This Saturday evening, Super7 Florida (720 2nd St. N., St. Petersburg) will proudly welcome the artwork of the esteemed painting duo of Leecifer and Josh Herbolsheimer to Florida's shores. The exhibition will feature a multitude of works on canvas, wood, and vinyl and include the unveiling of the Valentine's Day Vampire Rose vinyl figure.
Festivities will begin promptly at 7:00 pm, and Josh Herbolsheimer will be on hand for a special Vampire Rose signing, including a couple of extra special giveaways for a couple of lucky guests. Complimentary snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Show attendees will have the first opportunity at toy and artwork purchases, with any remaining items to be sold the following day on Super7 Florida's Online Shop.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Interview with Josh Herbolsheimer
Q: The planets appear to be aligning for a breakout year for you in 2010, and I find it tremendously fitting that your upcoming blockbuster show with the artist Leecifer, “Buried in Space,” at Super7 Florida falls on the eve of not only Valentines Day, but also the Chinese Lunar New Year’s “Year of the Tiger.” When did your fascination with tigers begin, and what kind of impact, if any, do they have on your artwork at large?
JH: I've been interested in tigers since I was young. The big cat complex was one of my favorite exhibits at the Omaha Zoo, which my family visited often when I was young. They are big and wild, but similar enough to a house cat that I feel like I can relate to or understand them a little bit.
Q: In 2008, I was fortunate enough to attend the Superfestival toy show in Tokyo where you debuted your first toy, the snail-faced Escaregot, and I remember distinctly how quickly you sold out of them and how enamored the Japanese collectors were with its design, an extremely rare occurrence for western toy designers there. Now fast forward to 2010, when your newest creation, the Vampire Rose, is not only selling out instantly in toy stores across America and Europe, but recently fetching upwards of 10x its original retail price on eBay. How were you able to so effectively transition from being an established painter to successful toy designer?
JH: Working at Super7 definitely opened the door to designing toys, and I am fortunate to work with a great team of people who all do their part to make it work. Having a good character idea is important, but it's also necessary to have a great sculptor, art direction, promotion, etc.
Q: Where did the “Buried in Space” theme for the show come from?
JH: The idea was that the Earth is buried in space, or maybe we are, as its inhabitants. I have been thinking a great deal about the time line of human history, especially the affect on the future of how we address the big climate and energy challenges of the next several decades. In that way, it remains to be seen whether we will be buried in space or flourish. The phrase itself though, came from a Mount Eerie song about something else.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Interview with Leecifer
Q: Where did the name Leecifer come from? Was it your devilish good looks?
L: In the late 60’s when I was a tiny kid I guess I took a dump in a pool and tried to blame it on the family dog and some of the adults dubbed me Leecifer. Years later a singer in a band I was doing posters for gave me a shout out from the stage again as Leecifer and I’ve been using it ever since.
Q: Perhaps the single most identifying characteristic of your painting is the use of contour lines, reminiscent of Paul Gauguin and Van Gogh. Would you list the post-impressionists as a direct influence on your work?
L: Sure, but then lots of current art can claim roots in classics or influence from historical masters. I think the bulk of my influences would be more along the lines of modern Illustrators. Folks like Brad Holland, C. F. Payne, Anita Kunz, Brian Ajhar, Bob Conge (yup same toy dude), Peter de Seve, Marshall Arisman, Murray Tinkleman (think Jeremy Fish 30+ yrs ago), Matt Mahurin, Arthur Rackham, ok so not so recent w/ that guy, but you get the idea.
Q: After having cut your teeth on canvas work and establishing a following in art circles, you have recently focused on vinyl toy painting and customization. What is it about vinyl as a medium that floats your boat?
L: I've been doing the toy thing for awhile now. Previously I had been an art director w/ the phone co. for 15 years so my wife and I used to buy art from local emerging SF artists as we wished. Now being self employed (read “broke assed poor”) we found we could still afford the vinyl toys these folks had begun producing. It was so cool to hold a 3-d version of a character from an artist/painting we admired. And like any good graf rat (actually I really wasn’t) and aging punk (I was) it quickly led to unauthorized collaboration. Around this same time I got to check out Kozik’s place before he was doing KR product and damn he had some amazing collections of stuff. All the great old Bounty Hunter stuff etc. Of course, with the multi-horned demon ebay even older stuff could be had and also there were places like Kimono My House and Super7. I had been reading the magazines before I even found out there was a physical brick and mortar place that held all this crazy goodness for sale!! Tactile sculpted toys from Japanese monster movies I watched as a kid!?!?! Oh man how do you pass that stuff up. Like my business cards say I LOVE to ruin toys!! Painting toys actually got me back into galleries so it sorta went full circle.
Q: The paintings you will have on exhibit at the Buried in Space show this weekend are whimsical in many ways, however they have a distinctly dark tone to them, not only in coloring but perhaps in theme as well. Is this a reflection of your emotions during painting?
L: Not really. Things are pretty good right now. I guess I do tend to run towards the dark and macabre but love to have a good laugh at the inherent irony of it. Keep in mind like most people that participate in some form of creative undertaking or process for a living I’m completely insane.
Q: As you know, painting on platform toys is distinctly uncool. How are you able to paint your toys in such a way as to make them your own while still paying respect to the underlying sculpt?
L: Well that’s a toughy. I’ve failed as much as I’ve succeeded. But as I’m constantly impressed and surprised w/ what folks will buy and what they won’t, I no longer fear to fail. If you don’t fail you never learn anything. And there have been pieces I’ve, admittedly, completely disregarded the sculpt. It’s well known that I’ll champion Western Vinyl as much as Eastern and yeah I’ve painted platforms. They’re a blank canvas, albeit sometimes an ugly or stupid one, but I’m not so arrogant that I feel my stuff needs to be on only the best of whatever. It’s a killer feeling to “polish a turd” and have someone fork over hard earned cash for it because (despite what is/was) I painted it, they gotta’ have it!!! The opposite is also true. When I get to paint something rare or expensive and someone is trusting me w/ their pride and joy I get an equally huge charge out of it! And for the haters remember I’m making the one you still have even rarer. Hahaha.
I think that’s why I like Super7 stuff so much. Consistently and solidly above the bar. I’ve got a ton of stuff from Super7 (more so than any other co) that’ll never see my paint brush. And I think I love some of the less popular figs the most. Give me a Visighost or Dokuwashi! Those things ROCK. Note I am, admittedly, guilty of showing as many Western Vinyl Folks as possible the joys of Super7 and J-vinyl, but that damn Herbolsheimer kid has got people of all walks of life knocking down the doors to get one o’ them, newfangled whatchamacallits… Vampire Rose!!!! I saw an old lady get $300 in prunes and “Depends” in exchange for one of those beauts! Don’t tell him, as it is, his head isn’t gonna’ fit through the front door.
Where was I? I’m really proud of the “Toy Ruiner” title. I earned it and despite the fact I don’t get much hater e-mail anymore I constantly evaluate what I’m doing and how I approach it. First off I don’t use an airbrush. I’ll borrow from popular culture as much as from the obscure. I approach every project hoping to give my best and I’ll paint damn near anything a client wants me to. Sure there’s a few haters/trolls who despise me, but come on. I don’t/can’t possibly take myself that seriously! And these are the same people that brag about running other artists off the SkullBrain site or stand in the MIDDLE of the store and talk about how they think the new shirts “suck”. Consummate hypocrites that render everything they say as null and void w/ a depth of idiocy I can’t fathom. They need to try that single minded ignorant logic on a gun toting police officer or an oncoming semi-truck!! ‘Course they won’t be around to appreciate the irony, but I’ll give it a chuckle or two. Nobody needs them. F that noise!!! Whew, wow, musta’ had my panties in a knot cause that’s certainly NOT my “Let’s all get along, every piece has merit” speech!!! How’s that for dark!?! Hahahahaha.
I’ll tell you what I DO need! I love people who come outta’ the woodwork w/ killer piece of vinyl and a crazy idea they want to see realized. That’s collaboration baby!!! Or the people who see a bizarre piece of my art on a wall and just instinctively get it even if they interpret it in a manner I’ve not thought of. I am beyond pleased that it spoke to them as well! These are the souls that keep me eating and living indoors and keep me constantly challenged and working. It’s to these folks that I say - from the bottom of my heart, thank you very very much for all the commissions and gallery purchases. I am honored and can only hope, that even in some small way, my work can make you as happy as you make me!!
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