Saturday, July 11, 2009

Bay Area Townie: The Art of Attaboy, "A Touch of Evil"










First In a Series on Bay Area Artists: Inspired by the "This Town" Exhibit at Eclectix Gallery, Thru August 16th

The artist Attaboy just finished his solo show in LA's China Town (everybody Wang Chung tonight!), which unfortunately we were not able to see in person. Thanks to internet travel, one can see it was a kick-ass, professional, clean and well-thought out exhibit, hung with a sharp and yummy eye.

Attaboy is a local SF Bay Area artist, known for his graphic, pop-art characters such as the "Brine Queen" and his fun, twisted, vinyl toys, such as the "Axtrx". Co-founder of our fave art mag, Hi-Fructose, as well a cutting-edge designer of multiple artist's books. A friendly, humble, gentle and un-pretentious person, he is a joy to interact with, in the sometimes, all-too-ME-ME-and-ME art world. His "Touch of Evil" resides only inside his paints, exploding in an exciting push and pull of fantasy worlds.

The exhibit consisted of meticulously handcut shadow castings, spray varnished, stenciled plastic pieces; elaborate "exploded view" drawings and a Gooberry Patch in the back room, where visitors could pick an un-ripened, talking, pull-string Gooberry Plush.
Atta's style is rough yet polished, sharp black ravaged edges against brilliant saturated hues, creepy-monster yet still cute and cuddly, child-like and darkly adult. Just the kind of ying and yang that exists in life, (we must embrace it all or go crazy) and this Atta does, spawning truly contemporary, creative, original art.

Attaboy's Site: www.yumfactory.com
Hi-Fructose Magazine: www.hifructose.com
Photos: Thanks!! to dailydujour.com