Sloboda, Mike Sosnowski, William Stout, Drew Struzan, Tammi Sutton, Dan Szczepanski, JP Targete, Pete Von Sholly, Doug Waterfield, Woody Welch, Neil Winn and many more!


Creature Features is located at 2904 West Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506

I will share my piece here tomorrow, after the show has opened. 

Ask Me Anything #42

As always, the first Monday of the month means it's time for "Ask Me Anything."

You can ask me any questions you'd like, whether it's about my work, opinions, influences, favorites, least favorites, or anything else you think I might have an answer for. Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14,  #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19,  #20,  #21, #22,  #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, #38, #39, #40, and #41.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.

Now ask away.