WAX ARTISTIC! What do you get when you mix all the colors in the Crayon box, but then add a knife? If you have been observant over the years you will definitely have seen works by lauded artists like San Diego's Hoang Tran (Wax Nostalgic) and US-based Vietnamese artist Diem Chau who's work I first saw in the Pacific Northwest back in the mid oughts. Both are fine artists in their own right, and each have the penchant for peeling back these classic children's drawing media to reveal the hidden life inside the wrapper! They make incredibly belabored pieces with actual crayons, hewn as high craft. Tran has a bit more of a pop perspective, carving fantasy and sci-fi heroes as well as totemic alphabets, while Chau brings her love of full figure-based portraiture of real life subjects.
Diem Chau (t); Hoang Tran (b)
A CHIP OFF YE OLD BLOCK + OTHER TALES: And more recently Kidrobot is preparing to announce a direct collaboration with Crayola, in a relationship they started with some plush figures (Shamrock Dragon, Purple Mountain Majesty Octopus, and the like). Their plans are launching a Medium-Sized Box of Vinyl Figure Crayons (EE pre-order). Yes, as seen here, however, we do not have the full story just yet as it's been perfectly teased via social media this week. We should soon know the scale (I have the feeling it will be bigger than the real thing) and more details, but for now it will cost ya just under $60.
It looks as though they have taken eight of their 'most iconic' pieces and transformed them into smaller sculptural elements in this set, from which the pieces can be removed from the box. This begs so many exciting questions, and so much delight. Is it art, is it a toy, is it where the two collide. how do you differentiate the original toys represented in the new re-created crayon versions of popular designer toys of the past? And of course, when you compare and contrast what artists who have been crafting in this medium (the actual wax based one) versus what Kidrobot has imagined and developed, how will the new colors fly?
CRAYOLA x KIDROBOT: What do YOU think? Is this a very meta approach to what other artists have done for years...a brilliant stroke so to speak, or is it simply a cutesy greatest hits package done in a known form? We think a bit from all of the above columns. It sure is quite colorful from the sneak peek, but we can give you a fuller assessment once these are in our grubby hands. Stay tuned for a whole lot more on this new set. Keep it waxy!