|
Annual Screen Print & Print 2013 Year End Awards
Last year it was just the Mondo Print of the Year. To me they were the only game in town. Yet this year proved that just like with many other things no one has a monopoly on good prints. They weren't all screen prints at the other galleries but they were still good. And even Mondo doesn't release all screen prints now.
Not that I didn't pick up a few Mondo prints. Ken Taylor's Metropolis golden variant is a thing of beauty. But I still haven't seen the full movie so it's just a print of a golden deco girl right now without context. Also, Martin Ansin's Man of Steel is awesome and very vibrant. But it was essentially an open edition. It's a little strange for a Mondo print, not that I like sitting around a computer refreshing a website every other second or so for hours for the small possibility to "win" a print. It is a relief though not to have to play that game and to see some the hype dying down on Mondo and for artist's to have other outlets for their work. For me the other galleries were the hits. And just because they don't have the Mondo name attached, most are easy to get (for the most part). I think I picked up more this year from the other galleries and direct than from Mondo combined from last year and this year.
I was going to be clever and say that the print of the year goes to all the other galleries releasing prints as there were so many good ones. But a few stood out above the others. Probably because of the emotion behind the prints.
Print of the Year: James Bond 007 DB5 by Fringe Focus (Rob Loukotka)
A huge surprise as I was going to pass on this for odd reasons. I thought the scene wasn't movie accurate with the tire slashers and firing guns. That Tilly should be in the car with Bond for that scene. That we should also see Bond as well. But all that is meaningless because what this print does is capture the spirit of Bond and the movie Goldfinger. A movie many see as the best or always in the top 3 or 5. It's like if you were lucky enough to see Bond movies when you were a kid, you only went by the poster art. Well, if I heard that after FRWL would be Goldfinger and I saw this print I would be excited.
It's kind of like the Fleming book covers with the element of mystery in the print. Bond speeding through the trees at night, weapons at work, with the gold themed sky. And you have to see the print in person. The gold doesn't look like any of the metallic prints I've seen. It has sparkle but it's a heavier gold. I tried taking a photo but it just didn't come out well. It's almost like the gold paint that Goldfinger used on Jill. You see it reflected on the trees as well. I wish I could better explain the feel of it. I guess you just have to be into those old Bond movies and books. To see and read them when you were young to understand what I'm getting at. It was a time when Bond movies were these new exotic spy movies and it meant something cool. That's what this print feels like.
The DB5 is probably the best Bond car and a personal favorite. This will go in my garage with a proper setup one day. I can't wait for what's next.
Honorable Mention: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hudson River Damn by Mark Englert
This would be a tie for first place if not for how the APs were handled. I wanted Donatello but with only 10, there was little to no chance. And everyone that played the older games knows that Donatello is the best because of his Bo staff's reach. From the NES original game to both arcade games. I always played Donatello. I only played Raph in the Tournament Fighters game. Mark Englert should have handled the variants a lot better. Only 10 of each is nonsense. It should have been open edition for 15 minutes and one per person, whichever turtle they wanted. Or break the normal edition into fours per turtle. He also missed the opportunity to have a glow in the dark version. Yet with all that, the scene is still beautiful. I don't know why many hate that water level, I love it and thought it was easy with some of the best music in the game and NES library for that matter. I still remember the music when I look at the print. It will go behind my Sideshow Donatello statue.
Biggest Disappointment or Welcome Relief: No Mondo Dark Knight Trilogy or James Bond Anniversary Prints (Tie)
I still can't believe that Mondo hasn't made good prints for these series. They always can. But they missed an opportunity with the Bond Anniversary and end of the Dark Knight series. I wish someone would ask Justin about these in an interview.
|
