Grumpy-Mummy-Playboy Bunny hangs with Grumpy-Gummy-Crash Test Dummy

Grumpies go for a low five:
PuppyMonkeyBaby drawing #8

I had a debate about the various bunny options: Easter Bunny, Chocolate Bunny, etc, but decided that I really wanted to draw the human legs rather than short furry or candy ones. This meant, however, that I had to discuss with my sons what "Playboy Bunnies" were...or are. I suppose they might still be around.

While images of women in high heels with fluffy tails profoundly irritated me during my youth, in the context of the overwhelming cornucopia of explicit images of women available online, the old fashioned Bunnies don't look too much worse than the average female superhero.  But as my sons are well aware, all those scantily clad girls do make me grumpy...or maybe just more grumpy than my usual baseline grumpiness. 

I had to swap the lower bodies between the Grumpies. I originally had the Gummy Bear on top of the Bunny legs and that made the stumpy Gummy paws look unfortunately suggestive of female secondary sexual characteristics.

We don't want this to look too weird after all.

Press Release for "Popular Monsters"

Text of the Press Release:

The Humanities Gallery at LIU, Brooklyn is pleased to present a show of new work by Nina Levy that is an unusual combination of gallery art and inspired pop culture silliness.

Nina Levy has been making figurative sculpture and photographs for well over 20 years, exhibiting at at various venues including the National Portrait Gallery in D.C., the Aldrich, Brooklyn, DeCordova, and San Diego Museums of Contemporary Art. Her work has been featured on the covers of Sculpture Magazine and Art News, and reviewed in The New York Times, Art in America and The New Yorker.

This is, however, the first time that she has exhibited decorated absorbent paper products and the decapitated head of Grumpy Cat.

Ms Levy achieved some unexpected notoriety recently for her 10 years of daily drawings on the lunch napkins of her two pop culture obsessed sons. Her blog “Daily Napkins” collects 1200 of the most recent drawings, and has led to appearances on CBS This Morning, Fox’s Good Day New York, coverage in the New York Times, The NY Post, London’s Daily Mail and Star, websites based in the US ranging from starwars.com to The Huffington Post and Ripley’s Believe it or not, as well as dozens of webblogs based in countries such as Indonesia, Japan, China, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey and Russia.

Her immersion in her sons’ pop culture interests prompted a body of work: a group of sculpted heads inspired by the sorts of characters that appear on her sons’ napkins: monstrous and/or cute creatures that become internet memes: the angry bird,  the giant lizard, the sarcastic feline, the green zombie, and more.

This exhibition offers a chance to see several dozen of the napkins and to pose with the heads.

Nina Levy
Popular Monsters: Sculpture & Napkin Drawings

Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 16th, 6 – 8 pm
On view September 1st- October 30th, 2015
Humanities Gallery, LIU Brooklyn CampusMon – Fri 9-6,  Sat & Sun by appointment.
One University Plaza (DeKalb and Flatbush)  Brooklyn, NY 11201-5372
Travel:  B, Q, R to DeKalb Avenue; 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins Street; A, C, F, to Jay Street
For additional information call 718-488-1198

Popular Monsters Heads in the Studio

 

 Studio shoots of the heads that will appear in a show with the napkins in September in Brooklyn.

Bring me the Head of Grumpy Cat

No, it is not a napkin.  But it is napkin related I suppose. 
Mostly it is a picture of clutter, and an illustration that my husband has thoughtfully left a very large mirror (with a cut out for a switch plate perhaps) in my studio.

Baymax and Grumpy Cat

"Hairy Baby!'

Ansel had forgotten how much he liked "Big Hero 6."
He had not, however, forgotten the "Hairy Baby" scene.  As it was included in the original trailer, and the more recent advertising for the DVD/iTunes release, there was really no way to forget it.

Mochi, the cat in the movie, is mostly agreeable and plump. After listening to many repetitions of "Hairy Baby"and marveling at the efficacy of sound-bite advertising on the 8-12 year old mind, I was perhaps feeling...grumpy.

And I am continually impressed at the internet meme and marketing marvel that is Grumpy Cat.

Additionally, yes, I am aware that Grumpy Cat is really a female feline, is actually named "Tardar Sauce," and as she suffers from feline dwarfism, is probably smaller than depicted here. These important facts and others were drawn to my attention by Grumpy Cat authorities in the past when I mistakenly referred to her as a "he."

Next up, Lil Bub with the Terminator?... or Trash Cat with Wall-e?..."Happy Cat" (The one who says, "Can I has cheeseburger?") with the Cybermen?

The possibilities are endless... or at least several.

Grumpy Cat and Rocket Raccoon

Sarcastic, merchandisable talking animals share a disapproving moment.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" opened last Friday, and seeing it over this weekend was not optional. It certainly lived up to its press as far as our sons were concerned.

That is to say: there was a snarky talking raccoon, and he did have a big gun. As a bonus: there were a lot of explosions and a dancing plant.  There was also a bunch of other stuff that prompted my younger son to plaintively ask several times, "when is this going to be over?" Nevertheless, by the dancing plant at the end, both kids were both ready for the sequel.

And Grumpy Cat? While the kids do find him amusing, I have to admit that he is more my fixation than theirs.  Why are sarcastic animals so appealing? And so lucrative?