“I Pity The Dolls!: A Collection of Contemporary and Vintage Mr. T Dolls”

Opening June 9th, 7-10 pm at Orchard Street Art Gallery on 139 Orchard Street (Between Delancy and Rivington) in Lower East Side, Manhattan. The show will be on view through July 9th

Featuring the most amazing collection of over 150 vintage Mr. T Dolls, all handmade from the original 1984 pattern, all lovingly collected and brought to you by Greg Rivera. The dolls were handmade by mothers, aunts, and other family artisans for their children in the style of Cabbage Patch Kids. Miss Martha Originals, through a license with Big T Enterprises, (Mr. T’s licensing company) created a pattern book, complete with full glossy color pictures, to create your own “soft sculpture” Mr.T doll. This is the most important collection of Mr. T. handmade dolls in existence.

Greg Rivera and his partner, Mike Essl, have amassed the largest collection of Mr. T memorabilia in the world. Their site, MrTandMe.com, has gained national attention through features on VH1, Entertainment Weekly and various online publications. The exhibition will only feature part of this amazing collection –– Greg’s handmade dolls.

The dolls are a reflection of the Cabbage Patch Kid craze of the early 80’s. Each is a unique hybrid of the artist’s technical skills, cultural bias’s and access to materials. Their skin tones range from albino white to blacker than night. Some dolls have gold chains, defined muscles, tattoos, and kids sneakers, while others are short and look like Mr. Potato Head with a Mohawk. The spirit of Mr. T himself is conjured in the amount of love and amateur craftsmanship put into each doll.

In addition to Greg’s collection, a number of contemporary artists have agreed to take the original 1984 pattern and create the doll using the pattern, but added their own artistic flair. The artists were encouraged to ask their family members to sew the doll, keeping it in the original spirit of the original pattern. Featuring artists Martina Secondo and Frank Russo of MF Gallery, Bill Mcright, Tadpole, Magmo the Destroyer, MCA of Evil Design, Ssur, Freaklub (Spain) , BA Team (Netherlands), Rich Browd, Chase Whitaker, Jeannette Harshbarger, Radd, Niall McClelland, Whitepanic, and Twerps!

The artists dolls will be sold as a silent auction and the proceeds will be given to the American Cancer Society as a tribute to Mr. T, and Mike and Greg’s mothers and their own struggles with cancer.

Orchard Street Art Gallery is a progressive space focusing on graffiti, street art, and urbanization in a gallery setting on the Lower East Side. The space began with Skewville, a street art collaborative showcasing their own work and ideas. Being active in the street art community for over 5 years, many friendships have developed here in NYC and around the world. Currently Orchard Street Art Gallery showcases the “friends” they’ve met along the way. The space has become a haven for street artists and an educational resource for newcomers.

Brought to you by Greg Rivera, MrTandMe.com, Kidrobot, Miss Martha Originals, RedStripe, Oxycottontail, Mishkanyc, Art Hijack, Digital Gravel.com.

For more information, images or to arrange an interview, please contact Elana Rubinfeld: Elana@arthijack.com

Photos by Wheat Wurtzburger.

ENTER MR. T AND ME.