2008 is going to go down as the year that high art galleries took note of low brow toy art. In addition to all the urban artists taking part in the Phillips de Pury & Company auction mentioned here (click for an updated pic of Buff Monster’s piece!), Alex at PdP just sent me a list of even more awesome artists– including great kaiju, customs and street art from Pop Soda/RealXHead, BLObPUS, UrbanMedium, Le Merde, Bob Conge, Kirkland Jue, Mark Nagata and Bwana Spoons.
But lets not forget about one of the successes of the recent Christie’s Auction, Suckadelic. Prepare for lightning to strike twice with an exclusive Suckadelic piece for PdP:
New York City-based Suckadelic has produced a unique toy for the sale, DJ Trooper, an artistic adaptation of the iconic ‘Stormtrooper’ from Star Wars.This 12-inch art toy made exclusively for the Saturday@Phillips sale depicts the DJ in 1:6 scale wearing a custom track suit and mini-headphones, spinning his collection of records on a double turntable stand. DJ Stormtrooper is estimated between £750-1000.
I’m psyched to be able to bring you an exclusive pre-show look at the piece. I don’t even have as extreme an amount of nostalgia for Star Wars as some of my fellow toy writers do, but I used to be a DJ and this mash-up is beyond brilliant. The figure is so dope that I’m rendered temporarily kind of stupid, which is why I’m going to end this post with DJ Trooper: Play That Funky Music White Boy!
P.S. The auction takes place in London on September 6th and New York on October 25th. The complete online catalog will be available at phillipsdepury.com next Monday with the art toys starting at lot #59 and urban art lots beginning at #200.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’m confused as to how this is an exclusive to the show. Suckadelic has already made this toy, it’s featured in “I am Plastic”. In fact, those are the exact photos out of “I am Plastic”.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Hmmm. That IS kind of confusing. Maybe the figure was previously made, but never sold or distributed–but then the press release wording of “produced a unique toy for the sale” is kind of misleading. I don’t have the PB book handy–what page is it on? I’ll ask around and update if I get any more info. Thanks!
August 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
page 278 (head shot) and 279 (full body)
August 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
OK, got the info from the auctioneer: “Suckadelic’s DJ Trooper in Paul Budnitz’s book is another unique original just like this one in the sale. The Troopers resemble one another since this one in the September auction (made especially by Sucklord for the urban art auction in London) is based on the original prototype in the Kid Robot book.”
So he had emailed me the scan from the book, but now they’ve posted a picture of the DJ Trooper for their sale here:
http://phillipsdepury.com/auctions/lot-detail.aspx?sn=UK000308&lotnum=103
I need to look at them side by side, like an old Highlights magazine. Right off the bat, the records are different. Are you going to place a bid? Good eye, by the way.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I’d love to bid, but with the dollar vs. the pound the way it is and the estimated price, I don’t think I’ll be getting the item. I saw the one in “I am Plastic” and thought it was a must own (which is why I remembered it when I saw it here) but was never able to find it for sale anywhere and couldn’t find any additional info on it. Now I know why.