Artist Aaron “Retroband” Moreno recently held his I Can’t Stop the Monster I Created exhibition at Bottleneck Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. The show featured many of Moreno’s original designer toys which are known simply as “MEATS”. The show also debuted the 154-page retrospective art book called MEATS from CoART Publications based on the designer toys.
Limited to 1500 copies worldwide, this part biography, part catalogue details the artist’s journey. Stories derived from over nine hours of interviews, including Moreno’s origins in Horror (specifically comic books and movies) accompany never-before-published photographs by the award-winning photographer Bryan Sargent. It is easy to get lost flipping through the more than 250 photographs.
Fans will love the layout of the pages filled with header card art, behind-the-studio pictures, original sculpture shots and numerous editions of the “meats” character painted in multiple recognizable designs, one which stands out is “TOXIE MEATS” (December 2017). The figure has minimal paint as its body and appendages were created with glow-in-the-dark vinyl and resin materials. “TOXIE” was an edition of 25 (Artist Proof), and included cloth clothing, mop and a “toxic surprise” which was a resin cast version of a Chinese bootleg “TOXIE”.
The interior pages are designed with great care to showcase Moreno’s art on heavy, sumptuous paper. The front and back covers are created with Muda Chipboard incorporating a silk-screened title and “Meats” illustrated head. It is clear to see that no quality was spared when producing every aspect of the book. MEATS art book is nothing less than a stellar release full of informative insight into this highly sought after artist, giving full access to fans. There is no filler, not one page is wasted and readers will get a kick out of seeing the visual history of this art toy, maybe even introducing a version of “MEATS” that one never knew existed. CoART Publishing helped created a quality publication, one that is made to last.
Originally the book was only available at the show, but now everyone can enjoy MEATS, available on the CoArt Publications website for $50 USD (shipping and any applicable taxes not included). For more information and to keep up to date on Retroband, check out his website, Instagram and Twitter.
