Some of our favourite science fiction and fantasy franchises are defined by the weapons in them. Star Wars has its lightsabers. Zelda‘s Link has his Master Sword. These are the touchstones of each property, and artist Matt Ritchie is reimagining them all in a beautiful, colourful new way.
All Images: Gallery 1988
The show is called “Knife to a Gun Fight” and it features one-of-a-kind reproductions of some of the most iconic guns and other weapons in pop culture history. It opens October 13 at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, CA and remains on display through October 28.
“I see these weapons as almost symbols of the characters themselves,” Ritchie told me via email. So can you guess them all? First are some swords.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’s Green Destiny sword in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
Jason Voorhees’ Machete in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
Jon Snow’s Longclaw in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
Lord of the Rings’ Narsil in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
Link’s Master sword in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
Lion-O’s sword of Omens in blood drop frame. 18X10.5 inches. Paint on cut wood.
And now some guns.
Rick Sanchez’s Portal Gun. 15X8 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
NES Zapper 15X7 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
Star Trek phaser. 15X7 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
Hellboy’s Good Samaritan. 21X10 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
Han Solo’s blaster. 16X7 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
Aliens Pulse Rifle. 42X12 inches (includes bang flags). Paint on cut wood and printed canvas flags.
Ritchie, who lives in the Bay Area and has been an artist for 20 years, hand painted and carved each of the original pieces in the show. But they didn’t start that way. “I designed the weapons on my iPad Pro in the most crispy stripped down and static style possible,” he explained. “[They were] almost emoji-like in design. Then I purposely tried to emulate that look on cut wood with paint. I wanted the pieces to look like they were taken straight off the iPad screen and to showcase the distinctive design elements of these iconic weapons.”
What he found was that even after stripping each weapon down to its bare necessities, its essence still remained.
“It is also interesting to me that my redesigned and deconstructed rendering of these objects still embodies the personality and identity of the character and object,” Ritchie said. “Personally, I’m not a violent person and do not own any real weapons but I do realise the historical opposition of these items in the entertainment industry. I think that this show will have some people wrestling with the irony and hypocrisy of weapons in entertainment versus real life.”
That. And it will also have people admiring how badass they are.
For more on the show, visit gallery1988.com.