This article is from
Thrillist Atlanta
An artist's vision can take on bizarre forms: there was the controversial feces-dotted Virgin Mary collage in NY a few years ago, which was nothing compared to the painting with the farmer standing outside his house. Y'know, with that wife of his? And the pitchfork?!? Man, that was messed up. Unafraid to push the creative envelope, Urbn Pop.
The nom d' art of a dude who dropped out of AIA in protest when it dropped illustration for Photoshop classes, Pop turns out kooky, cartoon-styled work using recycled or reclaimed materials, which he oddly claims are entirely motivated by his feelings towards "America's most-collected living artist", QVC regular Thomas Kinkade, whom he "respects as a businessman", but also hates, probably because he sucks. The twisted fun starts with horror-inspired wood block paintings like "Hellraiser" (w/ cartoony, 3D-needled Pinhead) and "Nightmare on Elm Street" w/ a bug-eyed Freddy, handmade toys like robots made of automotive parts, and the highlights: stuffed animal heads like a Care Bear and Winnie The Pooh mounted on wooden plaques -- see what happens when you grow up, Christopher Robin? See what happens?? He also remixes existing paintings and photos by adding comic-style illustrations, as with "Batman" (drawn hanging upside down over a B&W aerial photo of warehouses), and various vintage record covers, including a green triple-eyed goon drawn over the Care Bears movie soundtrack, and a 45" with a three-eyed purple shark about to gobble a showgirl called "The Follies of Paris", which you've already seen, in really bad night-vision.
UP's also peddling tees with monsters posing together around "Urbn Pop" text, plus the first issue of a comic series, featuring a rabbit named Oswald and a dead bear named Hank with arrows in his back -- controversial, yes, but not nearly as bad as that sculpture of the dude who's just sitting there thinking...quick, cover the children's eyes!!!
Follow Us
Thrillist on Facebook