Audio By Carbonatix
Keep Phoenix New Times Free
We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures New Times can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
Imitation may be the sincerest form of artistic flattery, but a copy is always better when it’s adulterated. Take Warhol’s eye-popping print of 30 fluorescent-colored Mona Lisas or the tasty bacon version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night found on a popular DIY website. Yum.
This type of creativity – minus the perishable pork fat – is encouraged in the world of vinyl toys. Blank figures are crafted with the idea that other artists will cut, carve and paint them to produce an entirely different toy.
Wisconsin-based artist Scott Wilkowski literally impregnated six recognizable art toys with his own ideas for “Skin Deep,” the inaugural exhibit at Lulubell Toy Bodega. Created in a limited edition of 50, Wilkowski’s collectibles sport realistic skeletal structures visible through a clear outer shell: for example, Luke Chueh’s cute “Possessed” bear gains exposed ribs and fangs, while Suckadelic’s “Sucklord” is transformed into a villain reminiscent of He-Man’s arch-enemy, Skeletor.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 12-5:30 p.m. Starts: Dec. 9. Continues through Dec. 30, 2011
