J★RYU's "El Que Fué y Será Rey" custom Dunny for the Beast Brothers 'Lucha Libre' show at Rotofugi!

As some of you might already know, J★RYU holds the distinguished title as "one of the most eloquent people in this industry"… so when he provides a very nicely written description of one of his customs, you use it:

This is my contribution to the Beast Brother's "Lucha Libre" show held at Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago, IL on Oct 5th, 2012.All show particpants were asked to create something that paid homage to the legendary Luchadore wrestlers.My goal for the piece was to create a Luchadore-inspired piece that not only reflected elements of my style and symbols commonly found in my work, but to try and also create a narrative, an ongoing goal in my artistic pursuits.The fleur-de-lis is a symbol that I commonly use in my personal work and thus I incorporated into the piece by placing it on the ears of the 20" dunny as well as made it into the main element of the mask. Chains, another element in my work, were added to the ears as well. Rather than go for the traditional championship wrestling belt, I opted to incorporate loose filigree elements and a demonish skull to finalize my own aesthetic on the piece. I then painted the entire thing in a faux bronze to infer the idea of a trophy or statue.For the inside of the head, I sculpted an old luchador, long past the days of his youth, where the cheers of the crowd have since subsided. His body, now out of shape and needing a cane, doesn't dampen his spirit, as he wears his mask again in front of a wall of his photos from years past.I named this piece "El Que Fué y Será Rey - The Once and Future King, to pay my respects to all those who were pioneers in whatever passion they had while young, and always keep the fire burning. Thanks to my sister Ritzy Periwinkle and her friend for helping me with the elegant translation of the name into Spanish. Much love. The piece is a Kidrobot 20" dunny and I used epoxy/wood for the sculptural elements and painted with acrylics.

It's really quite amazing how intricate this, and every custom piece that Jesse creates... and with alot of his pieces, there is always more than meets the eye. For this piece, Jesse took the massive 20" Mega Dunny, put the front of the face on hings to open up, revealing a veteran of the game... looking at old poster, fliers and pictures... a trip down memory lane if you will. For me, the piece evokes alot of emotion, and I am sure would resonate with alot of Luchas! Stellar job my friend.

"Lucha Libre!," curated by The Beast Brothers, opens on October 5th with a reception from 7-10PM and will be on display through October 28th, 2012 at the Rotofugi Gallery, 2780 N Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60614. Participating artists include: The Beast Brothers, Angry Woebots, Brandt Peters & Kathie Olivas, BurunDANGA, Chris Ryniak, Eric Merrill, Huck Gee, Jime Litwalk, Joe Capobianco, J★RYU, Junko Mizuno, Kronk, Michael Motorcycle, Patrick Comolo, Phil Young, Sara Antoinette Martin, Scribe & Alisa, Mr. Shane Jessup, Shawnimals, Sket One, Sourbones, TADO and Tim Tsui.