"POPcade" Show a Success! Pt 1

Popzilla Gallery’s 5th art show entitled “POPcade” opened this past Saturday to a HUGE crowd, and I was privileged enough to have had two pieces in the show. Popzilla’s hook is to take a specific theme and combine it with pop culture, and this time was no different. With over 70 artists and more than 120 pieces, “POPcade” mashed video games both old and new with elements from television, movies, and books like I had never seen before.

The show had everything from a painting depicting Link lost in Bikini Bottom to a drugged out Mario in a painting inspired by the movie poster for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” It was a fantastic turnout, and I am happy to share that both of my pieces were sold halfway through the night.

If I can be honest, when I first agreed to participate in the event I had no idea what to do. I was excited by the theme, but I was petrified by the endless options at my disposal. Then I remembered that I used to LOVE playing Sonic the Hedgehog and thought about what I could do with the character. He runs really fast and collects rings along the way, so I started to think  if there were any famous rings from pop culture and what could Sonic do with those.

That wasn’t really inspiring me either, so then I focused back on his speed and it automatically hit me. What if Sonic was racing somebody? And not just anybody but somebody incredibly fast? And then I asked myself what character in pop culture is incredibly fast? The Flash! And Superman! And in fact there was even a big event in comic book history where Superman raced the Flash. So I thought it’d be funny to see this little blue-haired hedgehog inserting himself into this famous race determined to prove he’s the fastest of them all!

My second contribution to the show was an entry for the “Video Game Vixens” Pinup series. Since I wasn’t early in registering for the event, almost all of my favorite female characters from video game lore had already been reserved (each artist could only do one and each character could only be done once). Luckily nobody had asked for Harley Quinn from the Rocksteady Arkham games so I chose to go with the version from “Arkham City.”

The show will be open for 4 weeks so all of the great art can still be viewed at the Rothick Art Haus (170 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA) during their normal operating hours.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a special Mother’s Day if you’re in the U.S! I’ll be posting a more in-depth look at my process for each of the two pieces next for those that are interested so stay tuned. Until the next time!