Fans of classic horror and alternate movie art have something truly monstrous to look forward to this weekend. Coda and Sideshow are teaming up to unleash two incredible art exhibitions celebrating the Universal Monsters, and leading the charge is a massive new poster by legendary artist Tyler Stout, with a giant-sized tribute to Frankenstein that’s as bold and electrifying as the creature himself.
Debuting exclusively through io9, Stout’s brand-new poster for the 1931 horror masterpiece Frankenstein isn’t your average print. Instead of sticking to standard poster dimensions, Stout went huge, and this piece stretches to an incredible 24 x 72 inches, echoing the towering presence of the Monster.
It will make its first appearance at Coda and Sideshow’s special Universal Monsters show at the Canopy Gallery in Austin, Texas, opening Friday. A second event will run simultaneously at Celebrity Authentics at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, making this a true bi-coastal monster mash.
The screenprint, priced at $120, comes in an edition of 300 and was expertly printed by DL Screenprinting in Seattle. There are also two exclusive variants, with one only available to Austin attendees who sign up in person, and another variant that will appear later at a yet-to-be-announced convention.
Coda co-founder Rob Jones shared his admiration for Stout’s work, saying:
“The work of Tyler Stout undoubtedly popularized the notion of alternate film posters more than other artists in the field. His work spoke to people with active relationships to cinema.
“His dense servings of characters, their relationships, and the pressures that act upon them remain unlike any other artist’s approach in the medium’s history.”
Jones went on to explain the inspiration behind the poster’s massive scale:
“While it’s always a joyous jolt to work with him, the primary pleasures come from watching his brain fly while it figures out where to land on the page. In this instance, it lands on two pages, or sheets rather.
“Tyler hoped to evoke a pop culture icon that beckoned from the back pages of his childhood comic books: the Jack Davis ‘Life Size Frankenstein’ poster.
“To make that happen feasibly as a screenprint, he divided the image across two 24 x 36-inch sheets. Results are unlike any AMP made for Frankenstein and all expertly printed by DL Screenprinting in Seattle.”
And in a final reflection that perfectly captures the creative spirit behind this project, Jones added:
“I adore these results and perhaps overly identify with Henry Frankenstein, so consumed with personal pursuit that Tyler shows him living within the confines of his own work, i.e., the monster.”
As stunning as Stout’s Frankenstein piece is, it’s only one part of a sprawling celebration of horror cinema. Both the Austin and Los Angeles exhibitions will showcase original art and screen-printed posters from a stacked roster of artists, each putting their own spin on the legendary Universal Monsters from Dracula and The Mummy to The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The Los Angeles show kicks off on October 23, at Celebrity Authentics at Universal CityWalk, running daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through November 2. Meanwhile, the Austin event opens October 24 at Canopy Gallery, from 6 to 10 p.m., and runs through the weekend, closing October 26.
Each city will host a unique selection of artwork exclusive to that location, some print will go online in waves this November at codacurates.com and through Sideshow.
Check out the art below and tell us what you think!
