ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

This Friday, April 3rd, APW in Long Island City will be hosting a toy free-for-all. No platforms barred, no artists turned away after a small entry fee, and chances to win fabulous prizes – including a rare & important solo show.

For $50, each artist has submitted up to (but not limited to) three toys for display. With 65 artists answering the call, that’s almost 200 toys decorating the formidable APW Gallery spaces, professionals and neophytes alike. I dig the non-exclusionary model of the APW shows – it’s not exclusive to established artists alone, and anyone willing to pay the entry fee is obviously serious about what they do, so the misses are few, and they’ve served as a gateway drug for many artists who seem to be popping up everywhere now.

makalibuland has submitted this bizarre, flocked Be@rbrick & this alarming, hollow flocked creature of indeterminable origin – which bears some resemblance to his equally surreal Flosha pieces. Flocking is the new paint drips. Thank god, ‘cause I never liked paint drips.

RazhoR’s entries cover both ends of the designer toy spectrum, with both implied toy pornography and death on the toy-menu. These are just a very small sampling of what Friday holds, so NYCityfolk, stop on by.