Idiot Box @ Gallery 1988

There is so much great television out there today, I can barely keep up with all of the shows i'm watching. To honor this golden era of TV, Gallery 1988 is throwing an art show celebrating all things that beam into our homes via the Idiot Box!

1993 was a great year for a kid like me. I was super into video-games, and didn't have much time or interest in the television if a video game system wasn't hooked up to it. But in September of 1993, I discovered a new appreciation for the box in my family room.

As long as I can remember, i've always had a fascination with UFO's and little gray beings with big black eyes. Whether it was shows like "Sightings" and "Unsolved Mysteries" or movies like "Communion" and "Fire in the Sky", I was convinced that at some point in my life, I was definitely going to be abducted by aliens and there was nothing I could do about it. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition, but a guy can dream! On September 10th, 1993, this 13 year old kid and his dad sat down on a friday night to watch what would become my favorite TV show of all time... The X-Files!

To say I was obsessed with The X-Files would be an understatement.  I'm officially a card-carrying member:

I even attended an X-Files convention, where I got to sit at Mulder's desk! Though I may not look thrilled to be there, I promise you I was:

I went down to Hollywood to the Virgin Megastore to meet Chris Carter:

And then... my dream came true where I got a leading role in an episode of The X-Files... I was "Popcorn Vendor #1" in the episode "The Unnatural"

Me on the left, my friend Victor on the right... 

As you can see, I'm a HUGE fan of The X-Files, and I have been waiting for the right time to create an X-Files piece in my High Fidelity series. When Gallery 1988 invited me to be a part of this new Idiot Box show, and with the X-Files back for a 10 season recently, I knew now was the right time. Here's my artwork for the show!!!

To purchase this print, click HERE!

Along with prints, I like to do something special for the show where I mock-up a framed record. For the records I usually like to find something related to whatever the piece is about, so for this one I actually had found this vinyl record years ago:

And here's the framed artwork available only at Gallery 1988:

The record label contains a tracklist made up of my favorite episodes from the first 5 seasons!

To purchase this one-of-a-kind piece, click HERE

"Idiot Box" opens Friday, May 13th at Gallery 1988 West. There's a ton of great work in the show, so come on out and help us celebrate the golden age of television!

"Idiot Box"

Friday, May 13th, 7-10pm (show runs through May 28th)

Gallery 1988 West

7308 Melrose Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90046

www.gallery1988.com 

Alien Next Door Early Release @ NYCC2015

You guys, This is EXCITING! My new book, "Alien Next Door" will be available for early release EXCLUSIVELY at New York Comic Con this week!

Swing by Titan Entertainment's booth located on the show floor at Booth #2142 and grab yourself a signed copy. I don't even have a copy yet, so you'll get one before I do!

I'll have a more in-depth post on this book closer to it's official release on November 4th, 2015. For those of us not fortunate enough to attend NYCC, you can pre-order the book on Amazon by clicking HERE!

Storytime 2 @ Gallery 1988!!!

Last year I held my first solo exhibit at Gallery 1988. It featured 50 pieces inspired by some of my favorite Movies, Music, TV Shows and Video Games, all done in the Little Golden Book style. Well, it was a huge success, so they've asked me to come back for "Storytime 2"!!!

Opening Friday, November 6th, 2015 and running for 2 weeks, Storytime 2 will again feature 50 BRAND NEW pieces inspired by more of my favorite Movies, Music, TV Shows and Video Games. This is a very exciting time of year for me, with a few more fun announcements coming up. Stay tuned here and i'll be posting previews of the new artwork from the show! You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where I'll also be posting previews from the upcoming series!

Preview images will be added to the post leading up to the opening, but mark your calendars, and come on by!

"Storytime 2" @ Gallery 1988 (East)
Opening Friday, November 6th, 2015 7-9pm
7021 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://www.gallery1988.com
http://www.jo3bot.com

Coming soon...

It's been a VERY busy year... luckily I have some awesome things to share here over the next few weeks! Expect some stuff soon!!!

"Is This Thing On? #4" @ Gallery 1988

Once again, Gallery 1988 is celebrating the art of Comedy. The past year has been a rough one for comedy from the passing of Robin Williams, to the downfall of America's once-favorite sweater wearing Jell-o salesman-turned-terrible-human-being.

So let's head into 2015 with a celebration of all things funny!

2013 saw the release of one of my favorite comedy duos from the 90's, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar. In 2012, Conan and the Conandos unleashed their hit album "Team Coco"... and now, in 2015, Playhouse Records presents:

To purchase this artwork, click HERE

"Wish? Did Somebody say wish? Playhouse Records presents the new hit album "Scream Real Loud!" from Pee-Wee and The Playhouse Gang! Come on down to The Playhouse and join your friends Conky 2000, Cowboy Curtis, Pterri, Globey, Magic Screen, Jambi the Genie, Captain Carl, Mr. Window, Randy, Mapy, the most beautiful woman in Puppetland Miss Yvonne, Chairry, Dirty Dog, Cool Cat, Chicky Baby, and of the big man himself, Pee-Wee Herman! Everyone's invited, so come on in, and pull yourself up a chair, and don't forget, when you hear today's secret word, SCREAM REAL LOUD!"

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The 80's were a pretty incredible decade. They brought us such wonderful things such as He-Man, the weird gray death of Optimus Prime, a super creepy dad who created a robot daughter... Alf, Garbage Pail Kids, The Oregon Trail, and way more... needless to say, the 80's were AMAZING!

One of my favorite things to happen in the 80's was that Paul Reubens was allowed to bring his super-creativity from the stage to the television and make a lot of kids happy. Pee-Wee's Playhouse was (and still is) mind-blowingly creative and unique. I was obsessed with this show as a kid... My wife and I have recently been going through the series again on Blu Ray and it's really awesome how timeless this show is. If you instantly wanna feel like a kid again, just put this on (It's streaming on Netflix!)

This is a time machine. It was transport you back to the 80's and it's EXCELLENT.

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Pee-Wee not only played an important role in my childhood, but as an adult, he helped change my life forever! The Pee-Wee Herman show came back to Los Angeles in 2010.  I had gotten my hands on some tickets to see the show at Club Nokia... I had recently met this lovely girl Kristin through some friends and I was REALLY digging' this fine lady. I asked her if she'd like to go with me, She said "Heck yes!", and that was our first date... 2 short years later, that lovely lady and I would be married! So... Thank you Pee-Wee!

Kristin and I with the new Cowboy Curtis (sorry Morpheus)!

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I always like to create a one-of-a-kind framed album when I do these pieces for those out there that may want a special, unique piece of artwork. I usually try to find a record that connects to the artwork in some way. Since a vinyl soundtrack of the show was never released, I included the first album from an artist who was uncredited with singing this intro theme song:

This song WILL get stuck in your head... you're welcome. 

It's very fitting that she would sing the intro song.

To purchase this framed artwork, click HERE

"Is This Thing On? #4" opens Friday, February 20th at Gallery 1988 West. There's a bunch of really great artwork in this show, and these openings are always a fun time! Come on out and say hi!

"Is This Thing On? #4"

Friday, Feb. 20th 7-10pm (show runs through March 14)

Gallery 1988 (West)

7308 Melrose Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

http://www.gallery1988.com

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And remember... we all know what to do when you hear today's secret word?

Crazy 4 Cult 8: Back In LA!

Another year has flown by, and it's time for Crazy 4 Cult to return, but this time, it's returned home to the loving arms of Los Angeles.

A few weeks prior to the show opening, I was asked by Gallery 1988 if I would be interested in creating the poster for this years show. 4 years ago I was first invited to be a part of this show that I loved attending. I never imagined that 4 short years later, i'd be creating the main image that encapsulates this renowned gallery exhibit.

My first pass at a title treatment.

It's a huge honor that they would ask me to create this poster, so I knew I wanted to do something very different than what i'm known for in the Gallery. Something that looked unique and iconic, something that subtly referenced the 80's, but felt at home in 2014. Normally, i'd start with a sketch or writing down a list of movies I wanted to include in the piece, but I started with the title, to get the feeling across I was going for.

Character lay-ins for composition

Next up, I gathered some iconic images of characters from movies that I wanted to include in the poster image. I laid them all out in the composition that I felt worked best. The next step was to then create the final artwork over this "sketch". The final poster image is hand drawn (in photoshop...) using this image as the template.

To purchase this 18" x 24" poster, click HERE

After cleaning up all the line work, I added in some Los Angeles specific elements as well as lightning bolts because lightning is AWESOME!

In addition to creating the poster image, I have another entry in my "Storytime" series based off of one of the weirdest, deepest, and most interesting movies i've ever seen...

To purchase this print, click HERE

Crazy 4 Cult is a Gallery 1988 tradition that i've been thrilled to be a part of for the past 4 years. If you stopped by the opening, thanks for coming out! If you're in the Los Angeles area between December 12th - 28th, and you love unique film art, you'll definitely want to check it out!

"Crazy 4 Cult 8: Back In LA"
Dec. 12th - 28th
Gallery 1988 West
7308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.gallery1988.com 

Thirty Three and a Third @ Gallery 1988

This show is pretty awesome, and i've done something a little different for it, but still very close to my heart. For this show now open at Gallery 1988 (East), artists were asked to recreate some of their favorite album covers in their style. I knew immediately which album I would choose to do for the show, the only problem is... it's not really an actual album, and it doesn't really have an actual album cover (though there is a fan created cover that has become the standard).

Songs From The Black Hole... where to start. If you're a Weezer fan, then i'm sure you've heard of this lost gem. After the huge success of Weezer (The Blue Album), Rivers Cuomo decided he'd follow up perfection with a very deep concept album with a sci-fi theme. Well, things changed, Rivers changed, and ultimately Songs From The Black Hole was scrapped. Some songs were moved over to their new album, Pinkerton, while some songs got locked away in the vault.

Prints are available by clicking HERE

A few songs were released as B-Sides from Pinkerton, and slowly over the years, more songs started leaking out. There are some incredible songs on this "album" and hopefully someday it gets it's time to shine. For more information about this rock opera that was never meant to be, click this link HERE.

Below are a few tracks that I love from SFTBH... sit back, relax, and imagine what could have been...

"Blast Off" This track opens the album and blew my mind the first time I heard it.

"You Won't Get With Me Tonight"

"Superfriend" This was written as a duet, it has an incredible melody. 

"I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams" This ended up as a Pinkerton B-Side, love that moog.

"Longtime Sunshine" Depending on the tracklist, this closes the album, and is pretty excellent.

Thirty Three and a Third is open now at Gallery 1988 East and closes December 21st. There's a ton of amazing artwork in this show from some incredible artists. Definitely don't miss it!

"Thirty Three and a Third"
December 5-21st
Gallery 1988 East
7021 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
www.nineteeneightyeight.com

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I've been a big Weezer fan for years. I even got to hang out with them at the Playboy Mansion for the day... (A.K.A. one of the best days of my life!) You can see a 25 year old me at the .44 second mark...