martin ontiveros' rock & roll fantasy @ grass hut gallery (feb 1st)
"Rock & Roll Fantasy" is a an upcoming show @ Grass Hut Gallery (Feb 1st) which features fresh paintings by Martin Ontiveros (who explores the strange and beautiful world of Rock&Roll, vivid colors and mythology), as well as a Ojo Rojo Toy Release by Gargamel & friends
Ojo Rojo Toy Release:
"Bigger and better then the mini releases at Comic Con '07, this new Ojo has movable limbs and will not fit in your mouth. It's a Grass Hut exclusive, locals get 1st dibs on opening night, but they will be available online the next day. The sculpt was masterfully executed by Kyoka Ikeda of Gargame." (*do note that image-above-right is NOT the final figure. that figure will remain a "secret" until it's release :p)
/// CLICK TO READ MORE, INCLUDING AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN BY GRASSHUTWHEN: February 1st (Friday) 6-9pm
Martin's friends are going to pitch in too, including: Arbito Hibert / Kiyoshi Nakazawa / Evan Harris / Scrappers / Tweeqim / Cupco! / Bwana Spoons / Gargamel / Mark Nagata / Apak / Le Merde (*note: Not everyone is customizing a figure, some are just doing a painting. Some are doing both.)
GRASS HUT: So you graduated from Cal Arts along with the inventor of the Power Puff Girls, do you see any common trends in line work and character design from the artists who go through that school?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: There were two schools of animation at CalArts, Experimental and Character. I was in the former, which meant that we were allowed to do anything we wanted, traditional cell or 3D or whatever, at our own pace and with minimal structure. We were encouraged to explore our own visions and explore new ways of making animated films. Experimental worked more from the angle of animation as short art films than as something that would develop into a series on TV, not to say that alumni from there didn't wind up doing such things (for example, Stephen Hillenburg, who created Spongebob Squarepants, Henry Selick, director of Nightmare Before Christmas and others, Jorge Gutierrez, creator of El Tigre, and Brad Bird, who worked on the Simpsons and is the genius behind Pixar were all from my program). I never made a film myself though. Character Animation, which was the school that Craig McKracken graduated from, was way more structured in that it taught students everything from the mechanics of constructing a film to the history of animation to character design itself, a true program with teachers straight out of the industry itself. Most of them were really young, right out of high school (versus the older crowd of Experimental) and were actively following what was going on at the time in popular animation, all fans of the same stuff, and all impressionable by what they dreamed of being a part of. When I started CalArts, indie and alternative animation was just gaining popularity - Ren and Stimpy, Spike and Mike, Nickolodeon, and later on, Cartoon Network's original programming-- so suddenly there was more to offer than just getting a job at Disney. More opportunity to be a maverick in line work and character design, and if not that, than at least more productions to get a job on. So, I guess the answer is yes... Jesus, could I have spent more time answering this?
GRASS HUT: How is this new show at the Hut different from the solo you had at Giant Robot the other month?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: The GR2 show wound up being a catharsis of all these emotions I had been harboring for the year prior. The art was the natural outcome of having gone through some heavy stuff and yet having worked and created through it regardless, resulting in some of my best work to date. Like drinking a mix of all kinds of things that aren't necessarily good for you and puking out rainbows in the end. Having said that, I think it exhausted me in a way too-- I'm still too burned out to load the new stuff with all the color that went into GR2. This new show is a switch to something simpler, lighter in mood, subject, and spectrum, and just plain fun. It's all about my deep love for Rock N' Roll and Heavy Metal, combined with mythology, and the cheesier the composition, the better. It's a new year, a lot of things have been resolved or are on another, more positive course. I'm in strange new territory and I want to have fun. When this is all over, I'll get back to the big-color thing.
GRASS HUT: What's Ojo Rojo's story, what's he stand for?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: Story...? I guess you could say he's a bit of an alter-ego. He smiles all the time. He has cooler hair than me. His fashion sense is somewhat glam, which is a look that I could never pull off. He's a character I can throw into any piece and he would brighten it up. I don't know if it's the grin, the hair, or the boots, but he gets some good response. His name is kind of a fluke-- I tend not to title things until the last minute... I like to see what I come up with spur of the moment. In his case, I was titling everything in the show he premiered in after rock song titles, and since he had red eyes, I used Ojo Rojo from a Fu Manchu song. I wish it could be more extravagant a story than that, but there you have it. Good song too.
GRASS HUT: What's you connection with the Japanese kaiju (monster toy) company Gargamel? How is Gargamel different from other kaiju-makers?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: I met and became aware of Gargamel through Bwana Spoons. We shared a room with them at Comic-Con 2006. They knew very little english, we knew very little japanese, and we had a blast regardless. I'm not the biggest expert on vinyl out there, I don't collect much since I don't have the money, plus I'm really selective about what I get, and won't buy something just because it's the hot thing out there-- so my opinion is sort of limited about the vinyl world. It's really up to the tastes of the makers and collectors as to what's cool. That said, I love Gargamel best personally because they are in league with my taste in kaiju--they hail back to the aesthetic glory of Bullmark and Marusan, the older days of vinyl. I don't really see anyone else out there doing it that way (except Super 7 and Max Toy), and that's why I'm into Gargamel. That we are pals with a strong mutual admiration for each other's work is just the icing on the cake. Those guys are fun!
GRASS HUT: What is going to make 2008 two thousand great?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: Grass Hut, duh! And going to Japan for the first time, that will definitely help.
- *NOTE: this interview was conducted by Grass Hut and came with the press-release, so any kudos to go to them, yeh? only thing i did was to reformat it :)
- this blog's coverage of Martin Ontiveros here including an early interview with Martin here :)
Ojo Rojo Toy Release:
"Bigger and better then the mini releases at Comic Con '07, this new Ojo has movable limbs and will not fit in your mouth. It's a Grass Hut exclusive, locals get 1st dibs on opening night, but they will be available online the next day. The sculpt was masterfully executed by Kyoka Ikeda of Gargame." (*do note that image-above-right is NOT the final figure. that figure will remain a "secret" until it's release :p)
/// CLICK TO READ MORE, INCLUDING AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN BY GRASSHUT
WHEN: February 1st (Friday) 6-9pm
WHERE: Grass Hut Gallery
811 E. Burnside
Portland, OR
Martin's friends are going to pitch in too, including: Arbito Hibert / Kiyoshi Nakazawa / Evan Harris / Scrappers / Tweeqim / Cupco! / Bwana Spoons / Gargamel / Mark Nagata / Apak / Le Merde (*note: Not everyone is customizing a figure, some are just doing a painting. Some are doing both.) GRASS HUT: So you graduated from Cal Arts along with the inventor of the Power Puff Girls, do you see any common trends in line work and character design from the artists who go through that school?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: There were two schools of animation at CalArts, Experimental and Character. I was in the former, which meant that we were allowed to do anything we wanted, traditional cell or 3D or whatever, at our own pace and with minimal structure. We were encouraged to explore our own visions and explore new ways of making animated films. Experimental worked more from the angle of animation as short art films than as something that would develop into a series on TV, not to say that alumni from there didn't wind up doing such things (for example, Stephen Hillenburg, who created Spongebob Squarepants, Henry Selick, director of Nightmare Before Christmas and others, Jorge Gutierrez, creator of El Tigre, and Brad Bird, who worked on the Simpsons and is the genius behind Pixar were all from my program). I never made a film myself though. Character Animation, which was the school that Craig McKracken graduated from, was way more structured in that it taught students everything from the mechanics of constructing a film to the history of animation to character design itself, a true program with teachers straight out of the industry itself. Most of them were really young, right out of high school (versus the older crowd of Experimental) and were actively following what was going on at the time in popular animation, all fans of the same stuff, and all impressionable by what they dreamed of being a part of. When I started CalArts, indie and alternative animation was just gaining popularity - Ren and Stimpy, Spike and Mike, Nickolodeon, and later on, Cartoon Network's original programming-- so suddenly there was more to offer than just getting a job at Disney. More opportunity to be a maverick in line work and character design, and if not that, than at least more productions to get a job on. So, I guess the answer is yes... Jesus, could I have spent more time answering this?
GRASS HUT: How is this new show at the Hut different from the solo you had at Giant Robot the other month?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: The GR2 show wound up being a catharsis of all these emotions I had been harboring for the year prior. The art was the natural outcome of having gone through some heavy stuff and yet having worked and created through it regardless, resulting in some of my best work to date. Like drinking a mix of all kinds of things that aren't necessarily good for you and puking out rainbows in the end. Having said that, I think it exhausted me in a way too-- I'm still too burned out to load the new stuff with all the color that went into GR2. This new show is a switch to something simpler, lighter in mood, subject, and spectrum, and just plain fun. It's all about my deep love for Rock N' Roll and Heavy Metal, combined with mythology, and the cheesier the composition, the better. It's a new year, a lot of things have been resolved or are on another, more positive course. I'm in strange new territory and I want to have fun. When this is all over, I'll get back to the big-color thing.
GRASS HUT: What's Ojo Rojo's story, what's he stand for?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: Story...? I guess you could say he's a bit of an alter-ego. He smiles all the time. He has cooler hair than me. His fashion sense is somewhat glam, which is a look that I could never pull off. He's a character I can throw into any piece and he would brighten it up. I don't know if it's the grin, the hair, or the boots, but he gets some good response. His name is kind of a fluke-- I tend not to title things until the last minute... I like to see what I come up with spur of the moment. In his case, I was titling everything in the show he premiered in after rock song titles, and since he had red eyes, I used Ojo Rojo from a Fu Manchu song. I wish it could be more extravagant a story than that, but there you have it. Good song too.
GRASS HUT: What's you connection with the Japanese kaiju (monster toy) company Gargamel? How is Gargamel different from other kaiju-makers?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: I met and became aware of Gargamel through Bwana Spoons. We shared a room with them at Comic-Con 2006. They knew very little english, we knew very little japanese, and we had a blast regardless. I'm not the biggest expert on vinyl out there, I don't collect much since I don't have the money, plus I'm really selective about what I get, and won't buy something just because it's the hot thing out there-- so my opinion is sort of limited about the vinyl world. It's really up to the tastes of the makers and collectors as to what's cool. That said, I love Gargamel best personally because they are in league with my taste in kaiju--they hail back to the aesthetic glory of Bullmark and Marusan, the older days of vinyl. I don't really see anyone else out there doing it that way (except Super 7 and Max Toy), and that's why I'm into Gargamel. That we are pals with a strong mutual admiration for each other's work is just the icing on the cake. Those guys are fun!
GRASS HUT: What is going to make 2008 two thousand great?
MARTIN ONTIVEROS: Grass Hut, duh! And going to Japan for the first time, that will definitely help.
- *NOTE: this interview was conducted by Grass Hut and came with the press-release, so any kudos to go to them, yeh? only thing i did was to reformat it :)
- this blog's coverage of Martin Ontiveros here including an early interview with Martin here :)
