Projects

THE ASTRALNAUTS HAVE LEFT THE PLANET...FOR NOW

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Well, "THE ASTRALNAUTS" art show has officially ended, and there's not much more to say aside from THANK YOU!!! It was an amazing ride, and Matt and I can't wait to continue expanding the Astralnauts universe. If you couldn't see the show in person, or if you would like to visit it again in 2-Dimensions, our good friend PAUL ANTHONY put together this awesome video walkthrough of the gallery and of opening night. 

Greg Aronowitz sculpts my GHOST!

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The incredible Greg Aronowitz and his magical team of fabricating wizards created the centerpiece for our "ASTRALNAUTS" art show at Gallery 1988 in LA (which is still on display until June 25th, check out the whole show online HERE). The work Greg usually does in the movie and TV industry is phenomenal, but I was BLOWN AWAY by how amazing this WYATT sculpture he did was. So so so great. Watch him and his team at Barnyard FX create Wyatt from scratch in this video below. If you have a chance to see Wyatt in person at the gallery YOU SHOULD GO! HE WILL LOVE YOU!!!! (so will we).

Check it out:

Greg was thrilled to be invited to participate in famed artists Alex Pardee and Matt Richie's art show entitled ASTALNAUTS. This gallery collection focused around the story of a space exploration team who's job it was to seek out and capture rough spirits through the Galaxy.

Alex Pardee x Matt Ritchie present "The Astralnauts" Art Show

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Long story short, the amazing Matt Ritchie and I are collaborating on a brand new art gallery show.

Now, not many people have the opportunity (or the ability) to time-travel. But Matt and I wanted to venture out of our comfort zone in order to seek out inspiration for our upcoming art show, so….we went into the future. Sure, it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to do, even alongside one of my best friends. Our lungs collapsed from the change in time-velocity, Matt vomited blood almost the entire trip, my skin dried out almost to the point of leprosy, and we’re both now convinced that our stomachs and bowels are permanently turned around 180 degrees. But regardless, it was worth it, just to get a glimpse of the future and to soak up some knowledge, some observations that we could bring back with us to help jumpstart ideas for our new show. We only spent a day in the future (the year 2119), but there was one HUGE noticeable discovery in the future that gave both of us an instant shot of inspiration. It turns out, in the year 2092, after 2 thousand years of speculation and skepticism, scientists are going to discover that, indeed, ghosts and spirits are REAL. Yes, that’s right. Hauntings, possessions, apparitions, poltergeists. All of them are real, and they live among us, as well as ALL of the other inhabited planets in our galaxy. But not only are they real, they are also mischievous, and some of them are downright evil.

And with that little glimpse of the future that Matt and I witnessed, we will be bringing you the world of “THE ASTRALNAUTS”, a motley crew of 5 of the galaxy’s most heroic and renowned ghost-hunters. Together they travel from planet to planet, capturing and containing extraterrestrial ghosts from all corners of the universe.

“The Astralnauts”, featuring a new world of artwork and concepts from Alex Pardee & Matt Ritchie, opens on June 10th at Gallery 1988:West in Los Angeles, CA. 
And remember, these aren't your average ghostbusters.

Please follow both myself @alexpardee & Matt @rat136 on social networks for more previews, WIP's and contests!

 

"MEET THE MISTERS" New Ongoing Series

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Collections of “things” have always left an impression on my imagination. Variations of something that lives within the same uniform universe always gave me a place to escape to. Everything within a “collection” belongs there. It exists there. It evolves there. And it dies there. Whether it was a collection of Garbage Pail Kids, or something more vague, like a collection of “technology-gone-bad” films, I love the idea of exploring a collected world. It’s always inspired me to imagine “what else exists here, given these parameters of this world that’s collected?” When I was younger I made up my own Garbage Pail Kids using whatever parameters I imagined TOPPS had made when they produced them. I also invented people, animals and creatures that I would hope would show up inside Gary Larsen’s “Far Side” comics. I created Smurf-spinoffs that didn’t exist, like “Mutant Smurf” and “Guilty Smurf.” I imagined mysteries that Scooby Doo and the gang would have to solve, and I imagined what other monsters Dr. Frankenstein would make if he had a second chance. To me, all of the universes that I loved growing up were just collections of things that had variations among them that jumpstarted my brain to live inside those places for a while. 

Short stories, anthologies, and serials are also “collections” that have always had a lasting effect on me, whether it’s comics like EC’s Tales from the Crypt, books like Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew, older television shows like Twilight Zone or even newer television series like American Horror Story. I love the idea of multiple events or characters existing within the same universe. And it’s for that reason, I decided to start a new ongoing series of illustrated stories inspired by two of my favorite (and drastically opposite) “collections”.

Partly inspired by “Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark” (by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell), partly inspired by “Richard Hargreaves’ MR. MEN” children’s books, and partly inspired by ONE SCENE in one episode of Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories”, "MEET THE MISTERS" is an ongoing collection of short stories and illustrations exposing some American boogeymen that you might not have heard about....yet. Written and illustrated by me, MEET THE MISTERS can be seen and read HERE on my website. I’ll be updating it off and on as I write some more stories, but I just wanted to share the first two chapters of “MEET THE MISTERS” because these new paintings will be on display as part of Jason Edmiston’s “IN OUR VEINS” group art show at the NUVANGO Gallery in Toronto. Jason personally curated a collection of artists and had us create new original work inspired by things that they love. These paintings seemed to fit perfectly amongst the other inspired works. The gallery show opens Feb 11-March 11, Heart of Toronto at Nuvango (639 Queen Street). More info on that show very soon. And stay tuned for more of my new “collection” of boogeymen.

Click here to read the first two chapters of “Meet The Misters”