Oddball Art Labs presents

Twisted Toys

(or “You’ll Put Your Eye Out Kid”)

We all remember the excitement of opening that special gift at a birthday or holiday and gleefully ripping apart the packaging to play with it as soon as possible.

“Safety Instructions?” Those must be at the bottom of the pile of shredded cardboard that was between us and our goal. We didn’t need them anyway because this was a toy, so it must be safe, right? Right?!

We want to see gallery walls full of artwork celebrating the dangerous toys from our childhoods (and our imaginations).

That’s why the Oddball Art Labs Summer 2024 show will be all about Twisted Toys. This is an open artist call.

Submit your work before June 16, 2024 to be a part of this wild show.

A show about toys?!

A discussion of the dangerous things that well-meaning relatives bought for us when we were kids steered us to this year’s theme, but it’s not just dangerous toys from our youth that we hope inspires artists this year.

Toy artwork we’d love to see includes (but is never limited to):

Concepts for dangerous toy that never existed
Packaging that’s full of four-color exaggerations
Low-res comic book ads that shill for crazy garbage by mail
Hospital waiting room pamphlets warning parents about the hottest toys
Living room disasters caused by a multitude of plug-in playthings
Poorly thought out and implemented media tie-in decisions
…and any other fever dreams of twisted toys that comes to our creative community’s minds.

These are just a few ideas…but we really want to see what you’ll come up with. Surprise us with your Twisted Toys!

Submit Your Artwork Today

Opening Reception

Friday, July 5, 2024
Hours: 6pm-9pm

The Robin and Mark Seigle Gallery at Elgin ArtSpace Lofts
51 S. Spring St.
Elgin, IL 60120

Closing Reception

Saturday July 27, 2024
Hours: 11am-2pm