Tons of Fun at Gallery 1988's Pop Culture Art Shows!

If you are into Movie Themed Pop Art then you have most likely heard about Gallery 1988. Just in case you haven’t,  it’s an Art Gallery based in the LA area with 2 locations. The original is on Melrose, (Caddy corner from the world famous Pink’s hotdogs) and the 2^nd location being in the lovely land of Venice.  Both locations are known for having the premiere collections of today’s pop art, with different shows coming in and out all the time.  Some shows are just solo artist shows, and some others are themed shows. If there was a major in college for pop culture I’d like to think I could be a Professor. For some reason that stuff sticks in my head more so than the so-called “important” stuff.

Is This Thing On? 2 Gallery 1988 Event Invite

Sometime the theme at this Gallery is a single cult classic movie, or a bunch of cult classics. Such as the “Crazy 4 Cult” show they have had for the past few years. With this year’s show coming up this summer, which is the 6^th incarnation. That’s the part that really blows me away; it’s been 6 years since I stumbled across this Gallery on Melrose. I’ve been an artist of almost every medium since I pooped my first diaper. But it wasn’t until I saw art of this genre that I realized what I wanted to do with my paintbrush. Here was a collection of most of my favorite movies, done by a bunch of local talented artists. We are talking “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, “Ghostbusters”, Big Lebowski”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Willy Wonka”, “Goonies”. The list is endless. What really kicked my ass though was how many movies I had no clue existed with such amazing paintings based on. And here I discovered this Professor needed a whole lot of schooling. I suppose with all the movies on this planet I should cut myself some slack.

Attendees at the Melrose Gallery 1988 Showing

That‘s when I discovered there was a reason I wanted to do art based on these subjects. Besides just being awesome, there was definitely a fan base for it. I graduated from CSUF, and if I chose to do something based on a movie I loved I just felt that it would not have been kosher at the time. Wish I tried it at least, who knows. The good news was that doing all the other traditional art helped me work on technique and develop my own style. And basically, I enjoy painting what I love, and I love movies. After seeing the first “Crazy 4 Cult” show, I immediately had a goal of someday having a painting of mine in a show like that. If not there, somewhere up in LA. And I thought I was a good painter, but not as good as some of those pieces in these shows. So I just painted my ass off, cranked out what I thought a good collection of Cinema inspired paintings. I saw my style of art falling under the oh-so sophisticated term, “Pop Surrealism”. I started with a list of good subjects and went for it. What I first struggled with was the difference between this art and “fan art”. And I know that we are all fans of this stuff to some extent, but there was something inside me that thought fan art was something below this stuff that was hanging on the wall in LA. But the truth is it’s in the same vein, just that this is the glorious holy grail of this kind of Pop Art.

Pop Surrealism on display for all to enjoy at Gallery 1988

Another thing I struggled with was the fact that almost everything I came up with has been done already. Just when you think you come up with an original idea you Google it and see it’s been done. But once you get yourself over that, you realize that if you want to do it, do it. And hopefully it will come out with your own distinct style. What it really did was give me a flashback to elementary school drawing Ninja Turtles, and Bart Simpson. If I had known that art like that would someday be appreciated by someone besides other 4^th graders, I would have never stopped.

Sam Carter and his Larry David: Social Assassin acrylic on canvas

Fast forward to last year, I met a group of Artists on line known as the Autumn Society. They are a group of Artists, led by one of their fearless leaders, the fabulous Artist Chogrin, that are into pop art of this great nerdy caliber. I got wind of a gallery show they were putting together called “3B”. It was a group show based on 3 movies that begin with the letter B. As simple of a concept that was, it sounded like the coolest thing ever to me. I needed to be a part of it. You just got to hope that you let the right people know you are interested with out being a pest. Nobody likes being annoyed, especially me. The tricky part being, the people that pick the pieces to be in a show have a ton of work to do getting a show like this off the ground. It’s a fine line not being annoying. You just got to hope your art speaks for it self and stand out. And if you put enough time in it, I think it will show. After my pieces got accepted, the news got even better when I found out the show was going to be held at Gallery 1988 Venice. The “3B” Show was based on artwork inspired from the “Back to the Future” trilogy, “Beetlejuice” and “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”.  Opening night was rad, I had a group of friends come up from Orange County and had a great nerdy time. Did I mention there was a BTTF Delorean there? Ya, two of them. Unbelievable. That’s also where I met Steve Czarnecki from “Beyond the Marquee”, great guy. I’m really glad he asked me to be apart of this website.

Since the “3B” show I have been a part of a few more shows all over the place. Most recently, I had a small piece in the Gallery 1988 Melrose “Is This Thing On? 2”. It’s a show full of art inspired by comedians. Opening night even had a very special guest star, “Weird Al” Yankovic. “UHF” has always been near and dear to my heart, and I actually got to tell him so that night. He was just hanging out, talking to everybody like he couldn’t get enough, very cool of him.

Sam Carter and Weird Al Yankovic

Anyway, for my piece, one of the funniest people I can’t get enough of is Larry David from HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. It was tough deciding whether to do a painting based on him or another favorite, George Carlin. Thankfully there was an epic painting of George there on the wall. Check out Augie Pagan’s “George Carlin’s 7 Dirty Words”.

George Carlin's 7 Dirty Words

“Is This Thing On? 2” opened on March 9^th and runs until March 31^st. Opening night was so much fun, a total packed house. It even had a line longer than Pink’s, which is really saying something. If you’re ever around the area and enjoy awesome things definitely check it out. Make sure to say hi to Jensen and Katie. They really knock it out of the park with every show they do. It can’t be easy to do that on a continuous basis. Keep an eye out for this or any upcoming shows there and try to come out for an opening night reception sometime.

Amazing turnouts at Gallery 1988 events...check one out soon!

So I’ve been pretty lucky to be a part of these types of shows, and hope to keep it going. Take a look at my Art Website, let me know what you think. I have originals and reproductions available. The tough part is finding time to really put into my art and keep cranking them out. Not easy with the day job, as most artists know. My art is not something to pay the bills, it’s just for fun. At least for now.

Sam Carter Art's Website (CLICK TO VISIT)