Kusakabe Folk Museum

Misfits Touch Down in Japan and M&MII Preview Info!

  • by

Mr. Shinji Nakako over at Tomenosuke-syoten received a most wondrous box of sculptural beauty from Brandt and Kathie a few days ago. Looks like everything arrived safely, which is a relief (though not a surprise: KO = Uline Queen). Feel free to scroll, stare, lick the screen, etc. I’ll wait.

… OK, the next important thing is the highly anticipated preview info, direct from the Tomenosuke blog:

Local collectors attending the exhibition on April 13th get first crack. Afterwards, all remaining pieces will be available online at midnight on April 14th, Japan time. North Americans, this will be the Saturday morning for you — queue up that time zone calculator! More info will be released as we near the date!

Monsters & Misfits II opens April 13th at the Kusakabe Folk Museum in Takayama, Japan.

 

More Monsters from Kathie and Brandt

  • by

The landslide of Monsters & Misfits teasers continue, with this batch coming from Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. I’m digging the four-legged Masao cat, the Pink Bird and Lucky Lolli, but Brandt’s custom orange Kuma totally steals this round. The cartoon-style gloves, bronze Stingy Jack staff and painted eyes bring such character to the sculpt and the overall engineering behind it is fantastic.

Ha, this is cool — almost like a Lucky Skull set in jello. We’ve seen Brandt and Kathie experiment with embedding objects in the past (remember the Freyja? How bout this guy?), and I’m hoping the idea comes around more frequently. It’s impressive how snugly the Lucky Skull fits and the congealed look of the resin around the skull adds a cool haziness.

Since the Living Between Worlds show at G1988 two years ago, I’ve ached to see more of these wild branch mutations. Finally the ‘gloves’ on Elizabeth make sense — they’re more twig-like than anything, and damn, with branches like that she must stand at least 12 to 14 inches. Beautiful piece (and seems Pink Bird agrees!).

Monsters & Misfits II is presented by Tomenosuke-syoten and the Kusakabe Folk Museum. The exhibition kicks off April 13th in Takayama, Japan.

 

Mini Honey Skelves from KO & BP and Pre-Japan Sale Info

The newest addition to the Skelve family is the Mini Honey Skelve, who made his debut last week as part of Japan pre-release sale with Tomenosuke-syoten. Needless to say, these — along with all of the other editions — sold out in less than a minute and left fans on this side of the globe wondering when they’d get their hands on these golden grails. Well, good news: CP’s having a Japan fundraising sale as soon as the rest of the stock shows up. Here’s the lowdown straight from KO:

The minis: Once we get this show shipped out we’ll be painting the next round of mini masks for these guys–12 will be chase versions similar to the dark one in the picture (above right)…

We will start selling our Japan Fundraiser items as soon as they all arrive—hopefully next week!
Without ruining too much of the surprise we will be offering a limited number of the following:

5 print set (8×10″ screen prints) featuring Amanda, CMR, Dok A, BP, KO
Honey minis (ed. 100)
CMR tshirt (to be revealed)
Mini resin set (tba)
+ a few surprises…

Folks, it’s time again to spend our allowances. More info as soon as it’s released!

This Year, Ryniak’s Going BIG!

  • by

Real big. And with quite a few of his pieces, actually. Unfortunately, Chris’ camera skills still need a bit of work and his hand got in the frame. Or maybe the critter wouldn’t hold still (I can only imagine the ruckus in his studio when he brings home a box of doughnuts). I guess a full reveal will have to wait … but I’m digging the candy stripes!

Monsters & Misfits opens April 13th!

‘I Brought Dessert’ by Amanda Spayd for Monsters & Misfits II

Ten inch legs. One and a half inch diameter eyes. Thirty inches tall. And in-freaking-sane. Amanda Louise Spayd appears to be the next queen of Lizzie customs. She made waves with her first Lizzie and Junior for Dragon*Con two years ago and we’ve all been waiting with baited breath for her to revisit the platform. Suffice to say,  ‘I Brought Dessert’ is a knockout and the Kusakabe Folk Museum has yet another breathtaking piece on its way to them for Monsters & Misfits II. Less than a month till opening night!

Custom Elizabeths & Stingy Jacks from KO & BP for Monsters & Misfits II

After documenting much of the M&MII progress via their Instagram account, Kathie surprised fans on Flickr with two beautiful shots of custom Elizabeth and Stingy Jack sculpts that are getting ready for their long trek to Japan. The vintage-style wash against the rich colors is striking. I also thought it clever that the duo used a similar palette on all of Brandt’s Stingy Jacks: the heads on these figures are interchangeable and it plays to that well.

Monsters & Misfits II kicks off April 13th and runs through April 30th at the Kusakabe Folk Museum in Takayama, Japan.

What Happens When You Steal a Bubblegut’s Ice Cream

You have to hand it to Chris Ryniak for his mastery of the tragicomical. I mean, this is ridiculous: this guy’s pout is so deep that his chin and forehead probably hurt, while for us it’s our guts from laughing. This is the freestanding Bubblegut we first glimpsed a few weeks back, and what’s funny is that his gut was so big that Chris had to shave some of it off. Poor little beast … I wonder when he last saw his toes. Anyway, we’ll see this fella with all of his friends at Monsters & Misfits II in Japan. Exhibition kicks off April 13th!

A Murder of Misfits are Ready to Ship

We’ve got a new batch of Instagram goodness compliments of Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters at CP HQ. Looks like everything here is finished up and ready for shipping to Japan. That rabbit totem and bird cage Elizabeth really are something else. Everything here is, actually — mutation has always been a predominant theme for this exhibition but I’m particularly thrilled with all of hand-sculpted elements added to some of CP’s classics. Last year’s mash-ups where a hell of a trip and did incredibly well, but there’s something more fetching about a figure that’s evolved from a new batch of clay. For me, it better showcases an artist’s talents and where they’re at stylistically. It’s what I connect to personally — to each their own — and I’m loving what I’ve seen from all of the artists this year.

(The zombie reindeer and rabid Crumbeater are pretty freaky though, haha!)

Amanda Louise Spayd Wraps Up Monsters & Misfits II

  • by

With the shipping deadline right around the corner, Amanda Louise Spayd is putting the finishing touches on her pieces for Monsters & Misfits II. After all the sewing, sculpting, painting and spraying, it’s just a matter of sticking cute little clay faces on cute little dumpy bodies. From what I’ve heard, she’ll have about 7 pieces at the show, ranging from her little sack dudes to Skelves to a custom Lizzie. Oh, and lots of candy. Sounds like a whole lot to squee over, I reckon!

Monsters & Misfits II opens April 13th and runs through the 26th at the Kusakabe Folk Museum in Takayama, Japan. Amanda, Chris Ryniak, Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters will be in attendance.