This Friday, August 27th, should be a great time at the NEW Rotofugi Gallery. That’s right, Rotofugi is kicking off the schedule of shows at their sweet new location with Playboy Redux: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny. It should be a great time and will feature an overabundance of amazing artists, including the one and only Steve Seeley!

From Rotofugi:

Playboy Redux
Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny

August 27 – September 12, 2010
Opening Reception
Friday, August 27, 2010, 7-10PM
At our new gallery location: 2780 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
About The Exhibit

Playboy Enterprises in collaboration with The Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh) invited over 20 contemporary and street artists to reinterpret the iconic Playboy Bunny in celebration of the opening of the first Playboy Club in Chicago 50 years ago in 1960. Known at that time for her satin bunny suit, cotton tail and rabbit ears, the Playboy Bunny served cocktails and glamour in equal doses. Many luminaries once worked as Bunnies, including Deborah Harry, Gloria Steinem and Lauren Hutton. For Playboy Redux: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny, artists were asked to create a new look for the Bunny, a veritable makeover to create the Bunny of the future. The selected artists have presented a number of new takes on this iconic image, and works ranges range in medium including photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and video.

Playboy Redux was originally shown at The Warhol Museum in March-June, 2010. Rotofugi Gallery is proud to now exhibit and sell these works along with some new additions.

This project is part of Playboy’s year-long 50th Anniversary celebration of the Playboy Cluband Playboy Bunny. The exhibit is curated by Aaron Baker, Ned West and Rotofugi Gallery.
Participating Artists

Featuring Josh ‘Shag’ Agle, Jennybird Alcantara, Scott Anderson, Glenn Barr, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, R. Black, Ain Cocke, Brian Ewing, Brendan Fernandes, Rod Filbrandt, Jeremy Fish, Mike Giant, Ludovica Gioscia, Ken Keirns, Jeremiah Ketner, Jeremy Kost, Frank Kozik, Travis Lampe, Bob Masse, Tara McPherson, Hiroki Otsuka, Lisa Petrucci, Mark ‘Atomos’ Pilon, Bonni Reid, Isabel Samaras, Seth Scriver, Andrew Schoultz, Steve Seeley, Jeremy Tinder, Michelle Valigura, Saya Woolfalk and O Zhang.

For all of the latest on all things Rotofugi, please check out their site here.

And, be sure to go here to get on their official gallery preview list.

Tonight should be a really amazing opening at the Rotofugi Gallery, as Coarse brings their painting and sculpture back to Chicago with Glimpse of Truth. Having seen Coarse’s Noop show at Rotofugi in 2008, I can honestly tell you that their gallery shows are so incredibly well done, a lot of fun and something that you absolutely have to see in person.

From Rotofugi:

Exhibit Information

Glimpse of Truth
Sculptures, Paintings and Photography by Coarse

July 16-August 8, 2010

Opening Reception
Friday, July 16, 2010, 7-10PM
Coarse will be in attendance.

Artist Bio

Coarse Artists
Mark Landwehr
Sven Waschk

Works for the coarse world began in 2003, when German artists Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk started a distinct style of sculpting that looked almost as if they had chiselled and exposed the figures from three dimensional rock.

The streamlined sculptures are hand crafted and finished at the coarse workshops in Hamburg and Hong Kong. The artists focus primarily on statues that range from small to life size, made from resin and/or fibreglass. Their work also includes photography, prints and objects, combining all aspects to create holistic pieces of art. Pieces that convey an alternate reality. A fiction brand.

By using traditional toy production techniques, the original sculptures, ‘coarse originals’, are transformed into vinyl figures under the ‘coarsetoys’ imprint.

As a result of living in two separate cultures, the artists blend eastern and western aesthetics. A possible explanation for the brand’s popularity worldwide. coarse figures are currently available in art toy stores and galleries across 18 countries worldwide.

This is the second Coarse exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery following “noop show by coarse” in September 2008.

The Making of “Glimpse of Truth”

Please Note: The original art pieces from this exhibit will be available via our preview list (link below) as per all of our exhibits, but there will be an exclusive figure release pre-order opportunity that will be available first to attendees of the opening. Thanks for your understanding.

For another peek at Coarse’s Noop show from 2008, check out this coverage by superstar journalist , Max Minor:

For more from Coarse, please visit their official site here.

The Rotofugi Gallery is located at 1955 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago.

For more on Rotofugi (including an awesome Moving Sale that they have going on) check out their site here.

Finally, to get exclusive previews of all of Rotofugi Gallery’s upcoming events, sign up for their mailing list here.

Hoo-ray!  It’s time for another opening at the Rotofugi Gallery!  Tonight’s opening will feature two shows: Dreams Burn Down by Ken Keirns and Beautiful Miasma by Jimmy Pickering. Prepare yourselves for a lot of amazing paintings.  Nerd City will be there, so should you!

From Rotofugi:

Ken Keirns is a Northern California artist who grew up in Flint, Michigan. After spending nearly a decade in Chicago, Ken moved out West in late 2007 to paint full-time and complain about the lack of snow. While his primary focus has been working with oil paint, he has been known to deliver the odd sculpture, toy prototype or mixed media piece. His recurrent subject matter revolves around cranially endowed women and monkeys interlaced with personal experiences, dreams, and the occasional bad pun. Ken’s education was in graphic design. He only took a few formal painting classes — he is mostly self-taught through research and trial & error.

Ken has had three very successful exhibitions at our gallery previously, and we’re excited to have him returning for another solo show! Don’t miss this one.

From Rotofugi:

From the artist… “i was raised in a trailer park and never really fit into my surroundings. my imagination and ability to draw allowed me an opportunity to escape a world of carports, shag carpets, faux wood paneling, and the hell of school bullies on a daily basis and started me on a road to creativity. as i grew i drew and as i drew i grew developing a style along the way inspired by animation, disneyland, star wars, and the works of mary blair, dr. seuss, and edward gorey. i studied film, character animation and production design/art direction to be precise, at california institute of the arts. there i met a new inspiration, my mentor bob winquist who’s brilliance made me see the world in a whole new way. his influence helped me to mold a unique creative vision and original style of my own, which lead me to work for some of the top creative companies in the world, walt disney imagineering, hallmark inc., universal studios, all, of which i am thankful to have been a part of. my career lead me down another path as an award winning artist, author and illustrator, with my work being seen in books, galleries, and theme parks around the world. it is amazing to think about and i am thankful and grateful for each and every experience. i live in a small coastal village on the oregon coast with my partner and our three dogs, pugsley, wednesday and jesse. i also have and affinity for the number 3; it is after all, the magic number.”

This will be Jimmy’s first exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery.

The opening will tonight(April 30th) from 7-10pm. The Rotofugi Gallery is located at1955 W Chicago Ave in Chicago.

For more info on The Rotofugi Gallery, including upcoming shows, go here.

To be cool like me and be on the Rotofugi Gallery preview list, sign up here.

For more on the work of Ken Keirns, check out his official site here.

And, for more from Jimmy Pickering, go to his official site here.

Check out these awesome super deformed or “Chibi” style MOTU sculptures by Bryan Wong!  These pieces are 3-5 inches tall and typically have a few points of articulation.  It’s cool to see characters that already have such strong visual identities re-envisioned in an even more hyperstylized manner.  But what’s extra crazy is the fact that Bryan has made these things with Crayola Model Magic clay!

From Bryan’s deviantART page:

Bryan takes on… Masters Of The Universe! Just face it, everybody loves He-Man! Yeah you do! Seriously the 80s was an atrocious era in pop culture but He-Man saved the day. In one way or another you have probably begged, borrow or steal a MOTU action figure or watched an episode of the cartoon after school with its silly PSAs at the end! Don’t deny it. We’re all guilty. In it’s hey days MOTU was Mattel’s biggest cash cow in the boys department. It was the Pokemon of the 80s, so many characters to choose from but you can never catch ‘em all. At least I never did. So what can I say, I grew up with the franchise and it will always have a special place in this little planet of mine. To pay tribute to this “on again off again and then on again” 80s fad, I’ve decided to re-envisioned these great characters in stylized “SD Chibi-like” collectible figurines! I’ve seen countless of fanart drawings of this style and it would be just uber awesome if Mattel would do a line of mini collectibles of MOTU like Hasbro did with their Superhero Squad and such.

OK back to the Mini Masterz Unleashed! Project. All the figurines you see or about to see are all made from Crayola Model Magic. What?!!! That kiddie play doh modeling compound? Let me tell you something it’s a great modeling material that air dries, light weight and ready to paint. I’m not promoting the product here it’s just that I find it to be very user friendly for people who find regular clay messy to work with. That’s right, this is to prove that one can use inexpensive materials to make something great! Every character is sculpted from scratch, no customization work here. All figures are 3 inches in scale and poseable, with 3 points of articulation on the neck and arms. Body parts are swappable. These are just fanart pieces and are not for sale. All characters are property of Mattel. Well I hope you’ve enjoyed browsing this little corner of my gallery. Check back soon for new figures and exhibits! Feel free to download any of the images, I won’t hunt you down just give me some credit if you’re posting it on another website. He-Man thanks you for not eating, smoking or use flash photography in the gallery!

More pics and links after the jump. (more…)

The exciting news is that Royal-T (Royalt1us) and Gatchagrey are announcing a poll in which you can choose which one of the creations from Gatchagrey’s fan-created Bug-Shido world, Royal-T will make into a mini-statue.

From Gatchagrey:

To my delight, fellow fan, Royal-T has agreed to make my dream come true
and create a mini-statue of ONE of my Bug-Shido Characters. But with over
55 characters to choose from, we thought we would hold a little character
contest and let all of you help decide which character that will be.

The contest information, rules, and polls will be posted soon. We want to
invite all of you to join in the voting, and post ideas, and even designs.
Because, just like Royal-T’s own contests, when all is said a done, the
winning character will be sculpted, cast, and made available to everyone
who wants one.

Stay tuned for more info and get ready for an Royal Battle of Insect
Proportions. I hope you all have fun with this as much as I plan to.

To keep things simple, this is a contest to decide which Bug-Shido character is worthy of being sculpted into a mini-statue. To do this we are going to organize the 50+ characters Gatchagrey has dreamed up into four groups. Each group will be made of similar characters; for example Big Guys, Females, Winged, and Non-Winged characters.

In Round 1, you will be allowed to select your favorite 4 characters from each group.
In Round 2, you will select one of 4 Round 1 favorites (one from each group).
In Round 3, the Final 4 characters will go head to head to decide the 2009 Bug-Shido Champion.

For each poll, we will post the artwork Gatchagrey currently has for each character. For some this will only include his original design. For others this will include commissioned, and non-commissioned, works done by other artists. We hope each design will be given equal consideration, regardless of the artwork presented. Vote for the concept of the character over any of the art that may or may not be available.

We also invite anyone at anytime to post their own art of any of the characters in order to bolster support for their favorites. The Final Four will be drawn up by Royal-T to demonstrate his initial take on the design for the sculpture.

Links to the polls will be posted as soon as they are up and each poll will last 10-14 days. So stay tuned for updates and look for the battle to begin sooner than later.

(more…)

Direct Link to Youtube Video

Last month, Hell came to Chicago, courtesy of Frank Kozik and Rotofugi.  Nerd City was at the show and had the chance to have a brief chat with Mr. Kozik, himself.

Your recent Hell Comes to Chicago show at Rotofugi was a shift back to more 2-D/ painting-type work from the extensive amount of toy design that you had been doing for quite a while before that. What is the transition between these two mediums like for you, artistically?

Not much…I always draw and paint analog, and do all the packaging layouts for the toys, so it is always a mix.

How do you feel about the emerging philosophy that the designer toy is a small piece of art?

Personally I feel its quite important..basically ‘underground’ pop sculpture..before this its always been either 2d , film, audio or live performance. the sculpture thing is novel.

Political icons like Mao and Ho Chi Minh appear throughout your work. What is your fascination with these figures and what do you feel they represent?

Just look at it as my ’self help’ manual. all those dudes went from zero to a hundred in record time.

Punk imagery is another recurring theme in your work and you obviously spent years making music posters/ prints. How does music continue to influence your art and what are you listening to at the moment?

Music has almost no effect on the current toy design. I mostly listen to nothing at work. I like no noise.

What’s on the horizon for you, artistically?

More of the same, forever.

Thanks, Frank!

Atari’s booth for the new Ghostbusters game was sweet, featuring playable demos, sweet proton packs, and this kick-ass Slimer ice sculpture. Check it. By the way, the game looks sweet.

Check out this amazing light up custom Munny by Scottoons! About his Munbot, Scottoons says:

Munbot is my second custom Munny. I made him out of found objects attached to a decapitated blank Mini Munny. The inside glowing piece is from a trade show swag pen which had a light up barrel via LED and fiber optic ribbon. Acrylic paint with oil paint rust.

For bigger images of this badass custom, check out Scottoons’ flickr here.

Also, for more Scottoons sculpture, customs, illustration, and games, go to his website here.

From Super 7:

Killing You Softly with our Song

Brian Flynn & Martin Ontiveros
Blue Bottle Gallery, Seattle, WA

Jan 2nd – 31th, 2009

Martin and Brian don’t draw the heroes they draw the bad guys. They can’t get enough of giant monsters, ghosts, robots, the characters that play the villain. Both artists pull their imagery from similar genres sources where the character they connect with is the destructive element within the scene. In “Killing you softly with our song” Brian and Martin alter the context of their beloved characters and bring to light their more admirable qualities.

I’m a huge fan of Martin Ontiveros’s work. If Brian Flynn started a cult, I would join it.  Judging by these preview images of both their prints and wood sculptures, this is going to be a totally kickass show!

The Bluebottle Gallery website is here.

So this guy Jason Hackenwerth is a friend of a friend of mine. He is famous in the art world for these elaborate/amazing/beautiful balloon sculptures. I got to hang out with him once when he was in Chicago for a show and he is such a nice, down-to-earth guy. Check him out on this episode of Science Friday.

Direct Link to Youtube Video

You can see more photos of his work here at his site

Also if you still aren’t convinced that balloons are ridiculously neat, check out this other cool, balloon-related site: BalloonHat

Its a collection of photos from the adventures of these people who basically travel the globe making balloon hats for people. (You can get more detailed/accurate/true information on the site, because I generally have no idea what I’m talking about.)