In case you didn’t have a chance to check out Acidfree Gallery’s booth at New York Comic Con this year or just haven’t head of them, now is the chance to put them on your radar if you’re a fan of pop culture art and all things retro.
I had a chance to speak with the owner and founder of Acidfree Gallery, Chris Wofford, a man who had been working in the fine art printing business for some time now. In 2010 he started his new business venture after realizing that it just made sense to do it. Since he knew a bunch of artists that were being commissioned for companies like Mondo, Gallery 1988 and Dark Hall Mansion he would be able to get in touch with the artists with relative ease. As for the content, Chris “always had an appreciation for G.I. Joe, Transformers and Hasbro. You know the old classic toys so [he] wanted to come up with something that focused on the classic toy lines but also a collectible piece of fine art.” Luckily, he scored a license deal with Hasbro and was able to set up a pretty awesome lineup for the next year.
When asked about why Perillo and Whalen were the best candidates to launch the Transformers and G.I. Joe series Chris said that “Tom has a really good following so far and I thought his style was fitting for the first transformers poster ’cause his style fits that generation one look and then Dave Perillo, I just liked his whimsical style and both guys are really easy to work with and are really good guys.”
Tom and Dave are just the first artists in a big series being released by Acidfree with Chris saying that “we have nine different artists lined up to do their take on the two properties [Transformers and G.I. Joe]” which is really great for fans of either brand.
If you were wondering if these guys would eventually have any physical gallery exhibits the answer is pretty much yes. Chris mentioned that “we might start doing some pop-up galleries in some major cities, maybe Philidelphia and New York City. We’ve already talked to a gallery owner in NY who wants us to come up and maybe from that we’ll go into a permanent space.”
As I alluded to some competition, I was curious if Acidfree would stick mostly to general pop culture art or if they would do movie posters too?
“Right now we’re sticking with the pop culture, the retro collectible old-school cartoons and toy lines and I can’t say we won’t do movies if someone approached us, we might do that.”
Lastly, while on-site selling their Whalen and Perillo posters on Sunday, Acidfree previewed the next poster in their G.I. Joe series from artist Gabz (Grzegorz Domaradzki). The below poster of Scarlett will be a limited run print and is part of a series of three G.I. Joe prints. If you like art from artist Rhys Cooper there is 100% chance you’ll love the vibrant Scarlett print below.
Acidfree is looking to make some big moves now and in the future so be sure to check them out and buy a piece or two from them (here) if you are into retro toys and brands. From what I can tell, these guys are going to blow up sooner rather than later.
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