By Amanda Jane Miller For the Gazette
Tonight, during Charleston’s May ArtWalk, the Good News Mountaineer Garage Gallery on Hale Street will host a group exhibition unlike anything the local art community has seen before. The show, called “Pandora’s Toy Box: Customs for a Doomed World,” is curated by Chip Tatlinger and taps into the worldwide craze for customized vinyl toys.
The “urban vinyl” trend originated with Hong Kong-based artist Michael Lau and quickly spread throughout China, Japan, Europe and North America. More than simply a pop culture fad, this flourishing art movement brings together elements of hip-hop, street art, fashion and high-end graphic design in a realm highly supportive of collaboration between artists.
Tatlinger has brought this energy to Charleston by purchasing blank vinyl figures and handing them out to 28 local, national and international artists.
As the owner of St. Albans-based Marshhouse, an online retailer for contemporary, limited-edition art prints, gig posters, collectible art toys and other ephemera, Tatlinger strives to provide Charleston with quality, affordable contemporary art.
The inspiration for “Pandora’s Toy Box” began when Tatlinger discovered a mutual interest in urban vinyl with friend and local designer Mark Wolfe. As Wolfe’s dog, Pandora, pestered Tatlinger for attention, he began to contemplate what the evils of the Pandora’s Box myth would look like if conveyed and interpreted through toys.
“Mark suggested most of the local folk,” he said. “Through my poster dealings, I compiled a list of artists. Many of the poster people are ones I’ve been dealing with since 2004.”
“For quite a number of the artists, both local and otherwise, these were the first toys they’ve customized,” he continued. “I am very happy with the results.”
Keith Allen’s “Caught Red Handed” features a minstrel character that some people may know from his paintings.
“I see these toys as a platform for a character that’s really a personification of an aspect of your personality,” Allen said. “Taking a two-dimensional character to a three- dimensional medium was what excited me about this project.”
Most of the artists chose to develop a character or theme after receiving their toy. Sometimes the results seem almost reactionary, as seen in “War Piece” by Christopher Lands.
“To me, it was gut-wrenching,” Lands said. “I am far from a painter and don’t generally work well with three-dimensional things.
“I learned a lot, though, about working in a new medium, and I learned how to airbrush, so in that respect, it was a lot of fun and very fulfilling.”
A defining characteristic of urban vinyl is the small number of pieces produced. This presented a challenge for Salt Lake City-based printmaker Leia Bell, who created “Slothie.”
“I won’t lie — it was a bit difficult for me,” Bell said. “I am a printmaker by trade, so my joy in art comes from the process involved, the layering of ink on paper, and creating something with multiples. There is only one sloth guy, making him more difficult to part with.”
Don’t let all this talk about “toys” give you the wrong impression, though; these pieces are not intended for children. Use discretion before taking the kiddies into the gallery, too, as some of the pieces may be offensive. And, as Tatlinger notes on his blog (marshhouse
art.blogspot.com) “We’ll also be jammin’ some tunes, which might contain the F-bomb and other slang verbage.”
Tatlinger thinks “Pandora’s Toy Box” will shake up the status quo and provide a gallery experience geared more toward younger people in search of something out of the ordinary.
Indeed, there’s not a surplus of self-described “lowbrow” art to be found around town. Tatlinger’s initial reservations about how work like this would go over in Charleston have been allayed by the enthusiastic participation of artists from a variety of different backgrounds and media.
“There’s a wide range of styles included in the show,” he noted. “Not all of the items returned are ‘freaky.’”
He thinks the show will introduce people to a variety of new artists, and Wolfe agrees.
“I think this kind of exhibit will be a breath of fresh air locally,” Wolfe said. “This exhibit features art that takes a traditional form like painting and translates it into a new medium — vinyl toys. That twist is nice.”
In addition to purchasing several styles of toy for artists to customize, Chip bought an ad in Hi Fructose, a national urban art magazine.
“Mind you, this is Charleston, West Virginia, being placed on the national art map, so to speak. It’s going to be cool to see Charleston artists work alongside the rest of the country in such a different medium,” said Dane Klingaman, creator of the piece “Morris Morph.”
In keeping with Tatlinger’s desire to provide original artwork to the Kanawha Valley, local attendees on the first two days of the show will have first dibs on purchasing the pieces. For preview images, as well as details about each type of vinyl toy used in the show, visit Tatlinger’s blog.
Miller received her bachelor of fine arts from West Virginia University, were she studied photography, electronic media and art history. Contact her at ajanemiller@gmail.com.If you go “Pandora’s Toy Box: Customs for a Doomed World,” an exhibit of vinyl toys from local, national and international artists, previews from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight as part of the ArtWalk and has a formal opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. The show is up for viewing — by appointment only — through June 6. E-mail marshhouse@suddenlink.net or visit www.marshhouseart.blogspot.com.