NoGoodz

Being that NoGoodz is a space where we can exalt and share those things we believe are great and important, it was a definite that we include Todd Schorr as one of our first articles.

The Spectres of Monsters Appeal by Todd Schorr at www.toddschorr.com

Todd Schorr is a contemporary visual social commentator who utilizes a palette of icons from popular culture dating all the way back to the atomic age, but renders them with an advertising illustrator’s toolbox of skills deriving inspiration from Rat Fink car models, Mad Magazine and Tex Avery cartoons. From Hieronymous Bosch to Salvador Dali to Walt Disney, Schorr seeks creative mana from the ancients of painting and visual representation, but instills a bit of underlay and mystery by having a highly recognizable cast as his 2-D (and sometimes 3-D) chorus. In an interview for the book Mutant Kiddies, Schorr said “When a thing, such as a painting, is imbued with an element of mystery, that becomes much of it’s fascination.”

Date With Mr Big Bad by Todd Schorr at www.toddschorr.com

Graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art (Yea Philly!) and having worked on a variety of avenues in commercial advertising—even doing album covers for AC/DC and Blue Oyster Cult—Schorr settled into a steady gig as what he was born to be: a very successful painter that did not attach himself to the “White Cube” of “highbrow” contemporary culture. With fantastic imagery that contorts and twists not just space but also story, his works borrow from the iconic lexicon of the cathode-ray injected collective conscious to tell the tale. Stating many times that his work “derives from contemporary mythology”, this complex cocaphony of the odd and the interesting has landed his works on the pages of Time Magazine, The New York Times, and Juxtapoz. Futhermore, his painting and sculptures have been housed in many well-known non-Art in America galleries as La Luz de Jesus, Mondo Bizzaro, Jonathan LeVine, and Merry Karnowsky while sparking controversy at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida over his imagery. Namely Santa with an Ax.

Hiawatha Encounters the Flying Purple People Eater by Todd Schorr at www.toddschorr.com

Again from Mutant Kiddies, he explains “Truly engaging art always strikes directly with one’s innate human curiosity. It’s in our genetic makeup to always pick out the different, the odd, the unusual.” This we believe because any time you see a Todd Schorr canvas, your face undoubtedly makes a Curious George “Wha?” look. His precision, detail, composition, and finish perfectly frame the undulating mystery that Schorr is only allowing slightly to reveal.

So now that you are a two-minute expert on Todd Schorr, we suggest you look him up, buy a book he’s in, go see a exhibition of his and purchase us a Todd Schorr painting for our office. Something big and expensive. Show us you love us.