Monster Hunt :: Ben Bishop

Ben Bishop, a graphic novelist, toy designer, and illustrator based in Portland, ME is one of the participating artists in the Monster Hunt at Monster Party 2014. He's created two radical characters, which you'll see below, and can spot at the opening of Monster Party on Friday, October 3 from 6 - 8pm! Remember that admission that night will only be a dollar, so come out and celebrate these party monsters!

 

 

3-Deeno

I-Polly

Monster Hunt :: Kid-Created Monsters

The talented Tofu Squirrel ran a workshop at the museum in August to get kids involved in creating monsters for the Monster Party 2014 Monster Hunt. Below are some of the results! Be sure to keep an eye out for kid-created creations as you search for monsters peppered around the museum.

 

 Thanks to Tofu Squirrel for the images

Monster Hunt :: MadKnits

Up next in our look at artist-created monsters ready to be spotted in the Monster Party 2014 Monster Hunt are four amazing creations by MadKnits! Each unique monster will be waiting quietly in cases around the museum, so see if you can spot them at the opening on October 6!

Fuller

 Lou

 

Octo

Rudyard 

Monster Hunt :: Tofu Squirrel

Throughout Monster Party 2014 there will be an ongoing Monster Hunt for anyone interested in spotting artist-made and kid-created monsters around the museum. As we countdown the days to the opening, we thought we'd give you a preview of the fantastic artwork for the installations, and first up is Tofu Squirrel's three monster friends for the Monster Hunt. Check them out below and then make your way to the opening on October 3 from 6 - 8pm to see how many monsters you can spot.

Dimples the Merfish

 Unibrowed Squee

the Long Snouted Fuzzberry

Monster Party 2014 at the Boston Children's Museum

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This fall, we will create monster mayhem at the Boston Children's Museum with a full on monster-themed installation that includes an interactive mural by Evoker and Tim Sullivan; smelly monster sculptures by The !ND!V!DUALS; a monster safari by MadKnits, Tofu Squirrel, Jess George, Venus Jaw, and Ben Bishop; a sensory box by Fish McGill; monster bean bag toss by Evoker; art toy display by MCA and Monster Kolor and much more!

This will be the third annual Monster Party, with previous events held in Jamestown, RI and New Bedford, MA. We are dedicated to bringing monsters to life with joy-inducing activities and artwork and this is the biggest and best party yet! Join us for the opening on Friday, October 3 from 6 - 8pm for fun with screen printed monster-designs by AntiDesigns, face-painting, artist-designed monster coloring sheets and a lot of monster fun!

Special Delivery :: Paul Shih

Paul Shih, a contributing artist to many of our shows, kindly sent this print awhile back that somehow got stored away at myplasticheart, so we were delighted when it arrived from NYC recently (thanks, Bikkei!). The print is a tribute in honor of Kamen Rider's 40th anniversary back in 2011 and features Paul Shih's sushi kaiju character, which he also created into a pretty radical resin toy.

Catch up with Paul on his blog, and in the meantime, purchase one of his super fun apps, like Donut Pirate!

The Black and Blues :: New Work by S.W. Dinge at OneWay Gallery Hope

We recently went to the opening of S.W. Dinge's solo show at OneWay Gallery Hope. We're both familiar with his work and were happy to see the newly created pieces that incorporated a restricted color palette of black and blue tints and tones as well as a number of assemblages. You'll find yourself lost in the details or the undulating circular forms in his paintings.

If you are in the Providence area, make sure to check out this show before it comes to a close on August 2. Gallery info. below the images.

Gallery Info:

OneWay Hope

The Hope Artiste Village

999 Main St. Pawtucket, RI

Unit 712

(New summer hours as of June 1, 2014)

Saturday 10am-5pm

Sunday 10am-2pm

Friday July 4th, 12pm-5pm

From the artist:

At the start of 2014, I decided to limit my color palette to contain predominantly only Blue and Black.  I employed this change as a tool to possibly spark new avenues of creative thought, and maybe uncover something new.  I figured, if you cut off one of your arms, you find a new way to tie your boots.  The nine Blue gouache and watercolor paintings in the exhibition were all done in the last six months.  As was “Everything that I Have Forgotten” (AKA: The Big Black Dot).  Tens of thousands of ink and acrylic characters all converging on one point in space.  The weight and density of the fragmented information has risen to such levels that it has now begun to collapse in upon itself.

The 3 dimensional assemblages involved in the show span a longer period since it takes time for each rusty, discarded piece to cross my worn out path and be married with other pieces for the ‘perfect’ fit.  With the 3-D pieces, I enjoy exploring more darker themes such as the mental effects of severe trauma, mass murder, sadomasochism, just to name a few.  These assemblages were worked on and completed between 2008 and 2014.

I have not placed any time line on how long I will work with a simplified palette.  I am drawn to the subtle varieties that Blue has to offer, particularly when in contrast to a bottomless, steady Black.  The challenge for me is to find the harmonious balance between these two sometimes opposing forces and the silence of the raw, unprimed canvas.  The Black and Blues.