August
22
Kevin Smith Throws Crazy 4 Cult Art Show
[Posted by Peter Debruge]
Hey kids, if you're in Los Angeles, don't miss Kevin Smith's new Crazy 4 Cult show tonight at Gallery 1988 (right next to Golden Apple on Melrose).
This is the second annual go-around for the mad-popular group show, in which dozens of top underground artists have their way with cult movies. This year's crop features tributes (Shepard Fairey takes another pass at They Live, with its subliminal "Obey" billboards), mashups (Jay and Silent Bob enter the Stand by Me universe in this painting) and very loose riffs on everything from Edward Scissorhands to The Big Lebowski to Snakes on a Plane. There's even a Fargo woodchipper homage! And who knew The Wizard of Oz was a cult movie? (Click either of the posters to see how many characters you can identify.)
In another city, a movie-themed show might seem low brow even to the low-brow art scene (that is, those pop surrealist painters who haven't caught on with the New York gallery world just yet), but here in Hollywood, a jamboree like this is playing to its target market, and Jensen Karp (who co-owns the gallery) has outdone himself, bringing in pieces from the likes of Brandon Bird, Mark Bodnar, Sas and Colin Christian, Luke Chueh, Joe Ledbetter, Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters and Yoskay Yamamoto -- just to name a few faves.
Seriously, this is the place where art geek and film geek meet. I did the walkthrough this afternoon as Kevin, Scott Mosier, Jonah Hill and Pete Wentz cherry-picked the paintings they couldn't live without. As curator, Smith gets first dibs (tip to future Crazy 4 Cult participants: include Jay and Silent Bob in your submission, and it's sure to sell even before the show opens). He passed over Scott Campbell's cult-movie tree (since the Clerks duo isn't in there), but I couldn't resist.
Rest assured, there's plenty of genius stuff left -- this is Gallery 1988's densest group show yet, with even more creative work than you've seen in their superhero-, videogame- and toy-themed round-ups in the past. The festivities begin at 7. It's sure to be a madhouse, so show up early if you hope to buy, or saunter back sometime before Sept. 12 for a more relaxed gander. Check out all the artwork here.
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