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Huck Gee’s 2nd Annual Blank Show, Part Three

64 Colors’ Jellymon

RunDMB’s Disruptor

Mujuworld’s Muju Star Guardian

Quiccs’s “LEXXMARTINEZ” [BabyTEQ Armor]

Shiffa’s El Roy

Huck Gee’s RE:BLANK AS09

Mr. Mitote’s Hade

Dethchops’ OctoBlank

Colus’ DE:ER

he 2nd Annual Blank Show was an opportunity for artist Huck Gee to let his The Blank (2015) design shine, with him challenging a bevy of handpicked artists to augment and embellish either the Skullhead Blank or its relatively new evolution, the RE:BLANK. Already having examined how a variety of talent handled these sculptural shapes in Part One and Part Two of this exhibition report, this final installment displays a similarly diverse creativity employed upon them.Painted a beautiful undersea blue with lighter and darker currents running throughout, the Jellymon piece is an imaginative interpretation of the form, 64 Colors member Laura Parsons decorating the crossbones protrusions on the Skullhead Blank‘s head into the bell-shaped domes of jellyfish . With thin tentacles and stinging oral arms emitting from each creature, including the one adorning the work’s right foot, the entire shape becomes a pictureque ballet of underwater movement.When RunDMB (David Bishop) began revealing his unique designer toy pieces in 2010, they were initially covered in expressionistic faces and creatures, evocative of the graffiti style that influenced him. By the following year, he’d begun evolving a personal interpretation of this aesthetic, one that still harkened to it through flowing arrays of lines but that also complimented the sculptural forms, each mark guided by the overall shape. And his contribution, Disruptor, is a perfect example of this, the Skullhead Blank still prominently present and recognizable. Decorated with subtle highlight lines and gradiant shading, the thick black webbing across much of the form steals the attention, negative spaces throughout filled with brightly colored swaths.Inspired by the appearance of her Muju Star Traveller (2016), artist Miss Muju (Katie Wes) carefully adorned her Muju Star Guardian piece with a Mujuworld -esque mandala in its belly, lines interrupted by concentric circles emitting outward from it. Building off of the RE:BLANK form’s mechanical nature, these new elements seem strangely appropriate and even grant a liveliness to the overall shape, the finishing touches of glow-in-the-dark eye discs and staff topper giving a haunting nightlife to this outer space themed work.The robot-like TEQ63 design has become a signature character for Quiccs Maiquez since he first introduced it circa 2013, so it only seems natural that his RE:BLANK based contribution is inspired by that creation. Holding a massive rendition of the lightsaber-esque sword that has appeared in various Quiccs works over the years, this “LEXXMARTINEZ” [BabyTEQ Armor] piece is a massive mech, its robotic form controlled out of the excised cranium by a BabyTEQ63 (or Baby TEQ63), a popular Dunny iteration of Quiccs’ design that was introduced in 2014. Creating a strangely pleasing profile together, the starkness of this piece’s coloration really makes the form itself take precedence.Completely remaking the Skullhead Blank into a form reminiscent of the Devil as it might appear in The Simpsons , this contribution, titled El Roy, is a beautifully executed, cartoonish interpretation. Created by Shiffa , who was one of three artists selected by open submission process by Gee, the artist even remade one hand on his work into the sign of the horns , lending a strange rocker vibe which is accentuated by the specially made denim vest, its folds partially obscuring the pristinely executed faux tattoo of “EVIL” upon its belly.Just as the Skullhead Blank evolved into the more robotic RE:BLANK form, the latter has been taken to a truly impressive level with the armor suited RE:BLANK AS09 rendition. Contributed by Huck Gee himself, this debut appearance has been uniquely made in translucent blue material, giving an almost spectral eeriness to the piece. Immaculately formed, every detail flowing beautifully into the next, the slight curvature of its mecha-scythe accessory — while most likely unintentional — actually provides a brilliant additional level of fluidity to the overall design.Infused with the magical realism of alebrije works, Hade by Mr. Mitote (Heriberto Rodela) captures the spirit of this well-known Mexican folk art sculptural movement perfectly, even though the coloration is muted rather than vibrant. Using the Skullhead Blank‘s head beautifully as a base, building a completely original work of art around and atop it, this is a truly expressive alteration of the provided form.While every other work displayed in this show was one-of-a-kind, the OctoBlank by Dethchops (Josh Kimberg) was created in an edition of 50 pieces. Placing an originally sculpted octopus tendril base underneath the Skullhead Blank‘s head, there’s a lovely marbled casting effect employed here, allowing the blue and red hues to accentuate and interplay with one another. Unfortunately, there is a disparate component between the glossy finish of the top half and the rough exterior of the bottom, with no tapering between them to grant cohesiveness.Sculpturally similar to his more realistic Deer Crossing (2016) piece, DE:ER by Colus Havenga is a massive 3D printed form that houses a RE:BLANK‘s frontal face element within the doe-eyed deer’s hinged head. While the obvious joint lines between components can be off-putting to some, it emphasizes the feel that this isn’t a biological deer but rather a robotic exterior hiding the mechanized Blank within. And, at the heart of it, that’s what every piece in this exhibition was: an evolution of the form, allowing the artist’s voice to be heard while maintaining the Blank within.

The 2nd Annual Blank Show group exhibition at Clutter Magazine Gallery had its opening reception on Saturday, July 8th from 6-9pm. All works in this exhibition will remain on display until August 4th, 2017 at the gallery’s physical location (163 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508).

View the gallery’s dedicated page for the exhibition

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Huck Gee's 2nd Annual Blank Show, Part Two Nick Curtis When Huck Gee introduced his Skullhead Blank sculptural form in 2015, its intent was to provide a basis for not just Gee but a multitude of other artists to build their original works of art upon, which is exactly the purpose of the 2nd Annual Blank Show. Curated by Gee…