Vintage Fink

Big Daddy has left something that will live on forever. After forty years, Rat Fink fever has gotten in our heads, on our speedways, in our skateparks–there is no cure. We've gone on to become artists, filmmakers, mechanics, executives. He's become an action figure, a bobble head, a rececar, a doll, and has achieved timeless cult status along the way. At first it may have seemed that Rat Fink was originally drawn for us to laugh at, as a throw away carton. Now he's the one laughing–Rat Fink's Revenge indeed. This collection of 40 Rat Fink statues is taken from the book compiled by David Chodosh. The project originated as a way for the author and four score contemporary artists to exorcize their inner Fink–the sick monster inside who needs to come out and show itself to the world. All the contributors, for whom Rat Fink is part of their soul, were given the same 12" resin model kit to customize. Having grown up on the West Coast most of my life and coming from a family of uber ‘antique’ collectors and artists, my eclectic upbringing was filled with a wide range of ’Pop’ ephemera. Many of those inspirations now show up in my work and stem from the backdrop of my childhood. The Subject of my paintings is a world of side-show icons, deviant Animalia, and ‘masked’ glorified cartoon alter egos. I utilize these icons and character cultures as antithetical counterparts to what we are lead to believe as being innocent and socially acceptable. Although misfits on the surface, a sense of relation is understood, secret from the public - we are all misfits; hiding behind animated personas, odd and beautifully unusual. Who is it that we relate to? The lonely little boy hiding in a bear suite, the evil lustful pool-hall wolf, the sexualized little girl who secretly wants more. The environment and its limited population are meant to conjure these questions, the viewers are confronted with fi La Luz de Jesus Gallery is a renowned contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, California, known for its role in promoting lowbrow, pop surrealism, outsider, and underground art. Established in 1986 by Billy Shire, the gallery has been a launching pad for many influential artists in the alternative art scene.