Here's my piece for Gallery 1988's comedian tribute show Is This Thing On? Please click on it for a much bigger and clearer version! This show is the biggest in the gallery's history with over 100 artists featured, so to keep things orderly some subject matter was assigned and I was asked to portray the 2001 comedy Wet Hot American Summer. At first I was a little intimidated because I wasn't overly familiar with the movie, but once I realized they were essentially trusting me to cover over a dozen comedians instead of just one it really gave the piece a sense of importance for me.
As I mentioned in my last post I had a lot of trouble actually shipping this piece to the gallery, so I won't repeat that story here. But I will mention all the other cool news I've received:
First, here's a mention of the show on slashfilm that features my piece, as brought to my attention by Chris from Cubeecraft.com
Second, the amazing Chogrin, head honcho of the Autumn Society, attended to show's reception and took this awesome photo of comedian Paul Scheer pointing to my piece! You probably know him best from the VH1 shows like I love the 80s.
Cooler than the photo itself is the fact that this is such an awesome gesture from Chogrin. So cool that he took this photo for me!
And lastly, I just received an email from the gallery saying how their efforts to make this their biggest show ever were a complete success as they have gotten nothing but glowing feedback. Celebrities stopping by the show included Paul Scheer, Rob Huebell, Chris Hardwick, Sarah Silverman, Jeff Ross, Jerry O'Connell, Nick Kroll, Lake Bell, Martin Starr, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Cera, Kevin Nealon and Doug Benson.
In a separate email I was told that David Wain, a comedian you may remember from the Comedy Central show Stella, (and writer and director of Wet Hot American Summer) saw my piece and loved it, and apparently it got him excited to get involved in a W.H.A.S. anniversary show at Gallery 1988's new Venice location! I really couldn't ask for a bigger compliment than that!
Amazing things happen every time I'm involved with Gallery 1988 shows so I can't thank them enough. Please do yourself a favor and check out all the other amazing work from this show here and here.
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ReplyDeleteBen-
ReplyDeleteI was at the show opening and your piece looked even better in person. And i feel your pain about getting your piece to the show. For me there was some kind of delay with the printer so i got my pieces late (even though i paid for expedited shipping)and then the frame i sent, broke and damaged the print in it... and i didn't have time to send another so they just hung one of the additional prints i sent on the wall in a plastic sleeve. But it was still awesome to participate and i can't wait to contribute more work to G1988. Check out my piece if you get a chance. I'd love to know what you think! I posted a link to it below...
John Candyland
I'm someone who found you through Front Mag and I really like your work, especially this one.
ReplyDeleteIts also quite a relief to find that someone else has heard of W.H.A.S. as I thought I was the only one to have discovered this masterpiece.
Thanks for makin my day!