Egged on by his family, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh finally opens MutMuz Gallery to the public

Mark Mothersbaugh wears galore hats: He’s a prolific composer for movie and TV, including the animated Nickelodeon juggernaut “Rugrats”; he’s scored 4 Wes Anderson films and Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarock” and is presently moving with Pixar. Toddlers who spot the coolly bespectacled, gray-haired septuagenarian astatine an airdrome constituent and gurgle, “Yo Gabba Gabba!” acknowledgment to Mothersbaugh’s coating conception called “Mark’s Magic Pictures” connected the wildly fashionable kids show.

But nary of the hats worn by the prolific creator are arsenic iconic — to a definite conception of the music-loving nationalist — arsenic the bespoke reddish integrative “energy dome” toppers donned by Devo. Or, successful laymen’s terms, the “upside-down flowerpots” archetypal worn successful 1980 by the lineup Mothersbaugh co-created astatine Kent State University successful the aboriginal 1970s. Devo recently performed connected “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” and extended its farewell circuit that began successful 2023.

On a caller sunny weekday, the Akron, Ohio, autochthonal is readying his debut solo accumulation of paintings and screenprints — “Why Are We Here? No. 01” — to unfastened Friday successful his ain MutMuz Gallery. He’s owned the space, connected the hipster-meets-dusty-old-school Chung King Road successful Chinatown, for rather a fewer years, and hung artwork connected the walls. But helium has ne'er opened it to the nationalist until now.

Mothersbaugh is inviting the nationalist wrong MutMuz Gallery for the archetypal time.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Why not unfastened it up to others sooner? Along with his sometimes mixed-media creations, the engaged multitalent seems to person mixed emotions astir selling his artwork. Not that he’s got a dearth of it; he’s been creating astir a “postcard” a time for 30 years, and present has thousands of cautiously curated pieces successful archival sleeved books. Most cards see cryptic, sometimes multilingual bon mots written with his beloved Sumi-e brushwood pens. An example: “It was a 1 enactment play … that lasted 75 years.”

The multi-instrumentalist adjacent penned aboriginal lyrics to the Devo opus “Uncontrollable Urge” connected a card, but mailed it to an acquaintance helium was trading postcard creation with, past recovered he’d forgotten the verse by the adjacent set rehearsal.

“After that, I stopped mailing the cards — I started keeping them. I thought I’d ne'er beryllium showing them to anybody.” He guesses determination indispensable beryllium astir 70,000 pieces. He besides has warehouse retention to location his works connected insubstantial … and more.

The hoarding tendencies of the self-proclaimed nerd person resulted successful 165 ocular and audio creation exhibitions, including his traveling retrospective, “Myopia.”

With MutMuz, helium is going nationalist successful a caller way. He looks astir the high-ceilinged, cement-floored gallery, the apical enactment hung with larger paintings connected canvas, the little with screenprints. “Everything that’s successful here, astatine immoderate constituent successful time, I was precise blessed to person hanging successful my room. And I loved it.”

Mothersbaugh eyes his enactment 1 week earlier his assemblage opening.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Mothersbaugh initially envisioned being “very active” with the assemblage abstraction — “then I got hit by COVID, and it truly changed everything,” helium says. Egged connected by his family, who urged him to “get the assemblage up and going,” helium is yet opening its doors. Although fallout from the microorganism continues — Mothersbaugh has agelong COVID — helium has kept composing (Netflix’s “The Residence” and “A Minecraft Movie” are 2 caller projects), touring and making artwork. Most of the paintings successful “Why Are We Here? No. 01” were created during the pandemic.

All the show’s 10 lipid paintings and the 10 limited-edition screenprints are unframed; the lone frames successful the country are Mothersbaugh’s ain chiseled metallic glasses, correcting his myopia. That said, galore of his paintings person hand-drawn sentences astir the borders that framework and contextualize the work. But not each of them. Yet.

Mothersbaugh’s art, similar Devo’s music, is often endearingly odd.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

It’s 1 week earlier opening, and nary of the creation is yet priced oregon titled. It besides seems Mothersbaugh’s bosom mightiness interruption if idiosyncratic walked distant with a purchase. He’s called himself a “hoarder,” and that seems to see his ain voluminous quantity of work.

Noted New York and L.A. gallerist Jeffrey Deitch wanted to amusement his artwork a portion ago, says Mothersbaugh. “What freaked him retired was that I was selling these truly cheap. I told him, ‘I get truthful galore emails from kids, and they nonstop maine a representation of my art, and it’s implicit their bed, and they say, “It’s the archetypal portion of creation I’ve ever bought.” ” ’

Deitch told Mothersbaugh his client’s prices had to statesman astatine $50,000. Mothersbaugh, who carries astir art-making materials similar pens and pre-prepped paper banal successful a Ziploc bag, liked Deitch, but helium declined. Mothersbaugh’s art, similar Devo’s music, is often frenetic, funny, intelligence and endearingly odd.

Mothersbaugh’s self-portrait, implicit with clown nose, volition beryllium connected show astatine the MutMuz assemblage opening.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

As some a collector and a creator of ephemera, Mothersbaugh’s tastes are darkly poignant. One of the pieces successful “Why Are We Here?” was informed by a puerility incident. Gazing astatine the work, the creator recalls, “I retrieve screaming for assistance arsenic I was being chased by a duck erstwhile I was 4 years old. And my household sat there. I stepped connected a basement model and crashed done it.” That ocular script whitethorn soon bent successful someone’s surviving room.

“If idiosyncratic says they privation to bargain [a painting], I’ll say, ‘Do privation maine to inactive decorativeness the border?’ Some, I’ve looked astatine them, and I saw that I privation to enactment much things connected the beforehand too,” helium continues, looking specifically astatine 1 of the sparer pieces adjacent the beforehand of the gallery. “I could spot going implicit to somebody’s location and it’s hanging connected the wall, and I could adhd thing implicit that level that’s coming down, oregon I could constitute thing implicit the beforehand of the car.”

Mothersbaugh ever knew he’d beryllium successful a band, but helium went to Kent State to survey art, particularly drawn to printmaking and calligraphy. Conversant connected seemingly each taste and sociopolitical taxable nether the sun, helium sees himself and his enactment successful the class of “social scientist. I’m conscionable documenting things I see. I bash it successful cartoons. I deliberation I usage a batch of cartoon imagery conscionable due to the fact that it makes maine little aggravated with radical if I tin crook them into a cartoon, adjacent myself, similar down there,” helium says, pointing to a rough-hewn self-portrait emboldened by a large clown chemoreceptor and jutting-out ears. Befitting the postcard size is simply a duo of 10-cent Cuban stamps.

The Devo co-founder considers himself a societal idiosyncratic and often uses cartoon imagery successful his artwork.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

His inspiration appears much “childhood ducks” oregon novelty store rejects than, say, Rene Magritte oregon Lucian Freud. And each his works successful lipid stem from his archetypal postcard-sized artwork. A much caller topical muse: Jack White. He hasn’t told the instrumentalist that the piece, featuring a vintage-looking masked antheral successful a suit and the words “Donc c’est tout. Nashville,” came aft the 2 met. Of the French text, Mothersbaugh bemoans the information that he’s not multilingual. Instead, “What I bash is, sometimes I privation to accidental something, truthful I Google it and if I similar the mode it looks successful different language, I’ll enactment it up successful different language.”

Mothersbaugh’s artwork is created wrong its ain enactment of architectural infamy, the office of Mutato Muzika, the iconic round, neon greenish gathering connected the Sunset Strip successful West Hollywood that houses his accumulation studio. The Chinatown assemblage sanction derives from that workplace moniker, itself a portmanteau of “Mutant” and “Potato.”

“Some of this worldly gets utilized successful things,” helium says, gesturing toward medium creation and walking astir the light-filled room, incense wafting from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assn. crossed the pedestrian-only way. “Most of it, though, I conscionable bash it for myself. It’s similar things I hear, things that aftermath maine up successful the mediate of the night, worldly similar that. I conscionable adhd small disparate pieces.” The extremity effect tin evoke a palimpsest feel.

The prolific creator studied astatine Kent State University, peculiarly drawn to printmaking and calligraphy.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Mothersbaugh is grateful that his “day job” of euphony funds his postulation — and art-creation habits.

As such, his assemblage goals look modest: “To beryllium honest, the concern of an creation assemblage is little absorbing than conscionable putting shows up and past talking to radical and letting radical spot things that they could person a absorption to.”

With his galore hats, Mothersbaugh is simply a consummate juggler, though he’s not definite however it each lines up successful his head. “I don’t cognize what my caput is. I ticker my brothers and sisters, and I deliberation they’re each smarter than me. They’ll marque amended decisions than me; and past immoderate marque worse decisions, sometimes,” helium says. “But, still, I deliberation I consciousness similar astir radical astir maine are much exceptional. I conscionable hap to beryllium obsessive astir putting things together.”