Showing posts with label Comic-Con San Diego 2011. Show all posts

Comic-Con Booth 4833—artist exclusives

Comic-Con 2011 is moments away, officially kicking off on Tuesday with the installation of a new booth with Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson, Friday Night Art Reception, tShirt exclusives, art contests and all around goodness. Booth 4833 will be displaying one-of-a-kind zines, books and originals. And knowing that there are many choices throughout the San Diego Convention Center and beyond, I thought to provide a breakdown.

+++Booth No. 4833+++

Where all the magic happens. Ten years in the making, Murphy Fine Art books continues to collaborate with emerging creative talent. This year is no exception, offering signed books by Jeff Soto, Ray Caesar, Tim Hussey, Mark Murphy and more.

Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson will be offering one-of-a-kind prints, zines and comic novelties. After all, they have been creating award winning comics together for two decades and ever since they learned to draw.

+++Lucid Dreams Comic-Con Reception, Friday, July 22, 6—10PM+++

“Lucid Dreams” features 32 fine artists from around the world representing a variety of artistic pursuits including: comics, folk, surrealistic and the avante-garde. Artists include Mark and Esther, Marc Bell, Marc Burckhardt, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Jonathan Viner, Kevin Paulsen and many more. Noel-Baza Fine Art Gallery in the heart of San Diego’s Little Italy will play host just minutes from the Convention Hall featuring great eats, drinks and nightlife. Sponsored by KANON organic vodka with guest thirst quencher Jarritos.

+++Comic-Con Exclusives+++

This year was a year for creative tShirt fashion. Ten years in the making, new tShirts will be offered at Comic-Con created by Mexcican designer Técui, Los Angeles based pervasive artist Gary Baseman and Brooklyn based fine artists Ryan Wallace and Joseph Hart. Screen Machine printed the goods and men’s and women’s sizes are available. Check ’em fast as they are sure to sell out quickly.

+++Framed Art Originals+++

Original art works, framed and prints will be made available in support of my earlier show “Plug Me.” Other-worldly creatures take an introspective look at worldly condition and jockey for survival. Stop by and take a look at over 50 original linoleum block prints, letterpress pieces and woodblock prints.

+++Lucid Dreams Gallery Hours+++

Yes, visual overload will be in full effect. Take a break from the ‘Con, enjoy an Italian soda or capuchino and head over to Noel-Baza Fine Art Gallery in Little Italy Wednesday through Sunday 12PM through 6PM each day with a Comic-Con reception on Friday from 6PM—10PM. Inspired work is available for your private art collection featuring 32 fine artists and over 70 original pieces. Florabella inspires with floral beauty, also a community sponsor.

+++O+ Positive Festival founder Kevin Paulsen+++

Saturday, July 23 please stop by Comic-Con Booth 4833 to learn more about the O+ Positive Festival created to assist creatives with healthcare and immediate health needs. Kevin Paulsen, from Kingston, NY has traveled to San Diego to share his vision, invite creatives to participate and join in. You can learn more here too.

+++Jarritos Flavor City Art Contest+++

Yes, there is information for an art contest available at Booth 4833 and it is open to all creatives who are looking for an opportunity to create an eye-catching work of art in any medium to express their flavo’ feelin’ of Jarritos. (You know that bold taste originated from the south of the border—lime, mandarin, mango and more. Check out the info here or stop by Booth 4833 and get the low down.

+++Community Goodness+++

I love Comic-Con and feel the need to represent. More and more folks that I meet from SD have yet to experience Comic-Con. Welcome to San Diego, a sleepy town that is happy to move you to the front of the line. Enjoy the town, enjoy the event and “put it in the bag!—Comic-Con.” “Oh yes! Stop by Booth 4833 and say hello! Mark, Esther, Natasha, Kevin, Jillian, Mark and Tasha want to say hey too. Plus we’ll sign some shizz.”

Comic-Con Booth 4833 Limited Edition T’s

San Diego Comic-Con is a great time each year. Murphy Art Books (Murphy Design), booth 4833 will feature one-of-a-kind T-Shirts by Gary Baseman, Joseph Hart, Ryan Wallace and Técui. Screen Machine is cranking on the t-shirts as we speak and I am preparing original block prints, framed art and high-quality books for the 4 day comic’s festival kicking off Wednesday, July 20 and running through Sunday, July 24.

This year, I will be sharing the booth with Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson who are creating original zines and art pieces. This once in a lifetime event will attract many artists from around the world and to celebrate—“Lucid Dreams” opening to Comic-Con on Friday, July 22 at 6PM moments away from the convention. So check it out, jump in and be a big part—sweet dancin!

Mark Todd’s Force Field Fireworks

Fourth of July holiday weekend 2011 kicks off with a bang, as Mark Todd presents his love of comic book abstraction at the La Luz de Jesus gallery July 1. Mark’s latest is entitled, “Force Field” and features a well-constructed array of experimental compositions that pay homage to the Silver Age of Comics and his love of boyhood explosives. The exhibit’s centerpiece, “Power Fury,” is a dimensional fireworks display, complete with artistic firepower.

Mark Todd, originally from Las Vegas, began creating comics in his bedroom at an early age and has never stopped. In fact, you can see many of Mark’s characters reintroduced in his works today. And among the nostalgia, hammering of nails, painting and perfecting the show Mark took time out to answer a couple of questions.

mM : Did you play with fireworks as a kid, growing up in Las Vegas? Any stories?

MarkTodd : Here’s a story for you...The Fourth of July was a really big deal for me and my friends. My best friend's Dad was a Vietnam Vet and would stockpile hundreds of illegal fireworks throughout the year. He would spend thousands of dollars on fireworks each year. He worked for a sand and gravel company and on the 4th we would all convoy out to the middle of the Vegas desert where the gravel company had mountains of sand and dirt. All the kids would take to the sand piles and all hell would break loose. Bottle rockets would be whizzing by, m-80's, jumpingjacks, even stadium explosives would be going off over our heads. By midnight there would be small brush fires cropping up and then this huge explosion from a stick of "dynamite" that someone had brought—lit with a delayed fuse, of course.

We all slept on the dirt hills or in the trucks we drove out. In the morning we would wake, crusty and sore and clean ourselves up by blowing off the dirt with an air compressor hose. You know, the ones that the tractors, trucks and heavy machinery used at the site. Once we all jumped into the scooper of a bulldozer, and were raised up in it while the driver powered over sticker bushes and boulders. Insane…!

mM: What inspired you to create your own fireworks stand “Power Fury”, complimenting your new exhibition happening at La Luz de Jesus July 1?

MarkTodd : Growing up in Vegas, these plywood firework stand would pop up overnight on every other corner. When I grew up there was still a lot of open desert, things in development. You could still ride your bikes around town and find jumps, forts, lizards and snakes. The stands would usually be on a corner of an undeveloped lot, selling overpriced legal fireworks. But if you drove out of town, past the county line you could find the good stuff—bottle rockets, roman candles, things like that. I’ve wanted to build a fireworks stand for along time. It just seemed like a great canvas to be creative with. All the colors, the names, the childhood memories.

The name “Powerfury” came from an Iron Man cover. "The power and the fury". Recently, I had a show in NYand decided to combine the words to create a new word that conjured up something strong and maybe a bit threatening. But like a lot of my work, what you see is not always what you get. There’s humor there. I kind of like the idea of something that takes its self too seriously, appears tough but when you look closer you see more to it, you see the sad ghosts, the pinks and all that.

mM : Please describe your approach to Force Field, your upcoming show at La Luz de Jesus.

Mark Todd : For this show I am continuing the exploration of altered comic book imagery. Mostly from the marvel silver age although some pieces stray from that. There will be new paintings and works on paper ranging in scale from comic book size to large works over 60". A free-standing 6 foot wide fireworks stand will be the ancho. I have never created a 3-d piece this large or with so much detail and feel that it’s probably my strongest work to date.

mM : Did you focus on a specific issue of comic for this show?

Mark Todd : There’s a lot of Spider-Man in this show. I really got into using the web patterns and liked how he has no facial features. For this show, a distorted spider-man face came through in a lot of the pieces. Works seem to be a bit more "melted" —more drips, neon colors in contrast with a stark paint pallette.

mM : Any new books in the works?

Mark Todd: My latest book is called "Superuseless Superpowers." It was a lot of fun to work on. I didn't write it.

And I have a brand new website dedicated to my gallery work— powerfury.com. It’s a collection of all the reinvented comic pieces i have done thus far—over 125 pieces.

Fun interview and thanks to Mark Todd exhibiting “Force Field” at La Luz de Jesus July 1 through July 31 featuring drawings, paintings and a 6’ installation. You can see the entire show in person by heading over to 4633 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles. And you can see a new painting in the “Lucid Dreams” exhibition this summer, as well as check out Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson at booth No. 4833 at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. Enjoy your holiday weekend.

Lucid Dreams featured Artists & Counting

Tasha Kusama

Over the past 12 years, I have had the great pleasure of curating dynamic art “happenings” that have showcased over five hundred unique artists and hundreds of performers from around the world. The key attributes for sustainability has been the ability to attract artists who consistently evolve individualistic virtuosity and to captivate the curiosity of the art’s community.

Marc Bell

Life-long partnerships with artists, friends, businesses and associates have been formed. A dedicated group of individuals who recognize the importance of the arts as a compelling stimulant for life-changing experiences.

Tim Biskup

Marc Burckhardt

Looking back and reflecting upon—Guapo y Fuerte (San Jose), Outer Space (SD), Utopia (Los Angeles), Heaven and Hell (SD + Philadelphia), SuperHero Western Show (SD), Dialogue/the fine art of conversation (Santa Monica, Charleston, SD), Green (Santa Monica), SuperHero (SD 1/2), Scribble (SD), Art Now (SD), KNOW (Miami), Aqua (Miami), Survey Select (SD)—I can offer passionate testimonylife’s work that has barely begun. In fact, it is a personal goal to consistently archive and celebrate living artists who are impact our world, provoke meaningful exchange and instigate animated conversation.

Victor Castillo

Jorge Catoni

And like all of the years before, I’m proud to curate a new exhibition that introduces 30 fine artists from around the world who can be described as unconventional, eclectic and forward thinking.

Hugo Crosthwaite

Date Farmers

Mathieu Desjardins

Alejandro Diaz

Rai Escalé

“Lucid Dreams” is a new exhibition taking place in San Diego July 8 through August 9 and featuring: Marc Bell, Tim Biskup, Marc Burckhardt, Victor Castillo, Jorge Catoni, Hugo Crosthwaite, Date Farmers, Mathieu Desjardins, Alejandro Diaz, Rai Escalé, Linh Hoang, Jim Houser, Marianela de la Hoz, Tim Hussey, Tasha Kusama, Ludovic Boulard Le Fur/Loubard, Daniel Munoz, Joel Nakamura, Billy Norrby, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Kevin Paulsen, Artemio Rodriguez, Matt Rota, Bonnie M. Smith, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Matt Stallings, Gary Taxali, Mark Todd, Aaron Della Vedova, Jonathan Viner, Marco Wagner, Esther Pearl Watson, Megan Whitmarsh, Nicholas Wilton, Marco Zamora and more. Curated by Mark Murphy (that’s me) and two major exhibit openings—Friday, July 8, 6 to 11pm and again during Comic-Con on Friday, July 22 from 6 to 11pm.