After Dinner Mint Broken Promise

Anthony Ausgang was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1959 to a Dutch mother and Welsh father. The family moved to Houston Texas in the early 1960s, a particularly difficult time for an immigrant family to parse American culture. Nevertheless, Ausgang's father made brave attempts to assimilate by attending custom car shows and demolition derbies. Ausgang eventually encountered Ed Roth and before long had a shoebox full of Rat Finks, a small plastic figurine of a noxious rodent that had somehow become the embodiment of Hot Rod and Custom Car Culture. Ausgang's mother continued the European traditions by dragging her son to endless operas, symphonies and art museums. This combination of High Art and Low Art was to prove a fertile cultural mulch for Ausgang's artistic inclinations. After a short stint studying art at The University Of Texas in Austin, Ausgang succumbed to the myth of California and moved to Los Angeles where he began classes at The Otis Art Institute. Disappointed to find out that the curriculum there didn't include target practice, admiring cars or watching surf films, Ausgang dropped out to start showing his artwork to as many galleries as would tolerate his frequent visits. Finally accepted by the Munky King is a Los Angeles-based designer toy company founded in 2003 by Patrick Lam. It began as the first designer toy store in Southern California, located in Chinatown LA, and later expanded to a gallery and flagship store on Melrose Avenue. The company has been instrumental in promoting the designer toy movement through art shows, signings, releases, and special events.   Collaborating with renowned pop-surrealist artists such as Luke Chueh, Joe Ledbetter, Kozyndan, Amanda Visell, COOP, and DabsMyla, Munky King develops art toys that remain true to the original artwork. Their platform toy, the Omi, inspired by Chinese opera masks, exemplifies the fusion of traditional forms with designer toy aesthetics