The Kwik-E-Mart, Monk’s Café, Satriale’s Pork Store… they’re places many of us have invested time in, but have never visited – and never will for that matter. Fictional TV locations are curious places; you know your way around The Queen Vic, but – unless you’re a BRIT School graduate or a former familiar-face with a flagging career – you’re never likely to actually sink a pint there. Texan artist Tim Doyle plays upon this familiarity – transforming the well-loved settings of some of America’s most famous TV shows into a dark, graphic novel (comics for adults who live with their mums) style illustration.
Notorious fictional establishments from The Simpsons, Sopranos and Seinfeld now have a menacing comic-book quality, immediately questioning the preconceptions that years of watching these shows has given you. Mashing comic-book aesthetics with iconic television history, Doyle has created a wonderful sub breed of incestuous pop culture that’s utterly contagious…
Tim Doyle’s UnReal Estate runs at San Francisco’s SpokeArt Gallery until 23rd February
