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ART & DESIGN
PHOTO ESSAY
Vinyl Fantasy
A showcase of designer toys
By Pedro Mendes | Photographs by Steve Carty
May 11, 2005
![]() Mars-1, Mario Martinez, USA (2004). |
Designer toys like Mars-1 — part
of San Francisco-based painter Mario
Martinez’s surreal “urban-gothic” figures — are a way for artists to extend their art beyond
the gallery. Even the line between toy store and art gallery is blurring: the
backroom of Toronto’s Magic Pony store is an exhibit space for monthly shows
of toys, paintings and other unclassifiable art.
Though they’re pricey as playthings, “these toys are a new, affordable art market,” says Steve Cober, co-owner of Magic Pony.