a double dose on the savior's dime

behold, two sacrilegious gut-punches to soothe the savage soul. i apologize to jesus, he seems to be a punching boy for a lot of folks, the constant punchline for a bad joke. enjoy:

this is actually a piece of carpet, and the viewer can immediately distinguish our key player, christ, and his third, all-seeing eye. also, his penchant for smoking. obviously, if you had that kind of insight on the world's sins, you'd take up the habit, and probably with as much gusto as the son of god; stuffing a smoke in your nail hole would be fine salve. these carpets come in a few flavors, but my thrift store outings usually have me gawking at the religious or J.F.K. commemorative kinds; i have never found one good enough for a kennedy tribute ala the misfits' 'bullet' cover.


the second half was actually a hard call to make, considering the original was almost perfect on it's own. visiting my older sister in the southcoast of massachusetts, we stumbled into the local branch of one of my favorite thrift store chains, saver's. not five steps inside, and i saw this unintentional masterpiece hanging high above a rack of worn sneakers and brogans.

you can imagine it gracing the wall of a trucker's home, perhaps next to a dreamcatcher and ceramic wolf's head. the obvious addition is the green mask and 'happy toys', a nod to the film 'maximum overdrive'. god in the machine, to be sure.

freaks

in my teenage, i read a graphic novel named 'the big book of freaks', which really pushed my reading habits into consuming all the bizarre events, entities and occurrences that i could get my grubby little hands on. the lives of these people, whether disabled by nature or themselves, was actually the enabling characteristic in their lives. i would actually recommend you procure the whole series of these books, dear reader, from the big book of conspiracies to the big book of death - you can thank me later. carl unthang, born armless, could play the violin with his feet, much like el greco's astigmatism shaped his art. without lead poisoning, goya would probably continued to produce portraits for the wealthy, just a substance addiction might lead someone into being a sideshow geek. please enjoy:

drugs

first, a credit to dan platt, who brought this and another gem to me after a night of goodwill hunting.

 the drug problem in this country is a tear-jerker, not so much for the death toll associated with actual drug use, but for the shameless opportunism of our government.
 consider that drug laws, with their racist origins, have completely usurped the fourth amendment.
 drug laws have been a goldmine for our lucky government pals that own prisons, and a constant reason to invade any other country that won't elect the leaders of our choosing.
 even the laws themselves are arbitrary and not science-based.

alien attack

in the words of the ronald reagan:
"i occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world"
this painting was actually scored from a really odd local business, named appropriately 'old, odd and otherwise gun shop.' the owner, dom was a real curmudgeon and ballbuster, but i nevertheless loved perusing the musty shelves of his ancient wares. after he passed away, his children didn't see themselves running his business, and it was promptly liquidated.  r.i.p. dom diplacido.

pets

i truly endorse the continued domestication of animals. the varied mishaps that grace the news, such as the people mauled by chimpanzees or bears, mandrills or whatever unconventional pet they've managed to corral, are truly remarkable in their breadth and scope. consider that just 10,000 years ago, there were only wolves, and none of the many breeds of dogs we know today... seriously, a miniature pinscher is the blood relative of a wolf.

what's for dinner?

when i acquire bad, thrift-store art, it'll hang on the walls for days, months or even years 'til it's subverted in some way. this piece was the bane of roommates until the subtle punchline was added.

i'm sure you're aware of the dire straits our food supplies are in, where all nutrients are leached out, then a small portion added, then the whole amalgamation covered in corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oil and served to you, consumer. most things you're eating wouldn't be recognized  by your great-grandparents as being a foodstuff.

radiation treatment

growing up, this exact paint-by-numbers number hung on my sister's bedroom door. i'm pretty sure it still resides there, just not in this incarnation. lyndon johnson actually spearheaded the paint-by-numbers fad, just as kennedy inspired the nation to buy rocking chairs, and jackie-o put wrap around sunglasses on the map. i actually came across this little number (tee-hee!) at a lifelong favorite, collingdale thrift, now family thrift store;  the painting was actually done for a friend's themed art show in a last minute sense. conveying the fun side of nuclear mutation is what this bad boy is all about,but due to the familiarty of this image, the twist  usually goes unnoticed.

religion

faith is just that, belief in something unreal, unprovable; a decidedly human affliction. religion is a great joke to pull on children, and probably one of the best gags mankind has ever proffered; the ultimate andy kaufman bit.
teaching children to worship satan would be abhorrent, if not really metal, but consider:
from a christian mindset, is there anyone more wayward and in need of  others' prayers than satan, the biggest sinner of 'em all?  
my guess is they'll grow up, reject the 'rents values and become bible-thumping, brylcreemed, teetotaling, tongue-speaking, snake handlin' types.

the death of humor

maybe this is about how humor is killed by tragedy, or how tragedy touches all, even the lowly clown. perhaps i'm saying that 6 of the 19 hijackers are still alive. bon appetit-

dating

often, i'll find big eyes as sets, just as they were sold at montgomery ward. this pair is called 'dating', which sums up the non-orthodox approach these wacky kids are taking.

hitler mickey

this was a collaborative effort with the goodly mr. jp boudwin. the panel is actually from a broken child's toybox found in a gayborhood  alley. the remains of the box really got some mileage, even the frame was used to make a suncatcher with some see-through colored records.

some selected art

ah, here you are, a sampling of some of my work.
these pieces are examples of 'non-art'- velvet, big eye, paint by numbers paintings that i purchase during my compulsive thrift store excursions. what i've done is either subtle or blatant, a commentary or a fantasy worked into each. perhaps a catharsis of my inner teenager, refined past simple moustaches and blacking out of teeth, is apparent. maybe i've just ruined someone elses dime store picasso. enjoy: