The Vader Project

Dark Lord of the Sith, member of the Death Squadron, Imperial Commander in Chief, infamous villain of the original Star Wars trilogy and... artists' canvas? Demonstrating that no pop icon is safe from remixing and re-imagining in today's DIY age, toy impresario Dov Kelemer, founder of DKE Toys and curator of "The Vader Project," organized a platform show of 66 artists. Each artist altered, some rather fantastically, a hyper-realistic Mater Replicas 1:1-scaled prop Darth Vader helmet.

The Vader Project was the most original component of "Star Wars: Celebration IV," the fourth fan fest of all things Star Wars. The Memorial Day weekend extravaganza, held at Los Angeles' Convention Center, featured the expected: two acres of merchandise and a chronological screening of all six films in the saga, as well as unique activities like the Stormtrooper Olympics and belly dancing lessons for slave Leia costumers. Fans waited up to two hours for brief autograph sessions with such luminaries as Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), and others known only to true devotees, such as Anthony Daniels (the actor inside C-3PO).

More than 35,000 fans attended. 25,000 of them strolled The Vader Project exhibition that was tucked away in an anonymous meeting room on the second floor of the sprawling 54-acre facility. Among the famous visitors: Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back's producer Gary Kurtz, John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) and the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin. "I knew it would be hugely popular," Kelemer said while overlooking the show's 66 alt-Vaders and stream of visitors, confirming that Vader continues to dominate the Star Wars universe.

The show's underground graffiti, street, low-bro and pop-surrealists artists were unknown to most fans; no recognized Star Wars artists participated. And while Kelemer concedes the concept of a platform show - a group show of one customized object - is almost overdone in the underground art world, mainstream audiences are new to it.

"Darth Vader is the perfect canvas," says Kelemer. And it's an extremely pliable one. Some artists played against Vader's fearsome rep, others embraced it and, in some cases, dissolved it.

Paul Frank Sunich stitched auto upholstery vinyl, decorated with acrylic paint, to envelope his Vader into Nauga-Vader. Bridging toy culture and fine art, Gary Baseman primed his Vader pink, covering it with his trademark creatures in an untitled acrylic paint customization. Simon Legno, an Italian artist known for his colorful, neo-Cupie dolls, embellished his Vader Japanese anime-style. Jim Koch fashioned the scariest clown face ever via the mixed media Hanus.

Los Angeles based artist Amanda Visell knew exactly what to do when she first received her Master Replicas Vader prop. "I put it on right away," confessed the artist, who has participated in numerous customized art shows but never with such a ubiquitous pop icon.

"An artist personally imbued in each piece," mused Dov Kelemer. "In a way it's the opposite aesthetic of Star Wars - the exhibition is a classic demonstration of art versus commerce and art toy versus character."

In the artists' hands, Vader became a tool for revealing the psycho-zeitgeist, whether commenting on war (Peace Vader from Troy Alders), sexuality (Anthony Ausgang's pink-faced Darth Vader is Gay) and rampant commercialization (PlaysKewl's twisted, razor-bladed eyes of Scarred Mind). No matter how closely the exhibit walked the line of kitsch, many of the works clearly came from the artists' thoughtful, layered visualization. Wade Lageose used mixed media to transform Vader into the Statue of Liberty, immediately suggesting a possible new national motto, "In Darth We Trust."

Check out: www.myspace.com/thevaderproject for the latest information on the exhibition, which will soon travel to a city near you.