Are you wondering about the story behind my “Tin Toy Porn” series? Then this post is for you.
Some years ago, the owner of the NYC gallery that represented me at that time told me that women respond to my work better than men. He suggested I paint more line-up paintings (see my “Bad Boys” series in my portfolio) or compositions that were “less cutesy” that would appeal more to men.
One night soon after, finding myself unable to sleep, I thought about that conversation. “What do men like?” I asked myself. The immediate response from my brain was “Porn.” And then I mentally pictured a couple of toys in a compromising position, and laughed. I lay there totally entertained, mentally conjuring images of toys being inappropriate. The next morning I went to my studio with anticipation, eager to see if I could come up with something that was as funny in reality as it was in my head. It was mildly disappointing. Tin toys aren’t posable, for the most part. What I could do with them was pretty limited, unfortunately, and at that time my toy collection was relatively small. I decided it had been a fun exercise, but ultimately not doable, and I quickly forgot about it.
Until April 1st. I’m not a huge prankster, and I hadn’t done an April Fools joke in forever, but this was a perfect opportunity. Since the time I had originally thought of and rejected the idea, I had found and purchased a tin Porky Pig toy and a dog that would actually be perfect together. I thought it would be hilarious if I emailed the gallery owner and told him I was going to do this new series. So I did.
In this email, I told him I’d been thinking about that conversation we had about women responding better to my art than men. The rest of it went like this:
While I was playing with set-ups, I think I came up with a perfect idea for a series that would appeal to men: "Tin Toy Porn" - tin toys placed in such a way as to suggest they are doing x-rated activities. Of course, I’m likely to offend some people by doing this, but I’m guessing there are plenty of people who would find it appealing. I didn’t want to start painting the series without running it by you first, though.
I’m attaching an example composition. My original thought was to call this “Porking Doggy Style” since it’s Porky Pig, but it’s probably offensive enough just to call it “Doggy Style.” I think the expression on their faces is pretty perfect, but I don’t know if you’d understand what they’re supposed to be doing if you don’t know the title. Which is also pretty perfect.
What do you think?
I set up the toys in a compromising position, took a picture, then attached it to the email. But before hitting “send” I paused in a moment of trepidation. I hadn’t been working with this gallery very long. How would he respond? Obviously, my goal was to make him laugh, but would he think this was funny? I decided he’d probably seen everything and wouldn’t likely be offended, so I had nothing to lose. Even if he wasn’t amused, I would be (and I do love to amuse myself!). I thought that most likely he’d think I had the sense of humor of a teenage boy, and tell me it’s probably time for me to stop playing with toys. And I would think that was funny, too! Whatever he might think of me, my need to amuse myself was too great. I had to do it. So I pushed send. And then I waited, giggling to myself at the thought of what his reaction might be.
I didn’t have to wait long. Three minutes later came his short response:
“I have tears running down my face from laughter!”
I had achieved my objective. Totally worth it! I sent him a quick note, telling him I was glad he enjoyed my April Fools joke.
And then he called me. Apparently, he hadn’t realized it was an April Fools joke, and he had shared it with everyone at the gallery and they all thought it was hilarious. So I told him I’d paint it for him, which I eventually did (although ultimately it was sold by Meyer Gallery in Santa Fe).
I really didn’t think I’d be turning this into a series. I had considered painting one and posting it every April 1st, just for fun, but I didn’t want to have to work it into my schedule if it wasn't convenient. In the end, I decided I might do one if the mood ever struck, or the toys got frisky (I don’t judge what they do in their spare time).
After I had painted a couple of these paintings, I received an invitation to a group show at Arcadia Contemporary in New York City. In this invitation, the gallery owner specifically requested I paint a Tin Toy Porn painting for the show (truly the funniest invitation I’ve ever received!), which I did. It sold a couple of weeks before the show even opened. He later strongly encouraged me to keep going with this series. I really didn’t think I could come up with many more good ideas, but his encouragement got me thinking a bit more creatively. I started shopping for more toys, now with the series in mind. Sometimes I would see a toy and it would make me think of a funny title, but most of the time I’d think up a title and create the composition around it, finding toys that would make it funny. I now have a much larger toy collection and some ideas that I’m genuinely excited about. I have to paint them.
If you are a fan of my “cutesy” paintings, don’t worry. I’m not totally going to the dark side. I’ll be painting plenty of them in the future.
