When you think of an artist's work what would you imagine? A painting hanging in a museum? A sculpture next to a pond? That makes sense, but how about a Wayne Thibaud wristwatch, or an Andy Warhol handbag? Those are probably not the first things that come to mind.
Right now over at the project room in the Nelson Gallery is a fantastic exhibit where you can find all these things and more. The exhibit is simply entitled “Merch Art” but packs a vibrant technicolored punch.
Why would famous artists so blatantly delve into the commercial world? There are a few possible reasons; on the advice of their agents, for extra publicity, contract obligations or perhaps one of the oldest reasons in the world – to pay the rent. - good old “quick cash”.
Whatever the reason, the Merch Art exhibit has a fabulous display of a variety of artists lending themselves to the commercial design art world. It's the perfect answer to the question “Design or Art?” these products are both. Hands down my favorite in the building, the exhibit features everything from Record album art by the likes of comic artist R. Crumb and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe to plush toys by Jeff Koons. There are running descriptions of why the artists did what they did, how they were inspired and how the products were used and enjoyed.
There were a couple of brightly colored golf balls with quotes about life on them. At first glance you couldn't they didn't seem very interesting but the accompanying literature told a different story: a collection of artists in New York joined forces with each designing a different hole for a miniature golf course. The course itself was actually playable and the museum housing it charged $5 per game. The exhibit was so successful that the museum reportedly made $85,000 in three days. This just goes to show that stepping outside conventional design and marrying together less conventional mediums can yield fantastic results.
Photo 1 - "Bunny Rabbit" (2004) Cookie Jar by Momoyo Torimitsu, photo by Dave Tipton
The Merch Art exhibit runs from September 24 – December 13, 2009 In the “Project room” of the Nelson Gallery in the basement of the Art building at UC Davis. Items on display are from the collection of Lawrence Banka and Judith Gordon of San Francisco
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