King Kong

11″x14″ Original Watercolor Mounted on Silk-Screened Wood Panel

with Vintage Style Action Figure

Influential Figures by Lou Pimentel

Opens at Gallery1988 Friday, January 8, 2021

For Influential Figures Lou Pimentel created 37 original water color paintings inspired by vintage action figures and pop culture icons. The complete show will be available for viewing and sale at gallery1988.com starting at 12pm PST on Friday, January 8th. Following the virtual launch, at 1:30pm PST @galleries1988 is hosting an Instagram livestream virtual gallery tour with artist Lou Pimentel and Jensen Karp.

There will be no in-gallery viewings, it is exclusively online. Purchased paintings will be available for curbside pickup and will ship after January 23rd.

Each water color ranges in size from 6″x9″ to 11″x14″. Paintings are mounted onto laser cut backer boards with a silk-screened wood back. Then classic vintage-style figures and blisters are mounted onto the art to make the final pieces.

Originally dubbed Vintage Gold, this show, curated by DKE Toys, is a continuation of the series that premiered at New York Comic Con in 2018 with the first 20 pieces. Followed by another 20 pieces for the 2019 NYCC.

“For the Vintage Gold series I traveled back in time to my childhood. I remember the feeling of walking down the toy aisle and seeing all the fun, bright packages that contained the figures I so desperately wanted. I wanted to channel that energy, and excitement into my paintings. I wanted the inner child in all of us to say I WANT THAT!!” -Lou Pimentel

There are always more photos on our Flickr. We will be updating this with more images soon.

Freddy Krueger

6″x9″ Original Watercolor Mounted on Silk-Screened Wood Panel

with Vintage Style Action Figure

Travis Bickle

6″x9″ Original Watercolor Mounted on Silk-Screened Wood Panel

with Vintage Style Action Figure

Rocketeer

6″x9″ Original Watercolor Mounted on Silk-Screened Wood Panel

with Vintage Style Action Figure

Kato

6″x9″ Original Watercolor Mounted on Silk-Screened Wood Panel

with Vintage Style Action Figure

Hand silk-screened wood backer.

Gallery1988: Since it’s opening in 2004, Gallery1988 has become one of the nation’s most talked about art galleries. Sitting on the world famous shopping mecca of Melrose Ave (now at 7308 Melrose), G1988 was opened by California natives Katie Sutton and Jensen Karp, and was the first pop-culture focused art gallery in the world, as well as a premiere venue to witness the rise of emerging artists before they break.

(323) 937-7088

Instagram:@galleries1988

Lou Pimentel: Lou Pimentel is a watercolor artist based out of New York City, where he earned his BA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. His work is bold, energetic, and colorful. As a child Lou spent countless hours drawing, or building forts and costumes out of cardboard. Those worry-free, simple days were golden for him. He aims to reconnect and record those feelings with his work. They are his time capsules, documenting his interests and feelings, past and present.

Instagram: @loupimentel

DKE Toys: Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks are Co-Founders of DKE Toys which was the largest independent wholesale distributor of designer toys, limited edition art objects, collectibles, and gifts in the world exclusively representing hundreds of artists, designers, and boutique manufacturers. In 2016 the wholesale distribution arm of the business was sold to Disburst Ltd.

DKE Toys has curated dozens of art shows over the past 15 years including The Vader Project (World Tour), Let’s Eat (Giant Robot), 99 Deaths of Jar Jar (Designer Con), Spoonful of Star Wars (SDCC) and more. Currently DKE Toys shows at 3 conventions a year including their very own #DKECON in which artists from all over the world create limited edition hand made action figures.

(818) 767-7900

Instagram @dketoys