Mark Ryden “The Tree Show” Signing @ LA MOCA

Posted on February 1, 2009 by stephen

AM was on hand at Mark Ryden’s signing for his latest book “The Tree Show” at the MOCA store in Los Angeles. Hundreds of fans lined up for the opportunity to meet Ryden before he crosses the ocean for his upcoming show in Japan (teased). Ryden was joined by his partner and fellow artist Marion Peck as well as his daughter and niece, who both played the role of his assistants.

When the signing started at 3pm all of the copies of the book at the MOCA store were sold-out and there was a group of 300 plus anxiously awaiting their turn. Keeping the large crowd entertained was the always playful Gary Baseman who in keeping with the theme of the book, showed up incognito in a chipmunk suit and handed out sweets to keep the energy level up.

“The Tree Show” features 128 pages of paintings, drawings, sculptural works, and more from Ryden’s 2007 solo show at the Michael Kohn Gallery. The gallery recently featured a few works from Ryden at last weekend’s ART LA 2009 (covered and previewed).

See the rest of the photos from the signing and a preview of the book after the jump.

Marion Peck, Gary Baseman, Mark Ryden

Marion Peck, Gary Baseman, Mark Ryden

 

(Click on the images to expand)

Video of the book.

Discuss Mark Ryden here.

This entry was posted in Art, Art products, Low Brow & Pop Surrealism, Shows & Events and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • ally

    the younger blonde was ryden’s daughter rosie. i love how they handed out tulips while we were in line.

    all in all it was a great time. i wonder if they really did stop the signing at 5pm with all those people still in line???

  • HighInLA

    am I the only one who got a 2008 stamp inside my book? Please double check yours and confirm!

  • stephen

    Ally – Thank you for the info.

    HighInLA – My book was stamped 2009. Sorry to hear that yours wasn’t correct.

  • Karen

    I thought the younger girl was his daughter! She was adorable and so sweet.
    I was wondering if they stayed longer also……… I saw people barely arriving at 4!
    I also noticed many people with prints and posters to get signed, I thought he would only be signing the MOCA books??!?!????

  • stephen

    They originally only allowed books to be signed, 2 books per person and have it personalized to you if you wished. At about 2:30, they sold out of all of their books and made the decision to allow other items to be signed.

    I’m guessing, but can’t be certain, that they probably satisfied everybody that showed up. Towards the end, it was one item per person, no personalizing, no photos, etc. so the line moved pretty quickly.

  • http://beatle1978@yahoo.com Carolina

    In reference to HighInLA; I checked my book and it was also stamped 2008. Oh…no!