Millionaire Playboy blogs The Vader Project
Thanks to Millionaire Playboy for this entry about The Vader Project opening at the Andy Warhol Museum.
THE VADER PROJECT at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
100 Reimagined Darth Vader helmets complete
THE VADER PROJECT
Premiering at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Show runs February 13 – May 3, 2009
The Vader Project – a reimagining of the iconic Darth Vader helmet by some of today’s hottest underground and pop surrealist painters, artists and designers – makes its museum premiere and will be on display February 13 – May 3, 2009 at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. www.warhol.org
The Vader Project is curated by Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys. Kelemer and Marks gathered 100 contemporary artists. Each artist was given a 1:1 scale authentic prop replica of the actual Darth Vader helmet used in the STAR WARS™ films. Each helmet served as a blank slate for each artist to paint, design, mash up and customize.
Featuring work by Shag, Peter Kuper, Attaboy, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Dalek, Paul Frank, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Michelle Valigura, Frank Kozik, Wade Lageose, Joe Ledbetter, Alex Pardee, Suckadelic, Cameron Tiede, Mister Cartoon, Marc Ecko, Amanda Visell and many more, The Vader Project provided an opportunity for artists to use one of the most iconic pop culture characters in film history as their canvas.
“It’s because of trailblazing artists like Andy Warhol that The Vader Project can even exist today. We couldn’t be more honored to be showcasing The Vader Project at the Warhol.” says Kelemer.
The Vader Project originally premiered at Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles in May 2007. From there it traveled to Star Wars Celebration Europe in London in June 2007. July 2007 brought 10 new helmets to the Star Wars Pavilion at the famed San Diego Comi-Con International. Then in July 2008, 13 Japanese artists joined forces with the existing Vader Project when their helmets premiered at Star Wars Celebration Japan.
Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks are Co-Curators The Vader Project and Co-Founders of DKE Toys, one of the largest designer vinyl and art-toy distributors in the world, exclusively representing over 100 companies, artists, and designers. Kelemer started the business selling Star Wars memorabilia more than 15 years ago. With The Vader Project he has finally found a way to meld both his passions. Marks divides her time between managing DKE art exhibitions and all DKE promotions including STUFFED: a plush food show. www.dketoys.com
For further questions, to discuss interview opportunities or for press photos please call DKE Toys at 818.765.3500
STAR WARS™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.
Artist List
Josh Agle (Shag) Troy Alders Kii Arens Attaboy Anthony Ausgang Axis Aye Jay
Gary Baseman Andrew Bell Tim Biskup Mark Bodnar BXH HIKARU Andrew Brandou
Buff Monster Mister Cartoon Chino mr clement Robbie Conal CRASH Steven Daily
Dalek Dehara DGPH Cam de Leon Devilrobots Yoko d’Holbachie Bob Dob
Tristan Eaton & Azk One – Thunderdog Studios Marc Ecko Eelus Ron English
FERG David Flores Brian Flynn – Hybrid Design Paul Frank Gargamel Huck Gee
Fawn Gehweiler Mike Giant Girls Drawin Girls Dan Goodsell Gris Grimly
Joe Hahn Haze XXL Jesse Hernandez Derek Hess Itokin Park Jeremyville kaNO
Mori Katsura- RealxHead Sun-MinKim & David Horvath Jim Koch
Frank Kozik David S. Krys – DSK Designs Peter Kuper Wade Lageose – Lageose Design
Joe Ledbetter Simone Legno – Tokidoki Mad Mad Barbarians Madtwiinz Marka27 Mars-1
Bill McMullen Melvins Mori Chack Brian Morris Nanospore Niagara
Mitch O’Connell olive47 Martin Ontiveros Estevan Oriol Alex Pardee The Pizz
Plasticgod PlaysKewl Dave Pressler Ragnar Jermaine Rogers
Erick Scarecrow Secret Base J. Otto Seibold Sket-One Shawn Smith Winston Smith
Jeff Soto Damon Soule Bwana Spoons Jophen Stein Suckadelic T9G Gary Taxali
Cameron Tiede Touma UrbanMedium Usugrow Michelle Valigura VanBeater
Amanda Visell
February 11th, 2009 in
Art Shows, DKE News, DKE Toys Official Press Releases, The Vader Project |
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2008 San Diego Comic Con pics are up!
Check out DKE’s flickr for more pics from SDCC!
And a few more pics from Plastic and Plush.
Sarah Jo featured in LA Weekly
Check out Sarah Jo’s plush food collection in the LA Weekly. Ooooh la la….
July 16th, 2008 in
Art Shows, From the Collection of Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks, Press, STUFFED: a plush food show |
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Toysrevil details DKE’s exclusives for San Diego Comic Con 2008
Thanks to Toysrevil for this cool little write-up. Here we come San Deigo!
THE VADER PROJECT heads to Tokyo for Star Wars Celebration Japan!
THE VADER PROJECT heads to Tokyo, Japan
13 Japanese artists join the original Vader Project and premiere their customized helmets in a stunning exhibition for Star Wars Celebration Japan
July 19 – July 21, 2008
Makuhari – Messe in Chiba
The Vader Project , a reimagining of the iconic Darth Vader helmet by some of today’s hottest pop and underground artists, will be on display July 19-21, 2008 at Star WarsCelebration Japan , a landmark event being held at Makuhari-Messe in Chiba just outside Tokyo to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars . For more information visitwww.celebrationjapan.com or www.celebrationjapan. jp
The Vader Project is curated by Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys. Kelemer and Marks gathered close to 100 of the hottest underground and pop surrealist painters, artists , and designers to participate. Each artist was given a 1:1 scale authentic prop replica of the actual Darth Vader helmet used in the Star Wars films. Each helmet served as a blank canvas for each artist to paint, design, mash up, and customize.
Japanese artists include:
Bounty Hunter
Chino
Dehara
Devil Robots
Gargamel
Itokin Park
Mad Barbarians
Mori Chack
RealxHead
Secret Base
T9G
Touma
Usugrow
Yoko d’Holbachie
Many of these artists jumped at the chance to lend their talents to one of the most iconic pop culture characters in film history.
“This could not be a timelier event,” Kelemer said. “The pop surrealist/ lowbrow/graffiti/designer art scene is exploding around us. A canvas is what you make it, from bunnies to cows to toilet seats. The ‘platform’ group show has been around, and we have seen it all.”
Ugly Doll co-creator David Horvath said it best: “It’s Darth Vader! !! It’s the most recognizable character in the universe. After this exhibition we don’t ever need to be in a platform show again.”
The Vader Project
The Vader Project originally premiered at Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles in May 2007. From there it traveled to Star Wars Celebration Europe in London in June 2007. July 2007 brought 10 new helmets to the Star Wars Pavilion at the famed San Diego Comic -Con on International . The Project’s exhibit at Star Wars Celebration Japan marks the first time the collection will be on display in Asia. The future plan is for the exhibition to travel to museums, galleries, and events around the world. The helmets will then be offered publicly at auction. Details will be announced later. For more updates sign up at www.thevaderproject.com .
Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks
The Vader Project Co-Curators and Co-Founders of DKE Toys Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks make up one of the largest designer vinyl and art-toy distributors in the world, exclusively representing over 100 companies, artists, and designers. Kelemer started the business selling Star Wars memorabilia more than 15 years ago. With The Vader Project he has finally found a way to meld both his passions. Marks divides her time between managing DKE art exhibitions and all DKE promotions including STUFFED: a plush food show. www.dketoys.com
For further questions, to discuss interview opportunities or for photos of the helmets please call DKE Toys at 818.765.3500
July 1st, 2008 in
Art Shows, DKE News, DKE Toys Official Press Releases, The Vader Project |
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Interview with Dov on Vinyl Pulse
Ms. Amanda Visell took over Vinyl Pulse on her birthday. She finally asked Dov all the questions she wanted to ask. Read it here!
