Tony J. - artist

Tony J. - artist Painter, cartoonist, filmmaker, photographer, art teacher, muralist, toy designer, circus/animation festival producer and jerk of all trades.

Born in New Haven, CT on Feb 7th 1975. Graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the extremely small Paier College of Art in Hamden, CT in 1997. At age 12, my parents had some comic books they let me read. Sad Sack, MAD Magazine, R. Crumb and Horror comics. Few years later I became a big fan of The Far Side and Calvin And Hobbes. Nowadays for comics it's Daniel Clowes, Julie Doucett, Chester Brown

, Charles Burns and Kyle Baker. For fine artists: Vasily Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Basil Gogos, Mark Ryden and Shag. A year before graduation, I began freelancing as a muralist and a graphic designs for major corporations such as Corona Beer, Wrigley, Hasbro Toy Company, Yale University, The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Dark Horse Publishing and others places as well with some full-time jobs as an art teacher and a photo lab technician during the days of negative film. In 2000, I started working on a series of paintings called Mocking The Masters which depicts famous works of art that I turn them into comical parodies. Example, Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa. I painted all the features of the original painting but I replaced the head with Yoda's head and on the bottom of a painting is written Yoda Lisa in a painterly style of a single-panel comic. My parodied are not an insult, just another way to look at them. Some of the other artist I've done are Edvard Munch, Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and many others. Besides selling my original art I also sell magnets, comic books and other merchandise which is all available in my store page right here: oktony.com/store.html and here too: oktony.myshopify.com Here is a short list of some past exhibitions. Franconia Sculpture Park (Shafer, MN)
AZ Gallery/Burl Gallery (Saint Paul, MN)
ALTR Gallery (Minneapolis, MN)
Monmouth Museum (Lincroft, NJ)
The Walker (Liverpool, UK)
John Slade Ely House (New Haven, CT)
Hygienic Art Gallery (New London, CT)
CBGB's 313 Gallery (New York, NY)
La Viande (London, UK)
Limner Gallery (New York, NY)
Culture Cache (San Francisco, CA)
Gallery 1988 (Los Angeles, CA)
l'art Noir New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)
DeCordova Museum (Lincoln, MA)
MoCCA Museum Of Comics and Cartoon Art (New York, NY). Some publications that featured my art were Juxtapoz, ISM Quarterly, The Stuckist Punk Victorian, The Book of Spam, Direct Art, Funky Garbage and Art Buzz. I've received a numerous of awards, citations and grants for my art and projects. Other projects are my creation of a combo circus and animation festival called Forgot To Laugh: Sideshow And Animation Festival. Where there is live acts like contortionists, yo-yo performers, burlesque and more. From local acts to world renowned performers like The Great Throwdini, Big Nazo and Jonathan Burns. Then in between each act, I will have 3 to 4 animated shorts fom such artists as Bill Plympton, Nina Paley, Happy Tree Friends and many others. From time to time I also make short videos and films under the name Dr. Wildé. Noir, erotic with a sense of humor. Some of my short films are Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron, Counting Sheep, Rose and Sonny. I don't do paintings and drawings for commissions anymore but I will do murals as long as I can keep them in my style. I currently reside in St. Paul, Minnesota with my wife Monica, our cats Church and Willow and the 8 foot cyborg gorilla that lurks in our backyard.

Some deals! Spend $35 or more, get a free sticker! Or buy 4 magnets, get the 5th one free!
12/08/2025

Some deals! Spend $35 or more, get a free sticker! Or buy 4 magnets, get the 5th one free!

Humorous and parody art merchandise! Magnets, matted prints, comic books and stickers.

Need more disturbing art for your grandma? My "Santa Devouring His Elf" magnet is a great gift!
12/07/2025

Need more disturbing art for your grandma? My "Santa Devouring His Elf" magnet is a great gift!

Santa Devouring His Elf. Art photograph on a magnet. Parody of Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya.

It's Cyber Monday! Make a living artiste warmer this season! If you have a special request, message me!
12/01/2025

It's Cyber Monday! Make a living artiste warmer this season! If you have a special request, message me!

Humorous and parody art merchandise! Magnets, matted prints, comic books and stickers.

This was originally a one Spam can acrylic/gouache painting. I photographed it, then put more of the Warhol twist on it ...
11/30/2025

This was originally a one Spam can acrylic/gouache painting. I photographed it, then put more of the Warhol twist on it in Photoshop. I was thinking of printing it up on a canvas to display.

Sneak pics of finish and work-in-progress paintings for my solo show in Sept. I still have to make a ton more.
11/22/2025

Sneak pics of finish and work-in-progress paintings for my solo show in Sept. I still have to make a ton more.

11/22/2025
Go to: oktony.myshopify.com
11/17/2025

Go to: oktony.myshopify.com

Not too sure if I'll keep this up. I made it for a fantasy/unicorn art exhibit for the Otherworldly Arts Collective duri...
11/13/2025

Not too sure if I'll keep this up. I made it for a fantasy/unicorn art exhibit for the Otherworldly Arts Collective during the COVID-19 shutdown. It was an online exhibition. If you can't tell, it's a horse with a paper towel tube on top of his head. He wants to be a unicorn but he knows he's not.

11/01/2025

Humorous and parody art merchandise! Magnets, matted prints, comic books and stickers.

Sacré Bleu! It was an inside job!
10/30/2025

Sacré Bleu! It was an inside job!

An older version of my "Mars Needs Kittens" painting.
10/29/2025

An older version of my "Mars Needs Kittens" painting.

Ok, I just opened a Shopify account. Just in time for the holiday season!
10/28/2025

Ok, I just opened a Shopify account. Just in time for the holiday season!

Humorous and parody art merchandise! Magnets, matted prints, comic books and stickers.

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New Haven, CT

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Brain Candy and Brain Damaged

I was born in New Haven, Connecticut, US in 1975. Graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Paier College of Art in Hamden, Connecticut 1997. At age 12, my parents has some comic books they had kept. Sad Sack, Zap, Vampirella, MAD Magazine and lots of horror comics.

A year before I graduated, I began freelancing in art. Working as a muralist for and a graphic designs for major corporations and residential areas such as Corona Beer, Wrigley, Hasbro Toy Company, Yale University, The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Dark Horse Publishing and others. I was also worked full time for many years as an art teacher and a photo lab technician during the days of 35mm and other outdated films.

In 2000, I created a series of paintings called Mocking The Masters which depicts famous artists and/or famous artwork and I turn them into comical parody. Example, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa which has all the features of the original painting but with the head of Yoda and on the bottom of a painting is written Yoda Lisa in a painterly style of a single-panel comic. I've ripped on others but not to insult, just to look at it another way. Other artist I've parody are Edvard Munch, Georgia O'Keefe, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and many others. Besides selling original art, I also make magnets of my artwork, comic books and other merchandise which is all available on my website. Here is a short list of my past exhibitions.

The Walker Museum (Liverpool, UK) • John Slade Ely House (New Haven, CT) • The Art Coalition (North Hollywood, CA) • Hygienic Art Gallery (New London, CT) • CBGB’s 313 Gallery (New York, NY) • La Viande (London, UK) • Art Underground (Baltimore, MD) • Limner Gallery (New York, NY) • Culture Cache (San Francisco, CA) • Gallery 1988 (Los Angeles, CA) • l’art Noir New Orleans (New Orleans, LA) • 3rd Rail Studios (New Rochelle, NY) • DeCordova Museum (Lincoln, MA) • MoCCA Museum Of Comics and Cartoon Art (New York, NY) • Kustom Lane Gallery (Hawthorn, AU)