April 2013

Doktor A’s Maxi Phizogs

  • by

The first ever ToyCon UK is upon us this weekend, and we hope that many of you are lucky enough to attend this inaugural event! Our perennial favourite Doktor A will be present and exhibiting, and the convention will see the first release of his fantastic Phizog wall plaques(which we also covered earlier).

However, for those of us who don’t get to travel to London this weekend, we’ll also be featuring Doktor A’s work at Stranger Factory in May, in conjunction with Chet Zar, in a two person show titled Oddfellows! At his Albuquerque show, Dok A will be debuting yet another size of Phizog plaque – the Maxi. So, if you’re attending ToyCon UK, you can pick up the Mini and Maxi Phizogs and then get a Maxi from Dok A’s Stranger Factory show for a complete set. If you can’t…well, we’ll have something for you in May, anyway!

PhizogsSculptsPrimed

Shown above are the three sizes of the the Phizog wall plaque(primed, unpainted). We’ll have the largest size only, the Maxi, at Stranger Factory in May, so mark your calendars!

 

 

May Shows at Stranger Factory – Doktor A, Chet Zar and Doubleparlour

  • by

StrangerFactoryChetZarHeader

May 2013 brings two new exhibits to the Stranger Factory gallery; a dual show by noted character creators Chet Zar and Doktor A, and a special Project Room exhibit by Doubleparlour. 

MayOddfellows

Oddfellows is a collection of new character work by UK artist and steampunk aficionado Doktor A, and dark art monster-maker Chet Zar. Oddfellows is an expression of how despite their vastly differing styles, both Chet Zar and Dok A are essentially doing the same thing – using inhuman forms to illustrate the human condition. In spite of their gas-mask faces or giant mechanical moustaches, each artists creations are, at heart, just regular joes with lives, wants, dreams of their own. By using non-human characters, each artist is able to force the viewer to focus less on the superficiality of human form and bias and more on the details of each character’s existence.

As Doktor A says, “Even though our respective creations believe themselves to be quite ordinary they are of course quite extraordinary…as are we all.”

MayPinkEye

The Stranger Factory Project Room will be showing Doubleparlour’s newest exhibit of hand-crafted resin figures, Pink Eye. This exhibit features Doubleparlour’s trademark monsters, mutations, and animal hybrid characters experiencing the full range of familiar human emotion.

From pain to pleasure, and joy to dismay; by exploring human emotion through familiar but inhuman forms, Doubleparlour give us the opportunity to see what we might just look like on the inside.

Chet Zar is a renowned monster-maker and character artist whose work has been seen in “The Ring”, “Hellboy I & II”, “Planet of the Apes” and critically acclaimed music videos for the art metal band Tool.

Doktor A is one of the most well-known steampunk character artists in the world, and his work has set the industry standard for mechanical gentlemen. His characters have been produced by multiple companies including Arts Unknown, DYZ Plastic, and Kidrobot.

Doubleparlour is Ernie and Cassandra Velasco, a husband and wife artistic collaboration living in San Francisco, CA.

(Press Release by Steve Brown – contact Steve at unklesteve@gmail.com for more information and high resolution images)

A recap before the April Opening

  • by

For the past month, we have been bringing you updates, news, and a multitude of images from the upcoming shows by Scott RadkeStephan Webb, and Kathie Olivas. While the last touches of paint dry and the finishing edits on the preview are done, we thought  we’d recap a few of the pieces we covered. Knowing how we operate, you might want to pay attention for some images you may have not seen yet. Just a warning to keep a good eye out. :)

Hopefully this will hold you over until the preview comes out tonight!

A few more Olivas paintings for Scout

Picture 1 of 15

 

Circus Folk: Rad collections with Radke

  • by

Charity Sparks Radke Cat

Scott Radke‘s “Interface”, opens at Stranger Factory in just two days, and the anticipation for the show is growing by leaps and bounds! To get us in the mood before the preview email arrives tomorrow, we are bringing you another edition of Circus Folk, with an emphasis on collectors with stunning Scott Radke pieces in their collection. This will hopefully hold us all over until we see his glorious sculptures for Interface!

Without further jibber jabber, here are some amazing Radke works from years past.

From Doktor A's Collection

Picture 1 of 10

Scott Radke’s  “Interface” opens April 5th at Stranger Factory along with Kathie Olivas‘ “Scout” ”, and Stephan Webb’s “Evolutionary End Game”. An opening reception will be held on April 5th from 6-9pm.

 

It’s almost time for Kathie Olivas’ SCOUT!

  • by

Calliopes

OH MYYY! As George Takei would say…

Brandt dropped a sneaky pic of two hand painted Calliopes that Kathie Olivas is working on for Scout!. Look at those doe eyes and little horns, and I am loving the striped legs too, of course! It looks like they are making a short term home in the Migration exhibit before they say goodbye to their friends.

Look for more detailed shots when “Scout” opens April 5th at Stranger Factory. An opening reception will occur April 5th from 6-9pm, and Kathie will be present.

But that’s not all, folks. We also have more information on the release of …The Red Death Vamp Greeter!
RVDG
This awesome new Skelve with a bright crimson mask and “greeter” style body will be a low edition of only 15 at $240 each. They’ll be available at the SCOUT opening, and we’ll keep you updated if there will be any left for online sale. Get those F5 finger exercises in, just in case.

Stephan Webb’s Machinations

  • by

Good Friday has come and gone, and now we’re preparing for Even Better Friday at Stranger Factory, where we’ll open three solo shows by Kathie Olivas, Stephan Webb and Scott Radke!

For now, here’s another look at the amazing machinations of Stephan Webb! This bronze sculpture has a truly stunning amount of detail, and most of them probably aren’t even easy to capture in a picture! I love the blend of industrial-fantasy in this work, and I can’t help but marvel at the miniature pulleys and knots.

IMG_8846 (3)

Webb is one of the most distinctive new voices coming out of the Albuquerque art scene these days, and we are proud to have him showing at Stranger Factory. Come and meet him, shake his hand, clap him on the back, and buy him a drink or a doughnut this Friday(April 5th) at his opening reception for Evolutionary End Game, from 6-9pm!

april fools, horseheads and yoyo’s.

  • by

We tried to think of some clever April Fools jokes, but we ran out of time, and I remembered that I don’t like April Fools Day much.

Ummm…Brad’s pregnant?

Anyway, we felt that this was as good a time as any to dig up Steve Brown’s yoyo performance at Stranger Factory, because he has an impressive and well groomed beard(I love well groomed beards), and the video is funny. We recommend staying until the end, because that’s the really wonderful part, and not just because you can hear Brandt and Kathie dying of laughter in the background.

365yoyotricks.com – 2/27/12 – Serv-o-matic from Steve Brown on Vimeo.

Aside from yoyo-ing around fragile store merchandise, Steve Brown is also part of our press team(he writes all the press releases and coordinates a bunch of other media related things) AND runs Steve Brown Gallery, an upstanding online gallery establishment. Steve is currently holding an exhibit of Paul Escolar’s original ink works, which are fascinating – so check them out! As Steve writes, “Escolar explores Bay Area party culture in a way that is at once aggrandizing and wholly unflattering. The romance is very much gone in this series of ink drawings depicting the excess of youth and the price of being cool.”

Happy April Fools’ Day! No one’s pregnant. No one’s dead. No one’s getting deported. Chris Ryniak has not started making butt jokes on the internet. Amanda Spayd has not started dressing like a lumberjack. Brandt and Kathie are not starting a Stranger Factory franchise in Juneau, Alaska. DrilOne has not decided to trade in rust effects for 19th century Impressionism.

I am still a grump and I still hate April Fools Day. Cheers.

 

Scott Radke sends in the Pink Clown

  • by

pinkclown-

We have seen many forms and shapes for Scott Radke‘s “Interface””, and now we have another resplendent creation that is simply jaw dropping. Titled “Pink Clown“, this sitting jester is adorned in an elaborate stripe and swirl burlap cloth design, lending to its rough-edged medieval feel. The trademark sculpted face is amazed and bewildered as it gazes upon a lush and delightfully detailed gold ornamental egg.  The appeal of this piece will stretch many boundaries, and there is still more to come from Scott.

pinkclown-detail

Scott Radke’s  “Interface” opens April 5th at Stranger Factory along with Kathie Olivas‘ “Scout” ”, and Stephan Webb’s “Evolutionary End Game”. An opening reception will be held on April 5th from 6-9pm.