Baby Tattooville

The art movement known as pop or lowbrow surrealism has excited collectors with its mixture of nostalgia, decadence, and delicious weirdness.


According to Wikipedia, Juxtapoz, the flagship magazine of the movement, is the number one art magazine in America.

One of the prime movers of pop surrealism is Bob Self, publisher of Baby Tattoo books. This coming October, for the third year running, Mr. Self will host an event for artists and collectors at the Mission Inn in California. Ten invited artists spend a few days with 50 collectors, who pay a package price to participate. The event is called “Baby Tattooville.” In his words:

"Baby Tattooville provides a unique opportunity for a small group of celebrated artists and serious collectors to spend time together in a relaxed yet creatively stimulating environment. Without the time constraints of a typical personal appearance, or the crowd control issues of a standing-room-only event, artists and collectors will have a weekend-long opportunity to discuss and explore their mutual interests. Original work will be created and celebrated around-the-clock. No one will leave empty handed. Only 50 event packages are being offered."

One of the standouts in this year’s lineup is Travis Louie, whose affectionate portraits of unusual beings has won him an enthusiastic following among collectors.

Bob Self also asked me to be part of the event next fall, so I’ll be reporting to you from the inside. If you’re a collector, you might want to sign up soon, because the spaces are likely to disappear quickly.
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Baby Tattooville 2009 (the art gathering), link.
Art of Travis Louie Blog, link.
Baby Tattoo home page, link.
Vinyl pulse report on the last BT event (pictured in this post), link.
Wikipedia on Juxtapoz, link.