Pressing Matters

Found two articles on the Internet about G1988:LA that I dig.



First is the coverage of Kathie and Brandt's current exhibit at the Examiner.com. You can read that by CLICKING HERE, but more importantly you can stop by G1988:LA still to see this awe-inspiring exhibit.

And then, there's nothing like foreign coverage.



If you speak Portuguese, check out the coverage on this Brazilian site for our Masters of the Universe show by CLICKING HERE.

Also, I hear we're in WIRED magazine this month, so I'll follow up on that immediately.

Wait here.

Jensen
G1988:LA

Action!

We usually only post about 15% of the press we get for our shows - and we usually focus on the attention we get from outlets that don't usually, or have never, covered art in our genre before. So we were stoked, and quick to post, our coverage in this month's Action Figure Digest for the "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" show that kicked off 2010 here at G1988:LA. Amongst the toys!



YEAHHHHH!!

Jensen
G1988:LA

He-Clan

During our "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" exhibit we were lucky enough to debut 4 t-shirts which were collaborations with clothing line Clandestine Industries. We only had a limited number of the shirts, which themselves are limited to less than 125 each), while the rest were to be available at a later date on Clan's website, ClandestineIndustries.com. Well, now they are available!



You can now purchase these shirts by clicking here. Incredible designs by Jeff Boyes, Andrew Wilson and Dave Perillo, and they'll only last for so long.

Jensen
G1988:LA

LAST DAY!

It's your last day to see the He-Man Tribute show....oh, how we'll miss it.

Check out this incredible feature from our friends at Electric Playground.



Jensen
G1988:LA

Engrish

Entering the final week of "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," is a tough time to be working in the gallery. The fact that we built Greyskull in here is pretty special, and I'm having trouble letting it go. But yes, it will all be gone this Friday. But before then, we wanted to point out another great press clipping from this weekend. This one from AOL's Asylum...



You can read the article, which includes quotes from artists Johnny Sampson, Ben Strawn and Kiersten Essenepreis, by CLICKING HERE.

Another thing that does ease the pain of destroying Greyskull88 - it makes way from the Grass Hut invasion!



"Glass Hat," an exhibit that will feature artists from the collective "Grass Hut," will open on Thursday, Feb 4th, with an opening reception from 7 - 10 PM. It will feature artwork from Grass Hut artists, Bwana Spoons, Martin Ontiveros, Le Merde, Apak, Justin "Scrappers" Morrison and Arbito, but also feature GH affiliates Shanggs, Shawn Wolfe, Gargamel, David Horvath, Kiyoshi Nakazawa and John Black. Going to awesome! Wanna know more about Grass Hat and the show? I asked the guys to break it down for us...and here's what I got:

Imagine a club house (or hut) made of beards, fluorescent paint,
driftwood, plastic toys, beat up skateboards, swimming suits, colorful
string and bottle caps. That's Grass Hut!

It all started with Bwana Spoons. He made art that inspired us all. He
invited us to show art with him, he's the reason we came together.
Scrappers, Le Merde, Martin Ontiveros, and Apak have come to be know as
Grass Hut.
These artists have helped Grass Hut grow by curating group shows, teaching
each other how to make toys, making websites for each other, painting
murals, working the shop counter, shipping, answering email, making each
other laugh with fart jokes, and by having the kind of fun that informs
the work we do.
Grass Hut is a gallery/shop/studio located in Portland, but all the
artists involved have turned it more into a colorful wildfire of
creativity that has spread throughout the tubes of the internet connecting
artists from around the world.
Beyond the brick and mortar of the Portland location, Grass Hut grows in
the work done by it's extended family: Arbito, Snaggs, Shawn Wolfe,
Gargamel, David Horvath, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, John Black and You make this
whole thing more important then the people involved.
Now it's about the spirit of stoking each other's creative fires and
making art that reminds everyone to have fun.

Glass Hat is a mistranslation of Grass Hut from a translation site our
friends in Japan used. The first time I got an email from Chanmen (of
Gargamel) and it said Glass Hat I shit myself with laughter.

Glass Hat at Gallery 1988 is our chance to take all the fun we've had
making Grass Hut a creative playground and explode.

Expect fresh original paintings, one-of-a-kind custom painted toys,
special print editions, and collaborations of all shapes and sizes.

Told you....sounds awesome, right? This week I'll get you some previews too. In the meanwhile, just imagine goodness.

Jensen
G1988:LA

More Press

Wanted to just do a drive-by and mention two of my favorite new pieces of press about the "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe."



The LA Times gives the shout-outs and a nice nostalgic walk through the He-Man brand. You can read this by CLICKING HERE.



Do you know German? Cause I don't. At all. So if you do, let me know if this article loves, or hates us. You can read it, or just stare at it in confusion, by CLICKING HERE.

Jensen
G1988:LA

Sworded

Things have been crowded here at "Under The Influence: Masters of the Universe," with tons of people coming and in of the gallery everyday, wanting to check out our version of Castle Greyskull. Figured I'd swing by the blog quickly and give my favorite examples of the massive amount of press we've gotten for this show.



One of my favorite websites, LAist, marked the exhibit as one of their weekly must-see's. You can read that by CLICKING HERE.



LOVE the LA Weekly blog article about the show. You can read that by ">CLICKING HERE.



And as I've said before, my favorite press to get has always been in outlets that never cover art shows in our genre. And a perfect example of that is popular gossip site, PinkIsTheNewBlog. Trent swung by, picked up some amazing pieces and talked about it. Thanks, Trent! You can read that by CLICKING HERE.

Anyway, there's more press out there, but these are just some of my favs. Google away if you want to see more. And make sure to swing by this month and hang out in the Castle.

Jensen
G1988:LA

He-Did

Holy cow! Last night's opening reception for "Under The Influence: He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe" was insane! There was literally a line for 2 blocks ALL NIGHT LONG. For the first time in our 6 year history, we stayed open almost an hour after the advertised closing time, purely so we could get everyone into the gallery.





We are stoked people thought the gallery's transformation into Castle Greyskull was as awesome as we thought it was. Here are some pics...


















This show will be up through January 29th, so you have some time to stop by and hang out in the Dungeon.

And if you haven't seen the show online yet, you must! Lots of incredible paintings and prints still available. You can see the entire show and availability of the pieces by CLICKING HERE.

We will be open tomorrow, Sunday, from 12-4 PM, which is rare because it is (and probably still should be) our day of weekend rest. But we have the power!

Jensen
G1988:LA

Bring The Walls Down

Back in the gallery installing our next show "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" which will open THIS FRIDAY night, from 7-10 PM. And the entire gallery will be transformed into Castle Greyskull, which is most likely something that no one has ever said before. That whole process starts tomorrow. In the meantime, figured what better time to give you more previews.

First up, in addition to Alex Pardee's big Skeletor piece which was unveiled during Comic Con, the man himself created a handful of small watercolors depicting some of his other favorite bad guys. Here are 3 of my favs...



Triclops



Clawful



Faker

Fresh off her awesome 88point5 show, Allison Reimold depicts her version of the classic good vs. evil battle - He-Man vs. Skeletor. This one is incredible in person...



And fresh off his outstanding success during the LOST Underground Art Project with his Crash poster, Eric Tan switches up the style with an edition depicting Battlecat. This is an INCREDIBLE print and they'll sell out fast. TRUST ME.



For the first time at Gallery1988, artist Project Detonate delivered a fresh piece of everyone's favorite pest, Orko. We hope to work with Detonate more in the future, cause this is one of our favorite pieces in the show.



Kiersten Essenpreis is basically batting 1.000 at this point. Every piece is more witty than the next. here she shows us what He-Man and Skeletor might do on their days off, focusing on some major grooming tough spots...





Another new-to-1988 artist, Australian Meggs, has contributed a stunning piece - as this isn't the first time the artist has pulled influence from the toy line/cartoon.



Staring at these pieces, and MANY more, sitting on the floor right now, waiting for Greyskull to be built, is a pretty fun way to past the time. I tell you. All for this Friday! More news coming about this show, including a possible toy reveal that involves one of your favorite shows on a certain network that airs cartoons.

AND, one last thing. We want to thank everybody who voted and Kid Robot, as their 2009 Robo Award Winners were announced and Gallery1988 was named "Outstanding Art Gallery" of the year!



We are total flattered and stoked. Thank you guys and we hope to have 2010 not let you down (win, it won't, wink).

Jensen
G1988:LA

Buzz-A-Brewing

Our friends at Cartoon Brew ran a story about the upcoming "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" show and figured we'd share it with you. Not to mention it gives you a nice little peak at Chogrin's piece. And why stop there? Here's the whole piece...



Back to paradise...

Jensen
G1988:LA

Eve

I'm currently enduring the last 10 minutes of the LOST Underground Art Show (and its accompanying year and a half of work) - and the last 10 minutes of my work year for 2009 here at the gallery. At 4 PM PT, we will close up for 2009 and take our yearly Holiday break both in LA and SF. Been an incredible year where our industry has taken a major hit (along with anyone selling basically anything), but with some crazy unexpected turns, we've had our most successful year yet. We couldn't be more thankful, and more specifically we couldn't be happier to be closing 2009 with the LOST show here in the gallery.

And before we take off, as Katie and I both will be spending some time in Mexico (albeit separate cities), we wanted to remind everybody about our HUGE show on January 8th, Friday night, opening from 7-10 PM. With our partners at Mattel, we'll be opening our annual "Under The Influence" show, this time honoring the incredible 1980's toy and cartoon property, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The work for this show is mind-numbingly awesome. I can not believe how EVERY artist has stepped up to pay tribute to such a fun honoree! Figure some last minute peeks were in order...



Ken Garduno takes a swing at the notorious bad guy, Skeletor.



While Gabe Lanza built up both sides in his own toy-making vision.



Johnny Sampson poses with Skektor, who is striking quite the pose himself.



Ayami Kawashima makes her return to G1988 after selling all her Crazy4Cult pieces, this time taking aim at the high flying Sorceress.



Actual Garbage Pail Kid artist Layron DeJarnette channels two 80's icons into one, with his GPK-inspired depictions of Beastman and Trap Jaw. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you guys this is a serious dream come true.



N.C. Winters continues to just get better, and totally blow my mind.

Again, write the date down! January 8th, 7-10 PM. We're also transforming the gallery into Castle Greyskull with Mattel and Pretty in Plastic, so you have no excuse. It's going to be awesome.

Have a great Holiday Season! And remember, both galleries will be closed through January 8th, when the LA gallery with open the Masters of the Universe show. But you can email us at gallery1988@aol.com for LA inquiries or gallery1988sf@gmail.com for the SF location.

Jensen
G1988:LA

The Power

2010 is so close. I can feel it. Which means we're just a few weeks away from our newest installment of "Under The Influence," the annual show where we work hand-in-hand with a major influence on the artists we work with to create a tribute show in their honor. Past honorees have included the Walt Disney Company, Stan Lee and Beastie Boys - and this year we partnered with Mattel to tribute He-Man and the Masters of the Universe! Still can't believe this is happening!

The show will open Friday night, January 8th with an opening reception from 7 - 10 PM and it will NOT want to be missed, TRUST ME. We're working with Mattel to create quite a Grey scene in the gallery for the show. And the artwork is incredible - and so many new names in the show to introduce you to.



Bill Carman



Alessandra Fusi



Audrey Pongracz



Jeff Boyes (print)

Our friends at SlashFilm.com ran a story about the upcoming show today....



CLICK HERE for that article, which features almost 20 more pieces that will be seen in the show!

You should not miss this show. It's a wonderful way to kick off 2010 with your sword to the sky!

Jensen
G1988:LA

Admit

I'm the first to admit I'm prone to hyperbole. But not because I don't believe what I'm saying. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

But after getting our first piece for 2010's "Under The Influence: Masters of the Universe" show, I have to say this:

Robert Burden's piece for this show is the best piece we've ever shown.

That's the truth. Battlecat has never looked so good.



The detail in this oil painting is just mind-blowing. There isn't much I can say that isn't blowing your mind right now while looking at the picture...except for this -



That's Robert next to the piece. Holy cow. Absolutely epic.

Not sure your brain can take anymore....but if it can, here's a time lapse video that Robert made showing the creation of this beast in 420 man hours! I'd pay $10 to see this in a theatre. It even has a sequel tease at the end.



I am so amped to pay tribute to He-Man and the Master of the Universe alongside Mattel in January 2010. And you should be too! Thanks to Robert to stepping everybody's game up! Going to be incredible.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Announced

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to our Book Signing for the Travis Louie book, "Curiosities." Big success! Travis surprised all with some paintings and new sketches and some people went home with some Travis originals! Big thank you to Travis who did the whirlwind that is Comic-Con to promote the book, then drove with me and my girlfriend back to LA (he ate Jack in the Box for the first time) in order to partake in last night's events. When Katie and I wanted to do our first book, there was really no other option. Travis's paintings, and insanely cool character descriptions, were just a no-brainer for us. And we hope you all get to see the book and see how cool everything turned out. We do have some of our G1988 variant cover editions left (few, so act quick). These are super limited (we're selling less than 100), are signed by the artist and come with a free signed and numbered giclee print. $30. Same as the retail cover, which we have too! Call us up quick though if you want the 1988 cover, cause that's moving fast. (323) 937 - 7088.

That is our first book and our first partnership with Baby Tattoo. If you stopped by the Baby Tattoo booth during Comic-Con you realized what our second book is going to be. For those who weren't able to see it...



"Igneus Gero (The Book)" collecting the works of Luke Chueh, spanning 2003 - 2009. His first book!

And while we're on announcements, if you swung by the Mattel booth - you saw our other announcement, letting you know who 2010's "Under The Influence" honoree will be. This means that come January, over 100 artists will pay tribute to someone/something in their own styles. Past tributes to Walt Disney, Stan Lee and Beastie Boys have been huge successes. And sure to be falling right in line...



Gallery1988 & Mattel presents 

"Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe"
January 2010

We're giving artists the opportunity to bring He-Man and the cast of characters up to 2010 and into their own styles! Hard to breathe while typing that. Big props to Alex Pardee who created Skeletor to celebrate the announcement, and supplied us with what is the first piece for the show. You just wait until you see what this show is going to be like...and what the gallery will look like. By the power of...

Jensen
G1988: LA
Jensen
G1988: LA

Con and After

2 small announcements as you pack your hand sanitizer and start the trip to Comic Con. First, you can find out who the next honoree will be for our annual January Under The Influence show by visiting booth #3029. It's a pretty awesome announcement, and a pretty awesome little sign announcing it. We'll let you all know after the Con. AND when you stop by the Baby Tattoo booth #601 to check out the Travis Louie book we published with them, look for a collectable postcard announcing our next book. You'll even want the postcard. This one is gonna be HUGE. It's only 5 years in the making.

Soooo....you're not going to Comic Con? That's ok. You'll miss men and women dressed as their favorite Anime character, but you won't miss out on the release and ballyhoo of our first book (co-published by our friends at Baby Tattoo). At the Los Angeles gallery we will be having a release party for Travis Louie's book "Curiosities," where artist Travis Louie will be in the gallery signing books and meeting fans! This will be on Tuesday night, July 28th, from 6-9 PM. This will be your opportunity to buy the book and pick up the exclusive G1988 variant cover version, which will come with this giclee print below, "Pumpkin Eater," signed and numbered by the artist. This whole edition will have under 100 available and produced.



So with that, I ask you to keep walking and not hold up everyone behind you as you walk through Comic Con, cause some of us are fighting anxiety. And SEE YOU TUESDAY!

Jensen
G1988: LA