One artist is helping us all look at thrift store paintings in a totally different light, with all new possibilities.
Dave Pollot describes himself as "a software engineer who spends his nights with a beer in one hand and paintbrush in the other." With the help of some oil paints and a bit of ingenuity, Pollot gives new life to old, forgotten thrift store paintings by inserting quirky and unusual pop-culture icons into their landscapes.
[seealso slug="hoang-tran-crayons"]
Schmaltzy seaside portraits are transformed with iconic additions such as Darth Vader, Groot, Mario, and Gizmo. Pollot might spice up a pastoral scene with a few Transformers, or perhaps an Alien. Basically: Pollot takes boring paintings and makes them badass.
"Before I began repurposing discarded thrift art, I painted more ‘serious’ architectural paintings and landscapes,” Pollot says on his website. “While I loved this, I found that I got bored very quickly (which resulted in about three completed paintings a year). Bringing new life to old art, though, brings interesting challenges with each new piece. I try to make my ‘additions’ (which are often references to and parodies of my favorite movies and video games) look as though they were there the entire time."
Pollot says that his work is meant to provide humor, and that he just wants people to find joy in his work.
"With a world so full of serious questions, I’m just trying to let viewers laugh as they construct their own narrative from some new oil paint humorously added to some old, neglected bit of Americana.”
"One and itself" #transformers #optimusprime #parody A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Aug 9, 2015 at 7:47am PDT
Habitat III (with a subtle Rocket) #guardiansofthegalaxy #parody A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Jul 22, 2015 at 7:44am PDT
Colony #aliens #parody A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Sep 6, 2015 at 9:14am PDT
Audrey II A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on May 21, 2015 at 6:11am PDT
Pause A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Mar 27, 2015 at 6:27am PDT
Lady Vader A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Feb 1, 2015 at 12:36pm PST
"11:59" I finished this one early last year before I joined Instagram. I'll probably share more of these older pieces over the next few days. A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Jan 30, 2015 at 5:55pm PST
"Why Not?" A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Jan 30, 2015 at 6:08pm PST
We fed him A photo posted by Dave Pollot Art (@davepollotart) on Jan 15, 2015 at 9:16am PST