A Brush With Talent: The Charity Artist Brush Auction

above: many of the brushes have illustrated images by the artists who used them

above: Mark Ryden's signed paintbrush will be part of the auction




The Rotofugi gallery, a designer toy store and gallery located in Chicago, Illinois, had this wonderful idea of auctioning off the actual used (and signed) art brushes of some of today's hippest lowbrow surrealist, and underground artists and illustrators on ebay to benefit Gigi’s Playhouse.

Each brush has an attached paper tag containing the name and signature of the artist, the date and how the brush was used. Some of the artists have multiple brushes in the auction (e.g. Kozyndan has 10). Some of the artists have multiple brushes bundled as one.

On the backside of the paper tag, some of the artists, Like Mark Ryden and Marion Peck, simply left their signature. But others, like Jeff Soto, Scott Musgrove and Tara McPherson, actually embellished the tag with an original illustration. I took the liberty of adding a close-up of the art on the embellished tags for you.

Here are the brushes up for auction:

Anthony Ausgang:

Bob Dob:

Chris Mars:

Colin Johnson:


Dan May:

Daniel Martin Diaz:

Derek Yaniger:


Jason Limon:


Jeff Soto (4 brushes):







Jeremiah Ketner (2 brushes):



Jeremy Fish:

Lisa Petrucci (3 brushes):

Kozyndan (10 brushes, 1 with illustrated tag):


5 of the other 9 Kozyndan brushes:

Lola:

Lori Earley:

Marion Peck:

Mark Atomos Pilon:

Mark Ryden:

Ryan Heshka:

Scott Musgrove:


Tara McPherson:



To see the wonderful artwork of the participating artists, please click on the links below:

Anthony Ausgang
Bob Dob
Chris Mars
Colin Johnson
Dan May
Daniel Martin Diaz
Derek Yaniger
Jason Limon
Jeff Soto
Jeremiah Ketner
Jeremy Fish
Lisa Petrucci
Kozyndan
Lola
Lori Earley
Marion Peck
Mark Atomos Pilon
Mark Ryden
Ryan Heshka
Scott Musgrove
Tara McPherson

Also said to be participating, but whose brushes are not shown are:
Travis Lampe
Josh Agle (Shag)




GiGi’s Playhouse is a not for profit Down syndrome awareness center. With multiple locations, they offer activities, resources, educational programs and support for individuals with Down syndrome, their families and the community.

The auctions will be held on eBay beginning Saturday, September 26th and concluding on Saturday, October 10th.

The brushes will be mounted and displayed in acrylic boxes at Rotofugi Gallery September 25th-October 11th and will be auctioned via eBay beginning Saturday, September 26th and concluding on Saturday, October 10th.

The first Brush Project auction, held at DvA Gallery in 2007, donated $2,500 to Americans for the Arts.


Rotofugi Gallery
1955 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622