Chris Ryniak

Pocket Sideshow Release 10.10.14

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chibi for blog

 

“CHIBI” POCKET SIDESHOW

Tomenosuke + CP will be releasing our first color-way of POCKET SIDESHOW,  our brand new “chibi” line of sofubi figures (Made in Japan). These 3” tall figures will debut at both this year’s BEWITCHING IV group Halloween exhibition at Stranger Factory (Circus Posterus: North American & Canadian Sales) and at Taipei Toy Festival & tomenosuke.com (Tomenosuke: International Sales).

 — 1st colorway = Edition: 100 of each characterPenelope (Kathie Olivas) / Otto (Brandt Peters) / Puddlesproot (Chris Ryniak) / Snowshoe (Amanda Louise Spayd) — Please keep in mind that the editions will be split equally between Circus Posterus and Tomenosuke.

— All figure heads swap out between each other in the Chibi Pocket Sideshow series!

Pocket Sideshow Chibis will ONLY be sold in packs (and not individually) at the BEWITCHING IV Exhibition at Stranger Factory, starting on October 10th. They will be sold in the following manner:

 — Full Sets (Painted + matching  solid color “blank” figure sets) – 8 figures in total: $150

— Full sets (Complete set of all 4 painted figures) – 4 figures in total: $95

— Individual sets (1 painted figure + its matching “blank” figure) – 2 figures in total: $40

NOTE:

***** Sets are sold… (1) one set per household. You cannot combine an individual set of 2 figures with bigger full sets.

 ***** If we have any chibi packs left after the Bewitching IV opening reception… a small amount will be made available online  the following Monday, October 13th, on www.circusposterus.com

 ***** Individual figures will not be sold at this event. Blanks will not be sold unless combined with a painted figure as stated above.

 ***** We will have a small amount of individual painted chibis on hand for DesignerCon in November. They will retail for $25 each.

 INTERNATIONAL COLLECTORS AND BUYERS: Please visit Tomenosuke.com and their blog for more information on when the Pocket Sideshow Chibis will be made available for International buyers online through their website and through their booth at Taipei Toy Festival.
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Presenting: The Pocket Sideshow

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Following up their successful vinyl collaborations on Stingy Jack, Calliope Jackalope, and Stinky Ginger, Circus Posterus and Tomenosuke are proud to present the new sofubi toy series, Pocket Sideshow! The Pocket Sideshow is an homage to the tiny and adorable Japanese “chibi” art style, and will feature well loved Circus Posterus characters in miniature format.

Brandt Peters

pocket1

Kathie Olivas
pocket4

Chris Ryniak
pocket5

Amanda Louise Spayd
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The first series will feature four figures designed by Brandt Peters, Kathie Olivas, Chris Ryniak, and Amanda Louise Spayd, and sculpted by Yohei Kaneko. The figures will have interchangeable heads and will be approximately 3” tall.
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For more information on the making of the Pocket Sideshow, check out Tomenosuke’s blog here, written by our wonderful collaborator Shinji. Stay posted for more details, but I would bet on seeing these little darlings in the flesh at Bewitching next month!

pocket2

 

Recap: Unseen Forces

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Unseen ForcesThe dust has settled, and everyone that traveled from afar are back home. Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd’s Unseen Forces was a huge success with fans traveling from as far away as Japan to attend the show. We couldn’t be happier for two of our favorite misfits. The show is almost a sell out, and there are currently only two pieces still available here.

If you couldn’t attend the show, we have you covered as we re-live the opening with pictures.
LotteryThe crowd gathered, and we had to do a lottery for line numbers.
smileAll the anxious fans made everyone smile with anticipation.
derpWe promise you, this is a smile!
helloThe excitement was palpable.
all wide eyedThe displays were overflowing with Chris and Amanda’s work.
IMG_8882Sometimes Chris was overflowing too!
snugSome of Amanda’s Dust Bunnies kept to themselves.
IMG_9449Others had a big art party.
Look at this crewThe crystals were abundant.
a trickSome even held secrets.
starting off rightThe show was a huge success, and Chris and Amanda made sure to extend their sphere of influence over the next generation of art collectors.
tallI wonder what these two have in store for us next?

Photos by Jason Spanier

 

Unseen Forces Updates

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ToothCultJrWarden2The opening of Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd’s “Unseen Forces” is right around the corner, and it looks like everyone is about to burst with anticipation.

We have been keeping you au courant with work in progress shots and a few full reveals, but the big day is almost here. We are trying to not spoil too much of the fun by showing everything over on the social media sites of Stranger Factory. We have to leave something for the opening! On that note, keep an eye on the Stranger Factory twitter for up to date posts of the set up and opening this weekend, but for now, gaze at a few reveals.

above:Junior Warden of the Tooth Cult

woodarcherWoodarcher Stumpwort

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Horned Grubthum

Lux3You will have to wait to see this almost 3ft beauty known as Lux Ex Tenebris.

Unseen Forces’ opening reception is Friday, September 5th from 6 – 9 pm at Stranger Factory. Both Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd will be in attendance.

 

 

Unseen Forces Grows Horns

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Something is looking very similar here!

If you have been paying attention to some of our social media sites, you may have noticed some similarities in the work of Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd for Unseen Forces.

It looks like the entire show is a collaboration in many aspects which will create an amazing cohesiveness of work. Both Chris and Amanda are working together and have similar representations in each of their work. We will show these horns as an example, and then leave it at that.
HornOk one more. Maybe we will see some clear horns with Chris too?
Horn DB

 

 

The Stranger Factory x Cotton Candy Machine show is next week

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For the past few weeks, we have been giving you tons of teasers and progress images for the monumental Stranger Factory x Cotton Candy Machine show that opens on Friday, July 11! Two galleries with the same roster of artists is a pretty epic experiment, and we’re excited to be part of it!

Well, if you didn’t get a chance to see all our social media posts this week, here is a quick catch up for you. If you did see all of our fun development images, we have a surprise for you at the end of the slideshow!

hint: it is an image we haven’t shown yet. obviously. 

Kathie Olivas

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Ryniak goes 3D at the Bellecour Art School

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3D CMR grin

Here is a fun little post. First year students at the Bellecour Art Schools in France were given the incredible assignment to render Chris Ryniak sketches into 3D computer generated images! 3D monsters running around and YES, more 3D butts!

Take gander at all the fun on the Bellecour blog.

 

3D CMR

 

Toy Art 2.0

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The Toy Art 2.0 book is not the first coffee table book devoted to toy art on the market, but it is likely the most comprehensive – not just profiling artists and designers, but also collectors and gallery owners. At 4 pounds, it is also likely the heaviest. Most importantly, it is driven by people from within the toy community! The book is spearheaded by Okedoki, a Canadian artist known for toys such as Benny the Dreamer, with former toy blogger Jeremy Brautman(Jeremyriad) on editing and interview duties.

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Kathie and Brandt’s page spreads in the book!

Excitedly for us, the Circus Posterus collective is featured a lot in the book. Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas, Chris Ryniak, and FERG are interviewed, alongside many of our friends. Jeremy is a good interviewer, and includes the usual introductions and surfacey questions, but also digs for details on toy productions, frustrations with the artistic process and common artists myths. Still, even though the seasoned toy community members can find lots of new ideas in the book, it remains accessible and a perfect introduction for newcomers to designer toy art.

Where this book excels though, is spotlighting the gears that make the toy industry run. I loved reading the interviews with Julie B. of Pretty in Plastic, the master sculptor behind some of the industry’s most well loved figures, as well as the essay by Kirby Kerr, although writing about his life as a toy collector and not the gallery director/co-owner for Rotofugi. In addition, several of our own Sideshow community are in the book as well – Stacyjean and Sara Harvey, two wonderful women that we look forward to seeing every year. It is also more than obvious, looking at collectors like Stacy and Sara(and by the way, there are pages and pages of full colour and absolutely drool worthy toy shelves that make it into the book), that collecting is its own art form and passion project.

An outtake from the book of Stacyjean's wonderful collection.

An outtake from the book of Stacyjean’s wonderful collection.

 I’ve always felt that most “art books” are great machines to promote artists, which is all well and good, but the true heart of every community has always been its people…every single one of them, not just the ones selling stuff. As Jeremy told me, “When I came on board the project, I read all 500 pages and started cutting it down to a reasonable amount of text. Along the way, I noticed that this wasn’t a book about the world of toy art ten years ago, but rather the Internet-enabled world of toy art: emphasis on community and collaboration.”

I’ve always been blown away at the toy art community’s willingness to embrace the outsiders, the newbies, and the slightly lost and wide eyed. We’re a community largely based around making art and design accessible, and I think it’s always been one of our best aspects. At the end of the day, our community is the most important thing to us at Circus Posterus, and I am excited that this book chose to highlight the diverse and fascinating community that has evolved around the toy scene in the past ten years.

Quotes from the book:

“We started as outsiders, and forming a group just made sense. Everyone contributes something.”—Kathie Olivas (about the Circus Posterus collective)

“I enjoy art in an accessible form made by people I admire, and I can create a world around me.”—Sara Harvey

“I hope by sharing images of pieces I’ve collected, I’m contributing back to the cycle.”—StacyJean

“It’s an awesome, punk rock response to what we liked as kids.” —Chris Ryniak (about toy art)

toyartbook_cp1

You can learn more about the Toy Art Book, featuring Circus Posterus artists, at http://www.toyartbook.com and purchase it at http://www.toyartbook.storenvy.com.

You can also join our community at The Sideshow forums(one of us. one of us.). We like the stuff you like.

Chris and Amanda on Toy Break (please help us all)

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Those two goofy Ohio CP artists Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd recently relaxed on the Toy Break couch and talked all things toy and art. Hear about some recent releases, future shows, and much more.

Check out all the hilarity here.

Add some Stinky Ginger Spice to your life!

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not-a-spice-girlTime to add a bit of spice to your life with Chris Ryniak’s Stinky Ginger- Golden Spicy colorway.

This grumpy little lady has even more sass now in this new glittery spicy colorway that will set your taste buds on fire. Another delicious treat from the Tomenosuke x Circus Posterus Sofubi line, it is limited to only 60 signed and numbered servings. She is available now in the Circus Posterus store here!