POP HYBRIDS
‘Pop Hybrids’ are the reduction of identity into logo, individuality into the collective, photography into design. They are a subtraction of images: the recycling, re-using and reducing of two or more images into new iconography. As opposed to Warhol’s emphasis on repetition, these works combine individuals together (sometimes with themselves) and suggests that we are running out of space in our crowded collective conscience.
In antiquity, art was made to regale the gods, heroes, and myths of the day. Today, we regale celebrities, pop stars, actors and the characters they portray, artists, musicians, politicians and world leaders. Superficially, it's easy to label this body of work as a collection of 'pop art celebrity portraits', but they're more than that. They're modern day devotional images that deal with fluidity of identity, iconography, multiplicity, ironic duality and satirical juxtapositions. By layering together thoughtfully paired individuals, these pieces challenge the viewer to decipher the image while making sardonic, metaphorical and sometimes philosophical statements.
The series began as meticulously hand-painted acrylic on canvas pieces, which were then sealed in a resin coating. They were meant to look as precise as manufactured products, and many assumed that they were. I found pride in that, but it also gave me a nudge to actually push the process in that direction. It made conceptual sense to incorporate streamlined production which, in turn, made the work more widely available as limited editions, each design in a low numbered run. Now actual hybrids, somewhere between man and machine made, the ‘Pop Hybrid’ series is now designed digitally, printed on archival metallic photographic paper, and for the 12” editions, mounted to 2” deep cradled panels and coated in resin, or for the 24”, 36”, and 48” editions, optically face-mounted to museum grade acrylic and back-mounted to black sintra.
From Ross Lesko, Director of the Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery:
"Troy Gua is an artist whose work investigates identity, celebrity and popular culture. His Pop Hybrid series is a unique, superimposition of iconic faces and imagery, instantly recognizable on their own, but dissolved into a kind of Rorschach inkblot puzzle when merged—each viewer seeing something different, making his or her own subjective associations. The resulting hybrid image is a new and separate identity, functioning as irony and satire; as metaphor and social commentary. Each piece has its own narrative, whether humorous, poignant or intellectual."
©2008-2024 TROY GUA
Installation at SAM Gallery
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
December 2013
Installation at Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery
Cleveland, Ohio
July 2013
Installation at Washington State Convention Center
Seattle, Washington
Ali
Muhammad Ali at 5 life stages
Bowie
David Bowie at 4 life stages - a variation of Changes Two
Changes One
David Bowie at 4 life stages
Changes Two
David Bowie at 4 life stages
Changes Three
David Bowie at 4 life stages
Duran Duran
Andy Taylor + John Taylor + Nick Rhodes + Roger Taylor + Simon LeBon
Gemini I
Prince in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010
Gemini II
Prince in 1980, 1990. 2000, and 2010
iMacrosoft
Steve Jobs + Bill Gates
Jam and Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, legendary record producers, writers, musicians
Jenner 2.0
Bruce Jenner + Caitlyn Jenner
Just Kids
Robert Mapplethorpe + Patti Smith
Killer Queen
Freddie Mercury from 3 eras
La Dada Gaga
Lady Gaga + Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q.
Los Pintores
Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera
Lost Youth
Kurt Cobain + Chris Cornell + Layne Staley + Andrew Wood
Made in Heaven
George Washington (representing the dollar bill, i.e. money) + DaVincis Mona Lisa (representing art)
Men With No Names
Toshiro Mifune + Clint Eastwood
Mother and Daughter
Liza Minelli + Judy Garland
Mother and Daughter 2
Debbie Reynolds + Carrie Fisher
ONJ
Four images of Olivia Newton-John hybridized into this icon
PRN
Prince Rogers Nelson in three life stages
Sparks
Sparks brothers, Russell Mael and Ronald Mael
Synchronicity
The Police: Sting + Andy Summers + Stuart Copeland
Quincy
Quincy Jones at 4 life stages
RESPECT
Aretha Franklin in 4 eras
Rock and Roll
Chuck Berry + Little Richard
Tina
Tina Turner in 4 eras
Separate Paths, Common Goals
W.E.B. DuBois + Booker T. Washington
Ubermensch
Friedrich Nietzsche + Superman
The 007s, or Shaken, Not Stirred
Sean Connery + Sir Roger Moore
The Actors
Marlon Brando + Johnny Depp
The Amazing Graces
Grace Kelly + Grace Jones
The American Poets
Maya Angelou + Amanda Gorman
The Annies (or, The Little Orphan Annie Lennox)
The Architects, or The Franks 2.0
Frank Lloyd Wright + Frank Gehry
The Artists Formerly and Forever Known as Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson at three life stages
The Artists 2.0
Prince Rogers Nelson at three life stages
The Astronauts
Ham the chimp and Alan Shepard
The Astrophysicists
Albert Einstein + Neil de Grasse Tyson
The Baltimoreans
Edgar Allan Poe + John Waters
The Battle of the Currents
Thomas Edison + Nikola Tesla
The Beatles
John Lennon + Paul McCartney + George Harrison + Ringo Starr
The Bee Gees
Barry Gibb + Maurice Gibb + Robin Gibb + Andy Gibb
The Betteez
Bettie Page + Betty Rubble
The Black Panthers
Huey P. Newton + Bobby Seale + Black Panther
The Blonde Ambition
Madonna at 3 stages
The Blondies
Debbie Harry + vintage comic strip heroine, Blondie
The Bob Dylan Thomas
Bob Dylan + Dylan Thomas
The Boss
Bruce Springsteen at 3 stages
The Boy King of Pop
King Tutankhamun + Michael Jackson
The Boy King of Pop 2.0
King Tutankhamun + Michael Jackson
The Brains and the Beauty
Albert Einstein + Marilyn Monroe
The Burt and Ernie
Burt Reynolds + Ernie from Sesame Street
The Corleones
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone + Al Pacino as Michael Corleone
The Curious George Washington
Curious George + George Washington
The Davids
David Bowie + Michelangelo’s David
The Davids 2.0
David Bowie + Michelangelo’s David
The Davises, or The Revolutionaries
Musician Betty Davis + Angela Davis
The Divine
Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead) + Jesus Christ
The Doctors, or On the Couch
Dr. Sigmund Freud + Dr. Phil McGraw
The Dollys
Dolly Parton from 4 life eras
The Donalds
Donald Duck + Donald Trump
The Elton John Wayne
Elton John + John Wayne
The Enlightened
Mahatma Gandhi + Yoda
The Evolution Will Be Televised
Charles Darwin + Cornelius from Planet of the Apes
The Evolution Will Be Televised 2.0
Charles Darwin + Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes
The Factory, or I Want To Be a Robot
Maria from Metropolis + Edie Sedgwick
The First Ladies
Eleanor Roosevelt + Michelle Obama
The Futurists
Aldous Huxley + George Orwell
The Georges, or One Nation Under a Groove
George Washington + George Clinton
The Georges
George Michael at 3 stages
The Giant Leap
Apollo 11 NASA Astronauts Buzz Aldrin + Neil Armstrong + Michael Collins
The Greatest
Cassius Clay + Muhammad Ali
The Guitarists, or Crossroads Traffic
Robert Johnson + Jimi Hendrix
The Heroes (The Antiheroes)
Harrison Ford as Han Solo from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard from Blade Runner
The Highwaymen
Johnny Cash + Waylon Jennings + Kris Kristofferson + Willie Nelson
The Hip-Hop Holy Trinity
Afrika Bambaataa + Grandmaster Flash + Kool Herc
The IggyTwiggyZiggy
Iggy Pop + Twiggy + Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
The Igors
Igor Stravinsky and Marty Feldman as Igor in Young Frankenstein
The Importance of Being Ernest
Oscar Wilde + Ernest Hemingway
The Jacks, or On the Road To Camelot
Jack Kerouac + Jack Kennedy
The Jean-Michelangelo
Jean-Michel Basquiat + Michelangelo
The Joans, or I Don't Give a Damn About My Bad Reputation
Joan of Arc + Joan Jett
The Kates
Kate Moss + Kate Middleton
The Kims, or The Lil Kim Jong Il
Lil Kim + Kim Jong Il
The Kims Two Point Un
Kim Kardashian + Kim Jong Un
The King Kong of Rock and Roll
Elvis Presley + King Kong
The King of Kings of Rock and Roll
Jesus Christ + Elvis Presley
The King of Rock
Run - DMC and Jam Master Jay
The Ladies Sang the Blues
Billie Holiday + Amy Winehouse
The Leaders
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. + Congressman John Lewis
The Lees
Bruce Lee + Brandon Lee
The Lennon/McCartney
John Lennon + Paul McCartney
The Leonards, or Who By Fire
Leonard Nimoy + Leonard Cohen
The Lefties
Jimi Hendrix + Kurt Cobain
The Lizard King of Kings
Jesus Christ + Jim Morrison
The Lucys
Lucille Ball + Lucy Van Pelt of the Peanuts
The Mad Max Headroom
Mel Gibson as Mad Max + Matt Frewer as Max Headroom
The Madonnas
Madonna + Mary Mother of Jesus
The Man Ray Charles
Man Ray + Ray Charles
The Martin Luther King of Rock and Roll
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. + Elvis Presley
The Marty and Bobby
Martin Scorsese + Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle
The Martyrs
John F. Kennedy + Robert F. Kennedy + Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Marxes
Groucho Marx + Karl Marx
The Michaels
Michael Jackson at 3 stages
The Michaels 2.0
Michael Jackson at 3 stages
The Mickey Mao
Mickey Mouse + Chairman Mao
The Mickey Mao 2.0
Mickey Mouse + Chairman Mao
The Mona Lisa Marie
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa + Lisa Marie Presley
The Music and Lyrics
Elton John + Bernie Taupin
The Mutual Muses
Lee Miller + Man Ray
The Napoleon Complex
Napoleon Bonaparte + Prince
The Olivia Newton John Holmes, or Sweet and Salty
Olivia Newton-John + John Holmes
The Orators
Abraham Lincoln + Frederick Douglass
The Orators 2.0
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. + Barack Obama
The Pee Wee Herman Melville
Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman + Herman Melville
The Pee Wee Herman Munster
Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman + Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster
The Pharaoh Fawcett
Akhenaten + Farrah Fawcett
The Pleasure's All Mine
Angelina Jolie + random orgasmic internet woman
The Pope Francis Albert Sinatra, or Sinners and Saints
Pope Francis + Francis Albert Sinatra
The Pope Francis Bacon
Pope Francis + Francis Bacon
The Pope John Paul Stanley
Pope John Paul II + Paul Stanley of Kiss
The Presidents
Abraham Lincoln + Barack Obama
The Princesses, or Girls on Film
Princess Diana + Princess Grace of Monaco
The Princesses 2.0
Princess Diana + Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia
The Queens of England
Queen Elizabeth II + Boy George
The Queens of England 2.0
Queen Elizabeth II + Freddie Mercury
The Raggedy Ann and Andy
Raggedy Ann + Andy Warhol
The Renaissance Men
Louis Armstrong + Langston Hughes
The Renaissance Women
Josephine Baker + Zora Neale Hurston
The Rick James Brown, or Superbad Superfreak
Rick James + James Brown
The Ronald McReagan
Ronald McDonald + Ronald Reagan
The Rons
Ron Jeremy + Ron Howard
The Salvador Dali Lama
Salvador Dali + the Dalai Lama
The Sid and Nancy
Sid Vicious + Nancy Reagan
The Smiths
Patti Smith + Robert Smith of the Cure
The Stevies
Stevie Wonder at 2 stages
The Stones
Mick Jagger + Keith Richards
The Storytellers
Ernest Hemingway + Rakim
The Surrealists
Jean Cocteau + David Lynch
The Sylvesters
Sylvester Stallone + Disco legend Sylvester
The Symbionts
Jean-Michel Basquiat + Andy Warhol
The Throne
Jay-Z + Kanye West
The Venus de Miley
Venus de Milo + Miley Cyrus
The Venus and Serena
The Venus de Milo + Serena Williams
The Voices
James Baldwin + Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Woody Allen Ginsberg
Woody Allen + Allen Ginsberg
The Wilsons
Ann Wilson + Nancy Wilson of Heart at 3 life stages
The Writers
Franz Kafka + William S. Burroughs
The X and the O
Malcom X + Barack Obama
Thirty Five Purple Years
Prince in 1978 and 2013
Tim + Johnny = Edward
Tim Burton + Johnny Depp as ‘Edward Scissorhands’
With Liberty and Justice for All
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg + the Statue of Liberty
You Say You Want a Revolution
Vladimir Lenin + John Lennon