FUN ZONE @ JoAnne Artman Gallery, New York
With the winter snow melting and the sun beginning to shine through the city smog, there is no better time to enjoy art that embraces fun and happiness. Welcome to the Fun Zone at JoAnne Artman Gallery, where artists John “CRASH” Matos, Jenna Krypell, and Marly McFly fuse pop aesthetics with limitless energy, imbuing a sense of wonderment in their paintings, sculptures, and installations. Read below for a peek behind the curtain at FUN ZONE, now on view at JoAnne Artman Gallery New York (511A West 22nd St)!
Install, FUN ZONE
John “CRASH” Matos
Bronx-born graffiti artist John “CRASH” Matos epitomizes playfulness in his murals, public art, and installations. Known for his explosive subway car spray paint designs, CRASH uses FUN ZONE as an opportunity to depart from his typical mediums and experiment with mixed media paintings and light installations. Open (2022) evokes the opening gate of an amusement park—an aluminum “open” sign adorned with flickering light bulbs protrudes from a spray-painted illustration, welcoming guests into the fun zone. Step further into the fair and catch the shining lights of Girls, Girls, Girls (2022), a three-dimensional wooden installation constructed around a neon pink “Girls, Girls, Girls,” sign.
Jenna Krypell
Emerging New York artist Jenna Krypell creates works that blend skillful artistry with pure fun. Her psychedelic wall sculptures—designed with materials such as MDF, hand dyed resins, and paints—conjure images of sour candy, video game logos, and Slinky toys. In Tornado (2022), Krypell traces lines with varying shades of blue along a twisting spiral, creating an illusion of depth and gravity. Funhouse (2022), meanwhile, explicitly references the classic amusement park attraction, with distorted curves of mirror positioned on neon red fiberboard.
Marly McFly
The silk screens of self-taught artist Marly McFly are a perfect mix of pop and urban street art. His work is imbued with references to cartoons, comics, action figures, athletes, and pop culture with cameos from Batman to Felix the Cat, Coca-Cola to Tootsie Roll Pops. In the tetraptych Concrete Jungle (2022), McFly depicts the iconic cartoon character Popeye socking his bearded enemy Bluto in four different iterations, with the text and images switching between white, black, and pink. Electric blue and cherry red hues join the mix in Bubble Gum (2022), an acrylic collage that features a gazing woman placed atop images of Huey, Dewey, and Louis, Supreme lifestyle logos, and newspaper print. Audiences of all ages are sure to enjoy McFly’s eclectic pop-culture references!
Don’t miss the neon lights, mind-bending illusions, and pop-culture nostalgia on display at JoAnne Artman Gallery’s FUN ZONE this spring!
