Above the Radar II

Above the Radar II opened this past Saturday night at The Fridge, in Washington DC. Curated by Luna George, this exhibition has travelled from Crewest, in Los Angeles, and contains more than 100 works of art by over 40 artists!

Featured artists include: 2wenty, 4sakn, Bash, Bron Theron, Bytedust, Caleb Aero, CANLOVE, Champ, Chor Boogie, Contra One, Crash Manson, CS Navarette, CYFI, CYRCLE, Daniel Perez, Defer, Deih, DENZ One, Dersk, Destroy All Design, Drast, Dread, Dril One, Each, Else, Lydia Emily, EnikOne, Enoe, Eone, Ezra, Heaven, Homo Riot, Hungerman, Hydra, INEPT, IROK, Jeanette Paredes, Jero, Joe Iurato, John Carr, JTS, Julietta XLF, JW Pippen, Kophns one, Man One, Mar, Mas, Max Neutra, Mear, Meex, Michael Pizarro, Nils Jawa, Nineta, Phers, Phever, Pichi & Avo, Political Gridlock, Pose 2, Revel, Rick Rodriguez, Rome, Sand One, SCOTCH!, Sergio D, Shai Dahan, SMEAR, Steve Martinez aka Pablo Jimenez, Such, Thomas the Messenger, Two Rabbits, Valerie G, Vanae Rivera, Victor Malagon, and Vyal.

The gallery at The Fridge looks fantastic- I so wish I could have been there... Here are the critters after they were unpacked, along with the awesome paintings and plush toys of Bytedust:

A few photos during the set-up for the show:

Oliver looks happy on his pedestal!

In addition to the gallery portion of this show, many of the artists also have merchandise for sale in The Fridge's retail shop. I got to send over ten of my new monster necklaces- yay!

On 6 November 2011, there was a mural workshop with the artists Else, Dread, 4sakn, as well as curator Luna George, at “The Bridge Spot” in Garfield Park on Capitol Hill, near The Fridge.

Luna George and Alex Goldstein, Gallery Director, will be at The Fridge to give a curators talk the following Sunday, on 13 November 2011 from 2-4pm.

Above the Radar II runs through 3 December 2011. If you are planning to be in the DC area- come check this show out!

The Fridge
Rear Alley
516 1/2 8th St SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.664.4151

Gallery Hours
Wednesday–Thursday: 12pm–7pm
Friday–Saturday: 12pm–8pm
Sunday: 1pm–5pm

Photo credits: Luna George

Critter Fall Schedule

I'm still hoping to experience fall this year- how about you? It's awfully difficult to picture the colors of changing leaves and the nice, crisp weather when the temperature outside is 102! Grrr! It's definitely during times like this that I miss my fellow New Yorkers and the awesome autumn weather...

The monsters were so warm, they got lost looking for ice cream:

Regardless, the critters will be very busy this fall- I've included their schedule as of 1 October. Maybe if we all hope really hard, autumn weather will come!


Houston Area Events Coming Up:

1 October 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


17 October – 5 November 2011 (Exhibition)
21 October 2011 (Auction)
24th Annual Dia de los Muertos Retablo Auction and Exhibition
Lawndale Art Center
http://www.lawndaleartcenter.org/


5 November 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


12 November 2011
Avenue CDC: Art on the Avenue
http://avenuecdc.org/art-on-the-avenue/


18-20 November 2011
Spacetaker’s Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM)
http://www.spacetaker.org/wham


3 December 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


Out of Town Events:

1 October 2011
Mission: Munny Show
Lift Designer Toys and Art Gallery
http://www.liftdetroit.com/events2


13-16 October 2011
Toy2R USA/Tenacious Toys Booth
New York Comic Con
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/


5 November 2011
Above the Radar Tour
(curated from Crewest Gallery, Los Angeles, CA)
The Fridge
http://www.thefridgedc.com/

Comicpalooza!

Last weekend, the critters and I shared a booth with Kristen, of Frilled and Feathered @ Comicpalooza.

What is Comicpalooza? It is Houston's answer to the massive San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) held annually, and it looks like it will be here to stay! This event brings together comic book and toy vendors, artists, television and movie stars, and of course, let's not forget the fans... Apparently, Comicpalooza began in 2008, and was originally held the lobby of the Alamo Drafthouse, with just a few celebrities. It has now grown to take over the third floor of the George R. Brown Convention Center, with 10,000 attendees and events held until 2:00 am!

We knew we were going to have a fun weekend when we saw this truck in the parking lot on Friday morning:

Our booth was in the Dealer's Room, and we met lots of awesome vendors there. It took all of our combined forces of self-control not to go crazy and buy everything in sight! Here are a few of our absolute favorite booths:

Bean Pot Toiz
San Antonio, TX

We loved the BPT family of Grego, Stacie and Kaylah! They were just the nicest peeps and had an amazing selection of designer vinyl toys and accessories. They are the perfect example of how the family who sells vinyl toys together stays together!

I loved this huge Rat Fink they had on display:

Bekyoot
Houston, TX

Diagonally behind us was Christy, from Bekyoot, the artist who creates all of Bekyoot's awesome designs. We just fell in love with her adorable critters, and she was a very sweet neighbor to boot:

Tribbletoys
Los Angeles, CA

How many times had I wanted my very own Tribble during that episode of Star Trek? Well... now I have my very own, and it's pink! The Tribbles also vibrate and make an adorable squeaking sound...

Giant Microbes
Los Angeles, CA

The Tribble guy also sold Giant Microbes, those plushie germs and blood cells that we all would like to love and call our very own...

He brought a huge and varied selection with him, and apparently decided to highlight the STD critters... too funny!

This is the first time Kristen and I have shared a booth- the critters have now become huge fans of her awesome Steampunk jewelry:

I brought LOTS of mini monsters, and many of them found homes with very nice people! I even had some glow-in-the-dark Zombie Monsters...

Here is the rest of the gang (and some paintings:

Fuzz the Undercover Pirate Bear and General Rusty Bunny enjoyed their view from atop Kristen's and Brent's living room shelves...:

The Lego exhibit in the Artists' Alley was truly amazing!

Gotta LOVE the dinosaur and the poor little aliens being held up:

Here is the Lego Man posing with two members from the "Adventures of the Travelling Sperm." I know... don't ask!

Finally, we had my favorite visitor to our booth at the end of the day on Sunday:

It was quite the experience! We spent most of our time (when we weren't chatting with customers) giggling and pointing out all of the awesome and outrageous costumes than many fans wore to this event:

Captain Jack Sparrow

This guy was awesome- he even walked like Johnny Depp! His wife said he'd been practicing for weeks, and it showed!




Stormtrooper

Stormtrooper now apparently has a family! This guy was very tall- and there were many Stormtrooper sightings of all sizes throughout the weekend...

Probably the most difficult part of the weekend was to keep from buying all of the cool stuff, and it was EVERYWHERE! I was pretty good, but I did purchase an adorable t-shirt and Berry Ninja from Bekyoot, and a medium pink Tribble from Tribbletoys. I also acquired a Munny Mobile and some other awesome vinyl toys from Bean Pot Toiz... How could I resist? I was also lucky to score a free Darth Vader Key Chain from McDonalds, and a coupon for a free frozen Strawberry Lemonade. Not bad, huh?


I will now close with some memorable fan quotes from the weekend:

"Chekov is MY Barbie!"

"I geek-out differently now, as opposed to how I used to geek-out..."

"Mmmmm-brains..."

And my most favorite...

"Hi, I'd like to inquire about adopting a monster..."