Belinda and friends bear witness to the Second Coming (L)John Purlia is an avid collector of curious things. Little Kewpie dolls, plastic toys, vinyl records, lunch boxes, gumball machine prizes and everything that appears to be just a little bit off. John’s obsession for collecting is pristinely organized throughout his entire home. Walking through you would understand why, John in 2004, decided to embark on a photographic journey documenting and assembling hundreds of objects into one thematic portrait. Of course, John's collection might take a lifetime to capture on film.
John Purlia celebrates this Fourth of July holiday weekend at the Pannikin Coffee & Tea Gallery in La Jolla with his latest collection appropriately titled, “Seven Signs of the Kewpie Apocalypse.” And its, “No wonder!” John has painstakingly organized his favorite collection into a Kewpie universe that seems to take a page out of “The Divine Comedy.” You know, that epic poem writte by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his untimely death in 1321. And much like Dante’s chapters of Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, John developed his Kewpie inspired allegory.
