Who needs canvas? A trip to the pumpkin patch is all that American artists\u00a0Marc Evan<\/a>\u00a0and Chris Soria need to put a new spin on the Old Masters. The New York duo and their team of 12 like to work with gourds.\u00a0 And why not? \u00a0Once the image is drawn onto its surface, the fruit is etched with serrated knives, printmaking linoleum knives and clay loops used for trimming pottery. Stick a 40 watt LED light inside and the end result is eerily fascinating.<\/p>\n

Carving pumpkins began as a lark for the pair who studied illustration at the Parsons School of Design but it really took off after\u00a0Wired\u00a0<\/em>magazine discovered them in 2008. Today, their company,\u00a0Maniac Pumpkin Carvers,\u00a0<\/a>will carve anything \u2013 portraits, logos, florals, you name it \u2013 for corporate get-togethers, fundraisers and weddings. \u00a0The company even conducts workshops and demonstrations in and around New York state for would-be sculptors.<\/p>\n

Their showpiece Artists Series, intricate reproductions of world famous masterworks, was first commissioned by New York\u2019s\u00a0Museum of Modern Art\u00a0<\/a>in 2011. Maniac has been supplying MoMA with pumpkin copies of their permanent collection ever since.The pumpkins adorn the lobby every Halloween.<\/p>\n

The cost of an original pumpkin piece, in case you were wondering, varies between $150 and $800 dollars. More for a MoMA piece. No-one\u2019s saying how much more. One assumes the Museum gets a discount on an artwork that eventually shrivels and rots. Like\u00a0Banksy\u2019s\u00a0Girl With Balloon<\/em><\/a>\u00a0which sold for over a million dollars at Sotheby\u2019s earlier this month and then partially shredded once the sale was completed, pumpkin art will eventually self-destruct. Only in this case, organically. And it\u2019s cheaper.<\/p>\n

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Who needs canvas? A trip to the pumpkin patch is all that American artists\u00a0Marc Evan\u00a0and Chris Soria need to put a new spin on the Old Masters. The New York duo and their team of 12 like to work with gourds.\u00a0 And why not? \u00a0Once the image is drawn onto its surface, the fruit is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[7924,7925,6954,7920,7921,7919],"yoast_head":"\n