It has been six long years, but the Bluthe family is finally going to grace your televisions once again in 2013! Since that’s still far away, why were hundreds of Arrested Development fans lined up on Friday night in Hollywood? Well, a wise man once said, “There’s Always Money in the Banana Stand”, and for a small gallery on Melrose, he was right! Gallery 1988, a Pop-art gallery in Los Angeles, hosted an all Arrested Development themed show, using those words as its’ moniker. With over sixty artists work featured and wall to wall prints, paintings, dolls, and figures, this show was nothing to shake a frozen banana at. Speaking of frozen bananas, those were for sale also. Continued after the jump.

Upon arrival at the gallery, about an hour before opening, there was already a healthy line of devoted fans and art collectors. Someone also must have “Blue” themselves, because there were blue handprints and streaks all over the windows and walls. Before I even got to the art, I was greeted by a gallery worker in full Lindsay Bluthe attire, including the famous “Slut” shirt. After averting my eyes in hopes of some gold Kruggerands, I moved onto the reason we were all there.

Every piece was unique and chocked full of jokes, some more obscure then others. All the Bluthes were represented, including Franklin, as was Ms. Featherbottom, J. Walter Weatherman (well his arm), and Lucille 2, amongst many others. A mixed media Tony Wonder play-set, from Mike Minogue & Paddy Dunne, was my favorite piece in the show. A twisted version of a “Polly Pocket” playset, included a bread stage and miniature Tony standing at the center watching Buster and Gob perform their “Sword of Destiny” trick…er sorry, illusion. There was also a set of three Tobias Funke dolls, from Michelle Coffee, each in a different one of the Doctor’s famous getups.

Overall the show was a great success. There was something for everyone and by the looks of the turnout, probably not much left over after tonight. Keep a look out on Gallery 1988’s website (http://nineteeneightyeight.com) as they will put up whatever hasn’t sold yet for online consumption Saturday June 30th at some point. The show runs through July 21 and you should definitely check it out, just remember, NO TOUCHING!

And for more info on the show, here’s Scott’s Limited Paper preview.

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