This isn't about kaiju toys but I thought that the sensibility might appeal to some of my fellow monsters on this board.
I enjoyed seeing the Packard Jennings show at Catherine Clark gallery here in San Francisco over the past weekend. Packard's art exists in the tradition of participatory street art that folks like banksy and Shep Fairey are so well known for, but takes things a bit further in some respects. The current installation includes not only this professionally produced and packaged Anarchist Action Figure, but also hilarious videos taken when the artist had placed the packaged dolls on the shelves of various stores, then had people with hidden cameras on them try to buy the dolls at the counter, to the bewilderment of the retail staff, who have no valid SKUs or bar codes for them. Other stealth cameras were placed in the doll boxes and recorded the amused or offended reactions of customers.
You can learn more about the figure and Packard's wild and fun art at his website: http://centennialsociety.com/durham.html
Another part of the exhibit is open to the public to contribute to. You go to his website, download projects, install them publicly, photograph your DIY installation, then post the photo to a wall at the gallery.
There's a large project table in the middle of the floor where visitors can explore various subversive projects. One is a long roll of gold stickers that look unassumingly "official," intended to be stuck inside of hotel room bibles, warning the reader that the contents include fictional accounts based on the philosophy of creationism (oh my LOL.)
Anyway, because a well-produced art toy was part of the show, I thought I'd share here.
There seems to be a problem at Katie's website right now but I assume they'll fix it soon: http://www.cclarkgallery.com/
The gallery is a brief walk from SFMOMA and is well worth a visit if you're in the area. Katie specializes in up-and-coming or established California artists who explore transgressive contemporary aesthetics.
