Cool Hunting

Dan Funderburgh is a Brooklyn-based illustrator, artist, and wallpaper designer whose creations are rooted in the world of decorative arts. Recently, he participated in a group show called "Fellow Traveler" at Williamsburg's Riviera Gallery. Here, his fondness for adornment was literally thrown into relief by a triptych of laser-cut, laser-etched cardboard tools (pictured top). The series, a collection of iconic tools typically found in a workshop, was inspired in part by a hand-painted Persian anchor Funderburgh had seen in the Louvre and a few photographs a friend had taken of an abandoned tool shed in Long Island. The Tools are produced in an edition of five each, selling for between $100 and $500 depending on size.

In addition to the tool wall, Funderburgh was showing a small group of laser-cut tributes to dead objects such as a VHS tape, a wing-tipped shoe or a pair of spectacles. Titled "Papel Picado," meaning perforated paper, the pieces are based on Mexican folk art displayed during the Day of the Dead. They are produced in an edition of 15, and sell for $100 each.

One can readily place this work within the lineage of contemporary masters such as Wim Delvoye, Studio Job and New York artist Cal Lane, each of whom have relied upon graphical elements to punctuate their work. Indeed, Funderburgh shares a similar ambition to work on three-dimensional objects. If the quality of this recent collection is any indication of future achievement, our suggestion is to snag these posthaste.

Purchase Tools or Papel Picado through Riviera Gallery, or by emailing info [at] danfunderburgh [dot] com and see more images after the jump.