Travis Louie

Recap: Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!

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OK so SPECTRUM RECAP! In case you missed the earlier coverage, the Circus Posterus caravan (Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Travis Louie, Chris Ryniak and Archer Dougherty) rolled into the fine city of Kansas City, MO, for the first-ever Spectrum Fantastic Art convention. Held at the Kansas City Convention Center from May 18-20th, the show was essentially an offshoot of the annual mag, celebrating the cream of the crop of the contemporary art community.

Not surprisingly, the level of talent in Bartle Hall was unprecedented: more than 200 creative professionals from all over the globe exhibited at the event. But that didn’t stop the Circus from making its presence known, with some fans lining up as early as 6am and most editions selling out in the first 15 minutes. (Biznass.)

Talking toys specifically, Spectrum saw the introduction of the Frostbite 4 Legged Masao and the first resin Calliope Jackalope handpaint from Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. Travis Louie brought along a trio of gorgeous custom Stan Skelves and Chris Ryniak let loose some custom Bubblegut and Crumbeaters.

And there was also some pretty sweet surprises: do you see what I see below?

IS THAT AN ULTRA SQUID GIRL?!

Indeed, it is! I’m going to wager that it’s one of the resin editions and details on this project will emerge soon. A Classic Stingy Jack, Octopus Girl and some Ghostly Stans also made an appearance. Seriously: I’m jealous, Kansas.

And if that wasn’t enough, the 2D art was off the hook, as well: small original paintings, drawings and prints from each of the artists. A nice change of pace; here’s hoping we see more of this at future cons.

That’s a wrap for this year! There’s a whole whack of event photos below and also via the gallery. Enjoy!

Green Blood Charity Group Show @ Dorothy Circus Gallery 6.14

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Opening next month at Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome is Green Blood, a charity group exhibition benefiting Greenpeace and Oceana — organizations that focus on the preservation of nature and its wildlife. Curated by Alexandra Mazzanti and Tara McPherson, the bill includes CP’s master of class, Mr. Travis Louie, along with the formidable Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. Joining them are:

Tara McPherson, Jeff Soto, Martin Wittfooth, Lola, Brandi Milne, Leila Ataya, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Roland Tamayo, Ana Bagayan, Scott Musgrove, Yosuke Ueno, Sergio Mora, Dave Cooper, Paolo Guido, Afan, Alessia Iannetti, Anastasia Kurakina, Gary Baseman, Ixie Darkonn, Mr. Klevra and Corine Perier.

That’s some serious heat and for a great cause. I have no eye candy yet, but will be sure to share the goodness as soon as it hits my inbox. Green Blood opens June 14th with an opening reception starting at 7pm. Show’s until July 20th!

KO & BP’s Frostbite 4-Legged Masao for Spectrum 5.18

And the juicy teasers continue to drop: Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters have a whole tickle trunk of tricks up their sleeves for Spectrum, including the debut of the Frostbite 4 Legged Masao. Oh the mayhem … *steeples fingers* … >:)

Pretty much loving everything about the Frostbite; the eyes, the colour: it feels like it’s been ages since we’ve seen a hand painted blue release (I’m more partial to this than the indigo resin). If this edition is being handled in typical CP fashion, a handful of the Frostbites will be at the Con, with the rest releasing online or through the messageboards at a later date. Stoked over here.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live is on this Friday through Sunday at the Kansas City Convention Centre in Kansas City, MO. Event’s in Bartle Hall and CP is stationed at booth #919 near the main stage. CAN YOU HANDLE IT?!

Travis Louie’s ‘Three Amigos’ Stan Customs for Spectrum 5.18

Yep. This here would be the personification of shit getting real: frantic crowds, elbows flying, hopefully a good Crisco Twister wrestling match right in front of the booth. … Right. Sorry. *Straightens glasses.*

A few days ago Travis Louie hinted at having a few custom Stan Skelves with him at Spectrum this weekend and hot damn, here they are, hanging out in the Travis Louie Specter Studio, getting ready for their trek to Kansas City.

From the sounds of it, these will be the only Stan customs offered at the Con; a handful of regular ‘Ghostly’ editions will also be available. Pricing on the customs is TBD but Ghostly is $200, to give you an idear.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live is on this Friday through Sunday at the Kansas City Convention Centre in lovely Kansas City, MO. Party’s in Bartle Hall; the CP booth is #919, near the main stage. Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Chris Ryniak and Archer Dougherty will also be there for the action so stop by and share a weird story.

*To those who cannot attend, there is Kleenex on my desk. We’ll get over it. Eventually. *Sniff* ;)

Beware, Kansas City! CMR’s Monsters are Coming for You!

Chris Ryniak‘s pint-sized army of critters for Spectrum is wrapped up and ready for action! The mini Bubbleguts, mini Crumbeaters and regular Crumbeaters are each an edition of six and customized lovingly by CMR. You’ll find them crawling about the CP booth (#919), probably nibbling on the corners of prints or sleeping in a pile of t-shirts. Be early, folks — these are always the first to go!

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live kicks off May 18th through the 20th at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, MO.

 

Stan Skelve Customs from Travis Louie for Spectrum 5.18

Man, Spectrum is already shaping up to be a killer con, what with beautiful handpaints from Kathie, Chris and now Travis Louie. A handful of custom Stan Skelves will be up for grabs from Mr. Louie, including one similar to the custom Stan from the Bewitching Halloween show, and an amphibian-type that looks “straight out of Avatar.”

Travis will also have small paintings and drawings on hand for anyone looking to sex up their wall space. Prepare to sprint to booth #919 if you want to be one of the first to add these coveted pieces to your CP collection!

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live kicks off May 18-20 at the Kansas City Convention Center (Bartle Hall). Party up in hee-yah!!

Chris Ryniak’s Custom Critters for Spectrum 5.18

Kicking off the Spectrum hype is none other than lord of the critter himself, Mr. Chris Ryniak, who’s bringing a small army of minions with him to crawl about the CP booth (#919).

These are not only small in size, but also small in quantity:  we’re talking six Mini Bubbleguts, six Mini Crumbeaters and six regular-sized Crumbeaters — two handfuls, essentially. And apparently they all look really good as a set *wink* *nudge* *honk*.

And yes, that is a decapitated Crumbeater that you see below … can you guess which one he is in the top photo? ;)

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live opens May 18th through the 20th at the Kansas City Convention Center (Bartle Hall). Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Travis Louie and Archer Dougherty will also be there for the party.

Circus Posterus Gears Up For Spectrum!!!

Spectrum Fantastic Art is celebrating its first-ever convention later this month in Kansas City and the Circus is hitting the road to scope out the action!

Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Chris Ryniak, Archer Dougherty and Travis Louie will be hanging out at the CP booth (#919), right near the main stage area (don’t get any ideas, guys). Like most Cons, they’ll probably have a little bit of everything on hand … and like most Cons, it’ll disappear in a flash so shuffle to their booth quick-like!

Sneak peeks and WIP shots to come. Spectrum Fantastic Art Live kicks off May 18th through the 20th in the Bartle Hall in the Kansas City Convention Center. Directions, membership info, exhibitor list and all that jazz can be found here.

A Preview of Travis Louie’s ‘Secret Pet Society’

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Grips & Otis, 2012, acrylic on board, 12 x 9″

Travis Louie’s new solo show, ‘The Secret Pet Society’, opens this Wednesday at William Baczek Fine Arts and we’ve managed to get our hot little hands on a few sneak peeks in anticipation of the event. Tendrils and tentacles, sods and swamp things … they’re all here and compliments of the  fantastically fashionable and hyper-realistic realm that is Travis Louie’s imaginarium. Enjoy!

The Secret Pet Society opens May 2nd through June 2nd. A reception with the artist will be held May 5th from 5pm to 7pm. A print release of ‘Julia and her Swamp Friend’ (below), will coincide with the event.

Julia & Her Swamp Friend, 2012, acrylic on board, 20 x 16″

Julia discovered him while she was collecting red-spotted salamanders in the swamp behind her parent’s farm house. She mistook the crown of branch-shaped tendrils on its head as a thicket of dead birch trees. The creature turned out to be quite harmless.  She named him Phil and took him home as a pet. Feeding Phil became a problem as he continued to grow. When she first brought him home, he was quite large at 8 feet in length. As the years passed, he grew to an unmanageable size of 35 feet and consumed about 100 lbs of trout and salmon each day. Just to take care of him, she started her own fish hatchery. He eventually outlived Julia and she included him in her last will and testament. Her grandchildren inherited both the fish hatchery and Phil.

Billy & the Mystery Sod, 2012, acrylic on board, 7 x 5″

It Grew From the Brambles, 2012, acrylic on board, 14 x 11″ 

Miss Lucy & Her “Hat Monkey”, 2012, acrylic on board, 14 x 11″

The Reluctant Bee Keeper, 2012, acrylic on board, 10 x 8″


Travis Louie & Glenn Barr for Lyric 2 @ 323East Gallery

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Glenn Barr’s second spin of his popular LP-inspired art show, Lyric, opened last weekend at 323East Gallery in Royal Oak, Michigan. Much like last year’s exhibition, participating artists were appointed the task of creating a 12×12″ piece of art (i.e. the size of a record cover) inspired by a song of their choice.

For Travis Louie, it was all about Sheb Wooley’s 1958 classic, ‘Purple People Eater’. His interpretation of said beastlie is captured above in graphite. (It’s also still available — grab it here!)

Glenn Barr’s choice was a bit more current — an acrylic on wood piece inspired by Velvet Underground’s ‘Lisa Says’. The piece is sold.

Other artists participating in the show include Luke Chueh, Camilla d’Errico, Revok, Brett Amory, Eimi, Matt Eaton, Beau Stanton, Ron Zakrin, Tom Thewes, Tristan Eaton, Chikuwaemil, Shojonotomo, Mark Heggie, BASK, Ray Domzalski, Jeff Soto, Rick Morris, Chet Zar, Mark Dancy, Joey Seeman, THH70, Bryan Cunningham, William Wray, Davin Brainard, Daniel Peacock, David Diavu Vecchiato, Robert Nixon, Matt Gordon, Casey Weldon, Erik Otto, Martha Rich, John Dunivant, Derek Hess, Chris Dean, Dan Armand, April Segedi, Made514, Chris Reccardi and more!

Show’s on until May 21st; stop by if your travels take you through the fine state of Michigan!