Art Talk – TJ Norris of ‘Go Figure News’

‘Go Figure News’ is an art site focusing on art toys of all types. The site was founded in 2014 by American artist, theorist and curator TJ Norris. It hosts news, articles and thought pieces on everything art toy related – well worth bookmarking.

(Picture below of ‘GFN’ head honcho – Mr TJ Norris)

Well, as art toys are on the rise once again in general pop culture we felt it would be a good idea to have a chat with TJ about toys, life, art and ‘Go Figure News’ – read all about it in the Art Talk, below…

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Art Talk – Gabriel + Rachel from ‘Soft Vinyl Sydney’

The Soft Vinyl Sydney exhibition is the groundbreaking soft vinyl art toy show happening this weekend in Sydney, Australia. SVS is happening from the 21st and 22nd of January at the ‘Lord Gladstone’ pub in Sydney. Featuring over 30 artists from all over the world taking part. It will be a glorious sight to see. Weird monsters of all imaginable shapes, sizes forms and colors.

And… for the uninitiated soft vinyl is a subset of the general art toy scene. With the artists working in it making their own toys, doing customs of existing ones – or both. Sculptural pop art – to find out more about art toys and sofubi, check out the ‘Art Whore’ piece from last year: What Exactly Are Art Toys And How Can We Critique Them?.

So, with the SVS show happening in less than a week now is the perfect time to find out all about it, from the people involved, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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#AWTR – Holiday Vomit Oltretomba soft vinyl from ‘Oltretomba Made in Hell’

  • Produced By = Oltretomba Made in Hell (Not Positive About Country – But Figure Was Shipped from an Address in the Netherlands)
  • Figure Name(s) = Oltretomba
  • Release Details = ‘Holiday Vomit’  series of mixed vinyl (Unknown Run Quantity)
  • Material = Soft Vinyl
  • Country of Production = Unknown (But not made in Japan – Going off Smell + Quality)
  • Height = 29cm
  • No of Parts = 5 (Head, 2 arms + 2 legs)
  • Released = Dec 28th 2016
  • Sculpt Debut = 6th November 2016
  • Release Price = 133 Euro (Shipping Included)
  • Genre = Art Toy / Kaiju

Read the full review and pics after the jump…

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Art Talk – Rune Alexandersen

Rune Alexandersen is a Danish sculptor, artist and musician who first grabbed our attention thanks to his beautiful toy sculpting work – creating figures which evoke 1990s ‘Playmates Toys’ weirdness. All mutants, slime and monsters.

He has collaborated with Art Whore Approved toy makers ‘Good Leg Toys’ outta Germany and gained lots of fans due to his illustration, traditional art and music – With Rune being a mainstay of the Danish punk scene for years. Most recently playing in renowned death rock act ‘Moth’.

(Picture below of a self portrait by Rune)

Interestingly, Rune calls himself a man of craft. Not an artist… Bringing a very interesting idea to the table. Rune states:

“I don’t really like the word ‘Art’. To me, it’s dead. I doesn’t mean anything anymore – anything and everything can be art:

* A garbage can in a gallery: Art.
* A lampshade covered in dirt: Art
* A shitty painting, by somebody who can’t paint: (Ironic) Art.

I don’t buy into that. I think its about time we discard that term. To me, it has become a word, that is used to legitimize ones taste, as in ”Oh, THAT’s art!” BS.

What I do, I usually refer to as a craft. There are rules to how a picture works: contrasts, rhythm, composition, storytelling and so on. I would never call myself an artist.”

With Rune about to drop a collab art toy with our old friends ‘Good Leg Toys’ outta Germany, and constantly working on art of all types now is the perfect time to get to know Rune, by reading the Art Talk (Craft Talk?) interview, below…

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#AWTR – Slaughter Shark soft-vinyl from ‘Kaiju Light Society’ (Custom Work by 5k1nna)

  • Produced By = ‘Kaiju Light Society’ (China X Canada)
  • Custom By = 5k1nna (Australia)
  • Release Details = Part of 4 One Offs (Released Blind Bag Style)
  • Material = Soft Vinyl
  • Country of Production = China
  • Height = 22cm
  • No of Parts = 5 (Head, arms, legs + torso)
  • Released = Late 2016
  • Sculpt Debut = July 2016
  • Release Price = US $120 + shipping
  • Genre = Art Toy / Kaiju

Read the full review and pics after the jump…

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What Exactly Are Art Toys And How Can We Critique Them?

Ok guys. So we have decided it was time to start writing some critical articles about art toys. Opinion pieces, reviews and the like. Art toys are dear to us at ‘Art Whore’ – being the very reason the site was established back in 2012 when we interviewed resin slinger Peter of ‘Killer Bootlegs’ fame.

We established ‘Art Whore’ as there was nothing around back then that was online and free to access which provided interviews or further knowledge about the developing resin toy scene, and the greater art toy scene in general. So we started interviewing the artists involved. But just interviewing. Apart from a few guest reviews by Ms. Ramsey and Mr. Kevin Malone we have been reluctant to get critical… We just didn’t feel we knew enough. Had the knowledge.

However, we now feel a similar gap currently exists with regards to critically evaluating art toys – and we are willing to get involved. Yes there are news sites noting new releases, yes there are unboxing videos, yes there are podcasts and yes there are some critical pieces out there – see a list of links to relevant sites at the end of this piece. However most of the currently available media is just lust or hate for a particular piece – with little to no critical commentary.

Now, with that said, so as to not just arbitrarily start blasting our opinions – we felt it was best to start with a general FAQ explaining what we feel art toys are and how we will go about critiquing them.

Read it all, below…

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Art Talk – Taylor Love aka ‘Skin Carver’ aka ‘Leper Lord’

Taylor Love is an American cartoonist who came to our attention thanks to his work on promotional art for the amazing documentary ‘Dead Hands Dig Deep’ – which profiles Musician and Artist Edwin Borsheim.

Barely 20, Taylor hails from the USA and brings a gothic vibe, and hint of humor to his works. He is an avid comic fan, and has already released 2 self published works – Turnip Noir and Symphony of Nightmares (a ‘DHDD’ tie in).

(Picture below of a self portrait by Taylor)

With Taylor relatively new to the art game, but already standing out thanks to a unique eye and dedicated work ethic, now is the perfect time to get to know the man and his art, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Art Talk – Ayla Whitney aka ‘Ayla The Caveman’

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Ayla Whitney aka ‘Ayla the Caveman’ is an Australian born and based artist creating hyper colored art for the inner weirdo in all of us. She had her debut solo show back in 2015 and has been working on her art at a furious pace ever since – creating paintings, murals, prints, illustration and apparel. With all her work imbued with Ayla’s unique eye.

We stumbled upon her work when out wandering the streets of Redfern, Sydney recently… Popping out from a side alley was a huge hyper colored mural featuring a skull and a rainbow. It was classic, yet somehow different – a digital version is featured above. Just like Ayla.

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With Ayla quickly building some major buzz, now is the time to get to know her, by reading the Art Talk interview, below…

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Art Talk – Gus Fink

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Gus Fink is a commercial artist whose multidisciplinary work all falls within the umbrella of ‘Pop Art’ – and like the Ur God of Pop, Andy Warhol, Gus works in every medium available: sculpting, painting, cartoons, film, clothing design, digital art, indie games and music.

Simply put, Gus is an all round pop art visionary!

Gus and his art came to our attention thanks to the recently released ‘Creeplings’ series of designer toys, a collaborative effort between Gus and his equally talented wife Emi Boz – and just like all works that Gus is involved in, they are well worth checking out.

(Picture of some of the ‘Creeplings’ series of blind box art toys, below)

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With Gus constantly pushing his art and himself, working on project after project, now is the perfect time to get to know the man and his art, by reading the Art Talk interview below…

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DIY Yr Dye – The Rise of Home Tattooing

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Recently, we have become intrigued with the rise of the controversial practice of home tattooing. The DIY / punk as fuck alternative to the increasingly bureaucratic world of standard studio work. Home tattooing is raw, dangerous and intimate – attributes we at Art Whore value in any art.

Well, instead of a mere rant, we at Art Whore are blessed to be able to call a recent home tattooist as a dear friend – Namely Beat. So we decided to visit Beat, witness some home tattooing explore the art further.

Read all about it, below…

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