sculpture

Stranger Factory Presents: Andrew Bell & Kelly Denato’s THE GREAT ESCAPE, April 6th

Ladies, gents, freaks, geeks and neighbourhood gentle giants! I hope you’ve been saving your pennies because April is turning into quite the big deal here in CP land. You’ve been hearing plenty about Circus Posterus’ Japan group exhibition, Monsters & Misfits II, along with Amanda Louise Spayd’s solo show, Forgotten Finery, at Rivet Gallery. But it doesn’t stop there: crashing smack-dab in the middle of the action is The Great Escape from Andrew Bell and Kelly Denato, kicking off April 6th at Stranger Factory. The dynamic duo are blowing into town to show off their newest 2- and 3-dimension works and given the WIPs and teasers that have been circulating around the web these past few weeks, it’s going to be a doozy (fingers crossed for no site crashes this round!). Here’s a snippet from the press release:

The debilitating feeling of heartbreak; the self-destructive spiral of past emotions and memories; the overwhelming feeling of social suffocation — they’re the less gracious experiences in life that we all inevitably encounter and Andrew Bell and Kelly Denato bring them to the fore in The Great Escape – an exhibition of new drawings, paintings and sculptures from the Brooklyn-based artists.

Combining tragic humor and delicate elegance, the artists wade the terrain of a new reality: a reality of pushing forward after shedding the skin of a previous life – be it a love left behind or old fears and insecurities now put to rest.

Many creatures in nature possess innate defense mechanisms – poison, quills, ink, spots, stripes, white winter coats. People on the other hand must create them. Oftentimes it’s not a predator we are trying to evade but ourselves; we are bundles of electricity, blood, and spirit – constantly moving, feeling, thinking, sweating, breathing. Our bodies are both containment and confinement.  The circumstances that keep us contained, confined, and safe are as thin and delicate as ribbons. – Kelly Denato

Very exciting stuff is in store for us next month! Enjoy the handful of Great Escape preview images below and stay tuned for more sneaks in the coming days!

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!

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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!

Scott Radke’s Second Totem is All Stacked Up and Ready to Paint

Yeah, so like I was saying: Scott Radke doesn’t waste any time. Following last week’s teasers of his second totem commission for actress/producer Nathalie Rheims, comes the next (and final) creatures for the piece, which look to be a rabbit and goddess. I love the movement of this piece  and the liveliness of these creatures despite the totem being a static sculpture. The hunch of the raccoon from all of the weight, the goddess teetering on top … just incredible. Very excited to see it all painted up. More photos to come!

‘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!

The Maker Wins Audience Award @ SXSW Poster Competition

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Huge congratulations to Zealous Creative and our own Amanda Louise Spayd for winning the Audience Award at the SXSW poster competition for The Maker! While there were many strong entries, the striking peculiarity and charm of Amanda’s ‘Maker’ puppet (and beautiful, embroidered logo) were enough to sway the judges and secure the short film a triumphant win. Attending SXSW this weekend? The final screening is TONIGHT (!!) at the Alamo Lamar C from 7:15 to 8:48pm. SXSW is on until Sunday.

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!)