For this Art Peaks article, I’m reflecting on the one piece that I should have bought at the 20th Anniversary of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me show held in April 2012 at Copro Gallery. I have collected owls for years, ever since my Aunt (who still thinks my Twin Peaks obsession is a phase) made a cross-stitched one for me as a child. I was extremely close to purchasing Ben Balistreri’s piece titled “Bob on Formica.” Why I didn’t is still a mystery.
TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME 20TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBIT AT COPRO GALLERY
In April 2012, Copro Gallery, located at 2525 Michigan Ave T5 in Santa Monica, California, held a large group exhibition celebrating the 20th Anniversary of my favorite David Lynch film.
Founded in 1992 by Joe Copro, Greg Escalante and Douglas Nason, the Gallery serves as “an entity to curate art exhibitions of emerging artists and publish the highest quality limited edition prints.” Their large group exhibition opened on April 21, 2012.
A dedicated page to this incredible exhibition is still found on their website today including the press release above.
WHO IS ARTIST BEN BALISTRERI?
Ben Balistreri is currently the Co-Executive Producer on Tangled the Series. He has also worked as a storyboard artist and character designer at Disney TV for shows such as Wander Over Yonder. Prior to Disney, he spent six years at DreamWorks as a story artist working on How To Train Your Dragon among other movies.
In 2008, Ben won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.” He’s also worked as a storyboard artist and character designer at Nickelodeon on Danny Phantom, He self published a graphic novel in 2015 titled “Seaweed, and the Cure for Mildew.”
BOB ON FORMICA BY BEN BALISTERI
For the 2012 exhibition, he created this outstanding mixed media piece on board and Formica titled “Bob on Formica.”
It measured 14-inches by 17-inches and sold for $800. I’m still kicking myself that this isn’t hanging on my wall at home.
CREATING “BOB ON FORMICA”
On April 1, 2012, Ben mentioned on his blog that he was creating a piece for the 20th Anniversary show. He shared the “owl study” above which many of them were incorporated into the final work.
On April 12, he showcased the final work on his blog and invited folks to attend the showing.
I’m not sure why I was drawn to this work. I loved all the expressions the owls made. The owl holding the coffee cup is perfect, and the drawing of BOB from Twin Peaks is a fantastic touch.
Perhaps it reminds me of the owl superimposed on Killer Bob’s face from Episode 2002.
It could also be the fact that Ben used formica which is a key part of the Convenience Store scene in The Missing Pieces of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Either way, Ben did an outstanding job and I’m jealous of the person who owns it now.
THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
Ben continues to draw owls and has posted several on his social media accounts such as Twitter (@BenBalistreri) and Instagram (@BenBalistreri). Please follow him if you like his art as much as I do.
If those images aren’t reason enough to follow his work, he shared this image on November 18, 2019 via Twitter.
The caption, “After you finish The Mandalorian give Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure a taste! Seasons 1 & 2 streaming on Disney+!”
Done!
