For 14 years, DesignerCon has been a destination for designer toy brands, collectible artists and the people who love them, hosting world-renowned brands like MEDICOM, KidRobot, Mighty Jaxx, and Giant Robot. Now, for the first time ever, the convention will have a traditional art space dedicated to the lowbrow, pop surrealist and outsider art movements that flourished in Southern California. On the heels of Littletopia that drew crowds at the LA Art Show, Beyond Eden is spearheaded by Thinkspace Projects founder Andrew Hosner, as a way to connect DesignerCon attendees directly to the larger art world. Many artists who are prominent in the designer toy realm also have thriving fine art careers. Most notable at the moment is KAWS, who is best known for his OriginalFake series of vinyl toys, but recently made a $14 million sale of one of his museum-quality artworks.


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The addition of Beyond Eden to Designercon is perfect for the evolution the convention has been undergoing for the past several years. Many avid fine art collectors actually get their start collecting designer toys—something that Designercon founder Ben Goretksy can attest to, personally.

Picking up where Greg Escalante’s Littletopia left off, Hosner’s Beyond Eden will be exhibiting many of the artists DCON attendees already know and love, plus the galleries who rep them, and other artists in their repertoire.

The inaugural archway welcoming attendees into the new section will be designed by Carlos Ramirez, formerly of The Date Farmers artist collective. The Date Farmers were a collaboration of artists Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma, best known for paintings and assemblages steeped in California’s Mexican-American experience, referencing street art, posters of the Mexican Revolution, and popular tropes of Hollywood and the media.

Galleries that will be part of this year’s programming include: Thinkspace Projects, KP Projects, La Luz de Jesus, Dark Art Emporium, Modern Eden Gallery and Tierra Del Sol Foundation

Image above by Ana Bagayan for La Luz de Jesus