Working Design Sketches by Jim Henson and Amy Van Gilder Live Hand Puppet
The Flower Pepper Gallery is pleased to present I Wish I Had Friends Like That!, an exhibition curated by Emmy award-nominated Pasadena artist Amy Van Gilder. A Peabody Award-winning veteran of The Muppet Show and Walt Disney Imagineering, Van Gilder has spent four decades creating and building iconic characters, including work for The Labyrinth, The Great Muppet Caper, Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal. Exhibition is on view October 15th – November 15th, 2016.
This unique exhibition brings together work by 25 artists Van Gilder has collaborated with throughout her career, from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design to The Jim Henson Company to The Walt Disney Company. “It is a grand grouping of work by artists I’ve known over a lifetime. Some are quite acknowledged, others not, but they all make great art,” says Van Gilder.
The group includes Michael K. Frith, former creative director for Jim Henson Productions, friend and editor for Dr. Seuss, and founder of children’s education company Sirius, creator of award-winning PBS puppet show Between the Lions; John Stevenson, British animation filmmaker, puppeteer and director of Kung Fu Panda; virtuoso paper sculptor Leo Monahan whose work is held in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection; Mari Kaestle, an Emmy Award-winning designer who helped create Miss Piggy; Sibyl Rubottom, a
Black and White and Red All Over by Leslie W LePere
California-based book artist and founder of the Bay Park Press in San Diego; calligrapher and type designer Louis Lemoine, a former Walt Disney Imagineer who created Mickey’s handwriting for Disneyland parks worldwide; celebrated Washington-based designer Leslie LePere, known for his illustrations of books by Tom Robbins; and renowned Salem, Massachusetts-based maritime watercolorist Racket Shreve.
The exhibition will include never-before exhibited sketches by Jim Henson for Muppet Show characters, alongside photographs of the puppets built by Van Gilder based on the sketches. The show will also feature whooping crane puppets newly built by Van Gilder and inspired by the puppetry work of Heather Henson, Jim Henson’s daughter, for the International Crane Foundation.
Globe by Bartholomew Cooke
A significant number of contributing artists have roots in the Los Angeles and Pasadena area. Bruce Vaughn, the former head of Walt Disney Imagineering, is a member of the executive board of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Shelley Short, a creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, and Pasadena-based multidisciplinary visual artist Luciano Martinez were both trained at the Art Center College of Design, as was Bartholomew Cooke, an up-and-coming young photographer whose work has appeared on the cover of Variety, The Atlantic, WIRED and TIME magazine. (He is also Amy Van Gilder’s son.)
Other participating artists include: Andrea Bottancino, Antoinette Argyropoulos, Aprile Boettcher, Belinda Del Pesco, Chris Holm, Heather Rosenman, Henry Higginson, Jeanette Russell, Mark Huber and Richard Loveless.
The reception is open to the public. For purchase inquiries, or to request a VIP preview link, please email [email protected]
About Amy Van Gilder
Puppetmaker and designer Amy Van Gilder’s career spans five decades. She was one of the earliest designers in the New York Muppet Workshop, hired in 1976 during the first season of The Muppet Show. She worked alongside Jim Henson in Elstree Studios, England, heading up the Muppet Workshop during the filming of The Muppet Show. She created puppets for iconic episodes including those featuring Diana Ross, Christopher Reeve and Dudley Moore, and was nominated, alongside other members of the team, for two Emmy Awards and won a Peabody Award. Van Gilder also worked as a puppet maker and designer on The Dark Crystal, The Muppets Go Hollywood, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Labyrinth and Fraggle Rock. In 1990, Van Gilder moved with her family to Los Angeles, where she worked first at the Disney Figure Finishing Department, before becoming a Walt Disney Imagineer. In 1996, she took a sabbatical from Disney to work on the TV series Muppets Tonight. Over the past 3 years, she has collaborated with the Flower Pepper Gallery on window designs. Van Gilder graduated from Rhode Island School of Design, and currently lives in Pasadena.
About Flower Pepper Gallery
Flower Pepper Gallery is located at Old Pasadena. As the newest art gallery, the Gallery is aggressively looking to stay positioned as this area’s best source of art for years to come. FPG exhibits contemporary art from local artists as well as artists from overseas. Its collection features books on art & design, and art products for everyday use. Flower Pepper Gallery also host events and exhibitions regularly.
Pasadena is an exciting place to be for the arts. There is always something new to see, savor, and experience which naturally results in a wildly creative atmosphere. Flower Pepper Gallery often express its appreciation for the support of the arts in this community and have strived to play its part to bring some of the best art LA has to offer to Old Pasadena.
It should come as no surprise that Pasadena is home to an enormous number of diverse and talented artists and Flower Pepper Gallery have had the immense joy to work with so many over the years. While the Gallery exhibits artists from all over the world, we love the camaraderie that has developed with the local artists in the community. Being neighbors with Art Center College of Design, FPG have had the pleasure to work with incredible Professors and Alumni who are not only making a splash in the LA art scene, but are influencing and evolving the art conversation as a whole, right from our own backyard.
Flower Pepper Gallery hopes to continue to be a platform for contemporary art in Pasadena for many more years to come. So be sure to stay tuned for exciting new projects and exhibitions, and visit the gallery often where there is always something new to see!
Flower Pepper Gallery, 121 East Union Street, Pasadena, (626) 795-1895 or visit www.flower-pepper.com.
